nd
tugging away at the strings of beads which hung temptingly between her
shoulders, while the mother, hand-free, bore on one shoulder a log,
which, a moment afterwards, still keeping her baby on her back as she
did so, she chopped into small wood for the camp fire.

Childhood.

But just as soon as the Seminole baby has gained sufficient strength to
toddle he learns that the more he can do for himself and the more he can
contribute to the general domestic welfare the better he will get along
in life. No small amount of the labor in a Seminole household is done by
children, even as young as four years of age. They can stir the soup
while it is boiling; they can aid in kneading the dough for bread;
they can wash the "Koonti" root, and even pound it; they can watch and
replenish the fire; they contribute in this and many other small ways to
the necessary work of the home. I am not to be understood, of course, as
saying that the little Seminole's life is one of severe labor. He has
plenty of time for games and play of all kinds, and of these I shall
hereafter speak. Yet, as soon as he is able to play, he finds that with
his play he must mix work in considerable measure.

Seminole Dwellings--I-Ful-Lo-Ha-Tco's House.

Now that we have seen the Seminole family formed, let us look at its
home. The Florida Indians are not nomads. They have fixed habitations:
settlements in well defined districts, permanent camps, houses or
wigwams which, remain from year to year the abiding places of their
families, and gardens and fields which for indefinite periods are used
by the same owners. There are times during the year when parties gather
into temporary camps for a few weeks. Now perhaps they gather upon some
rich Koonti ground, that they may dig an extra quantity of this root and
make flour from it; now, that they may have a sirup making festival,
they go to some fertile sugar cane hammock; or again, that they may have
a hunt, they camp where a certain kind of game has been discovered in
abundance. And they all, as a rule, go to a central point, once a year
and share there their great feast, the Green Corn Dance. Besides, as I
was told, these Indians are frequent visitors to one another, acting in
turn as guests and hosts for a few days at a time. But it is the fact,
nevertheless, that for much the greater part of the year the Seminole
families are at their homes, occupying houses, surrounded by many
comforts and living a life of ro