Under the Totem-Pole

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 203, 16 November 1927, Page 6

Under the Totem-Pole

Chiefs and Braves

Letters to Redfeather are answered as under: Deerfoot: Greetings to this new Chief and many thanks for your scouting news. I shall always reserve space for reports of your troop work. The Patrol competitions are being keenly contested. Best wishes to St. Aidan’s. Silver Dove: Many thanks for permitting me to see those interesting photographs of the Kakamai camp. I should very much like to have that one of Shining Paddle and Eyes of the Morning dancing down the trail, and also one of those where the girls are grouped about their popular Lieutenant. Little New Leaf has given me the account of the

meeting held up Mount Eden. Greetings to my braves in your Company. Dew of June: Two letters from this Brave, this week, and an interesting story. So you have been taking the air in an Indian canoe? I should have liked to have watched you plying the paddle, or being the figurehead. I, too, enjoyed “Beltane the Smith.” I expect you have read “The Amateur Gentleman” and “The Broad Highway.” I hope you will soon turn back the flap of the Wigwam. You will always find me here at the stipulated time on Thursdays, but the Chiefs and Braves just seek me out when they come in from the hunting. Greetings and best wishes, Dew of June. Red Leaf: I was glad to have your arrow, sped from the far trails. What a happy time you are having. I have heard all about your meeting with Red Star, and hope you will meet the other Wigwam Braves in Hamilton on your return journey They are splendid girls and are all very loyal to the trail. A new St. Peter’s Guide-Brave, White Canoe, has just joined our tribes, so I hope you will meet her, too. Greetings from the Wigwam to the far-flown one. Little Silver Crescent: I was glad to hear again from this Wellington Brave. To which Guide Company do you belong? I am always glad to have Guiding news from the other centres. You have been having a happy tiipe with school sports and picnics. Congratulations on winning that race. I hope Blue Morning will send

an entry for the Christmas page. Her drawings are very dainty and clever. Greetings to you both. Harvest Moon; Many thanks for your friendly letter. I hope “When We Were Very Young” and the volume of Rupert Brooke’s poems have reached you. By the way, Harvest Moon, I have discovered your other pen-name, but did not realise that I had been following your work. It is not at all wicked to receive two prizes when you have won them. Best wishes to Harvest Moon and a winged thought for Mistress Brown Owl. Friendly Tepee; Greetings to this friendly Chief, and many thanks for your notes on the Indian drums. Do any of the other Chiefs ever turn back the flap of your tepee?

Blue Smoke Sign: Many thanks for the story that Big Brown Dog so graphically told you. I think we should have a special totem for big brown dogs and others of their kind, or at least teach them good hunting, as practised in the vicinity of the Wigwam. Little Swift Canoe: Greetings, fair one. I think your seal would have reached you on your fifteenth birthday. Manv happy returns from the Children of Redfeather. I am looking forward to receiving your contributions and hope you will enter for the competitions. One of these days, perhaps you will turn back the flap of the Wigwam. I hope so. Eagle Feather: From another source, I hear that you have attended a Parliamentary debate. What is your opinion of politics? Your note reached me safely, and I hope you will be able to be present at “A Night in Honolulu.” Little Buffalo: You are having a busy time with your studies just now, but I hope you are successful in your exams. The sports at Carlaw Park must have been well worth watching. Red Star: So the Great Out-Doors is bathed in sunlight, and the little faithful one, reclining in her tepee, again takes up her quill to write to the Great Chief? The Sioux is again following the far trails, but I have sped your message on the wind. With that gorse fire so near your tepee, an exciting drama must have been staged at your very door. Love from the Wigwam to Red Star, and greetings to Thundering Buffalo, the great one. Big Brown Bear: Mans'- thanks for your Scouting news, Big Brown Bear. I was delighted to see this Chief on his return from the trails. The Foxes, I see, are still leading in the competitions. I hope they will win the trophy. Greetings from the Wigwam, faithful one. Little Feather: I was delighted to hear again from this Guide-Brave, but sorry to learn the reason of your silence. I hope your mother will soon recover. Yes, Red Star’s poems surely reflect her moods and define her character. She is very dear to all the children of the Wigwam. Yes, I shall be attending the Rally in full war-paint. I hope I shall see you there. Flying Cloud: A long letter from the maid of the Great Out-Doors, this time. What a wonderful surprise when your eyes rested on that beautiful canoe. You will have to learn some paddle songs to sing as you speed down the silver pathway of the moon. Yes, I think the little white craft will see much of Flying Cloud this summer. Greetings, fair one, and best wishes for examination time. Little New Leaf: I was glad to hear again from this faithful Brave. You have been cutting arrows in the forest, I see. I hope I shall be able to single you out among the Merry Men in the Pageant. If I pass you by, please say, “Greetings, Redfeather,” and I shall halt as at a magic signal. It is a pity that Crooning Waters has left your district. You must feel lost without her. It will be a happy day when your brother is old enough to follow the trail to the Wigwam. He could join now if he belonged to a Scout troop. Best wishes, Little New Leaf. Red Star will find your love message. White Canoe: I was glad to have a letter from my latest member in St. Peter’s Company, and hope your journeys down the trail may be many and often. I shall always think of you in a white canoe, quietly beaching dt on the shores of the lake, and making your way with a light ljeart to the ever-open Wigwam.