Part 43

Flaker listened to all the stories that were told by the best hunters. He questioned them eagerly and learned many things which the hunters themselves soon forgot. He learned the haunts of the wild animals in the various seasons. He knew where to look for the best feeding grounds and the places of shelter from storms.

And so when the fame of Flaker was noised about among all the clans, people came from near and from far to make gifts and to get his advice.

#THINGS TO DO#

Find soft wood or stone and see if you can engrave some animal on it.

Find a stick with branches and carve the head of some animal upon the end of the short branches.

Dramatize this story.

Draw one of these pictures:-- Fleetfoot starting out with his drum. Flaker speaking to the young men of the brotherhood. Flaker inquiring of returning hunters about the game and the feeding grounds. Strangers coming with gifts to get Flaker's advice.

XXXIX

THINGS TO THINK ABOUT

Think of as many simple ways of catching fish as you can. How do you think the Cave-men fished?

What do you think people mean when they say that some one is living a "hand-to-mouth" life?

How do you think people learned to dry meat, fish, or fruit?

Why would the people honor the one who taught them to preserve food by drying it?

Can you think of anything which could be used as food when it was boiled, that would not be a good food eaten raw?

Name a bitter vegetable. What happens to the water in which a bitter vegetable is boiled?

Name a sweet vegetable. What happens to the water in which a sweet vegetable is boiled?

What do you mean by "parboiling?"

Do you think the Cave-men will learn how to boil food?

How the Cave-men Learned to Boil and to Dry Foods

Again the salmon feast came, and again the neighboring clans camped at the rapids. This time they caught more salmon than they had ever caught before. And this was the summer that the Cave-men began to dry salmon and to fish with harpoons.

It was Willow-grouse who thought of drying salmon, and carrying it to the caves. She remembered the berries dried on the bushes, and the dried meat she found in a tree. No doubt all the Cave-men had eaten dried meat many times before. Often the Cave-men left strips of meat hanging from the trees.

Anybody could leave meat which he did not care to eat. Anybody could eat meat which had been dried in the sun. But not every one was bright enough to think of drying meat.

Chew-chew had never dried meat, nor had any of the women. It was enough for them to prepare the meat which they needed day by day. Few of the people ever thought of laying up stores for the morrow. They lived a "hand-to-mouth" life.

But Willow-grouse remembered the famines. She knew food was scarce in the early spring. And when she saw the river full of salmon, she thought of the sun-dried meat.

And so Willow-grouse caught some salmon and cleaned them and hung them on the branches of a tree. And when they had dried, she took them down and the Cave-men said that dried salmon were good. And so all the people caught salmon and dried them in the sun.

The first few days the people fished as they had fished before. They waded in the water and caught salmon with their hands, or they stunned them with clubs or with stones. But soon the men began to catch salmon by spearing them with barbed harpoons.

Afterward the Cave-men fished with harpoons which had barbs on only one side. Perhaps they first used a broken harpoon. Perhaps they found they could throw with a surer aim when the barbs were on only one side. At any rate, the Cave-men used harpoons with barbs on one side for fishing, while they used harpoons with barbs on both sides when they went out to hunt.

It was about the time of the salmon feast that people began to boil food. Pigeon first boiled food to eat. She remembered the broth and partly boiled meat which Chew-chew said the gods had left. And she boiled meat and gave it to the men, and they all sounded her praises.