INTRODUCTION xiii

life of the Indian. Obedience to the laws and traditions of the Wigwam was the beginning of the education of his children; by these laws he taught respect for custom and for parents. Form and etiquette were as dear to the savage as to us, and gentle breeding was as well marked by the habits in the home. The stranger within the wigwam was always treated with the most formal politeness and yet with the warmest hos— pitality. Violation of this first law of social life would have been exceeded in rudeness only by a neglect, on the part of the guest, of the equally precise part that was prescribed for him.

If we are accustomed to think of the life of the savage as lacking in order and discipline we need but to look into the Wigwam to under- stand our mistake. In the centre is the fire, by one side of which sit the master and the mistress of the house, the wife’s place nearest the door. On the other side of the fire are the old people, and the younger members of the family. Toward the end of the Wigwam, far from the door, is the seat of honour, and here sits the welcomed guest. The men sit cross- legged, as is the custom, the women with the feet curled to the side, and the children with theirs freely extended.

If love and marriage are the greatest part of life as they are of the story, whether of the