Cogewea, the Half-Blood by Mourning Dove

Let us welcome, then, the strangers, / Hail them as our friends and brothers. / Hiawatha

The noon following the social, the shy-girl summoned Jim to the teepee. The Stemteemä wished to speak to him. Wondering what she could want, he complied, following Mary through the low curtained doorway. His greeting was an inscrutable look from the aged woman, as he seated himself on the buffalo robe. Glancing about the airy abode, he regretted that he had never thought of visiting there. The canvas lodge seemed homelike and the occupant reminded him of his own grandparent from whom he learned the tribal language which he still retained. She meditated before speaking. At length she addressed him: