Letter to Mom

(A letter from a teenage boy to his mother while attending a camp as a part of the Seton Indian program.)

Hi Mom!

Hope you and Dad are doing well! I love it here in Standing Rock Village. I have made a bunch of friends and the corn meal pancakes that they make for dinner are awesome!

Since this is my first letter to you guys, I want to tell you about my life at camp. The camp director’s name is Ernest Thompson Seton, and he is a really nice guy. I heard a rumor from some of the boys that he started the Boy Scouts of America (that group that Cousin Jimmy is in), but he has not mentioned that in our conversations so far. Mr. Seton organized all of the boys in the camp into a fake Indian tribe called the Sinaways, and he told us that we are going to learn about the “essence residing in Indianness” (96).

Every day we wake up to hot oats in the morning and Mr. Seton tells us a morning Indian tale. I find these stories really fascinating, especially the one with the hummingbird and the creation of stars. Then we have to go to class and we perform nature study games and work on making different Indian costumes (96). After making the costumes, we get to put them on and run outside for an hour or so to test them out and see if they hold up in a real Indian fight.

After lunch everyone gets together and heads into the main wigwam to hear a talk by Mr. Seton. Most of the talks involve a discussion of what he calls “ethnography.” I am not quite sure what this word means but I think it means the studying and recording of culture. Yesterday, Mr. Seton said that “the Red Man is the apostle of outdoor life” and how we should all follow the outdoor examples set by Indians (96). “The Indians,” Mr. Seton said, “are a fundamental part of American identity since they are so well integrated into our wondrous lands and represent boundless knowledge of our outdoor frontiers.” Sometimes I get a bit bored of these lectures, but I do enjoy the post-lecture Indian fights since I get a sense of personal liberation from wearing the Indian disguise (7).

Last Monday the Camp Fire Girls came over for a visit. Cousin Sally was a part of the group, and I chatted with her for a while. She said camp life is a bit different from normal life because of the emphasis on womanhood and service. She said she is taking classes on how to sustain a large family and how to make everyone happy. Sally does enjoy chatting with all the other girls though!

Have a great week and I cannot wait to see you guys!

Love,

Timmy

P.S. I paper-clipped a diagram of all of the knots that I have learned to tie here at camp! I will teach them to you when I come home.