第47章

After all,the wild Indians could not be justly termed improvident,when their manner of life is taken into consideration.They let nothing go to waste,and labored incessantly during the summer and fall to lay up provision for the inclement sea-son.Berries of all kinds were industriously gathered,and dried in the sun.Even the wild cherries were pounded up,stones and all,made into small cakes and dried for use in soups and for mixing with the pounded jerked meat and fat to form a much-prized Indian delicacy.

Out on the prairie in July and August the wo-men were wont to dig teepsinna with sharpened sticks,and many a bag full was dried and put away.This teepsinna is the root of a certain plant growing mostly upon high sandy soil.It is starchy but solid,with a sweetish taste,and is very fatten-ing.The fully grown teepsinna is two or three inches long,and has a dark-brown bark not unlike the bark of a young tree.It can be eaten raw or stewed,and is always kept in a dried state,except when it is first dug.

There was another root that our people gath-ered in small quantities.It is a wild sweet potato,found in bottom lands or river beds.

The primitive housekeeper exerted herself much to secure a variety of appetizing dishes;she even robbed the field mouse and the muskrat to accom-plish her end.The tiny mouse gathers for her winter use several excellent kinds of food.Among these is a wild bean which equals in flavor any do-mestic bean that I have ever tasted.Her storehouse is usually under a peculiar mound,which the un-trained eye would be unable to distinguish from an ant-hill.There are many pockets underneath,into which she industriously gathers the harvest of the summer.

She is fortunate if the quick eye of a native woman does not detect her hiding-place.About the month of September,while traveling over the prairie,a woman is occasionally observed to halt suddenly and waltz around a suspected mound.

Finally the pressure of her heel causes a place to give way,and she settles contentedly down to rob the poor mouse of the fruits of her labor.

The different kinds of beans are put away in different pockets,but it is the oomenechah she wants.The field mouse loves this savory veget-able,for she always gathers it more than any other.

There is also some of the white star-like manak-cahkcah,the root of the wild lily.This is a good medicine and good to eat.

When our people were gathering the wild rice,they always watched for another plant that grows in the muddy bottom of lakes and ponds.It is a white bulb about the size of an ordinary onion.

This is stored away by the muskrats in their houses by the waterside,and there is often a bushel or more of the psinchinchah to be found within.It seemed as if everybody was good to the wild Indian;at least we thought so then.

I have referred to the opportunities for courting upon the wild rice fields.Indian courtship is very peculiar in many respects;but when you study their daily life you will see the philosophy of their etiquette of love-making.There was no parlor courtship;the life was largely out-of-doors,which was very favorable to the young men In a nomadic life where the female members of the family have entire control of domestic affairs,the work is divided among them all.Very often the bringing of the wood and water devolves upon the young maids,and the spring or the woods become the battle-ground of love's warfare.The nearest water may be some distance from the camp,which is all the better.Sometimes,too,there is no wood to be had;and in that case,one would see the young women scattered all over the prairie,gathering buffalo chips for fuel.

This is the way the red men go about to induce the aboriginal maids to listen to their suit.As soon as the youth has returned from the war-path or the chase,he puts on his porcupine-quill embroidered moccasins and leggings,and folds his best robe about him.He brushes his long,glossy hair with a brush made from the tail of the porcupine,per-fumes it with scented grass or leaves,then arranges it in two plaits with an otter skin or some other or-nament.If he is a warrior,he adds an eagle feather or two.

If he chooses to ride,he takes his best pony.

He jumps upon its bare back,simply throwing a part of his robe under him to serve as a saddle,and holding the end of a lariat tied about the animal's neck.He guides him altogether by the motions of his body.These wily ponies seem to enter into the spirit of the occasion,and very often capture the eyes of the maid by their graceful movements,in perfect obedience to their master.

The general custom is for the young men to pull their robes over their heads,leaving only a slit to look through.Sometimes the same is done by the maiden--especially in public courtship.

He approaches the girl while she is coming from the spring.He takes up his position directly in her path.If she is in a hurry or does not care to stop,she goes around him;but if she is willing to stop and listen she puts down on the ground the vessel of water she is carrying.

Very often at the first meeting the maiden does not know who her lover is.He does not introduce himself immediately,but waits until a second meeting.Sometimes she does not see his face at all;and then she will try to find out who he is and what he looks like before they meet again.If he is not a desirable suitor,she will go with her chaperon and end the affair there.

There are times when maidens go in twos,and then there must be two young men to meet them.

There is some courtship in the night time;either in the early part of the evening,on the outskirts of dances and other public affairs,or after every-body is supposed to be asleep.This is the secret courtship.The youth may pull up the tentpins just back of his sweetheart and speak with her during the night.He must be a smart young man to do that undetected,for the grandmother,her chaperon,is usually "all ears."Elopements are common.There are many reasons for a girl or a youth to defer their wedding.