Our Young Folks
By The Indian
Annotations by jessica cory
Under this head we propose to establish a new feature in our journal. The bulk of the matter hitherto appearing in the The Indian has been to mature and older heads. This, our new departure [sic] is calculated to be especially for the Indian children, but answers and questions will receive all due attention, no matter from what source they come. We propose publishing continuously an interesting story suitable for juvinile [sic] readers, also a series of questions of a general character: Historical, Geographical, Mathematical, etc, and also conundrums, graded to suit our young readers and to come within their scope of knowledge. The answers to these questions will be published in each following issue with the names of those who answer correctly. We shall be glad to have questions sent to us by those who have any which they may deem worthy of publication. Our object in this is to create a spirit or desire for knowledge among the young of our people to whom The Indian comes. As soon as we can arrive at an opinion as to the capacity of our readers to grapple with the problems of a varied character, we shall offer prizes and awards to successful candidates. This feature will be added to this department from time to time. We commence this issue with the following:—
1) Find the cost of a 160-acre farm at $11.25 an acre.
2) A fence is 38 rods long. How many feet long is it?
3) How many cords of wood in a pile 32 feet long, 12 feet wide, 14 feet wide?
“Our young folks.” The Indian, April 14, 1886, 82. https://webvoyage.carli.illinois.edu/nby/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?DB=local&v1=1&BBRecID=494884.
Contexts
The Indian was published by The Indian Publishing Company from December 30, 1885 until December 29, 1886. According to the American Indian Newspapers database, “The Indian: A paper devoted to the aborigines of North America and especially to the Indians of Canada was established by Peter Edmund Jones – or Kahkewaquonaby – a Mississauga Ojibwa chief. The first newspaper to be published by an Indigenous Canadian, The Indian was circulated across Ontario’s Indian Reserves and intended to inform the First Nations people about Canadian legislation.” Not many Indigenous newspapers at the time contained features specifically for children, and it’s notable that features, such as this one, would contain environmental themes like cords of wood or farming, as these topics would’ve been familiar to readers, including youth.
Though no way way to know for certain, the column’s title, “Our Young Folks,” may have been inspired from the popular U.S. children’s periodical Our Young Folks: an Illustrated Magazine for Boys and Girls that circulated in the 1860s and ’70s.
Resources for Further Study
- American Indian Newspapers houses a large number of digitized Native American and Indigenous newspapers, including The Indian.
