Indian days of the long ago

Front matter

INDIAN LIFE AND INDIAN LORE

The camp of the Salish

INDIAN LIFE AND INDIAN LORE

Foreword

This little book was written in the hope that it would give a more intimate view of Indian life in the old days, in the days when to the far western tribes the white race was but a rumor, and buffalo roamed the plains in countless numbers. A further desire was to call attention to the great divergencies in Indian life, the number of languages, and the striking differences in dress and habits. The pictures, as well as the text, will emphasize this.

We have been prone to regard Indians as being without religion or spiritual life. Instead of being without a religion, they were influenced in every important act of their life by spiritual beliefs and religious practices. This fact is touched upon not as a pedantic lecture but rather as we see its influence on the characters of the story and in the folk-tales. I have tried to show how their religious beliefs influence the character building of the youth. Simple animistic beliefs, which bring the spirit beings close, are easy of comprehension, and the belief in the ever-present nearness has a strong influence upon the children. What could be more powerful in character building than the mountain vigil of Ku-

kiisim? This story of fasting and prayer is not

vii viii Foreword

a created play of words, but is given practically as told by those who have thus fasted.

The character He Who Was Dead And Lives Again has its historical prototype in a wanderer, a dreamer, a cataleptic who was able at will to throw himself into a state of trance; a leader in spreading the cult of hypnotic religious practices of which the great Siouan Ghost Dance of 1889 was an example.

The Huron, introduced to give a glimpse of the life of the eastern Indians, is fully as logical, since in the Flathead country — the central scene of the story — there are many direct descendants of the old eastern wanderers who came to this region at the date of the story. In fact, it was the old wanderers from the east who gave the thought of the oncoming hordes of white people.

In brief, the story is told quickly from a full heart, drawn from a store of thoughts and lore, gathered through half a lifetime of intimate contact with many tribes in many lands. It has been a labor of love, and I can only hope that my readers will from the reading derive a small part of the happiness that I have derived from its writing.

Contents

PAGE

Foreword vii

Prologue 1