152 
imposed on them, such as the widely-spread taboo against throwing 
fish bones to the dogs, applied equally to the adults of the commun- 
ity, so that they were exempt from the innumerable petty checks 
and restrictions that too often cramp the development of European 
children. They were exempt, too, from the discipline of corporal 
punishment that seems inseparable from civilized life, for an Indian 
parent, however provoked, rarely dreamed of inflicting more than a 
hasty pusli or blow. Yet their freedom did not mean licence. Ihe 
smallness of their communities made every individual’s life an open 
book to his neighbours and comiielled every adult to ta,ke an active 
interest in each child, whether Ids own or another’s. So, from their 
earliest years the children felt tlie full pressure of public oinnion. 
Their elders always stood near to arbitrate their disputes and to 
apportion praise or blame, and no ])rivate chastisement in the home 
could have ])roduced more effect than the outspoken repi'oot of the 
entire community. 
v' 
Freedom went hand in hand, too, witli a primitive system of 
education, even although regular schools were lacking. The western 
baiuls of Carrier Indians who had absorbed much of the culture of 
the coastal tribes in British C’olumbia recognized two curricula: one 
secular, the other ethical and I’eligious. The secular course was our 
manual training — instruction given at no set hours in the various 
tasks that the children would have to perform in later yeai’s. More 
peculiar was the etldcal and religious course. On quiet winter even- 
ings, when the ]ieople had gathered inside their big, plank houses, 
dimly lighted by one or two small fires, an old man seated in a corner 
would narrate some tradition or folk-tale of the distant past, and 
point the moi-al of the story with reference to the conduct of the 
children during the preceding hours. The education of children in 
other parts of Canada followed along the same general lines, but 
was not always organized into so definite a system. 
At the age of about ten a boy’s training became more rigorous. 
He then shot small game such as rabbits and squirrels, accompanied 
the hunters on their expeditions to become inured to the hardships of 
the chase, and performed many small duties around the camp. To 
harden the lads physically and mentally the Iroquois taught them to 
1 Cf. ITuntcr, Jolin D, : “Memoirs of a Cajitivily mnoiifi flu: Indians of Xorlli America,’’ p. 12 
(London, 1823 1 
