BACK TO THE WOODS.

Marlborough Express, Volume XXXIX, Issue 111, 14 May 1906, Page 4

BACK TO THE WOODS.

« SIMPLE LIFE" FOR THE

AMERICAN BOY

Mr Ernest Thompson Sefcon, artist, author, and lecturer, who sees ia the intense commercial activity of the United States the bacillus of physical decay, and who is trying to eradicate it by teaching tho rising generation to emulate the healthy life of the aboriginal redskin, is visiting Eng land.

Mr Seton has been official naturalist to the Manitoban Government, baa written and illustrated innumer able books on bird and animal life, including the popular " Biography of a Grizzly," and " Lives of tho Hun ted." Now from his home at Wyndygore, Cos Cob, Connecticut, fee directs the Indian movement which he organised, and whioh has grown to considerable proportions.

He explained his remark ible and successful work to an "Express " representative.

MR SETON'S METHOD

Mr Seton's method is to reach the rising generation by encouraging boys to " play-Indian." At a certain stage in the development of the American boy he plays Indian as inevitably and naturally as a duck takes to water. Mr Sefcon aims to extend this period to cover sevtral year?, and to systematise it so that as the b.)y grows older the play will be adapted to his maturing intelligence, and still bold his interest to such a degree that when he i 3 fully matured, and mere play has become a secondary m itter in his life, he will have acquired a permanent interest in wild nature.

As he summarises it: /' The wh li.1i. ; plan aims to make the outdoors the real life, the indoors the incdent; •the reverse of the present condition." FEATHERS AS REWARDS ' The reward •. were feathers bestowed by the councils oi the tribe ,irr skill itrarrow shooting and wp,cd craft, foi? speed in running and, swimming, for; s!recg!h in wrestling; and so forth. The rules vvcrorlndian rules, or !based on the-r, and>evu'y bey received an Indian name on his admission to the tribe.

He began experimenting a few yeit'a ago with tqys who lived in the neighborhood of hi 3 estate. They wece invited to camp out in his wood, using his teni's nnd canoe?, but fur niiMing the'-'r own provisions. He taught th'6ra games tbat he had him self learned from Indians, and invented, others. There boys crganued wbat Jfihey called a tribe of Indians, aneTMr Seton taught them the ceremonies by which chiifs are installed in office, and established a system of rgward^ by which each member of >ihe tribe bad an opportunity of carry >tng' away a souvenir of the occasion. it. From this beginning the movement grew until now there are no fewer .than 50,000 boys in the United States enrolled in Iribes of " Seton Indian." They represent every eec tion of the country, and although comparatively few have the Irghlyprized privilege of camping with Mr Stton, they all look upon " Black WoK"—bii Indian name—as their leader, deluge him with reports of their council meetings, refer disputed points to him, and would accept hidictation in all matters if he would let them.

But he insists that the tribes shall regula'.e. their own affairs under the general rules of the organisation. He says : " We aim at sound education to produce nob scholars, but men," aEd this is ihe guiding principle oi the movement.

Exictly the right way to arouse and maintain the interest of the boys did not come to him at once. He admits that he is sii.ll .experimenting, and the nature and results of his experiments may be seen from one instance. At first feath rs were awarded to winners of competitions. " Oom- - petition means 'down tho other fellow,'" said Me Setob, /'Tberefu\ we have abolished all competitive honors, find substituted standard honors fur them. Standard means ' raise your^ell.' " RAISING THE STANDARD. He finds that this new rule works excellently, the boys being simulated to acquire a given degree of skill in whatever sport may be in question, and that tho standard of each tribe rises steadily, whereas under the former rule the improvement was likely to be limited to those who were naturally skilful.

Tl c loys dress in Indian costume in their camp-, aod prize the feathi r^ awarded to thorn as seriously a? did the real Indians whom they imitate.

"Wo believe in tho simp'e 1 fc, and the Indian exempl fie^ it better than any man k' own to us," Mr Seton said " It is quite true that we id.alise (he Indians. We do it deliberately. The boys arc taught lo emulate only that which was wholesome nnd adnrrable in the old Indian life. Tho savagery, cruelty, and superstition wo ei;h r igncro or condemn. " The movement is now grevvi *p very rnpid'y, and necessarily occup c a great part of my time. Inst summer, for cXimpU1, two tribes cime to visit me tho sr.me weik, and we had to pitch two camps, one on each side of a lake in my grounds. Next May, as soon as I can make arrangements after arriving home, there will be a week's camp for tho purpose of putting into their experimental stage various plans and ideas that have beeu thought of during the winter, and I should not be surprised if the entire summer season saw an uninterrupted Indian camp in my woods. " And all over the country the Chaufcauqua tummer assemblies have their Indian camps, managed in the main by teachers who have learned the ways from what may ba called the parent camp."