AMERICAN INDIAN GIRLS.

Western Star, Issue 932, 21 March 1885, Page 2 (Supplement)

AMERICAN INDIAN GIRLS.

As an example of their stoicism, it is said that during a fight with our troops in the West, an Indian woman concealed her little girl in a barrel, telling her to remain perfectly still whatever happened. After the battle the child was found with her arm shattered by a mihnie ball, but she had uttered no sound. Their distrust of the whites is as characteristic as their self control. 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 the United States soldiers, and rather than let her child fall into the hands of the white men, the poor woman tried to kill her. Coming from such influences, it is surprising to note how quickly the young Indians show appreciation of what is 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 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 Two-Dogs, Katy White-Bird, Maud Chief-Killer, Gertrude White-Cloud, Maggie AmericanHorse, 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 very 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 suffering. Yet these faces, we are told, are not so sad as were some others which now quiver with intelligence and feeling.— Mrs. Lizzie Ghampney, in St Nicholas.