by Ernest Thompson Seton
Most of our Councils will be indoors.
In the next article I give directions for turning a grocery box into a successful Council seat. Three other important things will complete the possibility of Woodcraft atmosphere
 | The Council Rock, or Chief's seat. |
| The Fire, or its symbol in the center. |
| The Wall Hangings to hide discordant surroundings. |
Because it is least understood, I shall treat the last of these first. There is one simple and effective way of turning the saddest and ugliest of interior walls into a thing of beauty and pleasant remembrance.
Get enough common, cheap, rough burlap to cover the walls all around from a line 1 foot from the floor to a line 7 feet from the floor, that is 6 feet wide, and in sections 9 feet long.
The burlap should be of the ordinary yellowish gray, without holes, but as coarse grained as possible.
This is to be decorated with painted designs, but first let me turn aside and lay down some principles for its decoration.
1st. Never use photographs or realistic pictures in this decoration. No one, not even the cleverest artists, can make them successful.
2d. Always use symbols. No one can wholly fail with these. They have furthermore an appeal to the imagination; they set it free to soar, while the photographs chain it to to ground.
3d. Use very few and very quiet colors in flat tints. Some of the best have been done in black, white, or red, with the ground color of the burlap everywhere showing through. Some have added a little pale turquoise blue. A great colorist could use the whole box with advantage, but let the beginners stick to three, or at most four, low tone colors. Oil colors thinned with kerosene are best.
4th. Do not try to make the tapestry--for that is what it is--one scene or a picture, or anything but a record. Don't worry about perspective or any of the limitations of realism. Make it a quiet-colored record in symbols, of events that belong to your tribe, or Council Ring, and ever keep this strongly in view--imitative realism will be certain to fail, symbolic record certain to succeed.
With this in mind, let us by way of illustration design a tapestry, to record the history of a certain tribe.
It was founded in 1902, first sun of Song moon, by Chief Black Wolf, who lighted their first fire with rubbing sticks. Pine trees and a storm over them are shown as well as four lodges besides the big lodge.
In 1903 a robin built a nest on their big teepee. In 1904 it formed an alliance with the Y. M. C. A. In 1905 four of its members made a big canoe trip and two deer came into camp.
Many more events are recorded, but can be read only by those who know the history.
Four different styles of border are illustrated, but it is better to keep it the same all around.
