n the wondering eyes and upon the innocent
lips of little children. Upon its hoary wisdom of proverb and fable, its
mystic and legendary lore thus sacredly preserved and transmitted from
father to son, was based in large part our customs and philosophy.

Naturally magnanimous and open-minded, the red man prefers to believe
that the Spirit of God is not breathed into man alone, but that the
whole created universe is a sharer in the immortal perfection of its
Maker. His imaginative and poetic mind, like that of the Greek, assigns
to every mountain, tree, and spring its spirit, nymph, or divinity
either beneficent or mischievous. The heroes and demigods of Indian
tradition reflect the characteristic trend of his thought, and his
attribution of personality and will to the elements, the sun and stars,
and all animate or inanimate nature.

In the Sioux story of creation, the great Mysterious One is not brought
directly upon the scene or conceived in anthropomorphic fashion, but
remains sublimely in the background. The Sun and the Earth, representing
the male and female principles, are the main elements in his creation,
the other planets being subsidiary. The enkindling warmth of the Sun
entered into the bosom of our mother, the Earth, and forthwith she
conceived and brought forth life, both vegetable and animal.

Finally there appeared mysteriously Ish-na-e-cha-ge, the "First-Born,"
a being in the likeness of man, yet more than man, who roamed solitary
among the animal people and understood their ways and their language.
They beheld him with wonder and awe, for they could do nothing without
his knowledge. He had pitched his tent in the centre of the land, and
there was no spot impossible for him to penetrate.

At last, like Adam, the "First-Born" of the Sioux became weary of
living alone, and formed for himself a companion--not a mate, but a
brother--not out of a rib from his side, but from a splinter which
he drew from his great toe! This was the Little Boy Man, who was not
created full-grown, but as an innocent child, trusting and helpless. His
Elder Brother was his teacher throughout every stage of human progress
from infancy to manhood, and it is to the rules which he laid down,
and his counsels to the Little Boy Man, that we trace many of our most
deep-rooted beliefs and most sacred customs.

Foremost among the animal people was Unk-to-mee, the Spider, the
original trouble-maker, who noted keenly the growth of the bo