I recall to the present day some of the kind warnings and reproofs that my good grandmother was wont to give me. "Be strong of heart--be patient!" she used to say. She told me of a young chief who was noted for his uncontrollable temper. While in one of his rages he attempted to kill a woman, for which he was slain by his own band and left unburied as a mark of disgrace --his body was simply covered with green grass. If I ever lost my temper, she would say:
"Hakadah, control yourself, or you will be like that young man I told you of, and lie under a green blanket!"
In the old days, no young man was allowed to use tobacco in any form until he had become an acknowledged warrior and had achieved a record. If a youth should seek a wife before he had reached the age of twenty-two or twenty-three, and been recognized as a brave man, he was sneered at and considered an ill-bred Indian. He must also be a skillful hunter. An Indian cannot be a good husband unless he brings home plenty of game.
These precepts were in the line of our training for the wild life.
