498 SEMINOLE INDIANS OF FLORIDA. 
The Seminole mother, [ was informed, is not in the habit of soothing 
her baby with song. Nevertheless, sometimes one may hear her or an 
old grandam crooning a monotonous refrain as she crouches on the 
ground beside the swinging hammock of a baby. I heard one of these 
refrains, and, as nearly as I could eatch it, it ran thus: 
D.C.ad lib, 


No-wut-tca, No-wut-tca. 
The hammock was swung in time with the song. The singing was 
slow in movement and nasal in quality. The last note was unmusical 
and uttered quite staccato. 
There are times, to be sure, when the Seminole mother carries her 
baby. He is not always left to his pleasure on the ground or in a ham- 
mock. When there is no little sister or old grandmother to look after 
the helpless creature and the mother is forced to go to any distance 
from her house or lodge, she takes him with her. This she does, usually, 
by setting him astride one of her hips and holding him there. If she 
wishes to have both her arms free, however, she puts the baby into the 
center of a piece of cotton cloth, ties opposite corners of the cloth to- 
gether, and slings her burden over her shoulders and upon her back, 
where, with his brown legs astride his mother’s hips, the infant rides, 
generally with much satisfaction. I remember seeing, one day, one jolly 
little fellow, lolling and rollicking on his mother’s back, kicking her and 
tugging away at the strings of beads which hung temptingly between 
her shoulders, while the mother, hand-free, bore on one shoulder a log, 
which, a moment afterwards, still keeping her baby on her back as she 
did so, she chopped into small wood for the camp fire. 
CHILDHOOD, 
But just as soon as the Seminole baby has gained sufficient strength 
to toddle he learns that the more he can do for himself and the more he 
can contribute to the general domestic welfare the better he will get 
along in life. No small amount of the labor in a Seminole household 
is done by children, even as young as four years of age. They can stir 
the soup white it is boiling; they can aid in kneading the dough for 
bread; they can wash the *“‘ Koonti” root, and even pound it; they can 
watch and replenish the fire; they contribute in this and many other 
small ways to the necessary work of the home. Iam not to be under- 
stood, of course, as saying that the little Seminole’s life is one of severe 
labor. He has plenty of time for games and play of all kinds, and of 
these I shall hereafter speak. Yet, as soon as he is able to play, he 
finds that with his play he must mix work in considerable measure. 
ia 
Oe ee ae 
