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Show y.( . .. ?. . . ,: 4f ,;v;v - - , - V V V V V -A -'k)4mM V " 1 ' ' vJi fill J i U III fiF IV)ks j f lllliij "AfAJ8fS Or TH JfJCfJTJT AWD?y WOKX AT CAf?L5LE Wf7 SAVl(? TJr-3S" SGHOOl. X 4 f 1 113 Indian girl is progressing m accordance with the example set i by her white sisters. Indeed, it is a question whether the Indian girls I are not. in many respects, ad- V-' vanctng more rapidly than their vCV's-Z.X prototypes among the palefaces. fLI'- However, it must not be interred "ilrif "3at Present-day trend of cul-v cul-v k ture and education and progress j"" among the Indian girls is a paral-i, paral-i, (2) lei as to aims and purposes with C-J" that which prevails among her tair-complexioned tair-complexioned cousins Quite the contrary, as a matter ot tact. For instance, it may be cited that, generally speaking, the Indian girls ot the present give tar less thought to fashions in dress than do leminine members ot the white race. Similarly they are not exercised over suffrage and they do not place such stress on the development ot musical accomplishments. But, on the contrary, the twentieth century Indian In-dian girls are devoting their energies to a mastery mas-tery of cookery and sewing and the other essentials essen-tials of successful home-making to which, in the estimation ot some old-tashioned folks, the wbite girls of the period are giving all too little attention. atten-tion. At the same time, many ot the red-skm belles are not content to ignore the social accom-plisnments accom-plisnments wnicn are supposed to ennance tne attractiveness at-tractiveness of modern young women. Accordingly Accord-ingly at the Indian School at Carlisle, Pa., and other large institutions of this kind we find the daughters of the forest crowding the classes in music, painting, drawing, dancing, modern athletics, ath-letics, etc., and even behold these descendants ot the savages developing marked dramatic ability in amateur theatrical entertainments ot various kinds. Every person ts forced to admit ot the wisdom and benefits of the "white man's education" for some Indians. The remarkaDle life stories ot some of the self-made Indians who have, after acquiring the white man's book learning, adopted the white man's mode of life, amply attest the success of the transformation in individual cases There Is, however, and perhaps always will be a difference of opinion as to the wisdom ot attempting at-tempting to fix the Anglo-Saxon standards for the entire rising generation ot Americas native tribes. Oddly enough there seems to be more widespread belief lu such a policy tor the Indian girls than lor the young men of the tepees We say, oddly, because when new conditions have confronted an uncivilized or semi civilized people it has usually been the men who nave accustomed ac-customed themselves to the new order ot things more readily than the women In the case ot most Indian olans, however, the women Dave proven more amenable to the exactions ot the new life wherein seems to lie the only salvation of the eutire Indian life. Various reasons nave been advanced in explanation of this, one ot the most plausible being that It has not been as difficult dif-ficult for the Indian girl to forego such pleasures as she enjoyed in her old life as it has been tor the young brave to foresake the excitement ot the chase and the care-tree nomadic liie and to settle down in a fixed habitation with the irksome monotony of the white man's life. Also, it is impossible im-possible to overlook the Influence exerted by the example of the considerable number ot Indian women who have married white settlers in Oklahoma Okla-homa and other parts ot the west. Even at the outset of her career In the conventional conven-tional environment of the age the Indian girl has many advantages over her brother who completes com-pletes his education at the same time, it not infrequently in-frequently happens that a young man of Indian blood graduates with honors from some, Indian school only to find no opportunities awaiting him commensurate with his ability. Small wonder that In some Instances the young men revert re-vert to the ideals and mode of life of their tore-fathers. tore-fathers. The Indian girl, on the other hand, can be sure that when she finishes a school course that Includes domestic economy there Is a place awaiting her. She will never nave any difficulty in obtaining a well-paid position in domestic service, serv-ice, for the instructors at our Indian schools have more applications than they can accept irom responsible re-sponsible families eager to secure competent Indian In-dian girls as household helpers. Some ot tne applicants ap-plicants even suggest the possibility of adopting a young Indian girl if one be lound to fulfil expectations. ex-pectations. Or, If the Indian girl of the present day, upon completing her education, elect to try lor a live-Ihood live-Ihood in some one of the artistic pursuits she seems to have advantages over her brother tuliy as marked as under the circumstances ahove mentioned. men-tioned. The Indian brave, in his native state, does not show aptitude for any form ot artistic handicrait unless it be the lashicning ot bows and arrows. But the Indian women nave tradi tional skill In bead work, in feather work and in leather work and the Indian women ot the southwest south-west have for countless generations excelled in pottery manufacture, in rug weaving and in basket manufacture. When an Indian girl is enabled to use such talents in accordance with the Knowledge Knowl-edge ot modern art ideals which a school education educa-tion gives her. it goes without saying that she has ready to hand a very agreeable and very remunerative re-munerative means ot livelihood School teaching Is another vocation which opens to the educated Indian girls a tuture that is virtually vir-tually closed to the redskins of the sterner sex. There are in the United States a large and constantly con-stantly Increasing number of Indian schools, that is. primary grade schools for the education of .the younger Indian children on the reservations. and it is coming about that almost all or the teachers in these schools ar Indian young women who have qualified for the work at Carlisle or other schools and by courses In normal schools Indeed the success of great numbers ot these young Indian women school teachers in earning their livelihood by brain work while so many or the Indian young men of the period must depend upon manual labor for their earnings emphasizes as does nothing else the change ttat has come about In the status of Indian women. It is, under un-der such circumstances, a complete reversal or conditions over those that obtained in the long ago when the Indian women were compelled to do all of the hard labor, whereas the men were responsible only for the lighter tasks, or, mayhap, may-hap, devoted themselves exclusively to warlare and the chase. There is little doubt that one explanation or the success which so many twentieth en"ury In dian girls are making in various fields of en deavor is found in the heritage of good health which has come to them from generations ot healthful ancestors, and the influence ot their own early training and out-door 111 e. Particularly would this explanation account for the splendid constitutions possessed by so many Indian girls and which have stood them In good stead in many exacting vocations, for instance, m nursing Great numbers of Indian girls have qualified as trairtd nurses and the services of most ot their are in constant demand at $100 a month The Indian baby, strapped to a board or se curely packed in an elongated basket woven lor the purpose, can neither'kick nor squirm and this proves an advantage which is far-reaching in its effect In later life. Similarly is there no danger that the child will attempt to walk at an earlier age than is desirable. From earliest childhood the average Indian girl has been subjected to that rigorous outdoor life which results In making them almost perfect physically. For inFtance there may be cited the method lollowed in giving an Indian child a bath, a weekly event The mother visits some convenient pool or stream anu the young member of the household, alter being loosened from her odd cradle, is placed in shai low water to kick and splash to her heart s con tent. In due course the dripping youngster is lifted from the water and. instead of being ten derly dried wi'h soft linen, is simply hung io the bough of some convenient tree, by means ot a cloth tied around the waist, and there dries in the air and the sunshine while the mother stands Oy looking with approving eyes upon the progress ol this -heroic hardening prof ess In the old days the Indian girls accepted a) tender age the traditional lot of Jndlan women that ot pack horse, and it was nothing unusual in the average Indian camp to see wee girls tolling toll-ing aion with bundles of wood, etc., almost aa large as themselves. This condition yet obtains to a considerable extent, although It is not so universal as formerly. The capacity of the Indian In-dian girls for hard work, however, finds daily ex emplihcation in every walk of life which thej have entered. Incidently, it may be mentioued that whatever influence civilization may exert up on the young woman in whose veins courses Indian In-dian blood she never seems to lose that love ol ornaments and bright colors which characteny.es all children of the wilderness and which the In dian girl will let crop out In ber latter day cos tumes. even though they be lahicned in ;': corc ance with the most convenllonal mode ' |
