After many years, the early customs became greatly changed. To-day
large numbers of Indians are living in the white man's way. Some are
well educated and own houses, farms, and even automobiles. Their
children are trained in government schools. There are writers among
them whose books we like to read, and there are artists who paint
interesting pictures of Indian life.

During the great World War the Indians begged to join the army, and
hundreds enlisted. Young men from many tribes were in France, and
there were no braver soldiers.

THE WILD-RICE INDIANS

Every boy and girl who studies geography can find the Great Lakes. In
the states south and west there are hundreds of small lakes and rivers
where wild rice grows in the shallow water.

During the early days of our country, different tribes of Indians
gathered the wild rice for food, and many battles were fought for the
rice fields.

From the birch trees of the forest the men obtained bark for their
canoes. In these light boats the women pushed their way through the
thickets of ripe grain. They beat the stalks with short sticks,
letting the rice fall into the canoes.

The wild rice was eaten raw from the growing plants. It was also
parched while green for daily use, and bushels of the ripe grain were
stored away for the long, cold winter.

[Illustration]

At harvest time there was always good hunting, for great flocks of
ducks, geese, and other birds flew to the rice stalks to eat the seeds.

In the spring the women, boys, and old men spent weeks at the sugar
camp. They caught the maple sap in small bark dishes and boiled it
into sugar. The boys kept the fires going under the kettles and, for
the first few days, ate nearly all the sugar they made.

Many kinds of berries grew in this northern country. These the Indian
women picked and dried. Indeed, the underground storehouse of a
wigwam housekeeper was full of good things to eat.

Hiawatha is said to have lived on the shore of one of the Great Lakes.
Before the white men sold fire water to the Indians, there were many
happy homes in the forest. The ways of living were the same as we read
about in Longfellow's poem, and the children were trained to be brave
and honorable and to respect their elders.

The boys were trained in woodcraft. They learned the names and habits of
wild animals. They could find their way alone through dense forests; and
they could see farther and hear better than any bo