The facts and stories which have made this little book possible are found in the works of Schoolcraft and in the Government reports of Ethnology. Especial credit is due to Albert E. Jenks, author of "The Wild-Rice Indians of the Upper Lakes," and to James Mooney, who reported for the Government the tribal myths told by famous Cherokee story-tellers.

There is evidence that the Indians of early times had regular trade routes across the continent, north and south, and east and west. It was the custom of their story-tellers to exchange stories, and it is therefore possible that some of the myths told in the south found their way in northern wigwams. The story of the birds welcoming a papoose, for example, is obtained in part from the Cherokee collection, and in part from Schoolcraft, who lived among the Ojibways, or Chippewas as they are often called. That certain tales are similar to fables of Æsop is explained by the theory that a primitive people, observing nature, would originate similar myths.

The forests where rice grew wild in the shallow water of lakes and streams, were coveted lands and the cause of many Indian wars. Here game was abundant, and maple sugar, berries, and nuts could be obtained in season.

After years of conflict for the rice lands, peace was made between the Ojibways of the Great Lakes and the Sioux, or Dakotahs, farther west. Trade with the whites had begun, but there were many villages which the white men had never entered, and where the primitive customs were still unchanged.

As Hiawatha was not the only Indian who married a Dakotah, it follows that there were homes where the family life was influenced by the customs of both tribes.

The author has endeavored to describe child life in the Wild-Rice region west of the Great Lakes at this period, and to retell some of the most interesting stories enjoyed by Indian children.

The aim of the book is to gratify the American child's natural interest in primitive life by stories of our own land and to increase his respect for all that is original and worthy in the lives of the First Americans.