| OCR Text |
Show PLAINS AND MOUNTAINS. 207 upright position, with its head out ; others have a leather or skin pouch, in which the babe is carried, hung to the back of his mother ; and others carry them in the same position, in a case of bark or dried stiff skins, with only an opening over the face. This contrivance lesembles a metallic burial-case more than anything else I can think of now. When the hopeful cries, the mother pacifies it by sway ing herself from side to side, or back and front. Walking or riding, as a rule, they are carried on the back, but I have seen a pappoose, in a skin pouch, suspended from the pom mel of a saddle, like a pistol and holster. It is a common thing for an Indian mother to make a long journey, and carry her infant in some one of these ways when it is only a few days old. When the mother gives birth to her child it is not un common for no third person to be present. She then lives in a hut, or lodge, by herself, until the child is twenty- five or thirty days old, when she takes it to its father, who then sees his child for the first time. Chastity is observed by the young squaw and guarded by the mother, because it in creases the chances of her becoming the wife of a u big Indian," rather than from any moral restraint. Infidelity is not con/ non among wives, and when it occurs is often followed by severe punishment to both guilty parties. The lover may be slain, but it is not uncommon to appease the anger of the injured husband by the present of a pony or other valuable gift. Indian children of a few years, of both sexes, I think, are more attractive in appearance than when they become older. They are generally treated very kindly, and soon become " spoiled children" in the fullest sense of the word. When a youngster of six or eight strikes his father it is regarded as a hopeful sign of coming bravery, and is spoken of accordingly. The boys are early taught that their mother is to be their slave. The men are hunters and warriors only. They consider it degrading to the sex to do any kind of manual labor. I think there is combined with this pride a laziness, which, of |
