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This book is about the last great Indian Council from all over the continent. Here are some quotes from the book. See if it reminds you of anybody.
"Indisputable figures, the result of more than five years of research by the Bureau of Ethnology places the decrease of Indian population since the coming of the white man at 65%."
"The Indian child is nursed on Indian song and story. Tribal traditions are handed down from age to age by enacting in the dance, on the part of the warriors the braves, their deeds of valour in war, their truimphs in the chase, their prowess against all foes."
"The Indian women is master of the lodge. She carries the purse. Any money that comes into the hands of the husband is immediately handed over. The servile tasks of the camp are performed by the women. The husband has to perform the exhausting and dangerous task of hunting wild game for food and skins for clothing. He had to protect the camp from hostile attacks, and women felt her task was easy in comparison. The Indian child rules the family, they are rarely, if ever corrected. "
"The wooing of Indian lovers varies w/ tribe. One pair of lovers seal their vows by standing a little removed from the parental lodge. with a blanket covering their heads. In another tribe the negotiations are made entirely through the parents, sometimes becoming a simple barter. While in another tribe when a love fancy strikes the man, he arranges to meet the young women as she goes to the river for water. They pass each other on the path w/out any recognition. This occurs 2 or 3 times. Finally if she welcomes these intentions she looks toward him as they pass. That night he comes to the lodge of her parents, remains outside, beating on a tomtom and singing the love song. The young girl then goes out to meet him and they sit and talk. The next morning the mother asks her daughter about the affair, and invites him to dinner. Thus the courtship proceedes until he says "I will take this women as my wife," and they get their own lodge."
"Before the coming of the white men there were no general or long-continued wars among the Indians. There was no motive for war. Quarrels ensued when predatory tribes sought to filch women or horses. Or sometimes over land where the buffalo roamed. The country was large and the tribes were widely seperated. "
Any that's just a small bit of it. Then the book goes on to describe the lives of each Indian Chief present at the meeting. These chiefs are from 52 years old as the youngest and 80 as the oldest. They are important because they were all grown up in two completely different worlds. In their youth and early adulthood they had no idea of the white man, and lived as Indians had lived for thousands of years. Then after the white man, they were forced to fight for a different reason than they had ever fought before. For the defense of their land, their buffalo and their way of life.
"Indisputable figures, the result of more than five years of research by the Bureau of Ethnology places the decrease of Indian population since the coming of the white man at 65%."
"The Indian child is nursed on Indian song and story. Tribal traditions are handed down from age to age by enacting in the dance, on the part of the warriors the braves, their deeds of valour in war, their truimphs in the chase, their prowess against all foes."
"The Indian women is master of the lodge. She carries the purse. Any money that comes into the hands of the husband is immediately handed over. The servile tasks of the camp are performed by the women. The husband has to perform the exhausting and dangerous task of hunting wild game for food and skins for clothing. He had to protect the camp from hostile attacks, and women felt her task was easy in comparison. The Indian child rules the family, they are rarely, if ever corrected. "
"The wooing of Indian lovers varies w/ tribe. One pair of lovers seal their vows by standing a little removed from the parental lodge. with a blanket covering their heads. In another tribe the negotiations are made entirely through the parents, sometimes becoming a simple barter. While in another tribe when a love fancy strikes the man, he arranges to meet the young women as she goes to the river for water. They pass each other on the path w/out any recognition. This occurs 2 or 3 times. Finally if she welcomes these intentions she looks toward him as they pass. That night he comes to the lodge of her parents, remains outside, beating on a tomtom and singing the love song. The young girl then goes out to meet him and they sit and talk. The next morning the mother asks her daughter about the affair, and invites him to dinner. Thus the courtship proceedes until he says "I will take this women as my wife," and they get their own lodge."
"Before the coming of the white men there were no general or long-continued wars among the Indians. There was no motive for war. Quarrels ensued when predatory tribes sought to filch women or horses. Or sometimes over land where the buffalo roamed. The country was large and the tribes were widely seperated. "
Any that's just a small bit of it. Then the book goes on to describe the lives of each Indian Chief present at the meeting. These chiefs are from 52 years old as the youngest and 80 as the oldest. They are important because they were all grown up in two completely different worlds. In their youth and early adulthood they had no idea of the white man, and lived as Indians had lived for thousands of years. Then after the white man, they were forced to fight for a different reason than they had ever fought before. For the defense of their land, their buffalo and their way of life.