Show the old settler my dear san Jua ners I 1 if I 1 reared a whole No houseful useful of my own girls and I 1 been responsible as teacher for a multitude of other girls I 1 would not have such pronounced notions of what is necessary and fit in the training and accomplishments of girls in general As it is I 1 confess no blush in saying that if I 1 dont have some reliable ideas on the subject then im too weak in the head to come under condemnation for thinking I 1 have now it is sufficiently difficult to frame a consistent code of ethics for the kind of girls I 1 have known so well all these years let alone the matter of a safe course for these navajo girls with whom I 1 am but lately acquainted yet with what these girls already know beyond anything that I 1 auld could have taught them they have been giving me 1 some most valuable pointers take Eltee esie for instance she has just turned fourteen for size size and looks she would pass for seventeen for accomplishments she should pass for more than t twenty w e n t y her accomplishments however are essentially different from the effeminate accomplishments of the high school girl they tend more to fit her for meeting a forbidding array of stern realities and to fight out the hard battle of life with her own hands alone one of the first things to which I 1 was attracted in unusual repertoire is her superb horsemanship she can seize a horse by the bits swing into the saddle and ride away eret erect at full speed she can haul up short dismount and alight on the run with much more ease and grace than the expert cowpuncher with his heavy boots and high heels is master of another language besides her own eng lish 1 i s h whether english speaking people know it or not is a difficult language to learn but four teen year old manipulates it with a skill which is both impressive and an d appealing her original ways of using certain english words and expressions gives them more punch and potency than english speaking people are able to employ in answer to the question whether she could speak english she said simply and without comment change of expression or gesture of timidity or pride yes somehow it came as proof of an undetermined quantity for the full amount of which you felt warned to be prepared dur our greatest surprise came when we visited her hogon where she was making a blanket she had it three fourths done it is a blanket of unusual size and beauty about five by nine feet the intricate pattern is true to itself 1 in all particulars and we failed to detect any flaws in the endless continued on page four the old settler continued from page nage 1 t trifles r i fles which made up its generall general perfection refection 1 we wanted to know about tile the pattern where was the blueprint blue print from which she had worked out j designs with the wool do you have a pattern we asked 1 no she answered with that lac laconic onic thump which she can put into words well how do you know when to change the thread or what color or just hoy how far one thread should go we pursued 1 I remember she answered can sing she has a beautiful voice and carries tunes perfectly she can herd sheep milk goats make goat cheese har bar ness and drive a team bake bread and an but this ignot up to the dignity of her other attainments she can dance the popular dances now I 1 have maintained that the prime essentials in a girls education should be the skills and activities tivi ties by which she can make her own way through adversity I 1 think this fourteen year old is more able than any other girl I 1 have knolon to start from nothing and fight her way with her own hands through desolation and disaster ALBERT R LYMAN |