Little White Chief

Front matter

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Chapter I

Little Wild Hare was seven years old. His skin was very dark and brown and bis little body was straight and strong. In warm weather he wore no clothes except & band of deerskin about his waist and moccasins on his feet. Wild Hare was a bright little Indian boy. His mother was called Gentle Pawn. His father was Fighting Bear.

Wild Hare had a brother who was nine years old. They lived in a tent on the bank of a river with the forest all about them. The tent was made of skins and they called it a wigwam. Wild Hare’s brother was named Brave Badger.

There were many birds and squirrels in the trees. There were many rabbits in the woods. The little Indian boys were old enough to go far into the woods alone. They often went hunting with bows and arrows. At first they could not shoot straight and the arrows had no points. It was not long until Brave Badger and Wild Hare had learned to shoot straight enough to hit a mark. Their father then put

“They often went hunting”

points on the arrows. The boys could now go hunt¬ ing like big Indians.

Wise Owl was an old Indian brave who taught the Indian boys many things. He made each of them a strong, neat bow just long enough for their short arms.

He taught them to make arrows and tip them with sharp bone. Each boy wore a quiver on his back to carry the arrows.

Wild Hare was now a good shot. One day he saw a rabbit in an open space. He crept up very quietly. He did not let the bushes fly back. He put his feet down softly so the leaves would not rustle and the grass would make no sound under his moccasins.

The rabbit was eating a tender leaf. It did not know the little red hunter was near.

Wild Hare took aim with great care. Whiz! The arrow flew and the rabbit fell over. Wild Hare ran up quickly and seized it in his hands. It was quite dead. He took the arrow from the rabbit’s side and rubbed it with a leaf and put it back in his quiver. Then he hung the rabbit over his shoulder and started for the wigwam.

Brave Badger came running to meet him. Wild Hare’s black eyes shone. He pointed proudly to the rabbit. It was the first one he had ever killed. Brave Badger clapped his hands and ran to tell Wise Owl.

Wild Hare took the rabbit to his mother, Gentle Pawn. Gentle Fawn laughed. She showed Wild Hare how to take off the rabbit’s skin and she cooked the meat for his dinner.

Wild Hare and Brave Badger went to the river every day. No matter how cold the water was, in they plunged. Indian boys must be very strong. They learned to swim when they were small. They walked and ran many miles every day. The boys jumped into the cold water every morning and they were proud when their teeth did not chatter. Soon they did not mind the chill.

Wild Hare and Brave Badger played tag in the water. They dived and swam and were never afraid.

One day they went to hunt ducks’ eggs. They waded along the banks and found many nests in the reeds.

They did not stop to cook the eggs. They liked the raw eggs and ate all they wanted.

“We must leave some eggs in the nests,” said Brave Badger, “so there will be plenty of young ducks. We will catch the young ducks. They are very tender and good to eat.”

“Now let us catch some fish,” cried Wild Hare.

They found a deep pool of water and lay flat on the ground, leaning over it. They looked long into the little pool and soon they saw fish swimming about.

Branches of trees hung over their heads so their shadows did not scare the fish. But they kept very still. They hardly breathed.

Soon a fish came to the surface of the water. Wild Hare put his two hands together and made a cup. Very quickly he scooped the fish from the water. He put his thumbs over the gills of the fish so it could not. breathe. When the fish was quiet, he strung it on a reed.

Brave Badger caught a fish, too. In time they had a dozen fine fish strung on the reed and were ready to go home. They were very hungry. The fish would make them a good dinner.

Gentle Fawn said, “Here are my brave fishermen! They will be great braves some day because they can hunt and fish.”

Gentle Fawn cooked the fish on some hot stones. She was very busy all day.

She gathered all the wood for the fire and cooked the food for her family.

One morning Wild Hare and Brave Badger went out to look in their traps. They had set them all in the open ground where the rabbits lived.

Old Wise Owl had told them to set four traps. He said they w<

He told t they would that the ( Spirit would traps.

if they set ( the East ai for the Wesl

They mu* two more, c the North a for the Soutl

“Scooped the fish from the water”

When they came to the first trap Brave Badger ran ahead. He was larger than Wild Hare and could always beat him in a race.

The trap was near a bed of wild cabbage where the rabbits came to eat. It was made of sticks and strips of deerskin.

Brave Badger’s heart beat high with hope, but there was nothing in the trap. He set it again under a nice, large leaf of wild cabbage. W T ild Hare w T as already running toward the second trap. It had been sprung and there were tracks all about it. But there was no rabbit.

“These are not rabbit tracks,” said Brave Badger. “A fox has come and stolen him out of the trap. Here is some fur.”

In the grass near by they found where the fox had eaten the rabbit.

“We will have Wise Owl come and make a bigger trap and catch the fox,” said Wild Hare.

“A fox is very sly and hard to catch,” said Brave Badger. “It is too bad he got our rabbit. Let us set the trap again, but we will set it away from this spot. The rabbit will not come where there is the smell of the fox.”

In the third trap Brave Badger found a nice, fat rabbit.

The trap had fallen on his neck while he was eating cabbage leaves.

“Aha!” called Brave Badger. “We will take him home to the wigwam for Gentle Fawn to cook. The Chief will call us ‘big Indian braves’ and Wise Owl will tell us some tales of the White Rabbit.”

The fourth trap was broken and there were large tracks all about it.

“These are not fox tracks,” said Brave Badger. “I think they are bear tracks. Bears do not eat rab¬ bits. The bear has just been smelling around and broken the trap.”

“Let us follow him,” said Wild Hare.

“Oh, no, he can kill us with his paws. Our arrows are not big enough to shoot Badger.

“We are not old enough to go bear hunting. When we are older and better armed we shall then hunt and kill bears.”

At last all the traps were set again and the rabbit hung in Brave Badger’s belt.

“Let us sing a song to the Good Spirit so that our traps will be filled next time.”

a bear,” said Brave

'Found a nice, fat rabbitf

So the little boys, Brave Badger and Wild Hare, sang:

“Come to our traps, little White Tails,

Come quickly, come running,

We want your sweet flesh, we want your soft fur; Come soon, little White Tails.”

They sang this over and over many times. Then they took the little rabbit home to their mother.

They asked Wise Owl if the Bad Spirit had sent the bear to break their traps.

“Ah, little braves,” said Wise Owl, “I cannot tell. But you must change your traps every day; for if a rabbit is caught in a trap and gets away, he will tell his brothers and they will all keep away from it.”

INDIAN LEGENDS

Chapter II Indian Legends

One day there was a great thunderstorm. The lightning played in the sky. Suddenly there was a great crash and a large oak tree fell in the forest. The Indians were all afraid.

They said, “The thunder-birds are in the sky. We must beg the Good Spirit to send the thunder-birds away.”

Wild Hare and Brave Badger listened to the Indian braves. They were talking about an Indian who was killed by the bright wings of the thunder-bird. They saw the big oak tree that had been thrown to the ground. They were afraid of the roar of the thunder and the bolts of lightning and they hid in the wigwam.

When the storm was over, Wild Hare and Brave Badger asked Wise Owl to tell them all about the thunder-birds.

“Ah, little braves,” said Wise Owl, “the thunder-birds have great wings and they fly in the air when there is a storm. You can hear them clap their wings. They make a great roar as they fly. Their feet make tracks like fire. Big Thunder is the father of all the thunder-birds. He is always fighting with the Spirit of the Water. So when it rains the sky is full of thunder-birds.

“Big Thunder lives on that great mountain peak yonder. He lives in a wigwam with four doors look¬ ing east and west and north and south. From there he sends the rain and the hail and the snow.

“Sometimes the wings of the thunder-birds reach the earth and break down the trees. Sometimes they tear down the wigwams of the Indian braves, and if the red wing of the thunder-bird touches a brave it will kill him. When the sky grows very dark and the rain begins to fall, we shall ask the Good Spirit not to let the thunder-birds hurt us.”

“What became of the Indian brave that was touched by the thunder-bird’s wings?” asked Brave Badger.

“He went to the Happy Hunting Grounds,” said Wise Owl. “He took his arrows with him and there he will find many deer and many rabbits.”

Gentle Fawn told her children tales of the Good Spirit.

“Hush!” said Gentle Fawn. “The leaves on the trees can hear us. We must not offend the leaf spirits. When winter comes and the leaves are off the trees, we can talk about them.”

INDIAN LEGENDS

“Can the wind hear, too?” asked Wild Hare.

“Yes, the wind can hear, and the sun. We must be careful not to offend them. If the sun hides his face too long, the corn will not grow. If the wind does not blow it will not rain. Then we shall have no corn to eat.”

Little Wild Hare and his brother did not know how to read. The Indian children had no books, but all the Indian fathers and mothers told stories to their children. In the evening about the camp fire or in the summer under the stars, the old men talked together, and the Indian boys listened to tales of brave deeds and of the killing of the deer and other game.

Wise Owl was too old to go on the chase any more. He told the little brothers many tales.

One bright, clear night they were looking at the stars.

‘ ‘ There are seven little stars altogether, ’ ’ said Wild Hare.

“Yes,” said Wise Owl, “I will tell you the story of the seven stars.

“Once there were seven little Indian boys who used to play together. They hunted and fished and were great friends. In the evening they had an open space in the woods where they used to meet. They

Their parents saw them as they rose i

INDIAN LEGENDS brought their suppers and ate whatever they had. Then one of them would sit in the middle and sing while the others danced.

“Once they planned to have a great feast. They told of all the good things they would have to eat. But when they had gathered they found that none of them had been able to get these good things. Their parents, one and all, had refused them food.

“So there was not a single good thing to eat. The Indian boys were very sad.

“But the little singer said, ‘Cheer up; we will dance and sing.’

“So he took his place in the middle and began to dance. They all began to grow happy and they danced and sang until their spirits grew so light that they flew away up into the sky. Their parents saw them as they rose and called out to them to come back, but up and up they went and were changed into seven stars.”

“What a great story!” said Brave Badger.

“One of the stars seems so little and pale,” said Wild Hare. “Why is he not bright like the rest?”

“That,” said Wise Owl, “is the little singer. He is very homesick and wants to come back to his parents. But none of these poor little Indian boys can ever come back.”

Chapter III An Indian Home

Gentle Fawn dressed all the skins the hunters brought home and made them into clothing. Her needle was a fine bone from the ankle of a deer and her thread was a long spear of grass.

Gentle Fawn made the ground ready and planted the com, because squaws always did the planting. She ground the corn and made it into cakes. She took care of the children until the boys were old enough to go hunting with the Indian braves.

When they moved the camp Gentle Fawn carried the burdens, because Fighting Bear must have his aims free to shoot a fierce animal or an enemy should they meet one on the way. She cut the poles and made the new wigwam. The old women helped Gentle Fawn. When they planted corn and squashes they all worked together.

Fighting Bear hunted and fished and brought home the meat for his squaw to cook. He was not afraid of anything, but he would not do a squaw’s work. He fought the warriors of other tribes and he danced at night dressed in the skin clothes that Gentle Fawn made for him. Fighting Bear did not dance for pleas-

AN INDIAN HOME ure, but to please the Great Spirit. The men and boys danced until they were tired.

When Fighting Bear came home from the hunt, Gentle Fawn hurried to give him his dinner.

He ate by himself and did not talk to his wife and children.

When he was through, the family ate while he smoked his pipe. They had bear meat or venison and corn cakes. Gentle Fawn made tea of sassafras or other leaves.

The Indian braves were very fond of t obacco. They smoked a great deal.

Fighting Bear had a beautiful pipe. It was trimmed with the crest of a red¬ headed woodpecker.

When the smoke came from the bowl of his pipe Fighting Bear caught it in his hands.

Then he raised his hands high in the air.

He thought the smoke would take a message to the Good Spirit.

The Indians thought tobacco was

the gift of the Good “Made them into clothing”

Spirit, and when they wanted to talk to him they smoked.

When an Indian died, his pipe and tobacco were put in his grave. He also had his bow and arrows and some food to take with him to the Happy Hunt¬ ing Grounds.

Yellow Butterfly was the little Indian sister of Wild Hare and Brave Badger. Little Indian boys seldom played with their little sisters. Indian boys did not care to play with girls.

Sometimes when Wild Hare and Brave Badger came home with a rabbit they let Yellow Butterfly play at cooking it. But the work of the Indian men and women was different. An Indian boy would not play at cooking or planting grain or making clothing, for that was squaw’s work.

Yellow Butterfly helped take care of the baby. His name was Running Beer. He had bright, black eyes and coarse, stiff hair. His mother tied him to a cradle board. His arms were wrapped close to his body and he was strapped to this small board, which Gentle Fawn carried on her back. There was a little pillow on the board and a place to rest his feet.

When Gentle Fawn was at work she unbound Run¬ ning Deer and let him lie on the cradle board. She freed his arms so he could play with his hands.

AN INDIAN HOME

Then Yellow Butterfly hung red beads and bright playthings over the baby’s head. She was too small to carry the cradle board very far. Gentle Pawn made a hammock for the baby with two L ropes of skin and put a deerskin over them.

Here Running Deer lay in his swinging bed and Yellow Butterfly watched him very

Carefully. “Hung red beads over his head”

Gentle Pawn was dressing a skin that the braves had brought home. She laid it on the ground and stretched it very tightly. Wooden pegs were driven along the edge to hold it smooth. As it dried it grew very hard. Gentle Pawn used a sharp bone to scrape off the fat and smooth down the thick places. The brains and liver and fat she used to rub in the skin to soften it. When this fat was rubbed in she rolled the skin up and left it for several days. Then it became nice and soft. She knew how to take the hair off the skin, but now winter was coming; so she would leave it on because it was warmer. In the winter lit¬ tle Wild Hare would like the warm fur.

Each Indian brave wore a breechcloth. This was a band of deerskin brought up between the legs. He fastened it with a belt of skin. The ends hung down in front and behind like an apron. Gentle Fawn knew how to make these breechcloths pretty with beads and fringe. She knew how to make deer¬ skin leggings almost as long as a man’s legs. They were held up by a cord at the upper outer corner and tied to the belt.

Then there was a warm jacket made of deerskin that came to the knees. When it was cold the Indian brave wore a large skin or blanket over all this to keep warm. He wrapped it about him like a shawl.

Fighting Bear had gone to the white men’s camp with some furs. When he came back he had two blankets. They were warm and soft, and Fighting Bear was very proud of them. When he dressed him¬ self up, with much paint on his face and feathers in his hair, he put on one of the blankets over the beauti¬ ful skin shirt that Gentle Fawn had made him.

One of the blankets was bright red, and this Fight¬ ing Bear gave to the Chief. Indians like bright colors. He also gave the Chief a necklace made of blue beads, which the fur traders had given him for his furs. The Indians so loved beads that they would sell their corn and their furs, and even their land, for red and green and blue beads.

Chapter IV

Wild Hare and Brave Badger had never been to school, but they learned a great deal every day. They asked many questions of Gentle Pawn. They listened quietly when Fighting Bear and the other braves talked around the camp fire.

Wise Owl taught them many things. Wise Owl had been a brave warrior in his day. He had no boys of his own and he liked to teach Wild Hare and Brave Badger.

“Wise Owl, teach us the sign talk/’ begged little Wild Hare. “We can only talk to the Indians in our own tribe, and some day we will be braves our¬ selves. Then we shall want to talk to the people of other tribes.”

Wise Owl knew the sign language very well. When Indians from other tribes came to smoke the peace pipe, Wise Owl was always called to talk to them.

“I will teach you to say buffalo ,” said Wise Owl.

Wild Hare and Brave Badger watched him very carefully. They did just as they were told.

“Close both hands, but leave the forefingers open and curved,” said Wise Owl.

Wild Hare’s little black eyes shone as he held forth two brown fists with the forefingers open and curved.

“Hold the fingers a little straighter like a horn,” said Wise Owl. “That is right.”

Brave Badger made his fingers into horns, too.

“Now put the horns up to your heads,” said Wise Owl, holding his fists up to his temples. “Your curved fingers are the horns of the buffalo. All Indian braves know that.”

Wild Hare and Brave Badger made the sign for buffalo over and over again, until Wise Owl was quite pleased.

Then he taught them the word crow .

“Lift up your arms,” said Wise Owl, “and leave your hands open. Your arms are the wings, and you must move them up and down and flap them as the big, black crow flaps his wings.”

Over and over the little brothers made the crow sign.

“Teach us another, teach us another,” begged Wild Hare and Brave Badger.

“This is beaver ,” said Wise Owl. “Hold the left hand straight out in front with the palm down. Cross the right hand under it so the back of the right hand is against the left palm. Move the right hand up and down so it will slap the left palm.”

This was not so easy, but soon Wild Hare learned to do it very well.

“The beaver has a flat tail. He strikes the mud or the water with it,” said Wise Owl. “You must make a slapping noise like the beaver’s tail.”

Brave Badger tried again and again to make the beaver sign.

But Wise Owl shook his head. He made a sign that both the boys knew. He held his hands closed in front of him with the backs up. He moved them down and then outward. At the same time he opened them quickly. Brave Badger knew that this meant, “Bad, very bad.”

But little Indian boys do not give up. Brave Badger soon went to roll himself in his blanket for the night. But all the time he was trying to make the beaver sign. In the morning he did it so well that Wise Owl was pleased and said they should soon have another sign lesson.

One morning Wild Hare and Brave Badger found Wise Owl sitting on the ground with his knees crossed. He was working with some shells. The shells had been brought by some Indians who lived by the sea. Wise Owl was making wampum. Wam¬ pum is the Indian money.

Wise Owl took a thick and heavy seashell and split off a piece. He ground it down with a stone until it was long and round.

This he cut into beads that were twice as long as they were thick.

He drilled a hole through the beads with the point of a stone.

It took many long hours to drill holes through the wampum. Wise Owl put the drill against his leg and held the piece of shell against it with his hand. Now the shell beads were like pieces of straw. Some were white and some were purple. The Indian boys thought them very pretty.

The wampum was strung on a string and some¬ times woven into belts. These belts had figures of men and animals. One Indian chief had a coat made* of wampum.

When he needed money he cut off a piece of his coat. When Indian tribes made; treaties they exchanged belts of wampum.

“I will take the purple wam¬ pum and you may have the white,” said Brave Badger.

“No, I want the pur- * pie wampum,” said

Wise Owl was making wampum” Wild Hare.

He thought the purple beads were worth more than the white.

“Do not fight/’ said Wise Owl. “Here is a sharp stone. Brave Badger, you may break off pieces of the shell and Wild Hare may drill them as I am doing.”

But Wild Hare’s wrists were not strong enough to drill the wampum. Soon the boys ran away to have a shooting match with some new arrows.

But Wise Owl sat and drilled and drilled wampum all day long. He strung the beads on deer sinews, and Gentle Fawn made them into pretty figures as she wove the belt.

It took many months to make enough wampum for a belt. Wampum was the most precious thing the Indians had. That is why they were so fond of beads.

Chapter V Davy Drummond

Davy Drummond was a little white lad, who also lived in the forest. He lived with his father and mother and little brother Ned in a log cabin. Many white families were now coming to make their homes in the land of the Indians. They had to live as the Indians did and wear clothes of skin.

Davy’s father killed most of their food with his gun. He went hunting every day. If he had good luck he came home with his game pouch full of rab¬ bits and squirrels. Sometimes he had a wild turkey.

Davy’s mother gave him slices of cold meat to eat instead of bread, but he would have been glad to have bread. In the fall when the corn was ripe they would have some corn cakes. Davy could hardly wait for the time to come. He helped his father clear away some of the roots and brush and chop down some of the trees. When the clearing was made so the sun could get in, they planted the com they got from the Indians. Davy watched the corn every day so the birds would not get it.

He had a long, slender stick with a bunch of roots on the end to throw at the crows. He learned to use

DAVY DRUMMOND it so well that he could kill birds and rabbits with it.

After awhile the green com was ready to cook. They had a great feast, but only a part of it could be eaten this way, for they wanted the com to ripen for meal. Then Davy’s mother would pound the yel¬ low grains into meal and make cakes in the fireplace.

Would you give a slice of tur¬ key for a piece of corn bread?

Davy thought corn bread the best thing he had ever had to eat. He had no butter to eat with it, but there was plenty of gravy. They could get wild berries, too, and Davy’s father got honey from the bee trees. They used honey in¬ stead of sugar.

Davy learned to shoot with his father’s gun when he was hardly old enough to hold it. He rested it on a stump while he took aim. One day he shot a crow that was pulling up the com, and he was very proud.

Davy’s mother could shoot almost as well as a man. Mr. Drummond always took a gun when he left the cabin, but he had another that he left for Mrs. Drum¬ mond to use. No one knew when a wild animal or

“He went hunting every day”

an Indian might appear. There were many Indians in the woods about them. Some were friendly, but others hated the white people, and one never knew what they might do.

Davy dressed much like the little Indian boys in the winter. His mother could sew and spin, but she had neither cotton nor wool, so the family all wore skins. On their feet they wore moccasins like those made by the Indians.

Davy’s father had built a log cabin, which kept out the rain and snow. There was a big fireplace in one end, where they could cook their food. Davy slept in the loft and climbed up by a wooden ladder. He had a bed of pine boughs, and wrapped himself up in a buffalo skin. Little Ned slept near his father and mother downstairs.

One morning Davy rolled out of his skin blanket very early. He was going on a hunting trip with his father. He put on some new moccasins and a shirt made of skins, and climbed down from the loft.

His mother was already cooking some squirrels for their breakfast. While Davy and his father were eating, she filled their pouches with cold meat and corn bread. Davy’s father had cleaned the guns carefully the night before. He gave Davy the smaller gun.

DAVY DRUMMOND

“I will keep the crows from the corn while you are gone, ” said little Ned.

Davy waved his hand to his mother and little Ned as he started off. He took long steps to keep up with his father. They were going many miles away to a salt lick to hunt deer.

All animals must have salt. In some places the earth and rocks are full of salt, and the deer and other animals come there to lick it up.

Deer are very shy creatures and it takes much patience and caution to get near enough to shoot them. The deer has no way of protecting himself except to run swiftly. He can smell an enemy a long way off and is soon beyond the reach of a gun.