.0^ '^o. 05 ♦.-r.T' ^ V a^ ^ ' ^o^i^^ -^ 'j> o > •<•.. "i" ^^ ^* % .<^ '^.. ''> 0^ .-^^ .'J^ T, 0' A^ . °-U •■' / ^ . Cs . ^ >.. ^^O .V a^.' 4 o ^> ■'>o ,xN- ,..^"- .0^ « ■ • ' >^./ ■>" 'O " O A.' -^ "^^0^ 0^ •* a5^^ X^^<^ X ■'*■/ ,..*^ &> <*-, V^' '^ .-^ A^ yJdiZ^: '^o "' o"^ . • 'J^' " ^^ ^o ^^\^'^(m^ v: ^% \ • : « „ O JOHNNIE CAPTAIN. Little Captain Johnnie, or Johnnie Captain, as he is called, is a small Indian boy eight years old, who lives in the great Yakima In- dian Reservation in the State of Washington. He is quite a famous little captain, too, and no other boy can ride the little cayeuses as Johnnie can, so he is ahva3^s to be seen at the races when the Indians come together in crowds, and the airs he puts on are very amusing. When he was six years old a lady and gen- tleman took him on along journey, first across the Rocky Mountains to St. Paul and Minne- apolis on the Northern Pacific railroad, and then by the Great Lakes down to Cleveland, Ohio, and after that away down to the Atlan- tic coast. Johnnie rode horses in the East at some of the great races, and when he came SCHOOL EDUCATION HELPS. liome to the teepee where his father and mother Hve the rest of the bo3^s thought him a very great person indeed, and he had things prettj' much his own way, since no one of these ignorant Indian boys dared to dispute the captain. It is a great sight when Johnnie starts on a horseback race. He wears no cap and his black hair is rather long and streams out be- hind; his brown legs are bare and he wraps them closeh^ around the little pony; his jacket is a very gorgeous affair, gaily decorated with beads and feathers. Off he goes, like the wind, down the long, dusty track, for the summers of Yakima county have no rain, and the dust settles in clouds over the people who stand watching. The track is not a round one stich as you have seen at fairs, but simph' a long road with a loop at the end, so long that the riders go almost out of sight, and look like specks in the distance. When they turn to come back the excitement begins. The Indians have, all been betting, putting up blankets, horses, beadwork, furs, anything, on one side or the other, and they range themselves in groups on either side of the track to show which horse they have favored. There they stand, A YAKIMA SUN DANCE. most of them on horseback, watching the rid- ers, and when the wiry cayeuses come gallop- ing in, thcA^ pay their debts, pack tip their goods and go home without a murmur. I saw one man, very old and feeble, who had lost his' only blanket and had had almost nothing to eat for da^^s, j^et he hobbled off without a word. It seemed YQvy sad, but it is the Avay the Indians have trained themslves to bear pain and hunger. Captain Johnnie's horse y^on and I was glad of it, for he seemed so eager, but I could not help wondering what sort of a man this proud little Indian jockey would make. A YAKIMA SUN DANCE. The Indians who live in the great State of Washington are not wild like the red men whom Columbus found when he discovered America, but have been taught to live as white men do, and to till the earth instead of living entirely by fishing and hunting. Man3' of them still cling to their old wa3^s, however, and even a wealthy Indian will keep his Avagon and machines in his nice wooden house, and live in an old teepee with his family. SCHOOL EDUCATION HELPS The Yakima tribe have tried hard to stay wild, and not to do what the palefaces wished them to, and so there are about two hundred of them on this beautiful reservation who live down at one corner of the land on the banks of the Yakima river, and never allow white men to interfere with any of their wa3^s. They will not accept any help from the government, and though they find it very hard to get enough to eat, they have never yet taken food or blankets from the agent, who would be very glad to help them. They have their feasts and dances just as their fathers did, and live in the old wild way, but they are not unfriendly to white people and will allow them to come and see some of their worship, though there are some dances that if a white man was discov- ered in he would be jDut to death at once. I once went to a pom pom dance in the big teepee of Doctor Bilh^ the big medicine man of the tribe, and it was the strangest meeting I ever saw. The top of the teepee was open and the sunlight streamed in upon the ground floor, where three little fires Avere burning for they worship fire and Avere singing a hymn of praise to the great sun when we went in. Four men with plenty of paint on their faces A YAKIMA SUN DANCE. and feathers in their hair were beating the pom xDoms, or drums, with all their might, 'CULTUS PETER," A YAKIMA. while all the men and women sat in rows on the floor, swaying back and forth, and singing the most nnearthU" music 3'ou ever heard. Part of the time the3^ all stood up and sang in SCHOOL EDUCATION HKLPS. the same way, jumping up and down and beating their breasts all the time, pointing to the sun at the end of each Averse. There w^ere some very little babies there and they were strapped on a board which the mother carries onherback by means of a strap over her forehead. When she Avants to ride horseback she hangs her baby on the saddle, and off she goes over the prairie. The teepee was covered with barks and skins and its walls were hung with mattings made by the Indians from the rushes and flags that grow on the banks of the river. It was thought to be a splendid house, and Doctor Bill3''s poorer friends were very glad to come and see him. The\^ brought their whole fami- lies and camped there for days, having meet- ings da^^ and night, and staj'ing until every- thing he had to eat was gone. AN INDIAN FOURTH OF JULY. I think no little white boy or girl ever en- joyed a Fourth of Juh' celebration more than the Indians on the Yakima reservation did last year. The Fourth is a Ytry big day with these people, and the3^ get ready for it for daj^s beforehand. The celebration was held in a beautiful oak grove where the agency is located, at Fort Simcoe, thirt\^-five miles from Yakima, the nearest town, and on the night before the Fourth there Avere one thousand Indians en- camped in the grove where years ago were Uncle Sam's soldiers, sent out there to prevent the savages from murdering the few white people who then liA^ed in the Northwest. You know ever\'bod3^ wants to see the pro- cession on Fourth of Juh' ? Well, I wish ever^- one of \^ou could have seen that procession I SCHOOL EDUCATION HELPS. First came the Indian police, dressed as onr policemen are and looking very dignified. Then came the judges, grave and important looking men, and then rode the greatest of all the Indians, White Swan, chief of the reserva- tion, w^ho has for years been the friend of the government and sits on his horse as proudly as though he were a king. He was dressed in soldier's clothes, ^with the Stars and Stripes across his breast, and in his hand he carried a great fan made of the wing of the wld white swan, from which he took his name when he w^as a wild Indian. Then came the men on horseback, dressed as warriors, all in paint and skins and feathers, and all ^whooping like mad to show the wa^^ their fathers used to go to ^var. The women and girls came next, their faces daubed with every color, and dressed in all the gay finer3^ they could get, and around and around the square they went until the air seemed full of redskins and w^e almost Avondered if the\^ would get excited enough to begin to fight in real earnest. After the parade they had a war dance, and then a great big dinner in the grove, just like one of our own picnics, and after that there THE PAINTED ROCKS. were real Fourth of July speeches, and some of those Indians talked quite as well as man3^ of the white men who made speeches that day. The evening was given up to dancing and White Swan gave every dancer a present of bead work, and in the gray of the morning they began to ride awsij, all very happ3^ over the birth of the nation that took their great land from them. THE PAINTED ROCKS. A LEGEND. A great many 3^ears ago, so long that not even the oldest Indian can remember it, there lived a beautiful maiden, the daughter of old Anchie, chief of the Yakimas, and her father was so proud of her beauty and goodness that to him she w^as like the morning star that waits in the blue sky until the kingW sun is well on his journe\^, and then modestly hides her face. So he called her ''Star of the Morn- ing," and so tender was he of her that scarcely a brave in the tribe dared approach her to of- fer a gift of the most priceless ermine skin or SCHOOL EDUCATION HELPS. the plumage from the sh3^ and beatiful ptar- migen, which all the yotmg men hunted eager- Ijy hoping to please the princess, for all the people loved her. Still she loved none of the warriors, until one day ^^oung Strong Heart bowed before her with no offering but a tender flower, and when the princess saw him she paled and trembled just as the morning star pales before the sun and she went to her father's wigwam and knelt before him on a robe of bearskin and said: ^ 'Oh, my father, you have long wished that among the young men of our tribe might be found one worthy to take jour place as chieftain of the people, but 3^ou have ever been kind and patient v^ith 3^our child when none of them could touch her heart. Now at last have I seen one who is above all others and before whose eyes m^^ heart fluttered like the tender leaves on the aspen tree, and now if it please 3^ou, call Strong Heart and tell him his gift is lying on my breast.'* Then the old chief was glad and called Strong Heart, and at once there was a great feast spread, for all the Yakimas loved Strong Heart and Morning Star, and so they were happih^ married. THE PAINTED ROCKS. But in the neighboring tribe of the Klicki- tats was a young chief who was very bitter PETER BROWN-A KLICKITAT. w^hen he heard the stor^^ and he said to him- self: ''Morning Star w^ould not so much as look at the gifts I brought her, though they were costlv and beautiful. Let her beware!" SCHOOL EDUCATION HELPS. And he incited his people to war against the Yakimas so that ab(3ut a 3^ear after the mar- riage there was a great battle fought and the Klickitat chief carried the 3'oung Morning Star as a prisoner. Then did Strong Heart, who was now the chief, TOW to be avenged, and he gathered a great arm}^ of warriors and started in hot chase after the fl3^ing armj. At last, on the brow of a rocky hill overhinging the raging Natchez river, he overtook the Klickitats and demanded that the chief give him his wife and child. But his only answer vsras a shower of ar- rows , and so the two armies fought until but few Yakimas were left and the noble Strong Heart was almost alone wth his enem3^ Then the lovely Morning Star broke loose from her captors, and running to her husband she threw herself into his arms, cr\4ng: ''0, my chief, since 3^ou must die let me die with 3^ou, for nw life is nothing if a'ou leave me.'' And while the cruel Klickitat chieftain smiled at the thought that he should soon put Strong Heart to death b\' torture and keep for his own the lovely princess, Strong Heart turned THE PAINTED ROCKS. and with one swift stride reached the edge of the rocky wall, and before the astonished war- riors could stop him he had plnnged with his wife in his arms into the surging waters of the Natchez, and so they perished together for the love of each other. Then the Klickitats drew away, and after a time the cunning men of the Yakimas came and on the rocks above the river they painted the story of the battle and the deeds of Strong Heart, and to this day the pictures may be seen as plain and bright as though they were done yesterday. CLASSIC HYTHS. BY MARY CATHERINE JUDD. Retold for Primary Pupils. ILLUSTRATED. These myths have been so popular with teachers while appear- ing as numbers of School Education Helps, that wemeet the great demand for them hy publishing all together in pamphlet form. Myths of Sun, Moon, Stars, Winds, Waters and Miscellaneous. Suggestions for the study of Myths are given, and no better sup- plementary reading for third grade has ever been published. Over 100 pages (paper). By Mail 1 5c. Libera/ discount on quantities for classes. Address School EducatioH Co., MINNEAPOLIS, MINN. 5kyward and Back Again. By LUCY M. ROBINSON. For First and Second Reader Grades. Attractive stories about the Sphere, Sk\', King Sun, Air-Fairies, Giant Gravitation, Water-Fairies, Frost, Rain and the like, told in a most pleasing manner. Primary teachers enthusiastically commend these stories as aids in science teaching, and also, their beautiful, fascinating manner reaching toward the best that lies within the child's grasp. Forty-eight pages, illustrated. The illustration of Bus^' Sun- beams is a gem; most complimentary to Miss Kittie Granger, the arlist, and a jo\^ always, to the teacher or pupil who uses the book. Price (paper) By Mail 1 Oc. Libera/ discount on quantities for classes. Address School Education Co., MINNEAPOLIS, MINN. H31 7S Si| :/.^ ^^ Hq<. >v '^\ o^"\ v^&;^^ y^^c^ '^y^m^ ^- ••-^,^- 'o . . ' .\ ^ o « c ^ ^i^^.^ ' .* ^■>- .^ ;^ , ^-e V,^ ^ c^ .^^^Ij^, ^^^- ^^^^^, \^ ^ r 'V %.^ :MC0^ ^..<^ ^-.:° ■>^. ^^ :^^/^' -oV^^ ^^" ''* ,'V '^0^ ^' -m -^ ■.^^