Then the women heat the unhusked kernels in a pot over a slow fire until all have partially popped open. Next a small pit is dug and a stake set into the ground beside it. The depression is lined with buckskin and filled with the parched grain. The father then takes hold of the stake, steps into the grain-filled pit, and begins treading the grain with his feet to loosen the husks from the kernels. The women take the grain from the pit and toss it up and down in bark winnowing trays. The wind blows away the light chaff as the grain is tossed into the air, and allows only the kernels to fall back into the tray. The time soon arrives for our friends to break camp and seek a winter campsite where the hunting is known to be good. Hunting and fishing will be the main source of food during the winter season. At the new campsite, storage pits lined with birch bark are dug in the ground to be used for storing the nuts, dried berries, dried corn, and rice that have been gathered and prepared during the Autumn. If hunting is poor, or if a severe winter threatens famine to the village, this stored food may be the sole means of preventing starvation. It is now time for us to leave our Indian friends, but before we go we learn that the winter season will be spent not only in the pursuits of fishing through the ice and hunting, but also, in the telling of stories, singing, and playing many different games. When the snows are deep, the tribe will don snowshoes for their hunting trips. We will miss seeing them play snowsnake. In this game the Indians compete with each other to see who can hurl the wooden “snake” the greatest distance across the snow or ice. We are sorry to miss all these things, but the time has come for us to end our visit. As we say farewell to our friends from the distant past, we reflect regretfully that the coming of the white man will change the old ways of life for these people of the forests, and soon their independence and freedom will vanish forever. The Indians seem destined to become largely dependent upon the whites for their livelihood, and even for the few remnants of land to be left them for their homes. [Illustration: THRASHING RICE (MUSEUM EXHIBIT).] CHAPTER TWO WISCONSIN’S INDIANS UNDER FRENCH RULE [Illustration: THE FUR TRADERS (MUSEUM MURAL BY A. O. TIEMANN).]