Katharine Elizabeth Dopp

Can you think why the Cave-men lived in clans instead of in families as we do?

How many men do you think lived in the fire clan? How many women? How many children?

What could the children do to help their fathers and mothers?

How do you think the children played?

Ever since the Tree-dwellers had learned to use fire, there had been a fire clan on the wooded hills.

There were many other clans, too.

Some of them were named after wild animals, and some were named after plants.

All the people lived in clans, for it was the best way to live at that time.

There were enough men in each clan to protect it from wild beasts.

There were enough women to do the household work.

There were many children, too.

But there was room enough in the cave for all, and they lived as if they were one large family.

Each child in the clan was given a name, which was changed when he became full grown.

The name of one of the girls was Brighteyes.

Brighteyes called every man in the cave her father, and she called every woman her mother.

All of the children were her brothers and sisters.

She did not have any cousins.

She did not have any uncles and aunts.

At that time no one spoke of uncles and aunts.

Brighteyes used to play with her brothers and sisters, and she used to work, too.

She tried to do what the grown people did.

Sometimes the children went with their mothers to hunt for roots and nuts.

But sometimes they had to stay at home to take care of the babies.

Brighteyes liked to play with the babies.

She would hunt for bright and shining playthings, which she strung on spruce root or a kind of tough grass.

Then she would dangle them over the heads of the babies and watch them as they laughed and crowed.

Sometimes the girls made rattles of gourds, which the babies played with for a long time.

Sometimes they carried the babies on their backs until they got very tired.

Then they put them in their skin cradles again and hung them on the branches of a tree.

While they rocked the babies in their cradles they sang them little lullabies.

THINGS TO DO