.sWANTox] TNDTAN TIUHHS OF TUK T.OWKll MISSTSSrPPI VALLEY 87 



to iciidri- I he siiiows more lloxildc; in (lu> soi-oiid pliicc, lo jirevent the flies fnuu 

 liitiiiK tiii'iii wlicii they are ail l»aie and left to i licnisclvcs in tliis manner. 



They do not pnt these infants on their icri uuiil tlu'v are more thau a year 

 old, and when they beKin to raise themselves np they always liave a yonng ^ii'l of 

 trom 10 to 112 years to lioUl them nnder the armpits. They let these children 

 suckle as lonj; as it pleases them; at least unless the mother linds herself 

 prepnaiit, wlien she no lonjier nurses. 



When the hoys approach 12 years a how and arrow are made for them, pro- 

 portioned to their strength. To tr.iin them, they put a little bunch of grass of 

 the size of the wrist and long as the hand, bound with four cords oh the end of 

 a pole a little pointe<l, and which extends about 10 feet out of the earth. The 

 one of these young boys who knocks down the bunch of grass receives the 

 reward of praise which an old man, who is always i)resent, gives him. The one 

 who shoots best is named the young warrior. The one who shoots less well, 

 but who is almost as adroit, is named the apprentice warrior, and so with others 

 who are namcnl on account of their earnestness rather thau their hits. 



As from their tenderest years they are threatened with the old man if they 

 are obstinate or do any harm, which happens rarely, they fear and respect him 

 more than anyone else. * * 



If the yomig people should hai)pen to tight, a thing which I never saw nor 

 heard of during the time I lived among them, they would threaten to make them 

 live verj- far from the nation as persons unworthy to dwell with others; and it 

 is often repeated to them that if one strikes them they should be careful not to 

 return it. I have already said that I have studied them a very long time, but I 

 have never heard of any of these disputes or beatings among the young people 

 or the grown men. 



They have no police among them, for the reason that in following exactly 

 the law of nature they have no contention, and thus have no need of judges. 



As fa.st as the children grow the men and women take care to accustom those 

 of their sex to the labors and exercises which are suitable to it, and it is not 

 at all difficult to interest them in these. But it must be admitted that the girls 

 and the women work more than the men and the boys, who have not many 

 other labors than those of hunting, fishing, and cutting wood, of which the 

 women bring in the very smallest piece. Finally they- have the corn fields to 

 make and weed." On days of rest they amuse themselves by making mat- 

 tocks, according to their fashion, paddles, and oars; but these utensils once 

 made last for a long time. On the other hand the woman has to bring up her 

 children, to i»ound the maize in order to nourish the family, to feed the fire, 

 to manufacture a <iuautity of utensils, which involve long labor and do not last 

 long, like i)ottery. mats, clothing, and a thousand other similar things, of which 

 I have spoken in the article on the labors of the natives.'' 



When the children are from 10 to 12 years old they are accustomed little by 

 little to carrying small burdens, which are increased with age. A traveler has 

 told me that the nations of the north make their children carry very large 

 burdens. I can hardly believe it, because I have always noticed that all the 

 nations, without exception, are very sparing of youth, and that all are of the 

 opinion that it is not necessary to lead young jieople far nor to marry them until 

 they are about 25, and that othewise they would become enervated. * * * 



Racing is from time to time the exercise of the youths, but they are not 

 permitted to exhaust themselves, owing to the length of the ground, nor by 



" Du Pratz is mistaken if he means to say that the ordinary fields were cultivated 

 entirely by the men. This was true only of certain sacred fields. 

 "See pp. 62-64. 



