Katharine Elizabeth Dopp

Did you ever go out in the woods in the spring to find something to eat?

Have you ever tasted the bark of any trees?

If there are any spruce trees near you, find out what they are good for.

All the snow was now gone from the wooded hills.

The people were glad, for they were tired of the long, cold winter.

They were hungry for fresh green leaves and berries.

One day Firekeeper took a torch and started out over the hills to see what she could find to eat.

She found winter-greens with red berries half hidden among the dry oak leaves.

She ate some and gathered a handful; then she passed on over the hills.

The sap of the spruce trees was beginning to flow and had hardened in places upon the trunks.

Firekeeper bit off a lump and chewed it until she made it into gum.

Then she bit off other lumps, and even bit into the inner bark.

She liked the taste of the bark, so she peeled off large pieces and ate them.

Then she gave a shrill call and listened until she heard a call from the cave.

In a moment she called again.

Again the answer came.

But this time the voices were nearer.

Then Firekeeper knew that the women and children were coming.

Soon she heard their calls again, and again she called to them.

This happened several times, each time the voices sounding nearer.

In this way Firekeeper helped the women to find the way to the spot.

She kept watch until they came in sight.

There were women carrying flaming torches, and others with babies strapped to their backs.

Children followed close to their mothers’ heels or ran along beside them.

The cradles were hung on the branches of the trees.

While the women were getting a taste of the bark, Firekeeper was hunting slender twigs for baskets.

All the women soon joined Firekeeper in the work.

They broke off slender branches from the spruce trees and trimmed them and laid them in bundles.

Then they dug spruce roots with sharp digging sticks.

After eating all the bark that they wished, they played with the children among the trees.

The mothers strapped bundles on the little girls’ backs, but took the larger bundles themselves.

They strapped the cradles on top of their loads.

They followed the river path on their way home and stopped when they came to the drinking-place.

After drinking the fresh cool water, they dug shallow holes near the edge of the stream.

They dug little troughs from these holes, so that the water of the river could flow in.

Then they put the spruce branches into these holes and left them there to soak.

When they reached the cave that night they were tired and hungry, too.

But the men soon came with plenty of meat, and soon they were all eating and resting around the open fire.

THINGS TO DO