Waukesha High School - Megaphone Yearbook (Waukesha, WI)

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Sports of the Indian Boys BARBARA GREGORY The Indian believes that the Almighty gave each one of His Creations some particular grace and power, and these favors may be obtained from Him for each one, if he is studious in following his professor's habits. In learning the skills of his tribe the boys earnestly follow this belief. The first task of the Indian boy is that of learning to run. When only five years old they are taught by the older men of the tribe to follow the butterflies. On catching one they followed a quaint custom of the Indians by rubbing the wings over their hearts and asking them to lend them their swiftness. As swiftness is a necessity in war and hunting this skill was given first place in importance and much time was spent in its improvement. Although the boys enjoyed running. they thought swimming was more fun. In all seasons of the year the men were in the rivers or lakes before sunrise and would send the boys in to swim among the floating cakes of ice. They learned to dive in various ways and if they failed to follow instructions exactly, they were severely reprimanded and ducked several times as a punishment. Each boy was given a bow and arrow as soon as he was able to run about. To practice accuracy, a game was played with a buffalo chip as a target. Three out of five shots was the minimum and every boy marked his arrows so he could keep count of his score. The boys spent many hours during the day in playing this while the older men of the tribe stood around and eagerly watched for their own chil- dren to show the greatest skill. In all pursuits of this kind. the boys work- ed very hard. They were usually called the Magpies which meant. The mischievous ones. They never knew when they might be called by their teachers and whenever called, they must follow wherever he led. Sometimes he tossed a handful of sticks into the water thickly floating with ice cakes, to be brought back with an honor given to the one who had the most. There was never any shirking or waiting-the more difiiculties to be faced, the more the boys liked it because they were forced to use their heads as well as their muscles. Sometimes the boys were taken along on buffalo hunts to test their courage in the face of danger. As reward for extreme bravery the CROXV INDIAN Although dressed in white man's clothes he still has about him that air of disdain and inscrutable calmness which we always as- sociate with the American Indian. -, --4 1 W fgfg! .Hvr .-'xi-T., ,N 1 ' - if 'Ts 'I , 'swap' 9' ., , - tim U L1 .. S -'za i V, e 'lfkf ,,k'fi5?7-fl' Fi 35-135 Xffke.. ' ,'T?4T'i' '14fZxl5? .4'fqAi' ,u-avfia-I ff- ' 'xfxxdfi - -4 ,f '--' '- I ' 3 .- '---Q A ' ' f ,us ,f5v+si,. 4 l A. wil- .rgb ,. iw 'vs -- i -.f'-- - . - -4: L ti-eg ,, 'i,Q ,1 f ii Li? i Ir fi. '. WE, -.-' .-,u f 4- .,--,My j 1, pf 7 3: 3 ' -11.31 7:3 wf fi, Q.-I-151 . I - .I 4 T lv- 1-'rg '+L .1 S'-.-Q ' F' . -,..-4. . - qi -'. A- ,. 1:1 ' . ' si: . 4 1 I . ' ' '- -5 SEQ.. f .ras .Q X V39- Q - F. , V V W - .rig 1 1, . . rs-ef'.1' V . - ' X 5 - f . . 5? iv,.,4,. 5 .r .. . V Ms ,Y . .: .A+ ' 2' :,i5a--.3:1.4-431: 1 v . at ' i m f , . 21' . -mar:-: ,-.,. - e L . , , .tai 1' -Z .. . , . Page One Hundred Fourteen

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material values. He wove his Gods into his mats and blankets. His legends he put into his basketry and bead Work, there to become a part of his daily life and, at last, a part of him and his heritage. It was thus that the Indian became innately an artist. His paintings, his designs, his songs, were all a part of his life, and it was as unnatural to use an undecorated piece of pottery as to use none at all. He sang at Work. He had a song for corn planting, and a song to bring the deer down from the moutain. His houses were dedicated in song, and his own soul de- ft, parted in the midst of it. That the White man was able to plant corn, and THE Moouf PRAYER PoR not sing, that the white man could enjoy his songs and RAIN still not share their meaning was a disconcerting dis- The Returning of the Snakes. a . . . . bronze Smuem, dgng by Humon covery by the Indian. In his songs and stories, his A' MACNQH' 3 Contemporary Amen' basketry and blankets, his pottery and his Water-colors later, lie the greatest and most lasting of Indian contri- butions to our civilization. Still. in these periods of speculation and doubt as to the stability and Wis- dom of our economic structure, perhaps the Indian can afford us a great contribu- tion in the form of his social organization of the small community. Of more than historical interest is this organization, for in the survivals of community, arts, village industry, and Wholesome rural life, we may find the saving force for the mass living of our American industrialism. Perhaps here. in this long successful experiment of community living, We can find that something is needed in our civilization. Our task is to develop this talent, to discover and draw out the best from the Indian. More Widespread education is the best means of doing this. The Indian is capable of this education: it should be afforded him. When this is done, he will fill a larger and better place in our civilization than he now can possibly occupy. vvv TREES IN THE RAIN Trees in the rain Are like broken-hearted children crying Sobbing in the wind With dripping leaves. can sculptor born in 1866. They stand with drooping heads As if grieving for a long-lost friend. Lonely, disconsolate, Giving way to pent-up grief. Agnes Gerard. Page One Hundred Thirteen

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boys were given an opportunity to Count Coup. Symbols represented each time this was done: sometimes they were sticks or feathers. Among the older members of the tribe this custom was very sacred and requirements were much harder. Mimic battles were fought with snowballs in the winter and mud in the sum- mer. These sham battles usually followed the departure of a war party and were fought between two parties of boys with chosen leaders. The leaders of these parties usually became chiefs in a later day. In all these sports in which they engaged one may clearly see predominating them all a great fore-thought. Every sport was a training for the future in both a mental and a physical way-unlike most of our modern sports, the Indians played in practical ways and took a great pride in excelling in them. There was a seriousness in each boy's mind as he followed his instructors. The keynote of their sportsmanship code was merely that Nothing in sports was overlooked that might lead them to courage and self-reliance in the face of sudden danger. We twentieth century Americans with our boastful athletic record might well notice these Indians of the rugged past. V-VV The Virtues of the Indians OLIVE MCGEEN An Indian woman had been gathering corn one autumn day. and as she made ready to start for home she heard a wee voice call, Don't leave mei Ohf Don't leave me! Startled she went back, but she could see no one. Once more she made ready to leave and the voice again called her back. This time she looked under all the corn stalks and leaves and found one little ear of corn that had been crying, fearing to be left alone to die. So the woman took it home with the rest of the corn, for it would be a sacrilege to waste or treat lightly any of the gifts of the Cureat Spirit. This little legend shows something of the Indians' regard for nature and their reverence. They attribute human qualities to all nature, and they love and reverence it. They do not feel that they own their homeland and coun- try. Quite the contrary-they feel themselves to be possessed by it, and that it is their duty to honor, reverence. and serve it. The Indians were not the treacherous beings we are often led to believe them. The History of Wz'llz'am Penn and his Followers and of the Hudson Bay Company, which traded all over Canada for more than a century, shows they had never a serious break with any tribe, which proves the Indians were not treacherous when treated fairly. Among themselves the Indians had no rules for punishment of theft because it was so infrequent. An Indian always kept his promise, too, no matter what the consequences to himself. You can easily see why white men us- ually inspired distrust in the Indian. Page One Hundred Fifteen