How do Algonquin Indian children live, and what did they do in the past?
Algonquin doll They do the same things all children do–play with each other, go to school and help around the house. Many Algonquin children like to go hunting and fishing with their fathers. In the past, Indian kids had more chores and less time to play, like early colonial children. But they did have toys, games and dolls, like this 18th-century doll in its miniature cradleboard. Algonquin mothers, like many Native Americans, carried their babies in cradleboards on their backs–a custom which many American parents have adopted now. There’s a cute picture of Algonquin Indian children in their cradleboards on this site. What were Algonquin men and women’s roles? Algonquin women gathered plants to eat and did most of the child care and cooking. Men were hunters and sometimes went to war to protect their families. Both genders took part in storytelling, artwork and music, and traditional medicine. In the past, the Algonquin Indian chief was always a man, but today a woman can be chief t
