An Indian Mother and Her Child, Michigan.

Categories

Special Collections > Keystone Slides

Type

tiff scanned file from original glass slide

Description

There the wrinkled, old Nokomis
Nursed the little Hiawatha,
Rocked him in his Linden cradle,
Bedded soft in moss and rushes,
Safely bound with reindeer sinews;
Stilled his fretful wail by saying,
'Hush! The Naked Bear will get thee!'
Lulled him into slumber, singing,
'Ewa-yea! My little owlet!
Who is this, that lights the wigwam?
With his great eyes lights the wigwam?
Ewa-yea! My little owlet!' This Indian baby is not bound with reindeer sinews, but he is safe in his Indian cradle. This cradle the mother straps to her back when she carries her child through the woods. You will observe his beautiful Indian blanket. The pattern woven into it is one common to the throws and blankets the Indians weave. About the head the mother is a band of beads in which are stuck two turkey feathers. Her dress is decorated with strips of leather and bits of shell. Her moccasins are beaded, as is also the bag by her side. Her hair hangs down in two heavy plaits. Nokomis taught Hiawatha: Many things
Of the stars that shine in heaven;
Showed him Ishkoodah the comet,
Ishkoodah, with fiery tresses;
Showed the death dance of the spirits,
Warriors with their plumes and war clubs,
Flaring far away to northward
In the frosty nights of Winter;
Showed the broad, white road in heaven,
Pathway of the ghosts, the shadows,
Running straight across the heavens,
Crowded with the ghosts, the shadows. When the little papoose grows older he will learn to shoot the bow, to wrestle, to ride, to fish, to jump, and to use the knife and hatchet. Keystone ID: 11941 Note: All titles, descriptions, and location coordinates are from the original Keystone Slide documentation as supplied by the Keystone View Company. No text has been edited or changed.

Rights

Copyright by the Keystone View Company. The original slides are housed in McConnell Library's Special Collections.