"its eyes are so black"

Pa promised that when they came to the West, Laura should see a papoose.

"What is a papoose?" she asked him, and he said, "A papoose is a little, brown, Indian baby." - Little House on the Prairie, Chapter 1, "Going West"

While there is only one mention of a papoose in the handwritten Pioneer Girl manuscript, the theme is prevalent in Little House on the Prairie. Laura Ingalls repeatedly asks when she is going to see a papoose.

Yet, it was always interesting to me that when Laura finally does see a papoose, the word itself is not used, only that she sees babies riding in baskets and wants one.

The ornament is a papoose necklace daughter Ginny wanted when we visited an Indian museum in Montana back when she was a wee thing. When Ginny no longer wanted the necklace, it became mine.
- posted by pioneergirl at 2:15 AM