twins; and twins were held
in superstitious awe by the Indians, who feared them as
possessed of occult power, and frequently put one or both to
death. In this instance no such fate befell the children.
Kumshakaw evinced none of the dreaded attributes, and lived
to a ripe old age, but Laulewasikaw, by his practice of magic
and claims of supernatural knowledge and power, as we shall
see later, bore out the ancient belief.

Tecumseh in his early days was left largely to the care of his
sister, Tecumapease. Thus between the two there arose a strong
attachment which lasted until Tecumseh's death. From the well-known
Indian practices in relation to the bringing up of young children
we can imagine how the days of his infancy were passed. When not
rolling on the ground, the child would be closely confined in his
curious cradle, a sack made from the skin of an animal and bound
to a thin, straight board, somewhat larger than his body. Great
care would be taken to keep straight the infant limbs, that their
symmetry might be preserved in later life. This was the first stage
in the making of an Indian stoic. Every part of the cradle was
symbolical. That the child's life might be preserved, the heart
of a tree was used for the cradle board. Along the wooden bow above
the child's head, which symbolized the sky, zigzag furrows were
cut to represent lightning, the power of which was designated by
suspended arrows. Through holes in the upper part of the board was
threaded a leather thong, or burden-strap, which Tecumapease passed
about her forehead when carrying the papoose on her back, or which
the mother fastened to the pommel of her saddle when making long
journeys. It served also to hang the cradle to the branch of a
tree, when the child swayed backwards and forwards with the motion
of the bough while the wind crooned him to sleep. The cradle would
sometimes be placed upright against a tree-trunk, so that Tecumseh's
eyes might follow Tecumapease as she helped to grind the corn in
a hollow stone or sift it through baskets; or, again, while she
mixed the meal into cakes, and carefully covered them with leaves
before baking them in the ashes.

Sometimes Tecumapease would carry Tecumseh on her back to where
Methoataske worked in the field with the other women of her tribe.
Like them, from bearing heavy burdens and doing the drudgery of
the camp, Tecumapease was strong and sturdy rather than graceful.
Her hair, black and glossy as a r