Excellence is not an accident should have been the motto for the way our ancestors trained teenagers. The total freedom given to young children changed somewhat when they reached puberty. At puberty, our children began serious training in order to take their place among adults. They were preparing to take their place as contributing adults in our Tahltan society.

Eva Carlick said that each generation grew up to be just as good as the last. The way that this happened was that we taught our children the way to behave from the time they were little. When they were little, our children were taught incidentally. They learned without us "teaching" them. When they were teenagers, their skills training was planned, organized.

Our teenagers worked hard to learn the skills that would make them into competent, knowledgeable people. Their goal was to become lani etie, very good persons. Lani etie means more than "very good", it also means "excellent". It is also more than that, it means that the person has developed in all areas and is a good-hearted person. The purpose behind the training of boys and girls at puberty was different. One of our elders said that the difference between the training of boys and girls is that girls have always known what their role in life will be. They are the mothers and the teachers of our culture.

Boys, on the other hand, do not know their purpose in life at birth. They were not born with a purpose in life, they have to discover it. The focus of their training is for boys to find their power and their goal in life. That is why boys experience their vision quest and why girls go to the little house to learn the essential skills of motherhood.

This observation was certainly true long ago. It has a lot of truth in the present also. One difference is that girls now, also, are finding that their role in life has become more than that of being a mother. Girls are also searching for their role, their purpose in life, in addition to learning the skills of motherhood.

When girls have their first period, they become women and are then taught skills that they will need to keep a family. The custom was that a small, single lean-to was built some distance from the other houses. Girls went to live there alone for a year or more. It was while they lived in the little house that girls were trained in skills they would need as adults.

It was believed that teenage girls have strong power. During their year, they spent time learning to use their power. Their presence, even a glance, could upset the balance between hunters and animals during the first year of their womanhood. (And during times when they had their periods.) Because of this, the only people to visit them were women. Their glance was not permitted to fall on any men in their family. If this happened, serious problems could develop in regards to men's luck in hunting.

Girls took great care to insure that they did not see their brothers or their father during the time they lived in the little house. When they took walks, for example, they went at night so that they would not see their men. They also wore a long, hooded dress which covered them from head to toe. They could only see a little way in front of themselves while they were wearing this dress.

While the young women were in their little house, they had a lot to learn. Their teachers were their mothers, female relatives, and other women. They learned all of the sewing skills that they would need to make clothing for their whole family. They might be taught to sew by a woman in the village who was expert in sewing. Another might instruct her in how to bead or embroider or work with quills. Another woman might bring something for her to repair, so she would learn how to fix clothing which had been damaged or worn out. All these lessons and more were needed to make a "good woman" of her.

During her time alone, the girl would pray often to help her become the best person that she could be. She prayed early each morning to Day Dawn, saying, "May I always be up early each morning." As she sewed, she might pray, "May I always be as careful as I am now." She was always busy, and would pray that she would be always as energetic, never lazy. So, when you see one of our women being busy all day, you can understand that this is something that they were taught at a young age.

Girls had many other rules to follow while they lived in their little house. For example, when she left the house, she wore a long, hooded dress. She also painted her face red. Her hair was worn long and not braided. She was not allowed to wash her hair and used a special scratcher to scratch her head. She was not allowed to drink from a cup, but carried a drinking tube made from the leg of a bird to drink through. There were rules about the food that she was allowed to eat. These and other rules helped keep her focused on her work of learning the skills she needed. At the same time it was making her aware of the importance of her role in our culture.

She was taught to be energetic, productive, and caring. In her manner, she was quiet and was careful to not put herself forward. To outsiders she would appear to be shy. To us, she was quietly confident.

At the end of her time in the little house, the girl left as a woman. She had a sweat bath, washed her hair and dressed in woman's clothing. Her old clothing was given away and she now wore everything new. Her face was painted red. Her hair was now worn long and loose. Often they wore the hair parted in the middle. Sometimes her hair was gathered and tied at the back and at the sides. She used highly-decorated hairpieces in her hair. The most popular were wide strips of hide, heavily decorated. These were tied into the hair at the side and back. Of course, the girls from wealthy families had more elaborate headpieces.

She also wore a special necklace which was a "purity" or "maturity" necklace. The purity necklace, called a mossth , was prized by young women. It was made of bent wood which had been wrapped. This necklace was decorated in many ways. Every one had pendants of rocks or shells, etc. hung from it. This necklace was a sign of her maturity and was worn until she married.

If she was still unmarried after four years, she changed her appearance. She might paint her face in more fanciful ways if she wished. She wore more necklaces as well as her maturity necklace.

When the girl returned home from the little house, her mother might cut up a tanned hide and give it to women. A wealthy man might give a feast and give-away gifts to family and neighbours.

From the time she left the little house, the young woman lived with her family until she married. However, she returned to the little house each month during the times of her period. In her time there, she rested and worked on many projects.

The custom of women living apart in a little house when she has her period has disappeared. For a time, women were confined to a part of the house during these times. Then, they stayed in their room for a short time. Nowadays, we do not.

All boys were trained in basic hunting, fishing, and trapping skills. This would be their main work throughout their lives. Everyone needed to know how to get animals for food. And, each boy was expected to spend time training to become very good at doing something. It was like choosing a trade and then going to school to study and train for it.

A boy may choose to become a master hunter, or an expert gambler. Or he may choose to study plants. Or he may choose to specialize in hunting certain animals. So, one man may choose to be the expert moose hunter. Another may choose to learn the ways of the bear.

Also, the main focus of a boy's training was to find his special nature power or manitou. Life was hard in those days, and we believed that we needed help from nature spirits. In order to find his manitou, a boy went through a vision quest. There were no specific rules for the vision quest. A boy would get instructions on his training in a dream. At anytime, the boy could discuss his plans with an elder. Perhaps they might talk about the exact time for the fasting ceremony during which the boy would find his nature power. Perhaps they talked about exactly what the boy needed to do for all of his training. At each stage of his training, the boy is the one who decides what must be done. He probably would act without advice from an elder, if he chose.

Boys started their training when they were ready, from 10 to 15 years old (or even younger than 10, sometimes). They worked hard to develop self-discipline. And they worked to keep their mind focused on their action plan. They prayed for help everyday. They prayed that they would become lani etie, a very good person, good at doing all things. Lani etie is more than being very good at doing things, it also meant being a good-spirited person.

Their days were busy. They spent much time practicing hunting skills. It was common to see 10 year old boys going off hunting grouse with their bow and arrows. Each day, the boys would work on their chosen skills with a master in that field. If they had chosen to become master hunters, they would spend time with expert hunters, and so on. And, of course, they spent time praying and thinking about their chosen goal.

This does not mean that boys did not have time for enjoying the company of others, or having fun. Of course they did. But boys knew that they would not be ready for their vision quest, to get their nature power, until they had learned self-discipline. So, each day they followed the plan of action that they had set out for themselves. Some boys were more dedicated to their quest than others. These boys would get their manitous before those who did not work as hard at preparing themselves.

Boys went into the mountains for several days during their vision quest. They fasted and prayed for several days, perhaps four days. In the dream where they received their instructions, they might have been told to go to the mountains more than once. When their vision quest was successful, they received their nature power or manitou.

The manitou usually came as an animal spirit, although it could be some other nature spirit. The manitou brought certain knowledge and powers to the individual. The spirit guardian directed and supported the individual.

The exact nature of the powers would not be talked about. It was a matter between the man and his nature power. But, gradually, over the years, people came to know the powers that the spirit guardian brought to individuals. They would see how he behaved and the things that he could do with the help of his nature spirit.

Think about this. Each man had a different spirit guardian who is helping, maybe event giving advice. That means that sometimes a person may act in an unusual, odd manner. However, if his behaviour was basically one of respect, our people accepted his actions as being normal. We understood that each person had the right to decide their own behaviour.

When a boy's voice changed, became deeper, a man's voice, then he was accepted as a man. In early days, he would then move to the men's house and live with unmarried men. Men did all of their own cooking and cleaning while they lived in the men's house. They formed strong friendships while they lived there. Most thoroughly enjoyed their time in the men's house. Today a young man still lives with his parents if he wishes. Or he may choose to live in his own house or apartment.

Most boys and some girls were given a song during their training. This song was a gift from the unseen. They learned the song and sang it in public. It became a song that anyone could sing if they wished. However, it was always known as the song of the person who first sang it. This song is different from spirit songs which bring certain powers to the singer. A spirit song was sung by shamans (medicine men or women).

Teit said that all Tahltans are dreamers. By this he meant that each Tahltan had certain powers which were unexplained. For example, some of our people were able to tell when someone was coming. They could even tell who it was and when they would arrive. This is the type of power which might have been given by nature power.

As we saw, boys went on a vision quest to get their special powers. Girls are born with certain powers. Girls may be given extra powers during the year they live apart. Sometimes women get their powers later in life. Those women became almost as powerful as shamans. Even today, some people say that they are dreamers, that they can see or know things that cannot be explained.