atures were fairly driven out of the
neighborhood. Occasionally one of my older brothers brought home a
rabbit or two, and then we had a feast.

I remember on this occasion of our last sugar bush in Minnesota, that I
stood one day outside of our hut and watched the approach of a
visitor--a bent old man, his hair almost white, and carrying on his
back a large bundle of red willow, or kinnikinick, which the Indians
use for smoking. He threw down his load at the door and thus saluted
us: "You have indeed perfect weather for sugar-making."

It was my great-grandfather, Cloud Man, whose original village was on
the shores of Lakes Calhoun and Harriet, now in the suburbs of the city
of Minneapolis. He was the first Sioux chief to welcome the Protestant
missionaries among his people, and a well-known character in those
pioneer days. He brought us word that some of the peaceful sugar-makers
near us on the river had been attacked and murdered by roving Ojibways.
This news disturbed us not a little, for we realized that we too might
become the victims of an Ojibway war party. Therefore we all felt some
uneasiness from this time until we returned heavy laden to our village.

IV

GAMES AND SPORTS

The Indian boy was a prince of the wilderness. He had but very little
work to do during the period of his boyhood. His principal occupation
was the practice of a few simple arts in warfare and the chase. Aside
from this, he was master of his time.

It is true that our savage life was a precarious one, and full of
dreadful catastrophes; however, this never prevented us from enjoying
our sports to the fullest extent. As we left our teepees in the
morning, we were never sure that our scalps would not dangle from a
pole in the afternoon! It was an uncertain life, to be sure. Yet we
observed that the fawns skipped and played happily while the gray
wolves might be peeping forth from behind the hills, ready to tear them
limb from limb.

Our sports were molded by the life and customs of our people; indeed,
we practiced only what we expected to do when grown. Our games were
feats with the bow and arrow, foot and pony races, wrestling, swimming
and imitation of the customs and habits of our fathers. We had sham
fights with mud balls and willow wands; we played lacrosse, made war
upon bees, shot winter arrows (which were used only in that season),
and coasted upon the ribs of animals and buffalo robes.

No sooner did the boys get to