ys we know.

The girls were taught by their mothers to be modest and industrious.
They made beautiful beadwork to trim dresses and moccasins. They could
set up a wigwam, prepare food, and keep a clean and orderly home.

This little book tells how children lived and played long ago in the
wild-rice country. Their tribe was then at peace with the fierce
Indians farther west. A few men of the village had traveled north with
furs, but the children had never seen a white man.

The old-time life of the Indians is ended. But there are camps in the
unsettled lands of the wild-rice region where many strange customs can
still be seen; where the Indian drum is heard, and the women gather
wild rice as in the olden time.

STORIES AND STORY-TELLERS

The Indians of long ago had no books and no schools; but each tribe
had its story-tellers, who went from one wigwam to another. Everywhere
they were welcomed by old and young and begged to return.

The stories were told and retold by their hearers until learned.
Indian mothers quieted their fretful little ones by stories and songs
just as other mothers have always done.

The Indian stories are strange, and some are very beautiful. There are
wonderful tales of the sun, moon, and stars; of animals and birds and
trees; of the thunder and the lightning and the winds.

Through stories the children learned the strange beliefs of their
parents. They were taught to call the sun their father and the moon
their mother, and all the animals and birds their brothers.

The Indians believed that good and bad spirits were all around them on
the earth and above them in the sky.

They thought that animals and birds could talk, and that they listened
to everything which was said in the wigwams.

Tales of fearless hunters and brave warriors made the boys wish to
become as brave as their fathers. Tales of the men that had brought
great good to their people led the children to hope that they, too,
might sometime bring blessings to their tribe.

The children learned that their fathers worshiped the Great Spirit, and
that no warrior ever went on the warpath without offering many prayers.

They were taught that many of their dances were thank offerings to the
Great Spirit, and that the war dance was for success in battle.

In winter evenings the Indians gathered around the wigwam fire. This
was their only light. The fathers and grandfathers told wonderful
stories of war and hunting, and re