Читать книгу The Boy's Book of Indians and the Wild West онлайн

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Before the white man came to America the Indians were clad almost entirely in the skins of animals which they themselves cured and dressed to perfection, fastening various pieces together with the tendons and tough strips of skin very much as we sew to-day. These garments, gayly ornamented with shells and colored stones, made very useful and picturesque clothing.

The Indian boy was taught from early childhood to believe that his highest attainment was to be a brave warrior and a great hunter, and to look with scorn upon any other work. So upon the Indian women fell the task of tilling the soil. For this reason farming never became a real industry among them and they were amply satisfied to grow maize, or Indian corn, from which they made many kinds of dishes and bread. A very rich and fertile soil furthered their ambitions, for with but little attention to farming they reaped abundant crops.

AN INDIAN VILLAGE

For houses the red men had wigwams. These they constructed by fixing long poles in the ground, tying them together at the top, and covering them with skins of animals joined together as they sewed their clothing. They made an opening in the top to serve as a chimney. Such crude structures could be quickly taken down and as readily put up again, and admirably suited the needs of their owners, who loved to wander from place to place. This peculiarity was probably due to the fact that after living in one spot for a certain length of time they would find their natural resources for food becoming exhausted, and perhaps an enemy had hunted out the encampment for ravage. Then, too, it was the Indian’s nature to rove in wild natural haunts and, no doubt, a place long inhabited lost its charm for him. A few of the tribes, however, did build permanent villages, with streets and regularly spaced wigwams, around which they extended palisades of logs for protection against attacks from their enemies.