Page 127 - TheHopiIndians
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MESA FOLK OF HOPILAND 119
When the number of children bom is considered,
there seems to be no reason why the Hopi should not
soon have a dense population, instead of remaining
stationary. When more is known, though, of the un
ripe melons and other green things given the children
to eat at their own sweet will, the wonder is that any
of them ever reach the yeara of discretion. It is a
wise provision of custom that the children are not
required to wear any clothes whatever, and one soon
becomes accustomed to the graceful, animated little
bronzes that swarm in the quaint, terraced pueblos.
Nowhere are these little flowers of the tree of life
more cunning and interesting. Like the Japanese
children they seem to deserve no correction, and it is
as rare a sight as green grass, in the land of Tusayan,
to see a parent strike a child. Always instead there is
kindness and affection worthy of the highest praise.
It is refreshing to observe the association of children
with their parents or near relatives, and how quiet
and obedient, they are. This close parental attention
must be the secret of good children wherever the
country may be. The Hopi children are fortunate in
having many teachers who, at home or in the fields
or in the country, explain to them the useful things
which they should know in order to become good
citizens of Tusayan. It surprises visitors to find out
how much the little people have learned, not only of
the birds, plants, and other sides of nature, but of
their future duties in the house, the fields, and the vil