MEMOIRS ARE A LOVE LETTER TO THE FUTURE
Looking at this picture, you already know the story that it
tells. But will your grandchildren? Has it ever occurred to them to
play "Cowboys and Indians"? Would they know how to play if you
suggested it? Would you suggest it?
If they played, would they build a fort? Would they pretend to ride horses? Would they learn to track and mark trails? Would they practice walking through yards and piles of autumn leaves without leaving any footprints or making any sounds? Would they learn bird calls, or invent other signals to communicate?
Today we live in a culture that aspires to preserve our Native
American heritage. Playing the role of the good-guy cowboy out to get
the heathen Indian is no longer a socially-tolerated idea. The game of
Cowboys and Indians has been purposely relegated to a dusty corner in
history.
Today, televisions and computer games absorb our creativity and imagination. Our stories and traditions are no longer passed down over dinner tables from generation to generation. Grandparents are often half a world away from their children and grandchildren. The world in which this picture was taken was a very different world indeed!
But to this brave cowboy's children and grandchildren, the
photograph is already a living treasure. To us, such simple things may
seem commonplace, but to our grandchildren, they are, and will continue
to be fascinating.