nyhours. When we were old enough to be of real service we went to the fieldwith our parents: not to play, but to toil. When the crops were to beplanted we broke the ground with wooden hoes. We planted the cornin straight rows, the beans among the corn, and the melons andpumpkins in irregular order over the field. We cultivated these cropsas there was need. Our field usually contained about two acres of ground. The fields werenever fenced. It was common for many families to cultivate land inthe same valley and share the burden of protecting the growing cropsfrom destruction by the ponies of the tribe, or by deer and other wildanimals. Melons were gathered as they were consumed. In the autumnpumpkins and beans were gathered and placed in bags or baskets;ears of corn were tied together by the husks, and then the harvestwas carried on the backs of ponies up to our homes. Here the cornwas shelled, and all the harvest stored away in caves or othersecluded places to be used in winter. We never fed corn to our ponies, but if we kept them up in the wintertime we gave them fodder to eat. We had no cattle or other domesticanimals except our dogs and ponies. We did not cultivate tobacco, but found it growing wild. This we cutand cured in autumn, but if the supply ran out the leaves from thestalks left standing served our purpose. All Indians smoked---men andwomen. No boy was allowed to smoke until he had hunted alone andkilled large game--wolves and bears. Unmarried women were notprohibited from smoking, but were considered immodest if they didso. Nearly all matrons smoked. Besides grinding the corn (by hand with stone mortars and pestles)for bread, we sometimes crushed it and soaked it, and after it hadfermented made from this juice a tis-win, which had the power ofintoxication, and was very highly prized by the Indians. This work wasdone by the squaws and children. When berries or nuts were to begathered the small children and the squaws would go...
