The Express and Telegraph, 1906 (article)

PLAYING AT INDIANS or BACK TO THE WOODS

“Simple Life” for the American Boy.

Pod těmito titulky se objevil na jaře 1906 v australských denících následující článek:

• The Express and Telegraph. (Adelaide) Saturday 14. April 1906, p. 5, zdroj^➚
• The Daily Telegraph. (Syndey) Wednesday 18. April 1906, p. 12, zdroj^➚
• The Leader. (Melbourne) Saturday 5. May 1906, p. 42, zdroj^➚

Anglické, ani americké periodikum s tímto článkem zatím nebylo nalezeno.

Mr. Ernest Thompson Seton, artist, author, and lecturer, who sees in the intense commercial activity of the United States the bacillus of physical decay, and who is trying to eradicate it by teaching the rising generation to emulate the healthy life of the aboriginal redskin, is visiting England. Mr. Seton is a native of South Shields, who spent four years in the backwoods of Canada and another five on the western plains. He has been official naturalist to the Manitoban Government, has written and illustrated innumerable books on bird and animal life, including the popular “Biography of a Grizzly,” and “Lives of the Hunted.” Now from his home at Wyndygore, Cos Cob, Connecticut, he directs the Indian movement which he organised, and which has grown to considerable proportions.

He explained his remarkable and successful work to an “Express” representative on March 6.

Mr. Seton's method.

Mr. Seton's method is to reach the rising generation by encouraging hoys to “play Indian.” At a certain stage in the development of the American boy he plays Indian as inevitably and naturally as a duck takes to water. Mr. Seton aims to extend this period to cover several years, and to systematise it so that as the boy grows older the play will be adapted to his maturing intelligence, and still hold his interest to such a degree that when he is fully matured, and mere play has become a secondary matter in his life, he will have acquired a permanent interest in wild nature. As he summarises it – “The whole plan aims to make the outdoors the real life, the indoors the incident; the reverse of the present condition.”

Of course, Mr. Seton does not tell boys of his ulterior design. To them he is a real hero – the greatest man in the United States, with the possible exception of President Roosevelt.

He began experimenting a few years ago with boys who lived in the neighborhood of his estate. They were invited to camp out in his woods, using his tents and canoes, but furnishing their own provisions. He taught, them games that he had himself learned from the Indians, and invented others. These boys organised what they called a tribe of Indians, and Mr. Seton taught them the ceremonies by which chiefs are installed in office, and established a system of rewards by which each member of the tribe had an opportunity of carrying away a souvenir of the occasion.

Feathers as Rewards.

The rewards were feathers bestowed by the council of the tribe for skill in arrow-shooting and woodcraft, for speed in running and swimming, for strength in wrestling, and so forth. The rules were Indian rules, or based on them, and every boy received an Indian name on his admission to the tribe.

[Pozn.: Sem The Daily Telegraph přesunul poslední odstavec předchozí části ]

From this beginning the movement grew until now there are no fewer than 50.000 boys in the United States enrolled in tribes of “Seton Indians.” They represent every section of the country, and although comparatively few have the highly prized privilege of camping with Mr. Seton, they all look upon “Black Wolf” — his Indian name — as their leader, deluge him with reports of their council meetings, refer disputed points to him, and would accept his dictation in all matters if he would let them.

But he insists that the tribes shall regulate their own affairs under the general rules of the organisation. He says: “We aim at sound education to produce not scholars, but men,” and this is the guiding principle of the movement.

Exactly the right way to arouse and maintain the interest of the boys did not come to him at once. He admits that he is still experimenting, and the nature and results of his experiments may be seen from one instance.

At first feathers were awarded to winners of competitions. “Competition means ‘down the other fellow,’” said Mr. Seton. “Therefore we have abolished all competitive honors, and substituted standard honors for them. Standard means 'raise yourself.’”

Raising the Standard.

He finds that this new rule works excellently, the boys being stimulated to acquire a given degree of skill in whatever sport may be in question, and that the standard of each tribe rises steadily, whereas under the former rule the improvement was likely to be limited to those who were naturally skilful.

The boys dress in Indian costume in their camps, and prize the feathers awarded to them as seriously as did the real Indians whom they imitate.

“We believe in the simple life, and the Indian exemplifies it better than any man known to us,” Mr. Seton said. “It is quite true that we idealise the Indians. We do it deliberately. The boys are taught to emulate only that which was wholesome and admirable in the old Indian life. The savagery, cruelty, and superstition we either ignore or condemn.”

“The movement is now growing very rapidly, and necessarily occupies a great part of my time. Last summer, for example, two tribes came to visit me the same week, and we had to pitch two camps, one on each side of a lake in my grounds. Next May, as soon as I can make arrangements after arriving home, there will be a week's camp for the purpose of putting into their experimental stage various plans and ideas that have been thought of during the winter, and I should not be surprised if the entire summer season saw an uninterrupted Indian camp in my woods.”

“And all over the country the Chautauqua summer assemblies have their Indian camps, managed in the main by teachers who have learned the ways from what may be called the parent camp.”

• Back to the Wood 18.4.1906 – https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article