Indian Girls at the Government School at Carlisle, PA.

New Zealand Mail, 22 April 1887, Page 5

Indian Girls at the Government School at Carlisle, PA.

As an example of their stoicism, it is said that during a fight with our troops, in the West, an Indian women concealed her little girl in a barrel, telling her to remain perfectly quiet, whatever happened. After the battle the child was found with her arm shattered by' a minie-ball, but she had uttered no sound. Their distrust of the ■whites is a 3 characteristic as their self-con-trol. One of the little girls at the school, who retains her Indian name, Keseeta, bears frightful scars from wounds inflicted by her mother with a sharp stone. Their village had been taken by United States soldiers, and rather than have her child fall into the hands, of the white men, the poor mother tried to kill her. Coming from such influences, it is surprising to note how quickly the young Indians show appreciation of what ia done for them, and the intelligence and affection which light their black eyes as they return the greetings of the noble women who teach them. Many of the names of these children, especially of the girls, sound oddly, for it is common for them to choose Christian -names of their own, while retaining their fathers’ names for the sake of family distinction. This gives rise to such queer combinations as Isabella T«o-Dogs, Katy White Bird, Maud Chief-Killer, Gertrude Whifce‘Cloud, Maggie Araerican-Horse, Anna Laura Shooting-Cat, Alice Lone-Bear, Hattie Lone- • Wolf, Stella Chasing-Hawk, and Ruth BigHead* These girls are neat in their habits, bright and imitative. Some of them have ery pretty faces and could readily be mistaken for white children ; the faces of others, newer arrivals, have a sadness and vacancy -of expression due to privation and sufferrng Yet these faces, we are told, are not so sad as were some others which now quiver with intelligence and feeling.-Mrs L.zz.e W. Champney in ‘ St. Nicholas.