"The same goes for adults. The men and women in the tribe need knowledgeable and intelligent people to tell them what to think and do. With more advice, they will naturally become wiser, and when they encounter problems, they will think more deeply and do better. In the future, our tribe needs to grow stronger and interact with people from other tribes. If the ordinary people in the tribe are not smart, they can easily be seduced and do stupid things. They might do something that harms themselves and others, and they may not even know it. How can we allow this?"
Shan frowned. He knew the importance of education. But they really didn't know how to teach. When asked to play, they really didn't know what to say.
He asked, "So what are you going to do? Do you have an idea?"
The others also stared at Qiao Yu.
Qiao Yu said, "Master, don't worry about it for now. I plan to keep the children under ten in the tribe for a short while. When the sun sets slightly, I won't let them go with you to gather. Instead, they will study with you elders and witches."
Children in the tribe follow the women to gather food from the moment they can walk. When they are not even able to eat enough, they have no right to play.
For those who couldn't walk yet, women would carry them in animal skin bags on their backs while gathering. This also made it easier for them to be breastfed when they were hungry. In a tribe where the entire population lived on meat and wild fruits, children had nothing to eat except breast milk, so it was impossible to leave them at home and be cared for by others.
Children under ten, both boys and girls, were still developing physically and mentally, and their temperaments were unstable. If they were to go hunting, they wouldn't have the stamina to keep up, their minds wouldn't react quickly enough, and they wouldn't be sensible enough to disobey orders, making it easy for them to get into trouble. Raising children under current conditions was already difficult, and if a child died during a hunt, the entire tribe would be hopeless, destined for extinction.
Therefore, the tribe does not allow children under the age of ten to go hunting.
Between the ages of ten and fifteen, whether or not a child should go hunting depends on their physical development and family circumstances. Some eleven or twelve-year-olds, still skinny and weak, remain with the gathering group. Those who are well-developed, strong, and fast runners are chosen by their parents, and the hunting group decides whether to take them hunting after assessing their physical abilities.
After all, hunting requires climbing at least two hills. If you can't keep up with your physical strength and can't even walk, you might end up dragging down the entire hunting team and making them unable to hunt any prey.
Girls, between the ages of ten and fifteen, will be prepared to get married as soon as they get their period, and will soon become mothers after getting married.
Therefore, Qiao Yu does not make any arrangements for this age group, it all depends on them.
Although this age group has the strongest ability to accept and understand, and teaching them is most effective, but before they have enough food and clothing, we still have to consider the actual situation.
"You can arrange one person to give a lecture every day, and you can decide what to talk about," she added.
The tribe didn't keep idlers. Lu, Shi, and Huo all stopped hunting because of health issues. Lu had a leg injury, Shi had severe rheumatism, and Huo had heart palpitations. They couldn't climb the mountains or hunt anymore, so they stayed in the tribe.
But they weren't idle at home. Lu sharpened bone knives, bone spikes, and stone tools for everyone; Shi processed the hides of the hunted animals; and Huo watched over the fire hall day and night, keeping it burning and processing canes. They took turns attending classes, and each session lasted only half an hour to an hour, so it wouldn't have much of an impact on them.
And Qiao Yu will compensate them appropriately materially.
"That's no problem," Lu said. "The child is still young, and the harvest is not much anyway. It won't make much difference if he gathers more or less. Everyone in the tribe will support it. Right..."
He looked at Qiao Yu in distress: "We really don't know what to say. We have to talk about it every few days, how can we have so much to say?"
Qiao Yu was inspired: "The father can teach them how to exercise to make their bodies stronger; Lu can teach them how to identify wild animal tracks and how to find prey; Shi can teach them escape techniques, such as what to do when encountering wild boars or wolves; and the witch can tell them how to treat illness, poisoning, and injury. We can also invite an older woman to tell them what to pay attention to when gathering outside."
After hearing what she said, everyone's thinking became active.
Yes, actually, they have a lot to say. Some of the content has been explained to adults, but children haven't heard it. And if they can explain it in more detail, using lots of examples like Yu, children will definitely enjoy it.
And compared to adults, explaining these things to children is obviously much easier. Even if I don’t explain it well, the children won’t understand, so there is no pressure.
Thinking this way, everyone will have confidence.
"I think it's feasible. Why don't we try it first?" Lu looked at the others tentatively.
Everyone nodded: "Okay."
While Qiao Yu was speaking, he was observing Wu's expression.
What she actually cares about most is the witch, not the fire.
Unlike what other people want to teach, what witches want to teach is highly technical and is passed down from generation to generation. They are very likely to cherish their own skills, fearing that others will learn their skills and threaten their status.
Seeing Wu remained silent, she had no choice but to call on him. "Wu, what do you think? Actually, you don't need to go into so much detail. Just explain how to give first aid when poisoned and how to bandage injuries. This will prevent them from making random attempts, worsening their condition and injuries, and delaying their recovery."
Wu nodded gently: "Okay."
Qiao Yu breathed a sigh of relief, a smile on his face: "That's great."
She said, "Everyone has been delayed in their work because of this. I will compensate you."
Everyone looked at me and I looked at you.
Lu waved his hand and said, "No, no. We do this for the tribe, how can we ask you to bring us food?"
"That's right," Shi agreed. "Even though we got a lot of meat from hunting these past two days, it's not much when you really count it up. We're working for the tribe, so how can we let you pay for our food?"
“It doesn’t have to be food, maybe something else.”
Qiao Yu said, his smile faded and his expression became serious: "This is exactly what I want to tell you."
No one was sure what was going on. They didn't know why Qiao Yu suddenly became so serious. They all sat up straight and looked at her with slightly restrained smiles.
"What's the matter?" Shan asked.
Even when setting traps and snares, he had never seen his daughter so serious. He had a feeling that Qiao Yu was about to say something very serious.
Qiao Yu said, "The division of labor within the tribe will become increasingly specialized. Take Mang, for example. He's busy all day, staying in the breeding cave from morning till night. He even sleeps there at night out of worry, getting up countless times a night to check on the animals. Even if his breeding ultimately fails, isn't everything he does for the entire tribe?"
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