Central High School - Tom Tom Yearbook (Tulsa, OK)

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lil PACE 24 GALEBT .TONT'lS Assistant Superintendeni In Charge of Sefondary Sdzoolr The lndian's Responsiveness to Nature As Shown in His Daily Life HE INDIAN RACES were emphatically the product of nature. Their modes of life developed an uncanny awareness of their surroundings. They knew the forest and the plains, the waters and the desert, according to their habitat. They supported themselves largely by hunting and fishing. They knew the habits of many of the birds, fishes, and animals. They could identify their game with ear and eye at unusual distances. The senses of sight and sound and feeling were developed into a sort of forest instinct which seemed almost supernatural to the first white settlers. All their pursuits made permanence of dwelling difficult and involved naturally a life of almost ceaseless wanderings. The races as a whole showed a keen interest in natural phenomena. To most of the Indians every animal, plant, and object of nature was animated by a spirit, beneficent or otherwise, according as it was propitiated or of- fended. Certain of these were regarded as especially powerful or active, as the sun, fire, and water among the elemental gods, and the buffalo, eagle, and rattlesnake among the animals. Colors had symbolic meanings. Thus with the Cherokee, the red gods of victory lived in the Sunland, or East while the blue spirits of disaster dwelt in the north. One might go on indefinitely with illustrations of the Indian's re- sponsiveness to nature as shown daily in his life. The space at hand does not permit of more than these few selected instances. I am delighted that the editors of the 1932 Tom Tom chose to stress this fundamental trait of the original Americans. 3 J ia gm..

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XVI LL 'I RENC II Amodaie Supfr'i1zle1zdr'r1t CILV1'iL'1ll1l117 and l'f1'xw1m'l Indian Detours RAILWAY COMPANY features Indian Detoursf, I have never taken one of theirs, but I have taken an Indian detour of my own. I have read Laugloing Boy. With Oliver Laforge as guide, I have seen both the glorious southwest country and many of the spiritual aspects of a vanishing culture which the white men with vain-glorious effrontery has called sav- age. The railway shows one the southwest Indian as he is-red jetsam on a white sea-but on my Indian detour I saw him and his country both as they were and are, a brief, changing human drama in a majestic, eternal, natural setting of mountain range, plain, and canyon. I saw the Indian, calm, tranquil, and self-possessed in the great stillness of his native pla- teaus. I heard his plaintive love songs and his vibrant ceremonial music. I felt the strong pulse of his buoyant, open life. Then I saw him disinte- grate under the jangling, discordant, tin-panny tappings of the frontier of what we refer to as civilization. Through Laforge's intimate acquaintance with the cultural, artistic, and spiritual life of the southwest Indian, I have not only seen him, but I have gained a measure of understanding of him and his country. What a world of difference there is between merely seeing Indians, and understanding them! Y Pau rl 23 . 'i im

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ELI C. FOSTER Prirzfipal Tulsa Central High School Appreciation of Indian Literature Leads To Understanding of the Race HE LITERATURE of the Indian is rich in folk stories, legends, and myths. The white man has tried to understand him through a study of his literature, but the mysteries of the Indian mind are still unsolved. He lived so close to nature and in his own way understood his environment so well that the white man, with all of his knowledge, is baffled when he attempts a true interpretation. The beautiful poetry which the Indian gave out in song long before he knew the art of writing stands today unexcelled. It came from the standards of education. His love of life he expressed in song and story as only one who had never been made conscious of the limitations of civiliza- tion could give voice to his feelings. One feels a tug at the heart strings when he considers that the Indian in his native environment is rapidly passing. It is especially fitting that the Tulsa Central High School, which has borrowed so much of its idealism from these first Americans, should preserve in its yearbook some of their literature and life. May the theme of this book be an inspiration to all who read it and cause them to seek earnestly for the things of the spirit. PAGE 25 I are I il