Page 127 - TheHopiIndians
P. 127

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
   122   123   124   125   126   127   128   129   130   131   132