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TWENTY-SEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
TO THE
SECRETARY OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION
1905-1906
WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1911
LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, BuREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY, Washington, D. C., August 10, 1907.
Sir: I have the honor to submit herewith the Twenty- seventh Annual Report of the Bureau of American Eth- nology.
The preliminary portion comprises an account of the operations of the Bureau during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1906, and this is followed by a monograph on “The Omaha tribe,” by Alice C. Fletcher and Francis La Flesche
(a member of the Omaha tribe). _ Permit me to express my appreciation of your aid in the work under my charge. Very respectfully, yours, W. H. Hoimes, Chief. Mr. RicHarp RaTHBUN, Acting Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution.
2
CONTENTS
REPORT OF THE CHIEF
(eeReaire Heth OR kee eet rae ee = eee te rk Soe seein see Sines aioe Permits granted for explorations on public lands. ....-..---.--.------------ (CHM RHGINEK caaselnd keg hate Sat OR BEL haais Henan = See aes ta Bnei n eer
Study of Indian delegations.........-----------------------++2++2++eeere> TD hiatal std hae ein Ok ee Se eRe ne Ce anne ee ee eee lUbinsimanoasige “Sas deca o 4 dco cop aeemeesee asad Ped aS 5 SOME ES Cea oe (Pi lcaniniies see eee ee 2 ace iatnn S Dala- seaieeitesseseins
[ENGST GE Sac od goa peeae ARE oo ina © = oe Dee ae oS een oeeae ara escie iei AG@ommpanyioe Paper 2.22 sees e222 = ee = alae 2 He i a =n ACCOMPANYING PAPER
The Omaha Tribe, by Alice ©. Fletcher and Francis La Flesche (a mem- ber of the Omaha tribe); plates 1-65, figures 1-132.......-.-.-.---------
TOES Soc ae, 4 ei Gece co ere oe Ee ee Ce era
DI o
15
655
s
2T OF THE CHIEF —
TWENTY-SEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
W. H. Houmes, CHiEer
RESEARCH WORK
Researches among the Indian tribes were conducted in accordance with the plan of operations approved by the Secretary June 5, 1905; these include investigations among the aborigines of Oregon, Colorado, New Mexico, Indian Ter- ritory, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Florida, and, more especially, researches in the office of the Bureau and in various museums and libraries throughout the country. The scientific staff of the Bureau remains the same as during the previous year with the single exception that Mr. F. W. Hodge was transferred from the Secretary’s office of the Smithsonian Institution to the Bureau, with the title of Ethnologist—a step which permits him to devote his entire time to the completion of the Handbook of the Indians.
Aside from his administrative duties, the chief was occu- pied with the completion and revision of papers for the Handbook of the Indians and in the preparation of a mono- eraphic work on the technology and art of the tribes. He also continued his duties as Honorary Curator of the Divi- sion of Prehistoric Archeology in the National Museum.
Mrs. M. C. Stevenson remained in the office during the early months of the year, reading the final proofs of her monograph on the Zuni Indians, which issued from the press in December. In January she again entered the field, having selected the pueblo of Taos, New Mexico, as a suit- able place for the continuation of her researches. In initi- ating her work in this pueblo Mrs. Stevenson encountered
7
8 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
many difficulties, and her progress at first was slow; but later, owing largely to the very courteous cooperation of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, her study of the history, language, and customs of the tribe was facilitated, and was progressing favorably at the close of the year.
During the early part of the year Mr. James Mooney was chiefly occupied, in collaboration with other members of the Bureau, with the Handbook of the Indians, which work was continued at intervals after he took the field. On September 19, 1905, he left Washington for western Okla- homa to continue researches among the Kiowa, Southern Cheyenne, and allied tribes, partly in fulfillment of the joint arrangement between the Bureau and the Field Museum of Natural History. His stay while with the Kiowa was chiefly at the agency at Anadarko, Oklahoma. Among the Chey- enne he made headquarters at Cantonment, Oklahoma, the central settlement of the most conservative element of the tribe. Mr. Mooney returned to Washington about the end of April, and resumed work on his report, giving much attention also to the Handbook of the Indians.
Dr. J. Walter Fewkes completed during the year his report on the aborigines of Porto Rico and neighboring islands. He prepared also an account of his field work in eastern Mexico, conducted under the joint auspices of the Smithsonian Insti- tution and this Bureau during the winter of 1905-6. These papers were assigned to the Twenty-fifth Annual Report and were in type at the close of the year. Doctor Fewkes also made considerable progress in the preparation of a bulletin on the antiquities of the Little Colorado valley, Arizona.
During the year Dr. John R. Swanton completed and pre- pared for the press all of the Tlingit material, ethnological and mythological, collected by him during previous years; all of the ethnological and a portion of the mythological ma- terial has been accepted for introduction into the Twenty- sixth Annual Report. Doctor Swanton interested himself particularly also in the study of the linguistic stocks of Louisi- ana and southern Texas, many of which are either on the verge of extinction or are already extinct; and a grammar
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT 9
and dictionary of the Tunica language is well advanced, while a dictionary of the Natchez is in course of preparation.
Mr. J. N. B. Hewitt was engaged almost entirely in investi- gating and reporting on etymologies of terms and names and in elaborating and preparing important articles for the Hand- book of the Indians, and also in reading proof of that impor- tant work conjointly with the other collaborators of the Office.
During the year Dr. Cyrus Thomas was engaged almost continuously on the Handbook of the Indians, assisting in final revision of the manuscript and in reading proof. Dur- ing the first two or three months he assisted also in reading and correcting proofs of Bulletin 28, which treats of Mexican antiquities—a work for which his extensive researches regard- ing the glyphic writing of middle America especially fitted him.
The manuscript of the body of the Handbook of the In- dians was transmitted to the Public Printer early in July. In view of the fact that numerous tribal and general articles were prepared by specialists not connected directly with the Bureau, it was deemed advisable to submit complete galley proofs of the Handbook to each as received. While this in- volved considerable delay in the proof reading, the correc- tions and suggestions received showed the wisdom of the plan. By the close of the year all the material was in type through the letter “N,’’ and of this, 544 pages, to the article “ Her- aldry,” have been finally printed. ,
The work on the Handbook of Languages, in charge of Dr. Franz Boas, honorary philologist of the Bureau, was contin- ued during the year. The several sketches of American lan- euages—sixteen in number—which are to form the body of this work are now practically complete, with the exception of those on the Eskimo and the Iroquois. Field work was con- ducted during the year by Edward Sapir among the Yakima of Oregon and by Frank J. Speck among the Yuchi in Indian Territory.
Mr. Stewart Culin, curator of ethnology in the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, whose monograph on Indian Games forms the bulk of the Twenty-fourth Annual Report,
10 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
was engaged during the year in reading the proofs of that work; but owing to his absence in the field for a protracted period the work was not completed at the close of the year.
The movement for the enactment by Congress of a law for the preservation of American antiquities, which was inaug- urated during previous years, was continued by various individuals and institutions during the last year, and the perfected measure became a law in June. With the view of assisting the departments of the Government having charge of the public domain in the initiation of practical measures for the preservation of the antiquities of the Southwest, the Bureau has actively continued the compilation of a card catalogue of the archeological sites, especially the ruined pueblos and cliff-dwellings, and during the year has made much progress in the preparation of a series of bulletins to be devoted to the fuller presentation of all that is known regarding these antiquities. In promoting this work Mr. E. L. Hewett was commissioned to proceed to New Mexico for the purpose of making a survey of the ancient remains of the Jemez Plateau region, a large part of which is now in- cluded in the Jemez Forest Reserve. A preliminary report on this work was submitted immediately on Mr. Hewett’s return to Washington, and later a paper was prepared in the form of an illustrated descriptive catalogue of the antiqui- ties, to be published as Bulletin 32 of the Bureau series. In March Mr. Hewett was called on to represent the Bureau as a member of the Interior Department Survey of certain boundary lines in southern Colorado, the principal object being to determine the relation of the more important ruins of the Mesa Verde region to the boundaries of the proposed Mesa Verde park, a measure for the establishment of which: was pending in Congress. Shortly after the receipt of Mr. Hewett’s report this measure became a law. A leading object kept in view by Mr. Hewett on this expedition was the collection of data for the compilation of a bulletin on the antiquities of the Mesa Verde region, for the Bureau’s bulletin series.
In February Dr. Ales Hrdlitka, of the National Museum, was commissioned to proceed to Osprey, on Sarasota bay,
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT Wait
Florida, for the purpose of examining several localities where fossil human bones, apparently indicating great age, have been discovered. The evidence obtained is adverse to the theory of the great antiquity of the remains, but the observations made by Doctor Hrdli¢ka and Dr. T. Wayland Vaughan, who accompanied him as a representative of the Geological Survey, on the unusual activity of fossilizing agencies in the locality, are of extreme interest.
Dr. Walter Hough, of the National Museum, who has taken a prominent part in the investigation of the antiquities of the Southwest, has in preparation for the Bureau series a bulletin on the antiquities of the Upper Gila valley.
PERMITS GRANTED FOR EXPLORATIONS ON PUBLIC LANDS
During the year applications for permits to conduct explo- rations on the public lands and reservations of the South- west were acted on as follows:
(1) In September, 1905, the Southwest Society of the Archeological Institute of America applied for permission to conduct archeological explorations on Indian reservations and forest reserves in the Southwest, the work to begin in the spring of 1906. Later, permission to make a preliminary reconnaissance during the latter part of 1905 was asked. Recommended by the Bureau; granted by the Office of Indian Affairs and the Forest Service.
(2) In January, 1906, the request of the Bureau of Ameri- ean Ethnology for authority to prosecute ethnological researches in New Mexico, particularly at Taos, was favor- ably acted on by the Office of Indian Affairs.
(3) In April, 1906, the American Museum of Natural History, through Dr. Clark Wissler, Curator of Anthropology in that institution, requested permission to conduct explora- tions on Indian reservations in southern California. Recom- mended by the Bureau; granted by the Indian Office.
One application for a permit was denied, one was with- drawn, and one was pending at the close of the year.
12 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY COLLECTIONS
The collections of archeological and ethnological specimens made during the year are more limited than heretofore, owing to the reduced amount of field work undertaken. The most important accession is the product of Mr. E. L. Hewett’s explorations among the ancient ruins of the Jemez plateau. Other collections worthy of note are those made by Mr. Mooney in Oklahoma and by Doctor Hrdlitka in Florida. All collections were transferred to the National Museum in accordance with established custom.
STUDY OF INDIAN DELEGATIONS
The study of the Indian delegations visiting Washington during the year was continued, as heretofore. One hundred and forty-two portrait negatives were made and measure- ments and casts were obtained in a number of cases.
EDITORIAL WORK
Mr. John P. Sanborn, jr., who was probationally appointed on April 6, 1905, Editor and Compiler, was permanently appointed October 6; but on October 19 he was, at his own request, indefinitely furloughed. On February 16, 1906, Mr. Joseph G. Gurley was probationally appointed Editor through certification by the Civil Service Commission. The Twenty-fifth and Twenty-sixth Annual Reports and Bulletins 31 and 32 were read and prepared for the press, and proof reading of the Twenty-third and Twenty-fourth Reports and of Bulletins 30, 31, and 32 further occupied the attention of the Editor, although Mr. Hodge and the various collabora- tors on Bulletin 30 (the Handbook of the Indians) assumed the main burden of the reading of that work.
ILLUSTRATIONS
The illustration work, including photography, continued in charge of Mr. De Lancey Gill, who was assisted, as heretofore, by Mr. Henry Walther. The number of illustrations prepared for the reports was 852 and the whole number transmitted to the printer was 1,023.
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT 13}
PUBLICATIONS
During the year the Twenty-fifth and Twenty-sixth Annual Reports were submitted to the Secretary and the Twenty- fifth was transmitted to the Public Printer, the Twenty-sixth being retained in the Bureau pending the completion of the two next preceding volumes. Bulletin 30 (part 1), submitted at the close of the preceding year, is in press, Bulletin 32 is in the bindery, and Bulletin 31 was transmitted to the printer toward the close of the year. The distribution of publica- tions was continued as in former years. Bulletin 28 was published in October and Bulletin 29 and the Twenty-third Annual Report followed in December.
LIBRARY
The library remained in charge of Miss Ella Leary, who completed the work of accessioning and cataloguing the books, pamphlets, and periodicals up to date. Owing to the crowded condition of the library, about 600 publications, chiefly periodicals, received by gift or through exchange, but not pertaining to the work of the Bureau, were transferred to the library of the National Museum. During the year there were received and recorded 306 volumes, 900 pamphlets, and the current issues of upward of 500 periodicals. One hun- dred and fifty volumes were bound at the Government Print- ing Office. The library now contains 12,858 bound volumes, 9,000 pamphlets, and a large number of periodicals which relate to anthropology and kindred topics.
CLERICAL WORK
The clerical force of the Bureau consists of five regular em- ployees: Mr. J. B. Clayton, head clerk; Miss Emilie R. Smedes and Miss May 8. Clark, stenographers; Miss Ella Leary, clerk and acting librarian; and Mrs. Frances 8. Nichols, typewriter. During the year Mr. William P. Bartel, messenger, was pro- moted to a clerkship and subsequently transferred to the Interstate Commerce Commission.
14 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
PROPERTY
The property of the Bureau is comprised in seven classes: Office furniture and appliances; field outfits; linguistic and ethnological manuscripts, and other documents; photo- graphs, drawings, paintings, and engravings; a working library; collections held temporarily by collaborators for use in research; and the undistributed residue of the editions of Bureau publications.
The additions to the property of the Bureau for the year include a typewriter and a few necessary articles of furniture.
ACCOMPANYING PAPER
With this report appears a comprehensive monograph on the Omaha tribe, which, it is believed, constitutes an important contribution to North American ethnology, especially to our knowledge of the great Siouan group. This monograph is peculiarly fortunate in its authorship. For thirty years Miss Fletcher has been a close student of the Omaha, enjoying a measure of their friendship and confidence rarely accorded one of alien race, while Mr. La Flesche, a member of the tribe and the son of a former principal chief, has brought to the work a thorough grasp of the subject combined with an earnest desire to aid in the preservation and diffusion of information relating to his people.
The purpose and plan of the authors are thus succinctly stated :
This joint work embodies the results of unusual opportunities to get close to the thoughts that underlie the ceremonies and customs of the Omaha tribe, and to give a fairly truthful picture of the people as they were during the early part of the last century, when most of the men on whose information this work is based were active participants in the life here described. In the account here offered nothing has been borrowed from other observers; only original material gathered directly from the native people has been used.
The paper is rounded out by the inclusion of a final section dealing with the relations between the Omaha and the whites, in which are traced in outline from the beginning the ever-increasing encroachments of civiliza- tion and thé gradual but iene molding of the weaker race to conform to the conditions imposed by the new order of things.
‘ 7
a
' jo
ANYING PAPER
eo
Dee OMAR A: TRIBE
BY ALICE C. FLETCHER Houper or THE THAW FELLOwsniIP, PEAnopy Museum, Harvarp UNIVERSITY
AND
FRANCIS LA FLESCHE
. A MEMBER OF THE OMAHA TRIBE
83993°—27 Era—11——2 17
CONTENTS
EG aren OO Clee tee tea ae ee Rae ep cfs ear mio hic iee nee ome oes
Mocationyalinomistic relAtOnShs)=a)-rtslo= seein cl ~< o-gcsio cco swe nescence ces Mriballicanceptsthemame Omaha) -- =~. 222.52. 20225 -se cee eee ee sense The five cognate tribes—eyidence of former unity.........-..----------
Meu oncaptrlpeemaen (ess scence cee sac e oon cel ee wee ew ecees IRited ANG: GUStOMs On ThE eeNteS=- =. ee 2-5 oe cose ce ace coc cee Wependany, ACCOUMSs ~-— 2 oe = 2 sas onic cece eee eacsaeetee Recentanistorys: personal namesiz<: - 22 s2ce 2 ssl 5 se el eee seine
Mrei@sdoevon Weagharzhes tbe 6. ci. sco s= ono neice = el ininieis = ReECceniehistorye (OLCANIZAMONE = =.= seston oe see cise IMGinShinvewoupsae cee secession ce see anos cece eee eee eee PAG DINO MUCENCIMOUY os seem seinen oe ean aie = mie miele elm Thames iy Ree OAH) Eee pee bn acces eg Son re noe ner Soee SEE SCOoe Ieers@raeill MINAES..0 4x ane GeeecSp sc cua saws Sosa eC OoEA Oar eps ae
Mreuansai tim Peeves. <--==2s<25= 22222 esse e rem - sane ane ene URIS! oo SE Ae G25 Sa Se EEO GUC EO Bee ses SCLC Re ene ReneS eIIe
SIVREES ROG) U1 cr Va Wiad ee a es Seals pa faybe ams) Aa wo mnr~ oem (GEG Ak Saad Son SeposssSoonsos cba onaOpaesaae PRedns nese ae
II
PviroenmMenb est hantinWwuenGese-..-e.- -se5-- oes oe foe ceecemccce css (Oty yalamn Stacs qari bystereraral Ses ea ee ee ea See eee ere Manly abbitatamts COnduONS. === a= - = eseae sale a ee WISIN TOK Cl MISE ook So Gee Zea Sc Seb eee pale S eae Sa aes
(hates Chere cen Coat 5 Ss 2 Sere eee ace SS Olas BeOS ee eee Willaresranithesviscounl .--- 9s. eeseese see saa see SAS saek sana sem Streams known to the Omaha....-....--..--.--- eee LA nn iibhreveyil ere A eee ae eran closer ene a= ee ee esis Sites = Se
SION at Ga uae a PERE dooce Soc bee na: Se a ee re JO TANT ce pare ore Bo soc ees 8 SE ee ee Reese se Ee ieee Einstome; viulaceseamoupl Acedia = eee ee eee ols = wine
Tires NO MnO! Ce) ON ah tem tee oe eerie ae e as cee ea na nomi
Rana andeloraknovwmiomne Omalitee..---2--22sco5 cc -ss---5----6-- INIT 302 Se mane See Pee ae Jon d0o > cea ea See aes DEE See EE ae ae BitdSe eae cee eee. haces cive ceeieincectwsese ane Reem ad as nctcee INTERES koe SBS SS Be Sec ep DEI CS Ge SSNS Sa
CONTENTS
Environment; resultant influences—Continued
The human body as known to the Omaha.._--.-.--...-...-.-.----.---- Miscellaneous terms used by the Omaha = 222). a eee eerie eee Natural objects'and phenomena. --- 2-225. 0- eee en ee eee Paste © oo sneis dace so oes te oe neloe | oe = Me ee Sere eee ee Golors - 2-353. 2s-S0 act es ee eee ee ee ee eee ee ee eee ee Points; of the Compass'- <2. 25.5 cn cece ne doe See oe eee eee Divisions Gf times! 2o-< 220.2 2-eon sete ee eee See eer Weather signs ........:.- aah onjeltndpm ates See Se RO ee ee SOMMAaR = soos soso ale eee ee see en se eR te aa ee Ill
Rites pertaining to ithe individual=----2 <= 52.) cee ns255- ea en ee es Introduction of the Omaha child to the Cosmos ..-...--..---------.---- Introduction:of the:child/into the tribe o>. een. tee ree eee eee eee Ceremony of turning: the child 32-22-22 ee sco Scee See Consecration of theiboy woul hunders- 45 4-25 4a see eee
Ceremonial introduction to individual life and to the supernatural_. -
IV Tribal oreanization: <2 222 secec = comes Sone ee ce Nae a ee ee rere ree iBasic prince sples. 2-52. sme aa Rod ose eee een eee ee See The hu/thuga—the Omaha tribal form...-........--.----.-------------- Gentes‘of the’Omaha tribe: s-2 2-46.24 Sas sates ne siete eae ae sees How eashenu divisione. -< 2-1 226-2 cece = sa Soest bee ona eas We/zhitshte gens: 222522. s2-se ect ~sep em ane aes eae te ae eae eke cabe-Sens = 22¢\e-c. pee tha eo oe as eee eee es ee HOM pa Mens Ss scccccoc ese se Sarees ent ees ee eee eee Thattada cens 2.4 cso: hae e ot Se ho oie See Kot ce: cel svi. sect aot Sse ee eee ote esi n Sawa ene aeeee mghta‘enedadivishon)-e-2 2. <= - 5 -ce occas nate sae See See ee eee MoV thitkacax6 Pers. = 25. 3eeosecs cone soeece maces cee eae Teeivde gens 222525555522 eess lee ses e eee ee ee ae eae PAN al Pf CNS Se ere cee = So cic ee in oe ee ee a eRe othe *znide-gens) 29625 sce ae ce a eee Ce aera ee nn tak eur Br OMS 2s Ae tee teat Salta ene eee The Omaha gens not a political organization.....-.....----.------------ Interrelation of the two grand divisions. ...........----------------
y *Prifisl POVvErNMEeMt Asoo << leoe Soak ts a een eee a asio Se a One eee Development of political unity: 2. 225-3 2easee] ooecac ance ee see ase Chiefiainship’ 3. 228 2222004. seks doe eeeseeen ee - ose eas seme eee Orders’ of chiefs... 2.52522 see Soe = oes eee ae The: CouncilohSeyen Chiefs: 22-03 27-053 -eee nese eee eee Emoluments of chiefs and keepers. ........--.----------------- Offenses ‘and punishments... 222) see. ea see ee eee eee
VI The Sacred Pole sss 3-2 os ateie + {ARCS Ree ee Sree eee Ora fak eee arn) Soe Se Se en en CSP RE i cma Ue ere adesce teint Sees Mark ofthqnor =2: 2522 isas< scat ciate reat The Sacred ents 24-22 ose sao = See ee ee Legend and description of the Sacred Pole .......-....-..----.---------
Sacred Packs ‘and: contents... 2.02 52. 6 6 le aocicee ie eee eae ae eee
CONTENTS
The Sacred Pole—Continued ANOMUNSHNe PAaCledLOll's =i. cine ees soca ee > Pa ee te ae eeee Tern LS 0) 2) ee a a a DETEMOMesT OMe SACleds hOlG = aeeeoe ae etek ee he oe ste Pantone as mneeLiewdewachiet hice sa. ee ee etter onan ot AN et, See a ee
Fei sua gee Simon Royotd See ee See ee a & Ao ae a ee a a ANY E TALRTEMY Cove Mave igh ca NAS es oP SS I a a Gnliivation OL MNUAG eae ere sees eee ee tices esas aie wintn sven ease aien cre Names of parts and of preparations of maize.......-.-...--------.------ ISIN 5 sagen sdan0 so ad an Sad SOU sees oe Se ae B Se Rae See ee eee
Rules Observed mn bUChenNl. . -sec\-2-ces secs acon sence seca aes
The White ISGhley ERE 2 ts oe ae ee 3) eee The ritual of the White Buffalo Hide .....--....-..-.---.-.---- MherPoncawiesst OL, GuessQllekN: oa oo cs5 2ece sac occe se aeacis ee ee ok nc Rica epee eee em See Pt tae ee sae oS Ses
PDN ee eto Sead Gok ee ROSE Ee 6o ORES BESS E EDP Bee aaa eee
MOCin Wite see eee ota a ee RR ein Sec onecemiadecelecee ISTE oh) HEIRS oes COR AS SOF EES OCSEO RO OnO SoS SEE aS DET A She Eas smperree (CootishtpranduaMiarniao Oe = eases sees AW ata iia oS Imapwnin niacin ee Garetanditralnin rom CHllaneutes= 2 eens e ese e caidas elasie nine ois was Je (FSD oocen el ee coeon | Sabres DEE pe bores Open ASE SBS a oe eee ao a aSnoee ACY CCH OLIN LIN Ole Sette eee nar eee cae ee Pee ciao Aim a a wisn fanmre elute! als ASVOCALIONSOL WOMEN Me: sea sea e == = Seana si See ie cece ee seen @ookune and toodse se 2 asset ease o 25 Stacie se osie- ame st se eS Sa (DRsssvereeer ato A hoverbeyet VStar eer COMMUN OR ce reas = Serene ste ae Se oe = eet ee eisai epee WEBI S no moe natn SSO DES a cH Ua GgOn GED AS Hc BORER e aoe eae eeaoe Persona pad GMONen teem eae ae oe eee ae a tieciga as fein Sue weet oe ace eS (Sheath es se Som neacone hie Seas» AS eC OAn SS AOS Sone Seas PD enw CuaGYarO De sae eee nk Ciao ate een) ceil sini se 52 Personal pipnineances == a em oqse <6 aaa lop eaaae cee eens ences POCORN CANCE e sae nioele aca nee eee bees See ake oe oleae GATT CRON tae WO NGr ne 422 cha ee ee Cee eee eer wie 2 [ERO yp SA eee ocemites ooo BEER OOH Bo Sse D => Joes oSe CoS ECE SeeS Se aan sesee PMI UNGINETI IN Ree ees = ncn ce 25 <n eee peleec pee aoe a=e-255--2--5
NUE. 44545 s5dS2 c06 densest 2ocnbe SSeS e05 ne Sa ea eee eG pat WO ONS fake nissan mpemtese nc = = ee eae eee se aaa ee ce oe eos SSUES SIP UN Oa ec MN NN ere ec eee ele miners petal aie conn wilco '= m2 5 AUS award CEL CINON rts sat he aera eine tele Sasi enol iim = nin's w'nce
he ceremony. amonoithe PonGlae 2-2 ss see ence eee cece nce nan
\ WEE ip oe i OR Gn Sor Stee SEC QORDES SB ACS 6c CSeC GeO Snes Sp aoe ee ae ieee Influence on tribal dey oases See ae aac ree ales cw ane e = NEE ES AU OTe aS ro Oe ee ee URS oe See ee eae ee eee
ARO ZauOM Ou aA es PHEDY «mp emie ees Sine ao oes on -n Ginnie a= owas
( Oyen VAT Aye Way MEN key 0 TY ae ae IMRETECOLE gteiieraitol ys = BO ee ke Se
22, CONTENTS
Warlare—Continued
Influence on tribal development—Continued sacred) 'WarPack.and contents. - --- seecas = see cee nee ne wee Departure ceremonies of an aggressive war party......-..-.-----.--- The we/to® waa®_....... mis Se See ele Sis ne tome coe ae eee ieee Sending outscouts ss. das-<sec oso deck e+ eee eee eee Departure of a defensive war party..-....--..----2+---.----------- Retuml ofa war party.c2- ce 22-62 45e5 capes ae Hees eee eee ee
The WatetPigtulys x. jel a ase se Se Se ys heeled cane eee = eee Gradediwawhonors asus a. Saco a. keene sec ee ae ee War honor decorations#4.-- oe ancsen anes sees fo ae ee The Ponca ceremony of conferring war honors.--.-.-...-----.------- "DO CROW 2 nance teens case ce Okc cee fetes oe ale cee nae oe eee
Weapons 5. 32c cee easete boc tee ee Acree ace me on Sas hee oe eee Gontentsior thet Lent,.of Wiarton oe oo ee se 2 ee ees MhesSacreadt: Sells # iss Sos ee ae ere ee eee ee Oa ee ee The 'CedaraPoles 22 ascicon ce Soe ei ee eee Sn eee XI
SOcietieSts 2 Fs hee en aie So a ee ae ee ot See SOcisisoclehiess=.. = =e eo erate nae See ee ee ee a The "Hethash ka. 22 kee se eae sence ee se eee eee eee The Mule hots sae See eyemeiece oe cad cote Se oe ee The Kidkunether.s 23. s2526 secs ba tele Se ces eee eee on ee The") et eax. 3 wg sopra eases ce ceise acer (wet ao oe OngE eee ee eee The Motwatdathit and the Noka/lOiscss-22. 22... 22 ee eee Secret) hociehiess o 4. 22 SA ce ew en BURR Se ie eck eee tote ere eee
Thelone hundred) wathimethe.2s— = 52-2 sea ee oe. cee ace eee
The \WasthaCwar(Heastof the Oountys- 2c <2. ease eee comes <
The Feast ofthe) Eom hewachicse se ee soe tee eta The -tattooiiey £2. 23-2 Massa essa ae esew sae Sacee e ees The Washistka athine (Shell societies ee ses. eee tee Origin 2235.2 2st west n= Anse aee tote a ces one ee ee Organization ....----- ted Snap OE ine ee Pe oes Sie aig oa Reg olanimm eetin geo a)- a eee eee eect ne eter Ceremonies on the death of a member..-.....------------.----
Ritual for sweat lodge, No. 1. --2..--..------- age Seems eee Ritualifor'syveat lodge; No.2. =2 2s cape moeaeee eee eee Ritualtorsweat lodre;|Nois: 325s. see a= see ae eee eee eeee
Disease and ts. tirestmient 42-3222 22 oes See Bones eee eee Some ‘curative plants... 2 s2222,-65s-s=s0ceeee- eae] =e a eeeee eee ee
SOME Death and burial customs... . aie se hadae soweie eioSe an coca en ae oe eras
CONTENTS ae
X1V Page Rye lip 0) UNG CUM CS eters tle eine tee eho ence Sia ite oe enone See 595 Iie yeas Sea ee ie eben oe se =! ae Aan SOaSS Renee Aces SE aaa eeaea ne 595 WARNS) SSE E pee eS Re 50 SS ne Sa cm Oe oe ee ea 596 Wiel s<cte ) ee Se Se SER See eee ee eee 597 Interrelation oLmenand|animalsessos.4--- 222. san - seo s- = sb ece es =e 599 Meneration fOr theeAMCleNta = estes sence sea coer ea ste eain nates soko 601 IPOaitOmiOUChieisa- a. .a2 sa) -eeeesiens =e ae san alo tee elele icles p)-\aiiate ainine 601 HOWE oe a aoe Gee ano cel 5285 so Ses yea one a eae 602 WGTall hie oe Sam. sae ese 5 ES -eSeE a Cage Bes op ee ae eased i eee 602 \NUGhahishye ts wotol; (CULMS fo mene eae aS ape aa ater eee oe a 602 iepreasytloye /eqolofohitieniisr eel (leratshile Ge Soa oe es So One oe cere eee 603 MenmEnombac take anancCOnQuen.- 2 -se\- ose eee ess oe jee sane oem 604 ET OMOES ee tase oie oe eine a eine see ne ee alaim.oaiarala alco nS 604
xV TABBY Rte Se oo ed abe SEEPS Se een aa SBC ee er a ane ees eens pice 605
XVI MOnelUM Ouse es sate ee eee an Sano e oe eae ne See eaet eae a winaiats 608 ApprnpIx: Recent history of the Omaha tribe...... -.--.------------------ 611 Contact withitherw bite maces. --- 2 cs55- 26 4 soci os ee ees 2 oe soe eee 611 Emin ial ie = sp ees Ben as ode ee Sh een ogee sees ae Oo aaa en seones 612 Introduction of metal implements'2-.------ 2-2-2. ------- 3-2-2 613 Decline of old avocations and the effect on the people. ----.--------- 614 Changes in ornaments and decoration.-.....---.----.--------------- 615 Hr OO IGMOULOMGLOUDE se temas asset eee ese ex ee cea emia ite 616 Intiroduchlonioniounse 22a t2-tla~ = pa a a sen a ae = == 617 Introduction of money; pelt values. ----.-------------.--==----.--<- 617 iriirod iemoOnl OMMLOKICHNIS Ss sen eesti eee eo ee eine ee 618 Dronkennessiand ute punishment .255 225 55--2o. 2 2-Se- ct ~~ e- 618 Government controlio’ tradersin= .9-2---2se 2-2 = s=2 eeee © See 619 Introduction of new foods, games, and diseases. -.---.--.---.----------- 620 Imiron uchlousOinewawOrOS= <= =e o5- son 28 oe tes a er ne sees 620 Treahies with tae Wied States: eo. Lee 2 oe Sa rie ae seede arow- 622 MORENO MRIESONATICS ame ae Ao see ert a some tek oe os)siaoeoter asta -bewats 625 AMAA Shen, et BE a ee et ae an See Se Se ee aa 627 NE WATCSChUAnON An OG) HOORCY = ae eae ee ween Ses shA alee wee tres oe 629 ANTONIA ROY te eee See ae ee ee eee ene Smee 630 pressure oltraders OM tribal aliairs..\.5° ses a22 aoe s cep eee wee eae 630 Josephelarmlenche wens sass c 56s b Waa een sss e cee see eb rateeia- se ans 631 ‘The village of the ‘make-believe’ white men’’........-....------ 633 Bammer OU Re IRER GO AMON te = eines eee inten Cara 634 PtermMInaiOonvon noe MMe. oon sone ess sce ete a wae tein sto 634 BetabplisnmentoL-othe Council? 2305. eer ens o-oo e = sae ee eee n ann 635 TtheveyTetotaael ities Seale 5 A oe Lea Se Adee Se ane See rset 635 Appeal COM Ian Galen td saa sy a. eke a ee aia ee ae a eee 636 Present condition --.-. Et ok Oe Ee et Ne clea a ee pt eee ais Sica 641
Original owners of allotments on Omaha reservation_-_-_..-.--.---------- 643
PLATE
32.
ILLUSTRATIONS
Page
Francis Lawtleschets.-=°*..- 2.52225 {See eee eee eee 30 Standing Buffalo... 2.2 sjoc 52 ase eens sense de ae eee eee 49 Wihite, Bagle(xtitha‘e¢ka))o 2. 202-5050 - seen = sees he eee ee eee 49 Wieledcanl eo tat cass ohsGs sesy wens sock et eee eee ee 50 Standinpl Bears. cscs: += oc soe c cee eae eee eee 51 Smoke-maker(Shu/depaxe)i 22. = ee seeaaees eee eee eee eee 52 Gahifge. a2 8s Seeks 2 wae ccc bo ow ae ne oe ene eee 52 Black®Crows (Kaxe‘cabe) ios. -8aesoe cence oe cee eae eee 54 Big (Goose: tosses aes eee cose nseieeoose sec sees ee eens see eee 55 Biiifalo thi peace te cls Sena eee eee ee ee eR ee eneee By) Bip Snake ee Wy eect eee ee emt eee ae tee ene See ‘so ee eee 56 Osaperchiel oss -sascc sinav Soe ch eee cares ees oe ae eee ae 57 Osage Chieh 5 seta faa. the soeee os aa ee ee are eee eee 57 Weashi™hai(Osage) 2 — 2: 2re- reels ceceeter ese one ecee -eeeeee 58 BlacksDog'and! other Osage chicis== ss se.ce se sa eee eee eee 62 Kansa ‘ehiels 22k. iis cl ooo e ecco Selec ns See ee eee ree eae 66 Pipisde tas Ses552 80. 3225) hehe eee ee eee eee 71 Barkihouses:.: 4255922 22.22 Seas cece aoe oes See eee eee 74 Hantilods6.22: skeet sont. VS tee eee aoe eee ee ee 75 Blackbirdthillls Webraskag. werent: ese one ee eee oes Bis: Se 83 Country known to the Omaha (map)_.--...-..-...-.--.:------- 88 Earth lodge—framework and structure _......--.--------------- 97 Partiov Omaha village (about 860) 22. s2- ee aneeeeee ee eee 99 Nupa chit se See Shere sac ase eee tee cere 2 SRE ee eee ee ae 145 Teghiis/thabis the asteratone ere meee oe a eee ee 147 Ma/ethitosi® andiprand child). eepee cee cee see eee eee eee 153 Sacred Tent of the White Buffalo Hide-.-...........--------.2-- 155 EhuApe thas sti 5 Sates st Geet see sees oes soe ee eet 163 Wa/‘thishnadel(Wiajespa)) 22-22 eee. -ee ae Pe x A Ree cart hat 168 Mutxanoizhit rcp cts o's Sa lacie eae Aen Saletan ores Set 170 GahrzhiPva (bitte Chief) 2eeee sence meena Hee ESE sone 170 ShoMeecka (White sElorge) 225 seas sno oe eee a eee 173 To” wo"gaxezhi"ga (Little Village Maker) _-..-.....-..--------.-- 173 Wahothitge: (22.022. 45. hss se eereeeeeeec se cates hee 176 Whom geno'zhi® 22 322 23 6 eee eae ner en nae ee eee 184 Anvold. Omaha chiets 22 s=2 65 eee ees ee eee eee 204 Gthedo”“no*zhi (Standing Hawk) and wife-..--......---------- 204 ~alattooed Osage 2.2. soc sso sie Seem ace nee eee ee ee eee ere 219 Mheisacred Polet.c: =st8 226. Aah See ee er ee eee eee eee 224 Mahibaz ni. 2.2 232255. e cc eeee eee ee ee eee eee 280 IATTOW ,TOlease® 2.2 SoS - ca Sed oie Me eee Em eee eee 282 The White Buttalo Hide-- /.2:.252cs.-p-cee sees eee sees sees 284 Anvelderly beaiuss... 2.52 -5iacen sesso ee ee eee 325 Rederahi-andwite: = 4... Soden ero ee ae eee eee eee 337 Domestiessceners 2% 2o....2 522 oe ee SE eters teeta 340 Costume and adornment of woman .....-.--..--.--------------- 347
24
PLATE 46. 47. 48.
FIGURE
ILLUSTRATIONS
Cosiumeandradormmentiolmanecs.-- 2 sse-scessecee ce seen eas ipeadenecklaces sac: mae} Se Fame ese ecca san te Ss aaeiae es Crupper for horse used’ by woman.....--.-------.--.----------- Costumeand adormmentiofiman. - 2 1-522 - oso oon ee Costume and adornment of man.-..--...--...-------------------- Moccasins worn by men and women...-....-------.------------ Mievangusce ot thermo ve seen meee ence ian nse as ae ieeles ne Mhevanonareominem0 bese see ee anaes ee a an eens la ai = Wolfskin war robe worn by Zhitga’gahige ........-.-.---.------ WarehonomderoraiOns eer sane srs -ee sce ence co sate a= vic IBoricane i eine e eet emee seme setae cise sm se lsicinisiae cic Siainne ee IRONGanChiGtee seen = een seeeya a2 secant ces aoe senoeecaecse ces aes (Nhe macrcans nelle. ets fate a ce cree aga ae ge imiceine sacs “The Hour children:?” Shellisociety =<... --. -<-- <- 255 - aoe sna e ni Memibersiot the ohellisociety=.--22-2+-s---+s-=--2-e-- omens ae Memibersiof the Shell'society—-2 <--=-5-----=-s+--2-s22-2------=- Membersiohthe phellisoctetys 222 oo. 2- 2 cae o-oo on nn a om Memibersiontne ShellUsOCletVs saa= = aoe aoe ecient icine Memibersiorithe snelll’society. ©¢ 22-2. sces scene cs cco ese s= eo Title map, Omaha reservation, Thurston county, Nebraska-..----
fsletoal J oYoyenr (oy 10 SUL 0} he eye eae sea eee see noo sasouassessroe Wig cram Otome Nicci Wee ele ee eee eee ao leer CotrowhairmWacadoe SEDs UE ONCH tomer asset alto ematta/ace = Coot hairrsRhixida sens: (Ponca) 2e-s- sce =e ee = ae se eainioe = a Cut of hair, Ni’kapashna gens (Ponca). -.--.-------.------------ Ont otha sPocas hoes! (POnCa) 2a aet ss clls ai’) is[= = /=)e= == @utiothsinWasha-be gens (Ponca) 252 -----~---s----=-e--=--- Cutiof hair, Wazha‘zhe gens (Ponca) 25-22-22... 2-5-2 ----- Diagram of Osage hu/thuga—usual order ....------------------- Diagram of Osage hu/thuga—hunting order...-.. --------------- Diagram of Osage hu/thuga—sacred order. ---.--.--------------- Wane aC bleheas ses one. a2 sek ees vee oe Bem SCR outers aese OURO Wiis seed aee nen Ss eaSS as 46 nos os CopsUScUerDA pShoSeaae (ARE Ny h OMECI Roeser se acsocgebs baie sosnbeeone bac SECS es aSnas Bird lea eo ee ee ancoos dee See oe adobe e Ee eee EE SE on aesere DE Ree eee ee eer le Soe oa ea re steam a eae eases = (CoMmmonnOnmnOncac ieee setae esas tea eee aae ieee ae aee Moran Hontenelles se sacra ee ernie tape = = ieee a ai eine ato = Hamillysoroup sss. = oon seea= beeehopasccaustbee’ epoce Haeeaone Diagram of Omaha hu/thuga (tribal circle) ......----.---------- Wand used in ceremony when first thunder was heard in the
JOM nae Se Shan cee om spanogons Jobe se Se a See OO RR gSee Mo” hi*thixge, last keeper of the Tent of War, and his daughter. - (Olen opelorcnbe Mes obbolslohva eel e Sosa e oe oe aes aereeo Seon seee sees Cutot hain Nimiabato™ suUbpeMns= see ee seen pena o eee ChithoipharnyHoelcenkeeeseseseereeer eee nee ea area sae = Dagbamotphiteess eee esse eects scott ee = se eness ancans
CnionmbairyhloMrnleensese. eee en eee emai ee = at IMotrecwa theless see emma ans nae aaeecin cen inline =e see Cuotsnaine Wsiea be SU DP eMsa see ee ease eee a ae ae = oe Cut of hair, Wazhi’ga itazhi subgens.....-.---..---.---------- Cutonr ham Wea pulbpensie. -see == aes eee ee ae oroe ae Cut of hair, Te’pa itazhi subgens-_.-.......----.---------------
26 ILLUSTRATIONS
Page Ricure 34... 'Chatcathitge 222 52822 oes arts peer ae eee ee 167 oo: (Gut of arr WiKko! Ge pense eee eee a ee er 169 36. Cut.of ham MoMthitkicaxe pends: oa ee eee eee 172 of. sCubohihair 7) eciMdetcensass4-- 2 ee eee eee eet eee 175 38:5) Cut of hair Wlapas eens: 22 -aisseuses eee eee 178 oon Ortdexomsxos (Mik Git ha) ee eee ene ee ee 180 40: Hethifkuwitxe: (sonof ShoMserahe) -. = 2592-225. a eee 182 4). Cutothamrspthewhide\ renga. 22s. a. eeees eee eee 184 42) Cntiot hair, 1shta/Gutds fens. 2-5. -4-o-ees ee e 188 AS Ten KORN al tas SS oc re sie ence eae ce aaa sae Eire Sen eee 189 ay Wanomkuge,. 2.5 -teucc cust teas tou oust ee eee eee 192 a5! = Diseram\on ball Pamens a. eet ae nee ees aoe eee ee ee 197 46. Kaxe’no"ba, who frequently served as a ‘‘ soldier”? ...-....----- 210 47, Rattlesnake iheads;and fanps) = 2225s soo ese Ses = ao eee 214 48. Tattooed design, ‘‘mark of honor”’ (Osage).......--.---------- 220 49°" Josephslia"Hlesche@: = o.5- 2 se facce eels Seales ease Cee soe ee 222 BOSS Motch otbel((Shi(denaGl) papas ese eee aes 22% 51. <A section of the Sacred Pole showing incrustation from ancient SNOUILIN GR, Hoe eee ee a eee eee ere eee 225 peo Pack belonping: to Sacredbole sees sec es see eee eee ee 226 do. | Papelbelongine to Sacred Poles esse. eee eee oe ee eee 227 of: Pipe-cleanér:.... 22.02 3.265ses 2 seek eee a= Soper eee 227 Do: ODiviningiarrowstse: tec 00. che ceesee eee eee eee eee 228 56. Brush used’in painting Sacred Pole_. 22 -4---- ---2-o-<n 2c 2-2 eee 228 bf: | Ancient’ CedariP ble aS. 5050 age ease sae ee Ree ee 229 58. Communal ceremonial structure (native drawing) ----..-------- 232 D9) MUNI Etih eS Meee ete Se ro eee rotten ead cee ns 284 60. “Wisko™ mosthiws sss os ae) oe ots oe ee ee eke a ee oe 250 61, SWalko™4morthis house: m.< s-see esac. Scicr eee -eia aeceeee beers 250 62," sHefdewachi pole\(native drawing) =. 3-22 =a ae ee oes eee 254 635 Chaintine ont warmonsecGes een. ee ae aie aes ae ee 256 64: Pipe belonging to White Buffalo Hide ....--:-.-.---------=--5- 285 653 “Playing on the tutes. 8. ae ooo tees ss oct ese eee eee 318 68. Omaha motherand! child 22... <n -es aco oe eo eee eee 328 Gr Sitting posture tolswomen 2 i= ee 22 oan se See ae eee eee 330 68 Bowl madetrom waloute bun se eee ee eee ee 339 692 Burden) strap! . 2542.0 2) Soe ee le see ne See ae eos bee ee 340 705 -liplements joridressine sking!<— sees team ememe = ae a ees 343 Wl. Scraping askin a2 ol sacs eee et emet Aeeisi.o ene aaa eens 344 W2:, Wairbrushes' 2 -jsc 2c.3 2 o-cisse ait en oan ea ne See ee prwtteese 348 785) \Coshimesion younmimen:-<. = aac secs tenes a= ee ae 349 (45, Mantsineckiace'. 2... 242... = sho veer eee ee eee 390 “ds -Man’siparters! 2225.2 svi nas Soe eae eemar-ceeeae ae anes 351 (6: Mounted) warriors... . 223. 22. ae a-ak Eee eee eee eee 352 ite baIntin ha tenn COMGN = <2 2-2 eseemeeeeee Se ee ee re nee 393 Gs) Bani brushes. 6). S22 3525 a Se See ee SS a eee ee 353 79: ‘Oxnamentation’ of chiefs’ lexeines=- = 25.2 =. -=e ee eee 354 SORy Shiniice so tessa Se he eee eee es 3 Si) Woman sicostumes 25; 2-5-5. tesa ane ee eee eee or go; hanruage of the robe—Anger-- 2 = 2a = 3 = aon 2 ee eee ee 361 83: “Group.ot Omaha boys).5-)-25 22 assess tae eee ee ee 369 84. Implements used in game of pa/¢inzhahe.......-----.----------- 367
85. Flute ‘or flageoletoay..5- ssc dnote ne ees ne eee snaee eee nee ae 372
Ficure
86. 87. 88. 89. 90. 91. 92. 93. 94. 95. 96. 97. 98. 99. 100. 101. 102. 103. 104.
105.
106. 107. 108.
109.
110. 111.
102.
113. 114. 116. 116. ialys 118. 119. 120. 12.
122
22
=o.
124,
125. 126. 127. 128. 129. 130.
131. 132.
ILLUSTRATIONS
Deer-hoof rattle (native drawing) .--..-.- DN ea de ase ae ee eee Objects used in Wa/wa" ceremony..--.----------------------- Pipe bearers and pipes in Wa’wa" ceremony .---------------- Ta WHE 4eD To ENN Mes aoe AOS ae ce oe Po noe eee Sa Sa Se ene enine ee Sacred mVWarmeacka (tO CMe) ete smite teeta laa ante emer ae Sacred War Pack (opened to show contents) .-.--------------- Mlaeitound im Sacreda War back seo pce ae a lea Objectsimomi Sacred WarlPacke cee -- eens seen ee = Swallowtail kite from Sacred War Pack_....-.---------------- Wolf skin and other objects from Sacred War Pack......--.--- Eagle feather in bone socket, from Sacred War Pack... -------- Pipeswiromi sacred a \Wariback.— oe etn eee a ae Wear tallwiead ress se sae sae eee se eon ee ese a= Wariclub (native drawin®) see] anes = 22 oe =a (ANG: 6 SS Seas cee se OPE OnE Sete She HR ee Somer aE aeneee Ween NA SS eee Coee Meee fe boceoce seeooas see ceseecs Teor juanbapes OKO S CWS Se 0 Sopp eeor aes sede oe se ase Bag opened to show Sacred Shell...--.-.----.-.-------------- Sacredisbellmandicontentte===ss epee =m a eee = aan atele mea Tattooed design—‘‘mark of honor’’.....--.------------------ Design tattooed on hand of Ponca girl (native drawing). - ------ Mythic animal in legend of Shell society (native drawing) --.-- Diagram illustrating meeting of Shell society .....--.---------- Moccasin design belonging to ‘‘eldest son’s”’ regalia, Shell society
(Grrevbityse flare yy Wer) eta te a ae ete ei Otter-skin bag, Shell society ---.--....-----.------.=.-------- Diagram showing positions of officers and of ceremonial articles
AtIMechine Obs Mell ROCle hye as seee ae ee see arc Diagram showing arrangement and four ceremonial movements
of officers at meeting of Shell society..-...--..-------------- Pack belonging to a lodge of the Shell society -....------------ Wevgetetin jotta bol qo relie (its JUNG) Seo 5 ooo pe see eae ee Tee weNel shal joprele (Gate IMIG) Ao Soa ooe ads be Sees ae eoreoeeoeS IB pfeMatopmobitat jon (inet: WIE) oe 525 seer Sener er ebe ap esos aseer Objectsnoumel imag (ios UG) Se ecm ae ee ere are [Hares voppioyel min joptelc< (Gita NIG) ees ceo ee cece she senecas (Qloyerasvohectcove leretast (ites), Wks} VAN) 356536. oe ce on ososey ae seo noe is}sreagoyeboval veer jenelic (fe TUG) Ae ee ce ae 2 oe see ee eeenar ase (Bacio damm aacks (fie, W5)) ieee ee ae ae ee eee eta Tobacco bag and figure found in pack (fig. 113) --...---------- Diagram illustrating arrangement of Shell society at secret meet-
ing for punishment of an offender .....-.--..--------------- Diagram illustrating final ceremony of secret meeting of Shell
ROO qace eae Solbasceoess coe eoce cEsbesE d= aber iota Wietkaitdeziiit ey eye ee 2 eee eres - ve eaere ae ile 2 Graded school at Walthill, Nebraska......---.---------------- The old ‘‘Mission,’’ now fallen to decay......--.--.----------- ‘An Omaha girl, a °* Mission” scholar:--------------.----.----- Wee: Oars CNG ieee ee pecinaneeobs cee pC soo SeEonuEDewaaser A modern Indian home, not far from the site of the old
ONTOS) Seen sce Coe a6 SSE Deo Se = See oe Bee ara ace An Omaha farmers OMe sss esas ase == se eae wo ee mae A well-to-do Omaha farmer and his family --------------------
PHONETIC GUIDE
All vowels have the continental values.
Superior 7 (") gives a nasal modification to the vowel immediately preceding.
x represents the rough sound of h in the German hoch.
th has the sound of th in the.
¢ has the sound of th in thin.
Every syllable ends in a vowel or in nasal n (").
28
FOREWORD
The following account of the Omaha tribe embodies the results of personal studies made while living among the people and revised from information gained through more or less constant intercourse throughout the last twenty-nine years. Durmg this period the writer has received help and encouragement from the judicious criti- cisms of Prof. Frederic Ward Putnam, head of the Department of Anthropology of Harvard University, and the completion of the task undertaken has been made possible by means of the Thaw Fellow- ship. Objects once held in reverence by the Omaha tribe have been secured and deposited in the Peabody Museum for safe-keeping. Professor Putnam, curator of that institution, has permitted the free use of the Omaha material collected under its auspices and preserved there, for reproduction in the present volume.
At the time the writer went to live among the Omaha, to study their life and thought, the tribe had recently been forced to abandon hunting, owing to the sudden extinction of the buffalo herds. The old life, however, was almost as of yesterday, and remained a com- mon memory among all the men and women. Many of the ancient customs were practised and much of the aboriginal life still lingered.
Contact with the white race was increasing daily and beginning to press on the people. The environment was changing rapidly, and the changes brought confusion of mind to the old people as well as to many in mature life. The beliefs of the fathers no longer applied to the conditions which confronted the people. All that they formerly had relied on as stable had been swept away. The buffalo, which they had been taught was given them as an inexhaustible food supply, had been destroyed by agencies new and strange. Even the wild grasses that had covered the prairies were changmg. By the force of a power he could not understand, the Omaha found himself re- stricted in all his native pursuits. Great unrest and anxiety had come to the people through the Government’s dealings with their kindred, the Ponea tribe, and fear haunted every Omaha fireside lest they, too, be driven from their homes and the graves of their fathers. The future was a dread to old and young. How pitiful was the trouble of mind everywhere manifest in the tribe can hardly be pic- tured, nor can the relief that came to the people when, in 1882, their lands were assured to them by act of Congress.
29
30 FOREWORD
The story of their relations with the Government, of contact with the white race, of the overthrow of their ancient institutions, and of the final securing of their homes in individual holdings on their tribal lands, is briefly told in an appendix to this volume. To-day, towns with electric lights dot the prairies where the writer used to camp amid a sea of waving grass and flowers. Railroads cross and recross the gullied paths left by the departed game, and the plow has oblit- erated the broad westward trail along the ridge over which the tribe moved when starting out on the annual buffalo hunt. The past is overlaid by a thriving present. The old Omaha men and women sleep peacefully on the hills while their grandchildren farm beside their white neighbors, send their children to school, speak English, and keep bank accounts. ; :
When these studies were begun nothing had been published on the Omaha tribe except short accounts by passing travelers or the com- ments of government officials. None of these writers had sought to penetrate below the external aspects of Indian life in search of the ideals or beliefs which animated the acts of the natives. In the account here offered nothing has been borrowed from other observers; only original material gathered directly from the native people has been used, and the writer has striven to make so far as possible the Omaha his own interpreter.
The following presentation of the customs, ceremonies, and beliefs of the Omaha is a joint work. For more than twenty-five years the writer has had as collaborator Mr. Francis La Flesche (pl. 1), the son of Joseph La Flesche, former principal chief of the tribe. In his boy- hood Mr. La Flesche enjoyed the opportunity of witnessing some of the ceremonies herein described. Later these were explained to him by his father and by the old men who were the keepers of these ancient rites and rituals. Possessed of a good memory and having had awakened in his mind the desire to preserve in written form the his- tory of his people as it was known to them, their music, the poetry of their rituals, and the meaning of their social and religious ceremonies, Mr. La Flesche early in his career determined to perfect himself in English and to gather the rapidly vanishing lore of the tribe, in order to carry out his cherished purpose.
This joint work embodies the results of unusual opportunities to get close to the thoughts that underlie the ceremonies and customs of the Omaha tribe, and to give a fairly truthful picture of the people as they were during the early part of the last century, when most of the men on whose information this work is based were active participants in the life here described—a life that has passed away, as have those who shared in it and made its history possible.
Mr. Edwin 8. Tracy has given valuable assistance in transcribing some of the songs, particularly those of the Shell society. Several of
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY TWENTY-SEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT PLATE 1
FRANCIS LA FLESCHE
FOREWORD 31
the songs presented were transcribed and arranged for translation on the piano by the late Prof. John Comfort Fillmore, who for several years had carefully studied the music of the Omaha.
To enumerate all the Omaha men and women who have contributed of their knowledge and memory toward the making of this volume would be to catalogue the best part of the tribe. Unfortunately, but very few are now living to see the outcome of the assistance they ren- dered during the gathering of the material herein preserved for their descendants. pA Cue,
| | | Ree eel eos ) ! sq)" 5, 7 j bt é " ed | yon Sw as a | nies i ial ote mae pet ee ae be 1
THE OMAHA TRIBE
By Avice C. Fiercuer and Francis La FLEscHE
I LOCATION; LINGUISTIC RELATIONSHIPS
The people of the Omaha tribe live in the State of Nebraska, in Burt, Cuming, and Thurston counties, about 80 miles north of the city which bears their name.
The Omaha tribe has never been at war with the United States and is the only tribe now living in the State of Nebraska that was there when the white settlers entered ihe country.
iu 1.02 Congress passed an act under which every Omaha man, woman, and child received a certain number of acres of the land which the tribe selected as their reservation in 1854, when they ceded to the United States their extensive hunting grounds. The Omaha are dependent for their livelihood on their own exertions as farmers, mechanics, merchants, etc.; by the act of 1882, they were placed under the laws, civil and criminal, of the State of Nebraska. Their ancient tribal organization has ceased to exist, owing to changed environ- ment, the extinction of the buffalo, and the immediate presence of the white man’s civilization. Nothing remains intact of the ancient cus- toms except the practice of exogamy between the kinship groups and the people still give their children names that belong to the gentes into which the children are born. A few of the societies exist but their influence is on the wane, although they are enjoyed because of their social character and the pleasure derived from their songs and dramatic dances, which revive the memory of the days when the Omaha were a distinct and independent people.
In June, 1884, the Omaha tribe numbered 1,179. In that month the allotment of lands to members of the tribe was completed. The people were divided as follows:
Males. Females. INGITINR S32" 8 AOA ee ea ele Oe See ne dS eee tere re Scere) 338 Wmd eral Shveardscea.- secen-sscesaeeree Sem ance 209 277 Motalass een coceaine oats saree aaa eee Ser 564 615
Excess of females over males, ‘51. Of these, 33 were adults and 18 were minors.
Number of families, 246.
Families having no children, 41. 83993°—27 erH—l1 3 33
34 THE OMAHA TRIBE [eru. ANN. 27
Owing to the unwillingness of the people to speak of the dead, it was impracticable to attempt to get the exact number of children that had been born.
The following summary shows the proportion of the sexes at differ- ent stages of life:
Males Females. Under siyeards ss. 2058p nee See fae ees ee eee eee 87 82 Between sand (7 years concn -q-mass2-e0 oso ose ae oe 69 82 Betweenl/iand! icyears sot sae hoe ean ace e sees 103 113 Between 7 and! 40: years: - 55-25-22. 52- 55022 e seen ee 192 232 Between’ 40 and boiyears. -2 2520-220 -e eres Seek oe eae 72 55 Owweridovyears: 2 458 Sie le a eS bd ce Ss eeo seater 41 51
The marked disproportion between the sexes of ages between 17 and 40 years may be due to the fact that during this stage of life all the men were exposed to the hazards of hunting and of war. As these avocations of the men did not cease until 1876, eight years before this census was taken, the influence of these duties on the length of life of the men is probably shown in the above table.
For many centuries before they became known to the white race through early travelers, traders, and colonists, the aboriginal peoples of North America north of Mexico had been passing and repassing one another from east to west or west to east, and from north to south or from south to north.? Many traces of these ancient movements had been overlaid by movements the outcome of which is shown by the map, and it is the task of the archeologist to disclose them and read their history. That the system of inland waterways and the exten- sive coast lines on two oceans have favored the spread of the culture of one region to another seems not improbable, viewed in the light of recent researches, while the accumulating evidence showing attrition between the various stocks indicated on the map in time will permit of generalizations touching the cultural development of the native peoples of this continent.
The Omaha tribe belongs to the Siouan linguistic stock. The map referred to represents the majority of this stock as having already moved westward beyond the Mississippi while some branches had advanced nearly to the eastern foothills of the Rocky mountains and north to the fifty-third parallel. There were also a few outlying Siouan communities—those who may have lagged behind—for example, the eroup dwelling on the eastern slope of the Appalachian mountains and spreading down toward the coastal plains of the Atlantic, and a group on the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico that seem to have been cut off from that portion of their kindred who had pressed to the southwest. The story told bythe map both explains and is explained
a Consult the Map of the Linguistic Families of American Indians north of Mexico (in the Seventh An- nual Report and ia Bulletin 80, part 1, of the Bureau of American Ethnology), which shows approxi- mately the territories occupied by tha several linguistic stocks when they became known to the whites.
FLETCHER-LA FLESCHD] LOCATION; LINGUISTIC RELATIONSHIPS 35
by the traditions of many of the tribes belonging to this linguistic stock. All of these traditions speak of a movement from the east to the west, covering a long period of time. The primordial habitat of this stock lies hidden in the mystery that still enshrouds the beginnings of the ancient American race; it seems to have been situated, how- ever, among the Appalachian mountains, and all their legends indi- cate that the people had knowledge of a large body of water in the vicinity of their early home. This water may have been the Atlantic ocean, for, as shown on the map, remnants of Siouan tribes survived near the mountains in the regions of Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina until after the coming of the white race.
In the extended westward migration of the Siouan stock groups seem to have broken off, some earlier than others, and to have made their way into localities where certain habits incident to their environ- ment appear to have become fixed on them, and contact with other stocks during the migration to have influenced their culture. A group which kept together until within the last few hundred years seems to have been composed of the five closely cognate tribes now known as the Omaha, Ponca, Osage, Kansa, and Quapaw. Their languages as yet have hardly differentiated into distinct dialects. There are other groups of the Siouan stock which, from the evidence of their language, were probably similarly associated tribes. Some of these groups seem to have developed individual peculiarities of language which prevented them from coalescing with their kindred when in the course of wanderings they met. An instance in point is the meeting and journeying together of the Iowa and the Omaha without establishing tribal union. Although they belonged to the same linguistic stock, the lowa tongue was practically unintelligible to the Omaha. The final parting of these tribes took place within the last two centuries.
The five cognate tribes, of which the Omaha is one, bear a strong resemblance to one another, not only in language but in tribal organization and religious rites. This account of the Omaha tribe with incorporated notes taken among their close cognates is pre- sented in order to facilitate a comparative study not only of these tribes but of others of the Siouan stock, in the hope of thereby helping to solve some of the problems presented by this extensive linguistic group.
TrrpaL CoNcEerT; THE NAME OMAHA
Uk'te, the word for tribe, has a double import: As a verb, it means “to fight ;”” as a noun, it signifies ‘tribe.’ It seems probable that the noun has been derived from the verb; at least it throws light on the Omaha concept of what was an essential to the formation of a tribe. The verbal form signifies “to fight’? against external foes,
36 THE OMAHA TRIBE [erH. ANN. 27
to take part in conflicts in which honor and fame can be won. Those who thus fought had to stand as one body against their assail- ants. The term uki’te is never applied to quarrels among members of the tribe in which fists and missiles are used; the words niu”, nage’, ki’na are used to designate such contentions, from which the winner receives no renown. Uki’te alone in the Omaha tongue means “to fight’? as men against men. The warriors of a tribe were the only bulwark against outside attacks; they had to be ever ready “to fight” (wki’te), to defend with their lives and safeguard by their valor those dependent on them. The word whi’te, as “tribe,” explains the common obligation felt by the Omaha to defend, as a unit, the community, the tribe.
The descriptive name Omaha (wmo™ho®, ‘‘against the current”’ or ‘“‘upstream’’) had been fixed on the people prior to 1541. In that year De Soto’s party met the Quapaw tribe; quapaw, or uga’xpa, means ‘‘with the current’ or ‘‘downstream,” and is the complement of wmo”ho", or Omaha. Both names are said by the tribes to refer to their parting company, the one going up and the other going down the river.
There are two versions of how this parting, came about. One account says that—
The people were moving down the Uha‘’i_ ke river. When they came to a wide river they made skin boats (see fig. 1) in which to cross the river. As they were cross- ing, astormcameup. The Omaha and Iowa got safely across, but the Quapaw drifted down the stream and were neyer seen again until within the last century. When the Iowa made their landing they camped in a sandy place. The strong wind blew the sand over the people and gave them a grayish appearance. From this circum- stance they called themselves Pa’rude, ‘‘gray head,’’ and the Omaha have known them by that name ever since. The Iowa accompanied the Omaha up the Mis- sissippi to a stream spoken of as “ Raccoon river’’—probably the Des Moines, and the people followed this river to its headwaters, which brought them into the region of the Pipestone quarry.
The other version of the parting between the Omaha and the Quapaw is that—
When the wide river was reached the people made a rope of grape vines. They fastened one end on the eastern bank and the other end was taken by strong swim- mers and carried across the river and fastened to the western bank. The people crossed the river by clinging to the grapevine. When about half their number were across, including the Iowa and Omaha, the rope broke, leaving the rest of the people behind. Those who were left were the Quapaw. This crossing was made on a foggy morning, and those left behind, believing that their companions who had crossed had followed the river downward on the western side, themselves turned down- stream on the eastern side, and so the two groups lost sight of each other.
If an Omaha were accosted by a stranger and asked to what tribe he belonged, or were the same question to be asked him in the dark, when recognition was impossible, he would reply, Umo™ho” bthi” ha, “Taman Omaha.” Should he be asked ‘‘ Who are you?” he would say:
aUha’i ke, “the river down which they came;’’ the name is still applied by the Omaha to the Ohio
FLETCHER-LA FLESCHE] LOCATION ; LINGUISTIC RELATIONSHIPS 37
“T am [giving his name] the son or the nephew of So-and-so,”’ men- tioning the name.
If a group of Omaha should be asked to what tribe they belonged, they would reply, ‘‘We are Omaha.” If they were asked, ‘‘Who are you?” the one making answer would say, ‘‘I am the son or nephew of So-and-so, and these are the sons of So-and-so.”’
If young men were playing a game in which there were two parties or sides, as in ball, and one of the players should be asked, ‘‘To which side do you belong?” he would say, The’giha bthi” ha, “I belong to this
Fic. 1. Skin boat or “ bull-boat.”’
side or party.” The’giha means “‘on this side,’ and the word can
be used only as a designation of a side or party in a game. It has no tribal significance whatever, nor has it ever been used to indicate the Omaha people or their place of abode.
THe Five Cognate Trises—EvipENCE oF FormMEeR Uniry
Traditions common to the Omaha, Ponca, Osage, Kansa, and Quapaw tribes state that they were once one people. Their lan- guage bears witness to the truth of this tradition and the similarity
388 THE OMAHA TRIBE [BTH. ANN. 27
of their tribal organization offers equally strong testimony. It would seem that the parent organization had so impressed itself upon the mode of life and thought of the people that when groups branched off and organized themselves as distinct tribes they preserved the familiar characteristic features; for all of these cognate tribes have certain features in common. All are divided into kinship groups which practise exogamy and trace descent through the father only. Each group or gens has its own name and a set of personal names, one of which is bestowed on each child born within the gens. These personal names refer either to the symbol which belongs to and marks the kinship group or to the rites allied to the symbol, which were the especial charge of the gens.
According to traditions preserved among the Omaha, Ponca, Osage, Kansa, and Quapaw tribes, their severance from the parent organization of which they once formed a part, as well as their later partings from one another, did not occur through any concerted action; they were the result of accident, as in the case already cited of the Omaha and the Quapaw, or of strifes fomented by ambitious chiefs, or of circumstances incident to following the game. A tradi- tion of the Wazha’zhe or Osage tells that they broke away from the Ponca because of a quarrel over game. The Wazha’zhe gens of the Ponca have a like story, which says ‘“‘The parting was due to a quarrel about game. Those who left us became lost but we hear of them now as a large tribe bearing our name, Wazha/zhe.”’
Tradition indicates also that when, for some reason or other, a group broke off, not all of the members belonged to one gens but to several gentes of the parent organization, and when this group organized as a distinct tribe, those of gentile kindred retained their identity in name and the practice of a common rite, and formed a gens in the new tribe. These traditions are corroborated by con- ditions which obtain in all of these cognate tribes.
For instance, among the Omaha, Osage, Kansa, and Quapaw a turtle group is found as a subgens in each tribe, and im each instance its members are the keepers of the turtle rites of the tribe.
Again, among the Omaha, Osage, Kansa, and Quapaw the Kansa, or Wind people, form a gens in each tribe, and in each of the tribes are the keepers of rites pertaining to the wind.
Among the Omaha, Osage, Kansa, and Quapaw tribes there is in each a gens similar to the Mo’thitkagaxe (“earth makers’’).
A Nu’xe, or Ice gens, is found in the Ponea tribe, and the name is borne also by a subgens in each the Osage, Kansa, and Quapaw tribes.
There is a tradition that the Ponca were once a gens in the Omaha tribe and broke away in a body, and that when they became a tribe
FLETCHER-LA FLESCHE] LOCATION ; LINGUISTIC RELATIONSHIPS 39
the subdivisions of the Ponca gens became the gentes of the Ponca tribe. This may possibly be true. It would seem, however, that in earlier days some, at least, of the Ponca had accompanied the Osage, Kansa, and Quapaw groups when they separated from the parent organization, and when these groups became distinct tribes the Ponca kindred appear to have combined to form a Ponca gens, for we find a gens of that name in each of the cognate tribes just mentioned.
Another class of evidence which has relation to the former union of these tribes is found in personal names, some of which refer to cere- monies no longer observed in the tribe in which the names exist but still practised in some of the cognate tribes—a fact which indicates apparently that the rite was once known and observed by the tribe in which the personal name is now found. For instance, in the Washe’to® subgens of the I*shta’cu"da gens of the Omaha tribe is the name Ushu’demo"thi”, meaning ‘‘he who walks in the mist’’ or “in the dust raised by the wind.’’ This name has no significance taken merely as an Omaha name, but its meaning becomes apparent when we turn to the cognate Osage. In that tribe there is a gens called Mo*so’tsemo"i®, meaning ‘‘they who walk concealed by the mist or dust.’”’ The word refers to a rite in the keeping of this gens, a rite that pertained towar. When a war party was about to make an attack or was forced to retreat, it was the office of this gens to perform the rite, which had the effect of causing a mist to rise or a strong wind to blow up a cloud of dust in which the warriors could walk concealed from their enemies. Again, the Omaha personal name Uzu'gaxe, meaning “to clear the pathway,” finds its explana- tion in the office of the Osage gens of the same name, whose duty it was to find a way across or around any natural obstacle that lay in the path of a war party, as a safe place to ford a dangerous river or a pathway over or around a cliff.
Instances similar to those cited above could be multiplied, all going to show that rites and customs lost in one tribe have frequently been preserved in another of these cognates. It is probable that were all the rites and customs of these tribes brought together and a comparative study made of them, much of the ancestral organiza- tion from which these cognates took their rise might be discovered and light thrown on the question, Why certain forms, religious and secular, were lost and others retained and developed; also, as to which of these were original with the people, which were adopted, and of the latter from what culture they were taken.
In all the traditions that touch on the common source from which these cognates have come no reference to the name of the parent or common organization is to be found. Ponca, Kansa, Wazha’zhe
40 THE OMAHA TRIBE [BTH. ANN. 27
(Osage) are old terms the meanings of which are lost; these occur as names of gentes in the cognate tribes, and three of the five cog- nates bear them as tribal names. It is to be noted that the descrip- tive nar es Omaha and Quapaw do not appear in any of these tribes as terms denoting kinship groups. Among the names used to denominate kinship groups we find one occurring frequently and always used to designate a group that holds important offices in the tribe. The same term also appears in the designation of tribal divisions which are more comprehensive than the gens. This name is Ho" ga, meaning ‘‘leader.”’ Inthe Kansa tribe there are gentes called the Great Hoga, the Small Ho”ga, and the Separate Hoga. In the Quapaw are two gentes having this name, the Great and the Small Hoga. In the Omaha the term is applied to one of the two grand divisions of the tribe, the Ho® gashenu, Hoga people, and one of the gentes in this division bears the name Ho™ga. In the Osage, one of the five divisions of the tribe is called Hoga. Within this division there is also a Ho™ga gens. Another of the divisions of the Osage is called Ho?’ga utanatsi, Separate Hoga. The following Osage tra- dition tells who the Ho” ga utanatsi were and how they came to be a part of the Osage organization:
The Osage in their wanderings on the hunt came across a tribe whose language was the same as their own. This strange people called themselves Hoga. The Osage made peace with them and invited them to join and become a part of the Osage tribe.
The Hoga tribe consented, and it is their descendants who are known to-day as the Hoga utanatsi.
The term Ho™ga utanatsi may be roughly translated as “ the Separate Ho” ga,” but the words utana tsi imply something more than merely “‘separate;’’ they explain why this group had to be so desig- nated. Thestrange Hoga whom the Osage met and invited to become a part of their tribe would not give up their own name Ho?’ga, and as the Osage were themselves called Ho" ga people, explanatory words had to be added to the name Ho" ga in order to identify and at the same time to distinguish the newcomers from the rest of the tribe. These explanatory words were utana tsi, by itself (“separate”). Hence the group in the Osage tribe called Hoga utanatsi.
The name of the Ho™ga utanatsi gens of the Kansa tribe has the same meaning, and indicates that the Kansa people, as did the Osage, claimed Ho™ga as their common name.
There is a tradition preserved among the Ponca that in the past they and the other cognate tribes knew the Omaha by the name Ho”ga. An incident is related that explains the meaning of a name given to a small stream in northern Nebraska, Ho’ ga she’no"watha- i ke (or Ho" gawa’xthi 1 ke), ‘where the Ho" ga were slaughtered.” On this creek a battle is said to have taken place in which the Omaha
FLETCHER-LA rLuscHE] LOCATION; LINGUISTIC RELATIONSHIPS 41
met with a disastrous defeat from an unknown enemy, which deci- mated the tribe. The tradition concerning the name of this stream is known to both Omaha and Ponca, and in both tribes the tradition is that the name Hoga, as here used, referred to the Omaha. The Omaha name for the month of January was Ho” ga umu’bthi, mean- ing ‘‘the drifting of the snow into the lodges of the Ho”ga,” that is, of the tribe.
From these traditions and the use of the term Hoga as applied to divisions and gentes in the Omaha, Osage, Kansa, and Quapaw tribes, together with the fact that these tribes either claimed for them- selves this name or were known to one another by it, it seems not improbable that Ho™ga may have been the name by which the people called themselves when they were living together as one com- munity or tribe. The general meaning of Hoga (‘‘leader’’) is not unlike that belonging to names by which other Indian tribes designate themselves, 1. e., ‘‘the men,”’ ‘the people,” ete. The term Ho?’ga is sometimes combined with another word to form the title of an officer, as Nudo® Hoga, “war leader” or ‘‘captain.”’
The following data concerning the gentes, personal names, and other features of the Omaha cognate tribes are taken from original notes made by the writers.
THE PONCA TRIBE?
Poca is an old word, the meaning of which is lost. It occurs as the name of a gens or subdivision of a gens in the Osage, Kansa, and Quapaw tribes, but not in the Omaha, a fact which may have sig- nificance because of the tradition that the Ponca constituted a gens of the Omaha before the separation of the tribes. As the Omaha retained at the parting possession of the sacred tribal objects, their rituals and ceremonies, the Ponca were everward after spoken of as “Orphans.”
There are seven gentes in the Ponca tribe, namely: Wa¢a’be, Thi’xida, Ni’kapashna, Po"’caxti,Washa’be,Wazha’zhe, Nu’xe. These camped in the order indicated in the diagram (fig. 2), beginning on the southern side of the eastern entrance of the tribal circle, to which
a The Ponca tribe is now divided. One part is living in northern Oklahoma on lands purchased by the Government from the Cherokee in 1883, which were allotted in severalty to the tribe some ten years later, The other part lives in northern Nebraska on the Niobrara river. Theirland was given them in 1881, and some years later was allotted to them under the Severalty act. Already these two parts are spoken of by different designations. Those in Oklahoma are ‘the hot-country Ponea;’’ those in Nebraska, “the cold- country Ponca.’ Relations between the Ponca and the United States were officially opened by a treaty made in 1817 ‘‘to reestablish peace and friendship as before the war of 1812." In 1825 another treaty was made by which only American citizens were to be allowed to reside among the tribe as traders, and the tribe agreed to delegate the punishment of offenders to the United States Government. In 1858 the Ponea ceded their hunting grounds to the United States, reserving, however, a certain tract for their own use, In 1865 the Government, by treaty, reconfirmed this tract. In 1877 the tribe was forcibly removed to the then Indian Territory (now Oklahoma). See note, p. 51.
42
THE OMAHA TRIBE
[ ETH. ANN. 27
the Ponca give the name hw’thuga, the word used by the Omaha also to designate their tribal circle.
N
Ss Fig. 2. Diagram of Ponca hu’thuga. 1. Waga’BE. Black bear. Subgentes: (a)
Waga’be; tabu, fat of the black bear. (b) Hi’cada (stretched, referring to the stretch of the Jegs in running); tabu, birds. 2. Tur xIpA. Meaning lost. Subgentes: (a) Thi’xida; tabu, blood. (b) Ingtho’cinene- deweti (ingthon’cingnede, puma; weti, to dwell in); tabu, blue (or green) paint. 3. NI’KAPASHNA. Aman’sskull. Subgentes: (a) Taha’to" itazhi (ta, deer; ha, skin; ton, possess; i’tazhi, do not touch); tabu, deer. (b) Teci’de itazhi (te, buffalo; gin’de, tail; ifazhi, do not touch); tabu, buffalo tail. 4. Po»’caxtr. Real or original Ponca. Subgentes: (a) Po»’caxti; (b) Mo=kon’ (mystery or medicine); one tabu, buffalo head. 5. WAsHA’BE. A dark object,as seen against the horizon; tabu, skin of buf- falo calf. 6. WAzHA’zHE. An old term. Subgentes: (a) Wazha’zhe (real Wa- zha’zhey; name said to refer to the snake after shedding old skin and again in full power. (0) Wazha’zhexude (gray Wa- zha‘zhe); refers to the grayish appearance of the snake's cast-off skin; one tabu, snakes. 7. Nu’xe. Ice; tabu, male buffalo.
that of the We’zhi"shte gens in the Omaha tribal circle, which was also associated with thunder.
It was a custom in the Ponca tribe for each gens to have its peculiar manner of marking arrows, so there should be no dispute in hunting as to the gens to which a fatal arrow belonged. This mark, how-
RITES AND CUSTOMS OF THE GENTES 1. WAGA’BE GENS
To the Hi’gada subgens of the Wa- ¢a’be gens belonged the keeping of the ritual songs sung at the ceremony held when the first thunder was heard in the spring. This subgens, whose tabu was birds, was spoken of as the Eagle group of the gens, and the people were supposed to be connected with thun- der. At death they went to the thun- der villages, and their voices would be heard in the thunder-storms. They were forbidden to climb trees, as by so doing they would be going upward, thus anticipating their deaths and therefore shortening their lives. In the legend (see p. 48) the people of this gens were said to wear wreaths of cedar; in all the cognate: tribes cedar was associated with thunder rites (note the Ni’ka wako"dagi of the Osage (p. 60); the Cedar Pole of the Omaha (p. 229) ; the association of the bear and the eagle in the Tha’/tada gens of the Omaha (p.159) ; also the connection of thunder with war and of the eagle with war and thun- der. The position of the Waca’be gens in the Ponca tribal circle was similar to
ever, did not exclude or interfere with a man’s pri-
vate mark. The arrow of the Waca’be had the
Fic. 3. Cut of hair, War ¢a’be gens (Ponca).
shaft red about one-half the length of the feathers. The symbolic cut of the children’s hair consisted in closely crop- ping one side of the head and leaving the other side untouched to the
neck (fig, 3.)
FLETCHER—LA FLESCHB] LOCATION ; LINGUISTIC RELATIONSHIPS 43
2. THI’XIDA GENS
It is said that the Pawnee call all the Ponea by the name Thi’xida. To this gens belonged a pack used in testing the truth of warriors when they were accorded war honors. Formerly there were two of these packs, but one was buried some twenty years ago with its keeper, To"’deamo"thi". The other, near the close of the last cen- tury, was kept by Shu’degaxe. The ceremony of conferring honors was similar to the Omaha Wate’gictu (p. 434). To this gens belonged the right to preside at the election of chiefs.
The members of the subgens I*gtho"’¢i"¢nedeweti painted the peace pipe (that used in the Wa’wa"™ ceremony, p. 376) on one side of their tents and the puma on the other. The tabu, green or blue paint, was used on these pipes. Du was the word for green; du gabe, blue; gabe means black; the words indicate that the two colors were regarded as the same, one being merely a darker shade than the other. The skin of the puma was used to cover or wrap up these pipes. The name of the sub- division (meaning ‘to dwell with the puma’’) refers to the covering of the peace pipes; these and the puma were rep- resented in the tent decora- tion and helped to interpret the name of the subgens— “those who dwell with the covered pipes that give peace.” The arrow shafts of this gens were painted black where the feathers were fastened, and the sinew was painted red to represent the tabu of the gens, blood.
The symbolic cut of the child’s hair consisted in leaving only a roach running from the forehead to the nape of the neck. This roach was trimmed by notching it like a saw. A small tuft of hair was left on each side of the roach (fig. 4). This notched roach is similar to the cut of hair of a buffalo gens in the Oto tribe (also of the Siouan stock), and but for the notching is like that of a buffalo gens of the Omaha. These resemblances suggest that the tabu of the gens may refer to the blood of the slain buffalo.
The people of this gens were said to have the power to cure pain in the head, in the following manner: The sufferer brought a bow and arrow to the Thi’xida, who wet the arrow with saliva, set it on the bow string, pointed it at the sick man’s head four times, then rubbed the head with the arrow, and so effected a cure of the pain.
Fic. 4. Cut of hair, Thi’xida gens (Ponca).
44 THE OMAHA TRIBE [wrH. ANN. 27
3. NI’KAPASHNA GENS
The name Ni’kapashna (‘skull’) is said to refer to the exposure of the bone by the process of scalping. This gens had charge of the war pipes and directed the council of war. To them belonged also the supervision of all hunting of the deer.
When a member of the subdivision Taha’to" itazhi died, moccasins made from the skin of the deer (which was tabu to the living) were put on his feet that he might not “lose his way,” but go on safely and “‘be recognized by his own people” in the spirit world.
The symbolic cut of the child’s hair consisted in removing all the hair except a fringe around the head, as shown in figure 5.
4. pON’CAXTI GENS
The Po™caxti (ati, ‘original,’ or ‘‘real’’) camped in the rear part of the tribal circle, fac- ing the opening. This gens and its subdivision, Fig.5. Cutofhair,Nika~ the Moko", had charge of the principal pipes,
Pashna gens (Perea) One of which was the chief’s pipe that was used for conjuring. In this gens was preserved the tradition of the finding of the Omaha Sacred Pole; it was a man of the Mo*ko” sub-— gens who in the race was the first to reach the Pole (p. 218).
There were only two ceremonies during which the Ponca tribe was required to camp in the order shown on the diagram, when, as it was said, ‘the people must make the hu’thuga complete.’ These cere- monies were the Feast of Soldiers, which generally took place while the tribe was on the buffalo hunt, and Turning the Child. At the latter ceremony the lock was cut from the boy’s head and a name which belonged to its gens was given to the child. The Mo*ko™ subdi- vision had the direction of both of these ceremonies. The ceremony connected with the child took place in the spring. A tent was pitched in front of the Moko" subdivision and set toward the center of the tribal circle, ‘‘made complete’ for this ceremony. The tent was dedicated—‘‘ made holy’’—a stone placed in the center near the fire and sweet grass laid on it. It was the duty of the mothers to bring their children to the old man to whom belonged the hereditary right to perform the ceremony of Turning the Child. After the child had entered the tent he took it by the hand, led it to the center of the tent, and stood it on the stone, facing the east; then he lifted the child by the shoulders, turned it to the south, and let its feet rest on the stone. In the same manner he again lifted the child, turned it to the west, and then rested its feet onthe stone. Once more he lifted it, as before, causing it to face the north, and set its feet on the stone; finally he lifted it back, with its face to the east. ‘‘ The Turning of the Child,” the old informant said, “‘ brought the child face to face with the life-
FLETCHER-LA FLESCHB] LOCATION ; LINGUISTIC RELATIONSHIPS 45
giving winds of the four directions,” while “the stone represented long life.” The child’s baby name was then ‘‘thrown away,” and a name from the gens to which its father belonged was publicly announced and bestowed upon it. All children were ‘“‘turned”’ but only boys had the lock of hair severed from the crown of the head, the lock being laid away in a pack kept by the old man who performed the rite. The boy was then taken home and the father cut his hair in the symbolic manner of his gens. (See Omaha rite of Turning the Child, p. 117.)
(For an account of the Feast of the Soldier and its ritual, see pp. 309-311.)
This gens had duties also in connection with eee ere ena ee the buffalo hunt. :
The people of the Mo"ko" subdivision painted their tents with black and yellow bands.
The symbolic cut of the child’s hair consisted in leaving only a tuft on the forehead, one at the nape of the neck, and one on each side of the head (fig. 6).
5. WASHA’BE GENS
The name of this gens, Washa’be, was the same as the name of the ceremonial staff used by the Omaha leader of the annual tribal buffalo hunt, and also of that subdivision of the Omaha Hoga gens which had charge of the tent contain- ing the White Buffalo Hide, of its ritual, and of that of the maize (see p.261). The Ponca gens, like the Omaha Washa’be subdivision, had duties connected with the tribal buffalo hunt, and was associated with the Mo"ko™ subdivision of the Po™’caxti gens in regulating the people at that time and appointing officers to maintain order on the hunt. There were no ceremonies in the Ponca tribe relative to the planting or the care of maize. The Ponca are said to have depended for food principally on hunting, and to have obtained their maize more by barter than by cultivation.
The symbolic cut of the child’s hair consisted in leaving only a tuft on the forehead and one at the nape of the neck (fig. 7).
Fig. 7. Cut of hair, Wa- sha’be gens ( Ponca).
6. WAZHA’ZHE GENS
The name Osage is a corruption of the native term wazha’zhe. Whether or not in the tabu and customs of this gens the Ponca have conserved something of the early rites of the Wazha’zhe, or Osage, people (rites connected with the snake) can be determined only by more careful research than it has been possible for the writers to make.
46 THE OMAHA TRIBE [ETH. ANN. 27
A member of this gens must not touch or kill a snake, and care had to be exercised always to enter the tent by the door, otherwise snakes would go in and do harm. Mothers in this gens were very particular to impress on their children the importance of entering the tent by the door and little children were watched lest one should creep under the tent cover and so bring harm to itself or the inmates.
A man harboring a grudge against a person could bring about the punishment of that individual by dropping inside the offender’s tent a figure of a snake cut out of rawhide- Shortly afterward the man would be bitten by a snake. A drawing made of the snake to be cut out showed it to be a rattlesnake. i
When any one in the tribe chanced to be bitten by a snake, he sent at once for a member of the Wazha’zhe gens, who on arriving at the tent quickly dug a hole beside the fire with a stick, and then sucked the wound so as to draw out the blood and prevent any serious trouble from the injury. The purpose in digging the hole
could not be learned from the*writer’s informant. When on the tribal hunt, the women gathered the bones of the buffalo and boiled them to ex- tract the marrow for future use. If a person wished to tease a woman so employed, he would catch up with a stick and throw away some of the J} scum from the pot. This act would prevent any Fic. 8. Cut of hair, Wa more marrow from leaving the bones, and the only vha’zhe gens (Ponta). ~ay to undo the mischief was to send for a Wa- zha’zhe, who on arriving removed by means of astick some of the fat from the boiling bones. The marrow would then come out freely at once and the woman would be able to secure an ample supply of tallow. ‘‘That is the mystery of my people,” said the old informant, with a sly smile, in response to inquiries on the subject.
It is said that the Wazha’zhe were a warlike and quarrelsome peo- ple, and that at the organization of the tribe a peace pipe was given into their keeping. By accepting this trust they committed them- selves to more peaceful and orderly conduct in the tribe. It is still a matter of dispute within the gens as to which of the two subdi- visions the custody of the peace pipe originally belonged, whether to the ‘‘real”’ or to the ‘‘gray’’ Wazha’zhe.
The office of tribal herald was in this gens.
The symbolic cut of the hair consisted in leaving a lock on the forehead, one at the back of the head, and one over each ear (fig. 8).
7. NU’XE GENS
The name of this gens, Nu’xe (‘‘ice’’), found also in the Osage tribe, refers to the hail. The Osage gens of this name is closely associated with the Buffalo-bull people, and in this connection it is to be noted
FLOTCHER-LA FLESCHE] LOCATION ; LINGUISTIC RELATIONSHIPS 47
‘that the tabu of the Ponca Nu’xe gens is the male buffalo. The Osage have a tradition that the Ponca were once a part of their tribe, but that very long ago the people became separated on. the buffalo hunt, and the Ponca never came back. It will be noted that the Osage have a Ponca gens and the Ponca a Wazha’zhe gens, that there is a Waca’be gens in each tribe, also a Hi’gada gens, which in each tribe had rites referring to thunder; all of these resemblances are probably the result of movements which took place long before the Ponca and the Omaha were as closely associated as at a later period, prior to finally becoming distinct tribes.
LeGenpary Accounts @ THE PEACE PIPES
The people came across a great water on rafts—logs tied together—and pitched their tents on the shore. While there they thought to make themselves u’shkon, limits or bounds within which to move, and regulations by which their actions were to be governed. They cleared a space of grass and weeds so that they could see one another’s faces, and sat down, and there was no obstruction between them.
While they were deliberating they heard the hooting of an owl in the timber near by, and the leader, who had called the people together, said, ‘‘That bird is to take part in our action; he calls to us, offering his aid.’’ Immediately afterward they heard the cry of the woodpecker and his knocking against the trees, and the leader said, ‘‘That bird calls and offers his aid; he will take part in our action.”
The leader then addressed the man he had appointed to act as servant, and said, ‘‘Go to the woods and get an ash sapling.’’ The servant went out and returned with a sapling having a rough bark. ‘‘This is not what we want,’’ said the leader. ‘“‘Go again, and get a sapling that has a smooth bark, bluish in color at the joint” (where a branch comes). The servant went out, and returned with a sapling of the kind described.
When the leader took up the ash sapling, an eagle came and soared above where the council sat. He dropped adowny feather; it fell, and balanced itself in the center of the cleared space. This was the white eagle. The leader said, ‘‘This is not what we want;’’ so the white eagle passed on.
Then the bald eagle came swooping down as though making an attack upon its prey, balanced itself on its wings directly over the cleared space, uttering fierce cries, and dropped one of its downy feathers, which stood on the ground as the other eagle’s feather had done. The leader said, ‘‘This is not what we want;’’ and the bald eagle passed on.
Then came the spotted eagle and soared over the council and dropped its feather, which stood as the others had done. The leader said, ‘“‘This is not what we want;” and the spotted eagle passed on.
The eagle with the fantail (imperial eagle, Aquila heliaca Savigny) then came, and soared over the people. It dropped a downy feather which stood upright in the center of the cleared space. The leader said, ‘“‘This is what we want.’’ The feathers of this eagle were those used in making the peace pipes, together with the other birds (the owl and the woodpecker) and the animals, making in all nine kinds of articles. These pipes were to be used in establishing friendly relations with other tribes.®
a Obtained from chiefs and other prominent Ponca.
> This account of the Ponca introduction to the Wa’wa. pipes should be compared with the Omaha account of receiving these pipes from the Arikara (p. 74) and the Omaha ceremony (p. 376). The nine articles are as follows: Ow] feathers, eagle feathers, woodpecker, rabbit, deer, ash tree, paint, cat-tail, and sinew.
48 THE OMAHA TRIBE [ETH. ANN. 27
THE ORGANIZATION OF THE TRIBE
‘
When the peace pipes were made (those for ‘‘establishing friendly relations with other tribes’’), seven other pipes were made for the keeping of peace within the tribe. These pipes were also for use to prevent bloodshed. If one man should kill another, in such a case the chiefs were to take a pipe to the aggrieved relatives and offer it to them. If they refused, the pipe was to be again offered them; if the pipe was offered and refused four successive times, then the chiefs said to them, ‘‘ You must now take the consequences; we will do nothing, and ycu can not ask to see the pipes,’’ meaning | that if trouble should come to any of them because of their acts taken in revenge they could not appeal for help or mercy.
When these seven pipes were finished they were taken to be distributed among the different bands of the tribe.
The first band to which the pipe bearers came was the Wac¢a’be. They were found to be engaged in a ceremony that did not pertain to peace, but rather to the taking of life. The Hi’¢ada sat in a tent with red-hot stones, and had on their heads wreaths of cedar branches. The pipe bearers passed them by, and even to this day they are reminded of this occurrence by the other bands saying, ‘‘ You are no people; you have no peace pipe!”
The next band the pipe bearers came to was the Thi’xida. To them a pipe was given, and they were to have charge of the counc*! which elected chiefs.
Next they came to the Ni’‘kapashna, and to them a pipe was given, and they were to have the management of the council of war and also the direction of the people when they went to hunt the deer, so that order might be preserved in the pursuit of that game.
The Po™caxti and the Mo™ko™ were reached next, and a pipe was given them.
The Washa’be were next, and a pipe was given them. This band, together with the Mo"ko™, were given charge of the tribal buffalo hunt—the direction of the journey, the making of the camps, and the preservation of order. From these two bands the two principal chiefs must come.
When the pipe bearers reached the Wazha‘zhe the latter were divided, and there were trouble and murder between the factions. So, instead of giving them a flat-stemmed pipe, they gave them one with a round stem, ornamented. Because of the feud there was carelessness, and to this day there is a dispute as to the division to which the pipe for the maintenance of peace was presented.
When the pipe bearers reached the Nu’xe, they gave them a pipe and an office in the buffalo hunt.
Each band had its pipe, but there was one pipe which was to belong to the chiefs. This could be filled only by the leading chiefs, and was to be used to punish people who made trouble in the tribe. It was placed in charge of the Mo"ko™ band.
When a man was to be punished, all the chiefs gathered together and this pipe was filled by the leader and smoked by all the chiefs present. Then each chief put his mind on the offender as the leader took the pipe to clean it. He poured some of the tobacco ashes on the ground, and said, ‘‘This shall rankle in the calves of the man’s legs.’’ Then he twirled the cleaning stick in the pipe and took out a little more ashes, and, putting them on the earth, said, ‘‘ This shall be for the base of the sinews, and he shall start with pain” (in the back). A third time he twirled the cleaning stick, put more ashes on the earth, and said, ‘‘ This is for the spine, at the base of the head.”” A fourth time he twirled the cleaning stick in the pipe, poured out the ashes, put them on the ground, and said, “‘ This is for the crown of his head.’’ This act finished the man, who died goon after.
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STANDING BUFFALO
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY TWENTY-SEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT PLATE 3
WHITE EAGLE (XITHA’CKA)
FLETCHER-LA FLEsScHE] LOCATION; LINGUISTIC RELATIONSHIPS 49
THE WAZHA’ZHE GENS
Standing Buffalo (pl. 2), of the Wazha’zhe gens, told the follow- ing story some ten years ago:
When I was a boy I often asked my mother where my people came from, but she would not tell me, until one day she said, “I will give you the story as it has been handed down from generation to generation.
“In the real beginning Wako”da made the Wazha/zhe—men, women, and children. After they were made he said ‘Go!’ So the people took all they had, carried their children, and started toward the setting sun. They traveled until they came to a great water. Seeing they could go no farther, they halted. Again Wako" da said ‘Go!’ And-once more they started, and wondered what would happen to them. As they were about to step into the water there appeared from under the water rocks. These projected just above the surface, and there were others barely covered with water. Upon these stones the people walked, stepping from stone to stone until they came to land. When they stood on dry land the wind blew, the water became violent and threw the rocks upon the land, and they became great cliffs. Therefore when men enter the sweat lodge they thank the stones for pre- serving their lives and ask for a continuation of their help that their lives may be prolonged. Here on the shore the people dwelt; but again Wako"™da said ‘Go!’ And again they started and traveled on until they came to a people whose appearance was like their own; but not knowing whether they were friends or foes, the people rushed at each other for combat. In the midst of the confusion Wako*’da said, ‘Stand still!’ The people obeyed. They questioned each other, found they spoke the same language, and became friends.
“Wako™da gave the people a bow, a dog, and a grain of corn. The people made other bows like the one given them and learned to use them for killing wild animals for food and to make clothing out of their skins. The dogs gave increase and were used as burden bearers and for hunting. The corn they planted, and when it grew they found it good to eat, and they continued to plant it.
“The people traveled on and came to a lake. There the Omaha found a Sacred Tree and took it with them. The people (Ponca) went on and came to a river now called Nishu’de (the Missouri). They traveled along its banks until they came to a place where they could step over the water. From there they went across the land and came to a river now called Nibtha’¢ka (the Platte). This river they followed, and it led them back to the Missouri.
“Again they went up this river until they came to a river now called Niobrara, where we live to-day.”
The latter part of this legend, which deals with the Ponca move- ments after the Omaha found the Sacred Tree, has been obtained from a number of old men. All follow the general outline given by Standing Buffalo, while some preserve details omitted by him, as the meeting with the Padouca (Comanche), the obtaining of horses, etc., which are given elsewhere. (See p. 78.)
HOW WHITE EAGLE BECAME A CHIEF
The following account of how White Eagle (pl. 3) came to be a chief was given by him ten years or more ago and was introductory to the information he then imparted to the writers. He regarded
83993°—27 ETH—1]1——4
50. THE OMAHA TRIBE [wrH. ANN. 27
the story as important, for it served to make clear his tribal status and therefore, he thought, to give weight to his statements concern- ing the Ponca tribe. The story is repeated here as throwing light on Ponca customs during the eighteenth century:
A chief by the name of Zhi"ga/gahige (Little Chief), of the Washa’be band, had a son who went on the warpath. The father sat in his tent weeping because he had heard that his son was killed, for the young man did not return. As he wept he thought of various persons in the tribe whom he might call on to avenge the death of hisson. As he cast about, he recalled a young man who belonged to a poor family and had no notable relations. The young man’s name was Waca/bezhitga (Little Bear). The chief remembered that this young man dressed and painted himself in a peculiar manner, and thought that he did so that he might act in accordance with a dream, and therefore it was probable that he possessed more than ordinary power and courage. So the chief said to himself, “T will call on him and see what he can do.”’
Then the chief called together all the other chiefs of the tribe, and when they were assembled he sent for Little Bear. On the arrival of the young man the chief addressed him, saying, ‘‘My son went on the warpath and has never returned. I do not know where his bones lie. I have only heard he has been killed. I wish you to go and find the land where he was killed. If you return successful four times, then I shall resign my place in your favor.”’
Little Bear accepted the offer. He had a sacred headdress that had on it a ball of human hair; he obtained the hair in this manner: Whenever men and women of his acquaintance combed their hair and any of the hair fell out, Little Bear asked to have the combings given to him. By and by he accumulated enough hair to make his peculiar headdress. This was a close-fitting skull cap of skin; on the front part was fastened the ball of human hair; on the back part were tied a downy eagle feather and one of the sharp-pointed feathers from the wing of that bird. He had another sacred article, a buffalo horn, which he fastened at his belt.
Little Bear called a few warriors together and asked them to go with him, and they consented. Putting on his headdress and buffalo horn, he and his companions started. They met a party of Sioux, hunting. One of the Sioux made a charge at Little Bear, who fell over a bluff. The Sioux stood above him and shot arrows at him; one struck the headdress and the other the buffalo horn. After he had shot these two arrows the Sioux turned and fled. Little Bear, who was uninjured, climbed up the bluff, and, seeing the Sioux, drew his bow and shot the man through the head. Besides this scalp Little Bear and his party captured some ponies. On the return of the party Little Bear gave his share of the booty to the chief who had lost his son.
Little Bear went on three other expeditions and always returned successful, and each time he gave his share of the spoils to the chief. When Little Bear came back the fourth time the chief kept his word and resigned his office in favor of the young man.
Little Bear was my grandfather. When he died he was succeeded by his eldest son, Two Bulls. At his death his brother, We’gagapi (pl. 4),¢ who was my father, became chief, and I succeeded him.
a An old Ponca, speaking of We’gacapi, said: ‘‘ He was a successful man, and had a pack which had descended tohim. He always carried it in war. Both he and the original owner of the pack are said to have had dreams of wolves.’’ We’gacapi had the honor of having some of his brave deeds preserved in song by the Hethu’shka society, and the song is known to members of the society in both the Ponca and Omaha tribes.
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY TWENTY-SEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT PLATE 4
WE’GACAPI
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STANDING BEAR
FLETCHDR-LA FLESCHE] LOCATION ; LINGUISTIC RELATIONSHIPS 51 Recent History; Personan NAMES
The following list of Ponca names was taken in November, 1874, while the entire tribe was living on the Niobrara. river.*
The total population of the tribe at that time was 733, divided as follows: ?
Full bloods. Mixed bloods. Full bloods. Mixed bloods. Men 28 cee ona 172 32 | Girlstne See aascise 129 45 Wromenmcccenc k= 164 21 Ramil tes seeee 185 32 Hosea ee. 135 Bey tl
The people dwelt in three villages. The village at the United States agency contained 89 families and 377 persons. The village called Hubtho”™ (‘‘those who smell of fish’’) had 46 families and 144 persons. ‘‘Point” village had 82 families and 248 persons.
There were eight chiefs, each of whom had his ‘‘band.”’ These bands were probably composed of persons from the gens or subgens
to which the chief belonged. Families. Persons.
White Eagle’s band (Waga’be, Hi’¢ada subgens)..........--- 26 89 Big Soldier’s band (Waga’be, Hi’cada subgens) ...........-- 31 97 Traveling Buffalo’s band (Thi’xida).......-....-....-....--- 23 72 Black Crow's band)(Ni/kapashna)_...2.-.-=---------=+----- 28 90 Over the Land’s band (Po™caxti and Mo"ko™).......-...... 21 73 Wieodpecker’s\band!(Washa/be)..:..<--------.s---+-2<-+e=-- 27. 75 Standing Bear’s band (Wazha/zhe)......-.-..--.-----.--.-- 20 82 Big-hoofed Buffalo’s band (Nu’xe).......-.--.-.------------ 9 22
@Tn 1858 the Ponca ceded their hunting grounds to the United States, and reserved for their home the lend about their old village sites on the Niobrara river. They were never at war with the Government or the white race. Their reservation was reconfirmed to them by the Government in 1865. In 1868 a large reservation was granted to the Sioux, in which the Ponca reservation on the Niobrara was included. The Ponca tribe was ignorant of this official transfer of its land. In 1877 the Ponca, without any warning, were informed they must move to the Indian Territory, and the eight chiefs were conducted there by an official and told to select a new reservation The reason for leaving their old home was not explained to the protesting chiefs or to the people. The chiefs who went with the official refused to select a home in “the strange land.” They begged te be allowed to go back. Being refused, they left the official, and, in the winter, with but a few dollars and a blanket each, started home, walking 500 miles in forty days. When they reached the Niobrara the United States Indian agent summoned the military and on the Istof May the entire tribe was forcibly removed to the Indian Territory, The change from a cool climate to a warm and humid one caused suffering. Within a year one-third of the people were dead and nearly all the sur- vivors were sick or disabled. A son of Chief Standing Bear (pl. 5) died. The father could not bury him away from his ancestors, so taking the bones, he and his immediate following turned from ‘the hot country,” and in January, 1879, started to walk back. They reached the Omaha reservation in May, destitute, and asked the loan of land and seed, which was granted. As they were about to put in acrop, soldiers appeared with orders to arrest Standing Bear and his party and take them back. They were obliged to obey. On their way south they camped near Omaha city. Their story was made known, the citizens became interested, lawyers offered help, and a writ of habeas corpus was secured. The United States denied the prisoners’ right tosue out a writ, because ‘‘an Indian was not a person within the mean- ingofthelaw.” The case came before Judge Dundy, who decided that “An Indian is a person within the meaning of the law,’ and that there was no authority under the laws of the United States forcibly to remove the prisoners to the Indian Territory, and ordered their release. Inthe winter Standing Bear vis- ited the principal cities of the East, repeating the story of his people. The United States Senate ordered an investigation of the Ponca removal, when all the facts were brought out. Those Ponca who chose to remain in Oklahoma were given good lands. Their old home on the Niobrara was restored to Standing Bear and his followers and lost property was paid for In September, 1908, Standing Bear died and was buried with his fathers. By his sufferings and courage he was instrumental in putting an end to enforced Indian removals,
© Data furnished by Office of Commissioner of Indian Affairs.
52
THE OMAHA TRIBE
[ern. ann. 27
PersonaL NAMEs 4
WAGA’BE GENS, HI’CADA SUBGENS
White Eagle’s band ‘ Male. Ci’/ha—Soles (O.: Te’pa, Tha’tada, Tapa’). Cithe’dezhitga—Little heel (O., I"shta/- gu™da). De’mo"thi™—Talks walking. Gahi’ge zhi®ga—Little chief (O.: I"ke’- gabe, Ko™ ce). Gaku’/wi?xe—Whirled by the wind. Gamo™xpi—Wind strikes the clouds (O.: Wazhi’ga, Tha’tada). Gashta’gabi—Beaten into submission, Ha/nugahi—Nettle weed. Ke’to"ga—Big turtle (O.: Tha/tada). Mi’xazhitga— Duck. Mo?chu’nita—Grizzly bear’s ears. Mo?*chu’wathihi—Stampedes the grizzly bear. Mo*chu’zhiga—Little grizzly bear. Mo?e’gahi—Arrow chief (O., I"ke’¢abe). Mo”sho*®zhide—Red feather. Mo™tega—New arrow. Ni’¢tumo"th—Walking backward (0.: Xu’ka, Tha’tada). Nishu’dezho"—Missouri River timber. Niwa’i—Gives water. No™pabi—One who is feared (O.: ca’be, Tha’tada). Nudo™ho*ga—Leader (O., Ho"ga). Nudo™mo*thi®— Warrior walking. O” po®cabe—Black Elk. Pe’degahi—Fire chief (O.: Tha/tada). Sho*"to"ga—Gray wolf. Shu’degaxe—Smoke maker (pl. 6). Shui’/na—Meaning uncertain(O.:Wag¢a/be, Tha/tada). Shuka/mo"thi"—Walking in groups (O., Hoga). Tecgo”—White buffalo (O.: Wazhi'ga, Tha/tada). ; Tenu’gacabe—Black bull. Thi/o*bagigthe—Lightning passing (O., T*shta/gutda). Thio"batigthe—Sudden T'shta’cu™da). Tide’gigthe—Passes by with a roar.
Wazhi”ga,
Wa-
Wazhi”ga,
lightning (O.,
Tiuthio"ba—Lightning flashes in the tent (O., I"shta/cu"da).
Wahu’to"the—Gun.
Wai gabtha—Spreads robe.
Wazhi’dathi"—Has red medicine.
Xitha’¢ka—White eagle (O., Tapa’).
Female
Mi’gasho"thi"—Traveling I"ke’¢abe).
Mi’texi—Sacred moon (O., Mo"’thitka- gaxe).
sun
(0.,
Big Soldier's band
Male Agi’chidato"ga—Big soldier. A‘hi"¢ka—White wings (O.: Te’pa, Tha’- tada).
A’shkano"ge—Short runner.
A’xewo"—Covered with frost.
Gahi’ge—Chief (O.: I*ke’cabe, Te’pa, Tha’tada), plate 7.
He’xude—Gray horns (O., Te¢im’de).
V’kuhabi—He who causes fear
I*shta’/duba—Four eyes (O.: Waga’be, Tha‘tada).
Ki/shtawagu—Said to be a Pawnee name (O., Mo’thrkagaxe).
Mo”™hi®gahi— Knife chief.
Mo”thumo®¢e—Metal or iron chief.
Nini’ba—Pipe (O., Te’pa, Tha’tada).
No®ba/mo"thi*—Two walking (O.: Wa- zhi”ga, Tha/tada).
No” gemo*thi*—Travels running (O., Mo”- thitkagaxe).
Nudo™axa—Cries for war.
Paho”gamo"this—Walking first (O., I"ke’-
gabe).
Shage’duba—Four hoofs (O., Tapa’).
Shu’kabi—Bunch of clouds.
Tato’ gapa—Bull head.
Tenu’gag¢ka—White bull.
Te’thiti—Buffalo rib (O.: Tha/tada).
Thi’tiaxa—Cries for rib.
U*ho®zhi®ga—Little cook (O., I*shta/- cu'da).
Uzho"’ge—Road.
Waca’bezhi*ga—Little black bear (O.: Waga’be, Tha’tada).
Waca/be,
aThis list is necessarily incomplete. Names found in tribes other than the Ponca are followed by the names of the respective tribes, accompanied by those of the gentes where known, in parentheses.
{(O.= Omaha.)
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY TWENTY-SEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT PLATE 6
SMOKE-MAKER (SHU’DEGAXE)
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY TWENTY-SEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT PLATE 7
GAHI’GE
FLETCHER-LA FLESCHE] LOCATION ;
Wako™dagi—Monster.
Wazhi”ga—Bird (O.: Wazhi™ga, Tha/’- tada).
Wazhi’gacabe—Blackbird (O., Mo" thi?- kagaxe).
Wazhi gagahi—Bird chief (O.: Wazhi”’ga, Tha/tada).
We’zhno"wathe—Ie who causes fog.
Zha/becka—White beaver.
Zhi” gapezhi—Bad little one.
Zho™xude—Gray wood.
Female
A’o®wi"—Meaning uncertain (O., Hoga).
Mi’tena—Meaning uncertain (O., Hoga).
Mi/wa¢o"?—White moon (O., Ho™ga).
No*ce’it¢e—Meaning uncertain (O.,We’- zhi®shte).
Teco”dabe—White buffalo (O., Hoga).
Teco” wit—White buffalo woman Hoga).
To” gthihe—Sudden appearing of new |
moon (O., I*ke’¢abe).
Zho"i/wathe—To carry wood (O., We7 |
zhi®shte). THI/XIDA GENS
Traveling Buffalo’s band Male
Gaku’wi"xe—Soaring eagle Tha/’tada).
Ha/shimo*thi*—Walking last in a file (O., T'shta/cu"da).
He’shathage—Branching horns (O., I°- shta/¢u"da).
Hewo”™zhi*tha—One horn (Dakota).
Hezha/ta—Forked horns (O., Tapa’).
Hezhi"’ga—Little horn.
Ka/xeno*ba—Two crows (O., Ho™ga).
Keba/ha—Turtle showing himself (O., Tapa’).
Ma/azhga—Little cottonwood (O.: Wa- zhi”ea, Tha/tada).
Mixa’cka—White swan (O., Mo™thitka- gaxe).
Mo"a/zhga—Little bank (0O., zhide).
Mo"chu’¢ka—White bear.
Mo®shi/ahamo*thi#—Moying above T'shta’¢u"da).
No*be’thiku—Cramped hand.
O” po"to"ga—Big Elk (O., We’zhi*shte).
(O.: Te’pa,
T®gthe’-
(O.
?
LINGUISTIC RELATIONSHIPS
(G)|
53
| Pa’thi"no"pazhi"—Fears not Pawnee (0.: Waga/’be, Tha’tada). Sha’gecka—White claws (O., Tha‘tada). Sha/geshuga—Thick claws. Sha/nugahi—Meaning Ingthe’zhide). Shathu’—Gurele (water). Tato’ga—Great male deer (old name) (O., Tapa’). Tato™gano"zhi"—Standing bull. Tenu’gano"ba—Two buffalo bulls (O., Tapa’). Tenu’gazhi"ga—Little bull (O., Tegi™de). U‘do"—Good. Uga’sho"to"—The traveler or wanderer (O., Tegi’de). Waba/hizhi*ga—The little grazer (O., Ko" ¢e). Waca/beto*"ge—Big black bear (O., Mo®/- thitkagaxe). Wada/thi"ge—Refers to chief (O., I"ke/- cabe). Wami’—Blood (O., Ko™¢e). Wano”xe—Ghost. Washi’chucabe—Black man (Sioux). Washi’ nuka—Wet fat, or fresh fat. Washi’shka—Shell (O., Mo™thi"kagaxe). | Washu’she—Brave (O., I"ke’¢abe). Wazhi’¢ka—Wisdom (O., Ishta’¢u"da). Wazhi™ea¢i— Yellow bird. Wazhi"wathe—He who provokes anger. Xitha’/¢ka—White eagle (O., Tapa’).
uncertain (O.,
Female
Mi’gasho"thi"—Traveling moon (O.,I"ke/- cabe).
Mi’gthedo®wit—Moon hawk woman (0., I"ke’cabe).
Mi’gthitoi"—Return cf new moon (O., T*shta’cu"da).
Mi’o"bathi#—Moon moving by day (O., T*shta’cgu'da).
Mi‘tena—Meaning uncertain (O., Hoga).
Nazhe’gito"—Meaning uncertain (O., Hoga).
No"ce/i"¢e—Meaning uncertain (0O., We’zhi®shte).
To“ithit—New moon moving (O., Hoga).
Wate’wi"—May refer to the stream Wate (O., Tha’tada).
We’to"na—Meaning uncertain shta’¢u"da).
(OF
54
NI/KAPASHNA GENS Black Crow’s band Male A’kidagahigi—Chief who watches (O., Tapa’). Ciko*xega—Brown ankles (O., I"ke’cabe). Gahi’gewashushe—Brave chief. Gahi/gezhi*ga—Little chief (O., Ko™¢e). Gthedo™no®zhi*—Standing hawk (O.: Wazhiga, Tha’tada). Gthedo”xude—Gray zhi ga, Tha/tada). He’cithitke—New yellow horn (O., We’- zhi®shte). Hethi’shizhe—Crooked horn. Hi’’xega—Brown hair (Omaha).
hawk (O.: Wa-
THE OMAHA TRIBE
Hu’to"tigthe—Cries out in the distance.
V’baho*bi—He is known (O., I"shta/- | cu®da).
I"chu”ga¢ka—White weasel (O., Tapa’). |
Kaxe’cabe—Black crow (O., Tapa’), | plate 8.
Ke’zhi®ga—Little turtle (O.: Kei", Tha’- | tada).
Mika’—Raccoon.
Mixabaku—Bent goose (O.: Ke’i®, Tha’- tada).
Mo?chu’dathi"—Crazy bear.
Mo" geuti"—Strikes the breast.
Mothi™thitge—No knife (O., We’zhi*- shte).
Mo*no™ uto"—Paws the earth.
Mo™”shkaaxa—Cries for crawfish Waga/be, Tha’tada).
Mo*sho’’¢ka—White feather (O., I"gthe’- zhide):
No*"ba/ato"—Treads on two.
No™ getithe—Passes by running.
No*ka/tu—Blue-back (O., I"gthe’zhide).
Nudo”™gina—Returns from war.
Sho™’gehi"c¢abe—Black horse.
Tato”zamo"this—Big deer walking (O., Tapa’).
Ta/xti¢ka—White deer.
Wage’zhide—Red paint.
Wano” pazhi—Without fear (O., Igthe’- zhide).
Zhi®ga/u2¢a—Little runner.
(OF;
Female
Gthedo™shtewi*—Hawk woman (O.,
| Kigtha’zho®zho"—Shakes
Tapa’).
[ETH. ANN. 27
Mi’gthedo™” wi—Moon hawk woman (0. I*ke’cabe).
Mo™shadethi*—One moving on high (O., Tshta’cu*da).
To”itgina—New moon coming (O., I®- shta’cu®da).
PON CAXTI GENS Over the Land’s band Male (i”degka—White tail (Omaha). Ci dedo"ka—Blunt tail (O., We’zhi"shte). Cithi”ge—No feet. Ezhno™no"zhi"—Stands alone. Gthedo” texi—Sacred hawk. Ho™gazhi"ga—Little Hoga (O., Hoga). I"ke’to"ga—Big shoulder (O., I*shta/- cuda).
I*shta’pede—Fire eyes (O., I"ke’¢abe).
| Keo“hazhi—Turtle that flees not (O.:
Wag¢a/be, Tha’tada). himself (O.,;
Teci’de).
| Mika’xage—Crying raccoon (O., Tapa’), Mo*ka/ta—On the land (old name, now
used among the Dakota). Mo*ko™ to*ga—Big medicine. Mo*zho™ibaho"—Knows the land.
No”gethia—Not able to run (O., Teci”de).
Nuga’—Male (O., I"ke’cabe). Nuga’xte—Original male (O., We/- zhi®shte).
O”po"zhi"ga—Little elk (O., We’zhi"shte). Sheno’’zhi—Stands there. Te’mo*thi"— Buffalo walking I'gthe’zhide). Tenu’gawakega—Sick bull. Thae’gethabi—One who is loved (O., Tapa’). The’baxo"—Broken jaw. The’dewathe—Looks back. Thihie’no"—Frightens the game. Une’gtho"xe—Seeks poison. Waba’hizi—Yellow grazer (O., Mo™thi% kagaxe). Wagi/o"—Thunder bird (Dakota). Washko™ zhi"ga—Little strength. Wa/xano"zhi*—Standing in advance (O., Tapa’). Xitha/gahige—Eagle chief (O., Tapa’). “itha’/gaxe—Eagle maker (O., Tapa’). Zhi"ga/nudo"—Little warrior.
(0.,
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY TWENTY-SEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT PLATE 8
BLACK CROW (KAXE’CABE)
TWENTY-SEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT PLATE 9
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
Nie een
7a
a ¥ ontaz,
BIG GOOSE
dIHO O1Vvssna
OL 3LW1d LYOdSY IWANNV HLN3SASS-ALNAML ADOIONHLA NVOINSWY JO NV3SYNd
FLETCHbR-LA FLUSCHE] LOCATION ; LINGUISTIC RELATIONSHIPS
Female Ace’to"ga—Meaning uncertain (O., Ko” ¢e). Gthedon’wi"texe—Sacred hawk woman (O., Tapa’). Mi’ako"da—Sacred moon (O., Tegi™de). Mi’/bthiwi"—Meaning uncertain (0O., Tha’tada).
Mi/mo*shihathi#—Moon moving on high (O., Tha’tada).
Mi’tena—Meaning uncertain (O., Hoga).
Mi/waco"—White moon (O., Ho™ga).
Po%ea/co"—White Ponca (O., Mo™thi"- kagaxe).
Zho’i®wathe—To carry wood (O., We’- zhi®shte).
WASHA’BE GENS Woodpecker’s band Male A’gahamo*thi® — Walks Xu’ka, Tha’tada).
Qi” degabe—Black tail. E’tho*tho"be—To appear repeatedly (O.,
outside (O.:
Hoga). Hexa/gacabe—Black elk. Hexa/gamo"thi*—Standing elk (O., Mo™- thitkagaxe). ; Hitci/zhitga—Little yellow hair (O., Tecide). Hw’hazhi—Meaning uncertain (O., Tapa’).
T*shta/cabe—Black eyes (O., Tegi”de). I*shta/dathi"—Crazy eyes. T'shta’duba—Four eyes (O., Wagca’be, Tha/tada). Ko" ¢eto"ga—Big Kansa. Ma/cito"—Lone cedar tree. Mi’‘kacixthaha—Lean coyote. Mi‘xato"ga—Big goose (pl. 9). Mo™cedo"—Meaning uncertain (O., I?- gthe’zhide). Mo?®chu/’¢itdethi"ge—Bob-tailed bear. Motga/azhi—Not afraid of arrows (O., Mo thitkagaxe). Mo” gazhitga—Little skunk.
No”co"dazhi—Does not dodge (O., Tapa’).
No”kacka—White back.
No®zhi”mg"thi—Rain travels (O.,
Mo thi*kagaxe).
55
Nudo”ho"ga—Leader (O., Hoga).
Pacgi’duba—Four — buffaloes—very name (O., Ko"¢e; Osage).
Sha’ge—Hoofs.
Sho" ge¢abe—Black horse (O., Tapa’).
Te’cehi"¢abe—Black hair on belly of buf- falo (O., Tapa’).
Te/nuga—Buffalo bull (O., Ho™ga).
Tezhe’bate—Buffalo chip (pl. 10).
Te/zhiga—Little buffalo (O., Igthe’- zhide).
Thigthi’/cemothi"—Zigzag lightning walk- ing (O., I*shta/¢utda).
Tishi/muxa—Spreading tent poles (O.,
old
Igthe’zhide).
Uga/sho"zhi"ga—Little traveler (O., Mo”’- thitkagaxe).
Ugtha/atigthe—He who shouts (victory name).
Uho”’no*ba—Two cooks (O.: Wazhi™ga, Tha/tada).
Uho”zhitga—Little cook (O., cuda).
Wahaxi—Yellow skin (O., I"shta’¢u"da).
Waho™ thitge—Orphan (O. Tegide).
Wa/ino"zhi"—Standing over them (O., T"gthe’zhide).
Wapa/de—One who cuts the carcass (O., Tapa’).
Washko” mo"thi—Walking strength (O.: Wazhi”ga, Tha/tada).
Zhi*ga’gahige—Little chief (O., Tapa’)
Zhi*ga/washushe—Little brave.
T*shta/-
Female
Gthedo”wittexi—Sacred hawk (O., I®ke’cabe).
Mi/gthedo"wi?—Moon hawk woman (0O., I®ke’¢abe).
Migthi’/to"i" — New moon. cabe).
Mi’tena—Meaning uncertain (O., Ho™ga).
Mi/wagon—White moon (O., Hoga).
Mo"sha/dethi*—Moving on high (O., I
woman
(O., I*ke’-
shta/cuda).
Po”caco"—Pale Ponca. (O., Mo thitka- gaxe).
Po” cawi"—Ponea woman (O., Mo™thi’- kagaxe).
Wihe’to"ga—Big little sister (O., We’zhi®-
shte).
56
WAZHA’ZHE GENS Standing Bear's band Male
A’gahawashushe—Distinguished for bray- ery (O.: Waca’be, Tha/tada).
A’thiude—Abandoned (O., I*shta’- cu'da).
Bachi/zhithe—To rush through obstacles (O., Tapa’).
Cigthe’no*pabi—One whose footprints are feared (O., Mo” thi*kagaxe).
Da/do"thi*ge—Has nothing (O., Ko*’¢e).
Gacu’/be—Meaning uncertain (O., Ho” ga).
Gahi’gezhi"ga—Little chief (O., I™ke’- gabe).
Gakuwi"xe—Eagle soaring (O.: Te’pa, Tha’tada).
Hexa’ga—Rough horns (O., Tapa’).
Ho™gashenu—Ho”ga man (O., I"shta/- cu'da).
I"de’xaga—Rough face.
Ki/mo*ho"—Facing the wind (O., I"shta/- cu'da).
Ko” ¢eho"ga—Kansa leader (O., Mo™thi- kagaxe).
Maci’kide—Shooting cedar (O., I*shta/- cu@da).
Mo*chu’duba—Four bears, grizzly.
Mo*chu’kino"pabi—The bear who is feared.
Mo®chu/no*zhi"—Standing bear.
Mo*chu’to"ga—Big bear.
Mo*shti” ¢ka—White rabbit (O.: Wazhi®/- ga, Tha’tada).
Ni/juba—Little water.
No”kahega—Brown back (O., Tapa’).
No®o”bi—One who is heard (O., Te- cide).
No"pe’wathe—One who is feared (O.: Wazhi”ga, Tha/tada).
No*xi’dethi"ge—The incorrigible.
Nushia’hagino*—Returns bending low.
Pethi’shage—Curly brows.
Sho”gehi"¢i— Yellow horse.
Tade/umo*this—Walking wind (O., Ko” ¢e).
Tai‘hi*to"ga—Big mane.
Tato”gano®zhi®zhi"ga—Little standing
bull. Tato’ gashkade—Buffalo playing (O., Te- cide).
THE OMAHA TRIBE
[ETH. ANN. 27
Tenu’gazhi"ga—Little buffalo bull (0., Teci™de).
The’cecabe—Black tongue (O., cabe).
Ucu’gaxe—To make paths (O., Ishta’- cu'da).
Uzha/ta—Confluence.
Waa’’—To sing (O., I"gthe’zhide).
Waba‘age—He puts to flight (O., I'shta/- cu'da).
Wabahi zhi"ga—Little Ko¢e).
Wagi’asha—Meaning lost (O., I*shta’~ cuda).
Wako" da— Power (O., Mo™ thitkagaxe).
Wano™shezhi"ga—Little soldier (O., I- shta/cu'da).
Washko”hi—Strong (O., I*shta‘¢u™da).
Washu’she—Brave (O., I"ke’cabe).
Wa/thidaxe—Sound of claws tearing (O.: Wazhi”’ga, Tha’tada).
Wathi’xekashi—He who pursues long.
Waxpe’sha—Old name, meaning lost (O., Tapa’).
Wazhe’thit?ge—Without T'shta’cuda).
We’c’a—Snake (O., I"shta’¢u"da).
We’c’aho"ga—Snake leader (O., Tapa’).
We’g’ato*ga—Big snake (pl. 11).
We’¢’azhi*ga—Little snake (O., I*shta’- gu'da).
Xitha/nika—Eagle person (O., Tapa’).
Xitha’zhitga—Little eagle (O.: Te’pa, Tha/tada).
T"ke’-
nibbles (O.,
(OF
gratitude
Female
Ace’xube—Sacred shte).
Mi’tena—Meaning uncertain (O., Hoga).
No®¢e’i"¢e—Meaning uncertain (O., We’- zhi*shte).
No®zhe’gito"—Meaning Mo” thitkagaxe).
Ta/cabewi"—Black deer woman (O., We’- zhi®shte).
paint (O., We’zhi®-
uncertain (QO.,
Te’co®wi"—White buffalo woman (0O., Tegi'’de).
To”itethihe—New moon soaring (O., I"ke’c¢abe).
| Umo™ho®wau—Omaha woman.
Wihe’to"ga—Big little sister (O., We’- zhi*shte).
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY TWENTY-SEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT PLATE 11
BIG SNAKE
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY TWENTY-SEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT PLATE 12
OSAGE CHIEF
Oe he shy
5 Ty
iat
.
oy
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY TWENTY-SEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT PLATE 13
OSAGE CHIEF
PLEYCHER-LA rLescHn] LOCATION; LINGUISTIC RELATIONSHIPS
NU’XE GENS
Big-hoofed buffalo’s band Male
Btho™ti—Scent borne by wind (O., We’- zhi*shte).
Gi’dethiho"—Lifting the tail (O., Te- cide).
Dw bamo"this—Four walking (O., I"ke’- gabe).
T*sha/gemo"this—Old man walking (0O., I"shta/cu"da).
T*shta/bagude—Shedding hair about the eyes (O., Ho” ga).
No” gethia—Not able torun (O., Tegi™’de).
Nu’xezhi"ga—Little ice.
Pahe’agthi"—Sits on hill.
Pude’tha—Meaning unknown (0O., I®ke’- cabe). -
Sha’beno®zhi"—Stands dark (O., Ho™ga).
Sho"ge’¢ka—White horse (O., Mo™thi- kagaxe).
Tenu’gagahi—Male buffalo chief (O.: Wazhiga, Tha/tada).
57
Tenu’gashageto"ga—Big-hoofed bull.
Thae’go"— Pitiful.
Uho”gemo*thit—Walking at end of file (O., Ingthe’zhide).
Uho”geno"zhi=—Standing at end of file (O., I"gthe’zhide).
Uki’pato"— Rolling himself (O., I"gthe’ zhide).
U’shkadazhi—Undaunted (O., Mo™thi- kagaxe).
Uthi/xide—Looking about (O., gabe).
Uzhna/gaxe—To make clear (refers to buffalo wallows) (O., Tegi’de).
Waca/apa—Meaning uncertain (O.: Wa- ca’be, Tha’tada).
Waga’bezhi"ga—Little black bear (O.: Waga’be, Tha’tada).
I"ke’-
Female
Mi/mite—Meaning uncertain (O., I*ke’- cabe).
We’to™a—Meaning uncertain (O., I’ke’- gabe).
THE OSAGE, OR WAZHA’ZHE, TRIBE 7%
Recent History; ORGANIZATION
The Osage tribe is composed of five kinship groups, each of which
is made up of a number of subgroups.
Of these latter many have a
group attached that acts as sho’ka—servant or attendant at a given
ceremony.
Of the five kinship groups two always camp on the north- ern side of the eastern opening of the tribal circle.
The other three
remain on the opposite side of the circle, but change their relative positions. The tribe, therefore, has two grand divisions, that on the northern side being composed of two kinship groups and that on the southern side of three kinship groups.
aThe Osage now live in the northern part of Oklahoma, on the Arkansas river. This locality was not their home when they were first met by the white race. They were then dwelling on the western side of the Mississippi, both north and south of the Missouri, including the Ozark Mountain region, the name Ozark being a corruption of the native term Wazha’zhe. The territory occupied by the Osage, lying, as it did, adjacent to the Mississippi river, was very soon needed by the white people who were pressing westward. The Osage made anumber of cessions to the United States, the earliest in 1808, when they parted with ter- ritory on the Mississippi. In 1818 they gave up their claim to land on the Arkansas and Verdigris rivers. In 1825 they ceded all their lands in Missouri and Arkansas. Further cessions were made in 1839 and 1865, Finally, in 1871 and 1872 lands were purchased from the Cherokee in the then Indian Territory, and on these lands the Osage are living to-day. The payments for lands ceded by them in Missouri and Kansas were placed in the United States Treasury at interest, yielding the Osage a considerable sum per capita and relieving the people from urgent necessity to labor in order to obtain food and clothing—a condition not altogether favorable to the best development of a naturally strong and promising tribe. (Pictures of Osage chiefs are shown in pls. 12, 13, 15.)
58 THE OMAHA TRIBE [prH. ANN. 27
Owing to the shifting of the positions of the three groups forming the southern side, there were three arrangements of the tribal circle (see figs. 9-11), which was called ¢si’- uthuga. Thisis the same as the Omaha hu’thuga, with the dialectic difference in pronunciation. Moreover, the Osage circle was symbolically oriented , as was the case with the Omaha, the actual opening being in the direction the tribe was moving. The marked simi- larity in the form of camping and in the fundamental ideas representing the tribal organization seems to show that the two tribes are organized on the Fic. 9. same plan. (See p. 138.)
Fig. 10. Fig. 11.
Fic. 9. Diagram of Osage hu'thuga—usual order. 1. HON’GA UTANATSI (Pp. 58-59). 2. WaAzHA’ZHE (p. 59). Subgroups: (a) Wazha’zhecka; (b) Ke’k’in; (¢) Mike’estetse; (da) Wa’tsetsi; (e) Uzu’gaxe; ) Tathi’hi; (9) Hu zhoigara. 3. HON’Ga (Pp. 60). Subgroups: (a) Waca’betos; (b) Ingron’ga zhoigara; (¢) Opxon; (d) Mov’inkagaxa; (€) Pon’ca washtage; (/) Xi’tha; (9) I’batsetatse. 4. TsI’zHu (p. 60). Subgroups: (a) Tsi’zhu wanon; (6) Six’tsagre; (c) Pe’tontonga zhoigara; (d) Tseto’ga intse; (e) Mi’k’im_~wanon; (f) Hon zhoigara; (g) Tsi’zhu uthuhage. 5. ni’KA WAKONDAarI or GRON’IN (p. 60- 61). Subgroups: (a) X0n’tsewatse; (6) Nu’xe.
Fic. 10. Diagram of Osage hu’thuga—hunting order. 2. WAZHA’ZHE. 3. HON’Ga, 4. TSI’ZHU. 5. NI’KA WAKONpaGI or GRON’IN. The d given in figure9
Fic. 11. Diagram of Osage hu’thuga—sacred order. 3. HON’Ga
: ie A. 1. HON’GA UTANATSI. 2. WAZHA/ZHE. 4. TsI’ZHU. 5. NI’/KA WAKONpaar or GRon’IN The dots represent the order of the Subgroups, which is the same as in figure 9.
1. HON’GA UTANATSI, ots represent the same order of subgroups as
Krnsurp Groups a 1. Hoga utanatsi
2. Wazha’zhe ~Comprising southern half of hu’thuga. 3. Hoga Ds
Ni’/ka wako"dagi or Groni® Ae: j : 2 \ Comprising northern half. 4, Tsi/zhu { 5
aThe information here given relative to the names, duties, and positions of the kinship groups was fur- nished by the following men, members of the tribe: Sho»’tos¢abe, Wazha’/zhewadainga, Washin’ha (pl. 14), and Big Heart.
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY TWENTY-SEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT PLATE 14
WASHI"HA (OSAGE)
FLETCHBR-LA FLESCH] LOCATION ; LINGUISTIC RELATIONSHIPS 59
1. HO’“GA UTANATSI (THE SEPARATE HO’GA) GROUP
The meaning and significance of this name have been already explained. (See p. 40.) The Ho"’ga utanatsi are spoken of as ‘Instructor of rites.”
Subdivision: Mo™hi*ci (‘stone knife’’).¢ This group was sho’ka, or servant, to the Hoga utanatsi. This office was an honorable one, being that of intermediary between the officials in charge of a cere- mony and the people who took part in it.
2. WAZHA’ZHE GROUP
This is an old and untranslatable term. The group was divided into seven subgroups, each with its distinctive name and attendant sho'ka group, but all having a right to the general name Wazha’zhe.
Subgroups
(a) Wazha’zhe ¢ka (‘the white” or ‘‘pure Wazha’zhe’’); ¢ka is the Osage equivalent of the Omaha zti, meaning ‘‘original,”’ “un- mixed.” This group is the keeper of the seven pipes for making peace within the tribe. I"gro™ga ni mo"tse (‘puma in the water’’) is the name of the Sho’ka subdivision.
(b) Ke’k’i" (‘great turtle’).
Pak’a zhoigara (pak’a, mystery; zhoigara, those who are with, i. e., the group whose rites pertain to), Sho’ka subdivision,
(c) Mike’estetse, the cat-tail (Typha latifolia).
Ka/xewahuea, the loud-voiced crow,’ Sho’ka subdivision.
(d) Wa’tsetsi. It is said that a comet fell from the morning star and came to join the council of this subgroup. Xutha’pago” zhoigara (xutha’ paco”, the bald eagle), Sho’ka subdivision.
(e) Uzu’gaxe? (uzu’, straight; gare, to make—they who make the path straight). It was the duty of this subgroup to make clear the way of a war party; to find a safe way around any obstruction. The scouts of the war parties were taken from this group.
Mo®so/tsemo"i® (mo”, land; so’tse, smoke; mo”, to walk—they who walk in smoke, fog, or dust), the Sho’ka subdivision, was called on to cause a fog, or a wind to raise the dust in order to conceal the movements of a war party.
(f) Tathi’hi, white-tail deer. 4
Watsi’tsazhi"ga zhoigara (watsi’tsazhi"ga, small animals), subdi- vision.
a inpareles of utility in the past, although they may have passed out of daily use among the people, are frequently conserved m sacred rites. For example, the stone knife was the only kind of knife that could be used ceremonially and its name appears as a personal name among the Omaha families that had
hereditary duties connected with rites that belonged to the Inshta’cusda and We’zhi»shte gentes. 6 The name of this subdivision appears as a personal name in the Omaha tribe.
60 THE OMAHA TRIBE [prH. ANN. 27
(g) Hu zhoigara (hu, fish). Eno" mi"tse to" (eno”, they alone; mai"tse, bow; to”, to have or possess—they alone possess the bow), Sho’ka subdivision. These were known as the bow makers.
3. HO'’GA (LEADER) GROUP
This kinship group was divided into seven subgroups, as follows:
(a) Waga’be to" (waca’be, bear; to”, to possess).
Waca’be ¢ka (‘‘white” or “original bear’’), Sho’ka subdivision.
(b) I2gro™’ ga zhoigara (i"gro™ ga, puma). .
Hi®wa’xaga zhoigara (hitwa’xaga, porcupine), Sho’ka subdivision.
(c) O’pxo", elk. Tahe’shabe zhoigara (tahe’shabe, male elk with dark horns), Sho’ka subdivision.
(d) Mo" itkagaxe (mo"i"ka, earth; gaxe, to make—earth-makers).
(e) Poca washtage (washtage, peace). This subgroup had the office of peacemakers.
(f) Xitha (‘white eagle’’).
(g) Hor’gashi"ga (‘little Ho’ga’’). I’batsetatse (ibatse, coming together; tatse, the wind—associated by rites pertaining to the wind), Sho’ka subdivision. The office of herald was in this group.
4. TsI’ZHU (HOUSEHOLD) GROUP
This kinship group also had seven subgroups:
(a) Tsi’zhu wano" (wano”, the oldest; age implies wisdom), or Wako"da no®pabi (wako"’da, gods; no™pali, afraid of).
Waba’xi, Sho’ka subdivision.
(b) Si’tsagre (‘“wearing the wolf’s tail on the scalp lock”’).
Sho*’ke zhoigara (sho”’ke, wolf), Sho’ka subdivision.
(c) Pe’to™ to"ga zhoigara (pe’to”, crane; toga, big).
(d) Tseto’ga i®tse (tseto’ga, buffalo bull; i”tse, face). It is said that Waba’xi went in search of game. He found a buffalo, pointed his finger at its face, and killed it; Wako™da reproved him for the act. Because of this deed his people were called Buffalo-face people.
Tsea’ko®, Sho’ka subdivision.
(e) Mi’k’i® wano® (mi, sun; ki", to carry; wano", the oldest). Tsi’zhu washtage (washtage, peaceful), division. This division made peace. Red-eagle people.
(f) Ho" zhoigara (ho”, night).
Ta’pa zhoigara (ta’pa, the name of the Pleiades), Sho’ka subdi- vision.
(g) Tsi’zhu uthuhage (uthuhage, the last). The last household refers to the end of the line of the group.
5. NI’KA WAKONDAGI OR GRONIN GROUP
This kinship group had three subgroups. (Derivation of name: Ni’ka, people; wakodagi refers to the thunder—the Thunder people).
(a) Xo"’tsewatse (xo"tse, cedar; watse, to touch, as the striking of an enemy). The name refers to the cedar tree upon which the thunder rested as it descended.
FLETCHHR—-LA FLESCHE] LOCATION; LINGUISTIC RELATIONSHIPS 61
This subgroup acts as sho’ka in the rites of the Thunder people.
(b) Nu’xe, ice. This is the name of a people from the upper world. When one came down he was asked, ‘‘What are you?” He answered, ‘‘I am Nu’xe,” ice or hail.
Sub-Shoka group, Tseto’ga zhoigara (tseto’ga, buffalo bull).
The two divisions of the Osage tribe were called the Tsi’zhu and the Hot’ga. The Tsi’zhu was composed of two kinship groups and occupied the northern side of the tribal circle viewed as having the opening at the east. The position of the Osage Thunder group was similar to that occupied by the Omaha I®shta’¢u da, whose name and rites referred to thunder, and the Tsi’zhu division seems in a measure to correspond to the ideas symbolized by the northern half of the Omaha tribal circle. (See p. 138.)
The Hoga division was composed of three kinship groups. Those given in the diagram on page 58 show that their positions with rela- tion to one another changed during tribal rites and ceremonies, but remained stable in comparison with the Tsi’zhu division. The simi- larity between the position and the duties devolving on this southern half of the oriented Osage tribal circle and those of the correspond- ing division of the Omaha suggests a strong probability that both organizations had a common pattern or origin.
While the Ponca tribe does not present the picture of a closely organized body, the similarity in the position of the Nu’xe gens of the Ponca as compared with that of the Nu’xe group of the Osage seems to indicate the perpetuation of some idea or belief common
to the two tribes. ADOPTION CEREMONY
The ceremony of adoption into the Osage tribe throws light on the functions and symbolism of the Osage groups. It was described by old chiefs as follows:
When a war party took a captive, anyone who had lost a child or who was without children could adopt the captive to fill the vacant place. After the ceremony the person became an Osage in all respects as one born in the tribe and was subject to the duties and requirements of the family into which he entered by a kind of new birth.
When a captive was held for the purpose of adoption, the captor sent an invitation to the leading men of the Tsi’zhu washtage, who were peacemakers, and also to the chiefs of the I"gro™ea, who had charge of war rites. Food was prepared and set before these leaders, when the host, in a solemn speech, set forth his desire to adopt the cap- tive. Thereupon these leaders sent for the leading men who were versed in the rituals of the groups which were to take part in the ceremony. These were the Nu’xe, ice; the O’pxo®, elk; the I’batse, wind; the Wa‘tsetsi, water; and the Hoga, who were the leaders of the tribal hunt. When all were assembled the captive was brought and placed in the back part of the lodge opposite the entrance, the seat of the stranger. Then the ritual used at the initiation and naming of a child born in the tribe was given. This ritual recounts the creation and history of the tribe and the four stages of man’s life. At the close the captive was led to the chief of the Tsi’zhu washtage, who
62 THE OMAHA TRIBE [prH. ANN. 27
passed him on to the I*gro™ga, whose place was on the south side of the tribal circle. By this act the captive symbolically traversed the tribal circle, passing from those on* the north, who made peace, ‘to those on the south, who had charge of war—the act indi- cating that he was to share in all that concerned the tribe.
Then the chief of the I"gro™ga took a sharp-pointed flint knife and made a quick stroke on the end of the captive’s nose, causing the blood to flow. The chief of the Tsi/zhu washtage wiped away the blood. Then the chief of the Wa/tsetsi brought water, and the chief of the Hoga food (corn or meat), and these were administered to the captive by the chief of the Tsi’zhu washtage, who then took the sacred pipe, filled it, and placed on it fronds of cedar brought by the I’batse. The pipe was lit and cere- monially smoked by the captive. Then the chief of the Nu’xe brought buffalo fat and anointed the body of the captive, after which the chief of the O’pxo" painted two black stripes across the face from the left eyebrow to the lower part of the right cheek. This done, the chief of the Tsi/zhu washtage announced the name, Ni’wathe (‘‘made to live’’), and the captive became the child of the man who adopted him.
The letting of blood symbolized that the captive lost the blood and kinship of the tribe into which he had been born. All trace of his former birth was removed by the washing away of the blood by the Wa/tsetsi. He was then given food by those who led: the tribe in the hunt when the food supply was obtained. The new blood made by the Osage food was thus made Osage blood.
— This symbolic act was confirmed and sanctified by the smoking of the pipe, the aromatic cedar being provided by the I’batse. Finally, the anointing of the body by the Nu’xe (who, together with the Buffalo people, controlled the planting of the corn) brought the captive entirely within the rites and avocations of the tribe. The black stripes put on by the O’pxo" were in recognition of the Thunder as the god of war and the captive’s future duties as a warrior of the tribe. The giving of the name Ni/wathe explained and closed the ceremony.
‘
It was further explained that the drama ‘‘means to represent the death of the captive not only to the people of his birth but to his past life, and his rebirth into the family of the Osage who saved him and “made” him “ to live” by adopting him.”
At the close of the ceremony all the chiefs who had taken part in the rites partook of the feast which the man who adopted the captive had provided for the occasion. Not long after, the name Ni’wathe was dropped and the adopted child without further ceremony was given a name belonging to the father’s group.
LEGENDARY ACCOUNTS THE PRESENT TRIBAL ORGANIZATION * (Given by Black Dog, pl. 15.)
The Wazha/zhe kinship group had seven pipes. These were used to make peace within the tribe. Ifa quarrel occurred, one of these pipes was sent by the hand of the sho’ka, and the difficulty was settled peaceably.
When the Wazha/zhe met the Hoga, they were united by means of one of these peace pipes. After they were united they met the Ho"’ga utanatsi, who had a pipe
of their own; but peace was made, and the Hoga utanatsi united with the Wazha’zhe and the Hoga. Later these three met and united with the Tsi/zhu.
According to Big Heart and others, each of the five groups had its own traditions, and one did not interfere with another.
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FLETCHBR-LA FLESCHE] LOCATION ; LINGUISTIC RELATIONSHIPS 63
WAZHA’ZHE GROUP
Way beyond (an expression similar to “once upon a time’’) a part of the Wazha/zhe lived in the sky. They desired to know their origin, the source from which they came into existence. They went to the sun. He told them that they were his chil- dren. Then they wandered still farther and came to the moon. She told them that she gave birth to them, and that the sun was their father. She told them that they must leave their present abode and go down to the earth and dwell there. They came to the earth, but found it covered with water. They could not return to the place they had left, so they wept, but no answer came to them from anywhere. They floated about in the air, seeking in every direction for help from some god; but they found none. The animals were with them, and of all these the elk was the finest and most stately, and inspired all the creatures with confidence; so they appealed to the elk for help. He dropped into the water and began to sink. Then he called to the winds and the winds came from all quarters and blew until the waters went upward as in a mist. Before that time the winds traveled only in two directions, from north to south and then back from south to north; but when the elk called they came from the east, the north, the west, and the south, and met at a central point, and carried the water upward.
At first rocks only were exposed, and the people traveled on the rocky places that produced no plants, and there was nothing to eat. Then the waters began to go down until the soft earth was exposed. When this happened the elk in his joy rolled over and over on the soft earth, and all his loose hairs clung to the soil. The hairs grew, and from them sprang beans, corn, potatoes, and wild turnips, and then all the grasses and trees.
The people went over the land, and in their wanderings came across human foot- prints, and followed them. They came upon people who called themselves Wazha/- zhe. The Ho”ga and the Elk® affiliated with them, and together they traveled in search of food. In these wanderings they came across the Hoga utanatsi. The Wazha/zhe had a pipe. This they filled and presented to the Ho”ga, who accepted it, and thus the Hoga utanatsi were incorporated with the three affiliated bands. Then they came upon the Tsi’zhu, and they were taken in, with their seven bands.
HO’ GA GROUP
The Ho”ga came down from above, and found the earth covered with water. They flew in every direction seeking for gods to call upon who would render them help and drive away the water; but they found none. Then the elk came and with his loud voice shouted to the four quarters. The four winds came in response to his call, and they blew upon the water and it ascended, leaving rocks visible. The rocks gave but a limited space for the people to stand on. The muskrat was sent down into the water and was drowned. Then the loon was sent, but he also was drowned. Next the beaver was sent down, and was drowned. Then the crawfish dived into the waters, and when he came up there was some mud adhering to his claws, but he was so exhausted that he died. From this mud the land was formed.
WA’‘TSETSI GROUP
The stars are believed,to be the children of the sun and moon. The people of the Wa/tsetsi¢ are said to have been stars that came down to the earth like meteors and became people.
a Note the name I’batsetatse (‘‘ winds coming together’’) of the Sho’ka subdivision of (g) of the Ho»’ga group (p. 60).
b The O’pxos, or Elk, is (c) of the Ho»’ga group. Note the use of the term Ho»’ga in this legend as the name of a people, in connection with what has already been pointed out on pp. 40-41.
e¢ The Wa’tsetsi subgroup (d) of the Wazha/zhe group, p. 59.
64 THE OMAHA TRIBE [PTH. ANN. 27
THE WATER PEOPLE
There are people who came from under the water. They lived in the water weeds that hang down, are green in color, and have leaves on the stem. The people who lived in water dwelt in shells which protected them from the water, keeping the water out and serving as houses. ,
There were creatures who lived under the earth, as the cougar, the bear, the buf- falo, and the elk. These creatures came up out of the ground. The land creatures and those that lived in shells came to the earth, and the star people came down; all three came together, intermarried, and from these unions sprang the people of to-day.
The men of the Hoga division cut the hair so that there should be five bunches in rows running from front to back.
The men of the Tsi’zhu division wore the hair in three bunches— one just above the forehead, one at the top of the head, and one at the nape of the neck.
PrersonaLt NAMES
The following Osage names were obtained in 1896:
TSI’ZHU WASHTAGE (PEACEMAKERS’ HOUSEHOLD)
Male A’huzhi*e—Little wings. Blo’gahike—AlII the chiefs. Bpabaxo"—Cut head. Refers to war. Cutting off the head. Dho™ tsewahi—Bone heart (O., Tapa’). Dto™ wo"gaxe—Village maker (O., Mo thitkagaxe). Dto™ wotihi—Refers to war. The warriors cause the villagers to stampede. Gahi’geste—Tall chief (O., I"ke’¢abe). Gahi’/gkewadai"ga—Chief’s power to control the people (O., Mo thi"kagaxe). Gka/washi"ka—Little horse. Gko™sano™bawahri—Kills two Kansa. War name. Gko”sawatai"ga—Gkor’sa, Kansa; wataimga, eccentric (old word). Gredo™shi*ka—Little hawk (O., Tha’tada). Grezhe/ruse—War name. Captures spotted horses. Haxu’mizhe—Woman’s name. Ropes. Howa’saope—War name. Goes on the warpath after mourning. Hua/shutse—Red eagle. I*shta’ mo*ze—I”shta’, eye; moze, protruding like breasts (O., We’zhi"shte). Mo™hogri® mo*kasabpe—Sitting by the bank. Refers to a village site. Mo™kasabe—Black breast. Refers to the elk. Mo” zeno*opi"—Iron necklace. Mo” zhakita—( Monzha, land; kita, watches—watches over the land). Refers to the wind (O., Ko"’¢e). Mo”™zhakuta—( Kuta, shoots; guards or shoots over the land). Refers to the wind (O., Kansa). Ni/wathe—Made to live. (See Adoption ceremony, p. 61.) No*be’ze—Yellow claws. Refers to the eagle. Opxo"shibpe—Elk entrails. Ota’no"—Space between two objects. Refers to warriors passing between the tents. Othu’hawae—Envious. Pahu’¢ka—White hair. Refers to white buffalo (O., Ho’ga and Tapa’). Pasu’—Hail. Po"ho’’gregahre—War name. One who strikes the enemy first. Sa/pekie—Paints himself black.
PLETCHER-LA FLESCHB] LOCATION; LINGUISTIC RELATIONSHIPS 65
To"wo"gaxe—Village-maker (O., Mo™thitkagaxe). Tsesi’eno"pe—Buffalo-tail necklace.
Tsi’zhuho"ka (2)—Ho"™ ga household. Leader name. Tsi/zhuni"kashi*ka—Little Hoga household. Tsi‘zhushi"ka—Little household.
Tsi’zhutsage—Old man of the Tsi’zhu gens.
Tso’he—Puckery taste. Nickname.
Uki’sa—Deserted (as an empty village or house) (O., I"shta’gu"da). Wako" daokie—Talks to Wako"’da (an old Omaha name—Mo"™ thi*kagaxe). Wathigro"ringe (2)—No mind (O., Mo™thi"kagaxe). Watsa‘no®zhi"—War name. One who grasps the enemy.
Wazhi™ bpizhi—Anger.
Wazhi™gasabpe—Blackbird (O., Mo™thitkagaxe). Wazhi*hotse—Gray bird. Refers to hawk (O., Tapa’). Wazhi™sabpe—Cautious mind.
Female Mi’tai"ga—Coming, or new moon (O.). Mi’taigashi*"ka—Little new moon. SINTSAGRE Male
Ba/zo"tsie—War name. Going into the midst; attacking a village. Bpa‘htato"i"—Big head. Refers to buffalo head. Bpa’ri"wawexta—War name. Attacking the Pawnee. Do*he’mo*i"—Good walker. Gahi’gashi—Not a chief. Gka/wasabpeagthi"—One who rides a black horse. Gko™segaxri—War name. One who kills a Kansa. Gko™sekibpa—War name. Meeting the Kansa. Gredo®’mo"i"—Walking hawk (O., I"ke’¢abe). Ho’moni?—Howler. Hone’go"—War name. Refers to the success of the warrior. Success comes as though seeking the man. Hutha/watoni"te—War name. The light of the eagle soaring on high. I’ dokawadai*ga—War name. Refers to taking trophies. Mo”zeuno"zhi"—Iron shirt (Ponca). Ni’gka/sabegaxri—War name. One who kills a black man. Ni’‘kano"tsewa—War name. One who kills the enemy. Ni/koibro"—Smelling a human being (O., Tha’tada). Otha’/hamo"i"—War name. Follower; one who follows the leader. Sho” gkeihi—War name. Refers to the barking of dogs when the warriors approach. Tha/bthi* waxri—Kills three. Tsewa/hu—Buffalo bone. Wa/bisu"tse—War name. A warrior presses an enemy to the ground. Wa/dashtae—War name. Refers to setting fire to the grass to scare out the enemy. Wadoh’kie—War name. Refers to taking the scalp. Waho"™gashi—Mischievous. Nickname. Wa‘i"no"zhi"—War name. Holding the captive. Waki‘ashke—Refers to hunting and packing the buffalo meat. Watse’wahe—War name. Waxri/—Stingy. Nickname. Wazha/kibpa—War name. Refers to meeting a Wazha/zhe. We’i"gaxe—Refers to hunting. Making a pack strap. 83993°—27 erH—1l1
5
66 THE OMAHA TRIBE [ETH. ANN. 27
MI’K’1N WANON Male Be’ga’xazhi (pl. 12)—War name. One who can not be outstripped. Refers to run- ning. Bpahi’thagthi?—Good hair. Ho’thagthi"—Good voice. Migk’i’wadai"ga—Eccentric sun carrier.
Mi‘hig¢e—Yellow hair. Refers to buffalo calf. Mio’tamo*i*"—S traight
sun or moon. Shi"nica—Refers to in- tercepting the game. We’to"mo"i2—War name. Refers to the women singing weton songs.
THE KANSA TRIBE®
The name Kansa is an‘old term. As the rites pertaining to the winds belong to the Kansa gens in the several cognate tribes, it may be that the word had some reference to the wind.
GENTES’
The following list of gentes is not com- plete, nor has it been possible to obtain satisfactory infor- mation as to the lo- cation of each gens in the tribal circle, owing to the disintegration of the tribe and the breaking up of their ancient customs and ceremonies. The information obtained goes to
Fic. 12. Kansa chief.
a Of the Kansa tribe fewer than 300 are now living; these are in northern Oklahoma. Their lands adjoin those of the Osage. They, too, have been pushed from the place where they were dwelling when the white people first came into their vicinity. They were then northwest of the Osage, in the region along the river which bears theirname. They began ceding land to the United States in 1825. Further relinquishments were made in 1846, and again in 1859 and 1862. In 1872 their present reservation was purchased from the Osage. While the Kansa have not been so reduced as the Quapaw, they have failed to maintain fully their old tribal organization; though much has lapsed from the memory of the people owing to disuse of former customs and rites, considerable knowledge of the ancient tribal life still might possibly be recovered. (Por- traits of Kansa chiefs are shown in pl. 16 and fig. 12.)
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY TWENTY-SEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT PLATE 16
3
SOE DS PI IAL
KANSA CHIEF
FLETCHHR-LA FLESCHE] LOCATION ; LINGUISTIC RELATIONSHIPS 67
show that their former organization was similar to that of the other cognates, that the tribe was composed of, two great divisions, and that the names of Kansa gentes are to be found in the Osage, Ponca, Omaha, and Quapaw tribes. The names obtained and verified are:
1. Mo*ika (‘‘earth’’). This name corresponds to Mo i"kagaxe of the Osage tribe, and to Mo’ thi"kagaxe of the Omaha tribe, both of which mean “ earth makers.”’
2. Wazha/zhe. This name occurs as the name of the Osage tribe and of one of the large kinship groups in that tribe; also as the name of a gens in the Ponca tribe.
3. Ponca. This name occurs as the name of a gens in the Osage and Ponca tribes.
4. Kansa. There isa Kansagensin the Omaha tribe.
5. Wazhi’ga inikashikithe (wazhi"- ga, bird; inikashikithe corresponds to the Omaha i’nikashiga, and means that with which they make themselves a people—that is, by observing a com- mon rite they make themselves one people). (See Wazhi’ga subgens of the Tha’tada, p. 160.) Birds figure in the rites of all the cognates, and are tabu in those gentes practising rites which pertain to certain birds.
6. Te inikashikithe (te, buffalo). Buffalo rites occur in all the five cog- nates.
7. O’pxo"® inikashikithe (0’ pro”, elk). Gentes bearing the name of the elk occur in the Osage and Quapaw tribes, and in the Omaha the elk is tabu to the We’zhi"shte gens.
8. Ho" (night). This name occurs in the Osage tribe as the name of a group.
9. Ho”gashitga (‘‘little Ho™ga’’). This name occurs in the Osage and Quapaw tribes, and the name Hoga in the Omaha and Osage tribes.
10. Hogato*ga (‘‘ big Ho™ga’’). This name is found also in the Quapaw.
11. Tsedu’ga (‘‘buffalo bull’’). This occurs also in the Osage tribe.
12. Tsi’zhu washtage (washtage, docile, peaceable). Tsi/zhu isthe name of a large group of the Osage, and Tsi’zhu washtage of the peacemakers of that group.
Fig. 13. Quapaw man.
THE QUAPAW TRIBE®%
The origin of the word quapaw has already been explained (see p. 36).
aThe remnant of the Quapaw tribe (hardly a hundred in number) are living in the northern part of Oklahoma. (See figs. 13, 14.) When first met by the white people they were living south of the Osage. The Quapaw came into contact with the French and Spanish traders of the sixteenth century, being in the line of march of these early traders from the South. With the stimulus given to immigration and settle- ment after the Louisiana Purchase, their lands were soon wanted. In 1818 they ceded to the United States their country lying between the Arkansas, Canadian, and Red rivers, receiving a tract for themselves south of the Arkansas and Washita rivers. This reservation they relinquished in 1824, retiring to a smaller tract in the vicinity of their present home. Their vicissitudes have been such as to shatter their tribal life, so that it is now difficult to obtain accurate information concerning their ancient organiza- tion. Only fragments can be gathered here and there, to be pieced together by knowledge gained from those cognates who have been more fortunate in preserving their old tribal form and rites. ;
68 THE OMAHA TRIBE [BTH. ANN. 27 GENTES
It has been difficult to obtain definite information concerning the gentes of the tribe. The people have become so disintegrated that questions are usually met with a weary shake of the head as the answer comes, “All is gone; gone long ago!’’ A fragmentary list of gentes has been secured. Some of the following may be subgentes. There were two divisions in the tribe, but how the following groups were divided between these it has been thus far impossible to learn.
1. Ho™gato"ga—Big Ho™ga. 2. Ho™gazhi"ga—Little Ho™ga. 3. Wazhi™ga inikashiha (wazhinga, bird; inikashiha, meaning with which they make themselves a people, i. e., by the rite of which the bird is the symbol).
4. Te’nikashiha (te, buffalo).
5. O*’po® inikashiha (0”’pon, elk).
6. Hu/inikashiha (hu, fish).
7. Ke’nikashiha (ke, turtle).
8. Na™pa"ta—deer.
9. Wa’sa inikashiha (wasa, black bear).
10. Mo"chu’ inikashiha (monchu, grizzly bear).
11. Miha’ke nikashiha (miha‘ke, star).
12. Pe’to® inikashiha (peto”, crane).
13. Mi‘inikashiha (m7, sun).
14. Wako™ta inikashiha—Thunder.
The foregoing brief account of the four tribes that are close cognates of the Omaha has been given for the following reasons:
First, to indicate some of the peculiarities of tribal organiza-
iG, ik, Mana cama tion which, while common to
all, are remarkably developed
among the Omaha, as will be apparent from the following detailed account of that tribe.
Second, to suggest the importance of careful study of such a cognate group as likely to throw light on the manner in which tribes have come to be built up into separate organizations and to bear on the reason why each shows different phases of development.
In the Omaha and the four cognates there appear to be certain stable characteristics which indicate a common ideal of organization, as the two divisions of the tribal circle and the functions pertaining to each; the ceremonies connected with warfare and the awarding of war honors. There seems to be also a common type of religious
FLETCHER-LA FLESCHE] LOCATION; LINGUISTIC RELATIONSHIPS 69
ceremonial for the recognition of those, cosmic forces which were believed to affect directly the life of man, as the rites attending the naming of children and the class of names given, and the customs relating to birth and to death. These resemblances between the tribes will become clearer as the story of the Omaha tribe is told and discussion is had of customs among the cognates which seem to be similar in purpose even when they differ in details, the differences being as suggestive as the similarities.”
a Since the foregoing brief account of the Osage tribe was written an ethnological study of that tribe has been undertaken by Mr. Francis La Flesche for the Bureau of American Ethnology. It is expected that, as a result of this investigation, additional light will be thrown on the relationship between the ribes of the cognate group to which the Osage and the Omaha belong.
II ENVIRONMENT; RESULTANT INFLUENCES OMAHA SACRED LEGEND EARLY HABITAT AND CONDITIONS
The Omaha do not claim to have been born in the region they now occupy. On the contrary, their traditions, like those of their cognates, place their early home in the Hast, ‘‘near a great body of water.’ This account of their ancient environment had become blended with the idea of a physical birth, as was explained by Shu’- denaci when he repeated the fragmentary Legend, at the time the Sacred Pole was turned over to the writers to be deposited for safe- keeping in the Peabody Museum of Harvard University. This Legend was in the custody of those who had charge of that cere- monial object and was considered sacred.
The Legend says:
In the beginning the people were in water. They opened their eyes but they could see nothing. From that we get the child name in the Hoga gens, Mia’di inshtagabtha, ‘‘ eyes open in the water.’’ As the people came out of the water they beheld the day, so we have the child name Ke’tha gaxe, ‘‘to make (or behold) the clear sky.’’ As they came forth from the water they were naked and without shame.
But after many days passed they desired covering. They took the fiber of weeds and grass and wove it about their loins for covering.
It is noteworthy, when taken in connection with the traditions and usages already mentioned as associated with the name Hoga, (p. 40) that the personal names which refer to the birth of the people are preserved in the Hoga gens.
The Legend continues:
The people dwelt near a large body of water, in a wooded country where there was game. The men hunted the deer with clubs; they did not know the use of the bow. The people wandered about the shores of the great water and were poor and cold. And the people thought, What shall we do to help ourselves? They began chipping stones; they found a bluish stone that was easily flaked and chipped and they made knives and arrowheads [sic] out of it. They had now knives and arrows [sic], but they suffered from the cold and the people thought, What shall we do? A man found an elm root that was very dry and dug a hole in it and put a stick in and rubbed it. Then smoke came. He smelled it. Then the people smelled it and came near; others helped himtorub. At last aspark came; they blew this into a flame and so fire came to warm the people and to cook their food. After this the people built grass houses; they cut the grass with the shoulder blade of a deer. Now the people had
70
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY TWENTY-SEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT PLATE 17
FLETCHER-LA FLESCHE] ENVIRONMENT; RESULTANT INFLUENCES 71
fire and ate their meat roasted; but they tired of roast meat, and the people thought, How shall we have our meat cooked differently? A man found a bunch of clay that stuck well together; then he brought sand to mix with it; then he molded it asa vessel. Then he gathered grass and made a heap; he put the clay vessel into the midst of the grass, set it on fire, and made the clay vessel hard. Then, after a time, he put water into the vessel and it held water. This was good. So he put water into the vessel and then meat into it and put the vessel over the fire and the people had boiled meat to eat. ;
Their grass coverings would fuzz and drop off. It was difficult to gather and keep these coverings. The people were dissatisfied and again the people thought, What can we do to have something different to wear? Heretofore they had been throwing away the hides they had taken from the game. So they took their stone knives to scrape down the hides and make them thin; they rubbed the hides with grass and with their hands to make them soft and then used the hides for clothing. Now they had clothing and were comfortable.
The women had to break the dry wood to keep up the fires; the men had some con- sideration for the women and sought plans for their relief. So they made the stone ax with a groove, and put a handle on the ax and fastened it with rawhide, This was used. But they wanted something better for breaking the wood. So they made wedges of stone. [These were of the same shape as the iron wedges used for splitting logs, explained the old narrator. ]
The grass shelter became unsatisfactory and the people thought, How shall we bet- ter ourselves? So they substituted bark for grass as a covering for their dwellings.
The comfort derived from their skin clothing seems to have sug- gested the idea of trying the experiment of covering their dwellings with skins, for the Legend says:
The people determined to put skins on the poles of their dwellings. They tried the deerskins, but they were too small. They tried the elk, but both deer and elk skins
became hard and unmanageable under the influence of the sun-and rain. So they abandoned the use of the skins and returned to bark as a covering for their houses.
There is no mention made in this Legend, or in any known tradi- tion, as to when or where the people met the buffalo; but there is an indirect reference to the animal in this Legend from which it would seem that the meeting with the buffalo must have taken place after they had left the wooded region where they could obtain elm bark for the covering of their houses, and that the need of a portable shelter started the idea among the people of experimenting again with a skin covering for their tents, for the Legend says:
Until they had the buffalo the people could not have good tents. “They took one of the leg bones of the deer, splintered it, and made it sharp for an awl and with sinew sewed the buffalo skin and made comfortable tent covers. (PI. 17.)
From this Legend and other traditions both the buffalo and the maize seem to have come into the life of the people while they were still in their eastern habitat. The story of finding the maize is told as follows in this Legend:
Then a man in wandering about found some kernels, blue, red, and white. He
thought he had secured something of great value, so he concealed them in a mound. One day he thought he would go to see if they were safe. When he came to the mound
72 THE OMAHA TRIBE [wrH. ANN. 27
he found it covered with stalks having ears bearing kernels of these colors. He took an ear of each kind and gave the rest to the people to experiment with. They tried it for food, found it good, and have ever since called it their life. Assoon as the people found the corn good, they thought to make mounds like that in which the kernels had been hid. So they took the shoulder blade of the elk and built mounds like the first and buried the corn in them. So the corn grew and the people had abundant food.
In their wanderings the people reached the forests where the birch trees grow and where there were great lakes. Here they made birch-bark canoes and traveled in them about the shores of the lakes. A man in his wanderings discovered two young animals and carried them home. He fed them and they grew large and were docile. He discovered that these animals would carry burdens, so a harness was fixed on them to which poles were fastened and they became the burden bearers. Before this every burden had to be carried on the back. The people bred the dogs and they were a help to the people.
WESTERN MOVEMENTS
The western movement of the people is not definitely traced in any of their traditions, nor is there any account of the separations of kindred which from time to time must have taken place. By inference, there must have been considerable warfare, as the making of peace with enemies is referred to. The tribe seem to have lin- gered long in the northern territory now covered by the States of Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Iowa, and between the Mississippi and Missouri rivers; their claims to portions of this territory were acknowledged in the last century when they joined in the treaty made at Prairie du Chien in 1830, at which time they relinquished all their rights to this land to the United States. Six years later they made a like relinquishment of their claims east of the Missouri river in the States of Missouri and Iowa. Tradition is silent as to their movements from the Lake region south to the Ohio river, where it is said they parted from the Quapaw, as already told.
A period of considerably more than three hundred years must have elapsed between the time of parting from the Quapaw on the banks of the Mississippi, at the mouth of the Ohio, and the date of the Omaha’s first cession to the United States, mentioned above. After the separation from the Quapaw it is not probable that the Omaha were ever again as far south as the Ohio river or as far east as Lake Michigan.
Tradition says that the Omaha after parting from the Quapaw followed the Mika’to® ke river (the Des Moines) to its headwaters, ‘and wandered northeast. One day about thirty years ago the old men were talking of these early movements of the tribe when Shu’denaci said, “I think that we could trace the sites of the old Omaha villages of the time the tribe went up the Mi’kato™ ke”. The question, How could the sites be identified? elicited the reply: “By the circles of stones which were left when the people abandoned a village.” It was the custom to place stones around the bottom of the tent cover to hold it firmly on the ground; when the tent was taken down the
FLETCHER-—LA FLESCHE] ENVIRONMENT; RESULTANT INFLUENCES 73
stones were left where they had been used. Some of the old men said that they had seen such traces of deserted village sites east of the Missouri in the region where the tribe is said once to have lived. Dakota tradition tells of their meeting the Omaha near the Blue Earth and Minnesota rivers. That the Omaha dwelt for a considerable time in the forest region seems to be borne out by both legends and rites, which show the influence of the woods. The Sacred Pole was cut while the people were dwelling in the wooded country, as all the traditions of the cutting seem to indicate. When that occurred the Ponca were still with the Omaha, and their legends are similar to those of the latter touching the finding and cutting of the Pole. The tree from which it was cut is said to have stood near a lake, and the suggestion has been made that the place was Lake Andes, in Choteau county, South Dakota; but this iden- tification has not been accepted by the best tribal authorities and traditions do not favor placing the act in the vicinity of this lake.
It was prior to the cutting of the Sacred Pole that the Omaha organ- ized themselves into their present order. The inauguration of the rites connected with the Sacred Pole seems to have been for the purpose of conserving that order; and it was after these rites had been instituted that the Omaha reached the vicinity of the Big Sioux, where on the banks of a small stream that flows in from the north- east they built a village. It was while they were living here that a disastrous battle took place (tradition does not say with whom), and as a result this village seems to have been abandoned, after the dead had been gathered and buried in a great mound, around which a stone wall was built. In the middle of the last century this wall was still to be seen. Tradition says, ‘“‘In this battle the Sacred Pole came near being captured.”’
It was while the Omaha were in the vicinity of the upper Mississippi that they came into contact with the Cheyenne. The Legend says, ‘““We made peace with the Cheyenne. At that time the Ponca were with us, and the Iowa and Oto joined in the peace.”” The old narrator added: ‘‘The Osage say they were withus, too; but it is not so told by our people.” This overture of peace may have been made in conse- quence of the Omaha having invaded the Cheyenne territory in the northern movement. According to Dakota traditions the Cheyenne were in possession of the upper Mississippi country when the Dakota arrived there. It may be difficult to determine whether or not at this time the Dakota as distinct tribes had come into contact with the Omaha and the Ponca. :
While in this region experiences disruptive in character must have visited the people—possibly the defection of the Ponca—which finally resulted in their complete separation. At any rate, something
74 THE OMAHA TRIBE [prH. ANN, 27
happened which caused the Omaha to take steps toward a closer organization of the people. The Legend says:
At this place [where peace with the Cheyenne had been made] we formed a govern- ment. The people said, “ Let us appoint men who shall preserve order.’’ Accordingly they selected men, the wisest, the most thoughtful, generous, and kind, and they con- sulted together and agreed upon a council of seven who should govern the people.
Then follows the account of the organization of the tribe inits pres- ent order and the story of finding and cutting the Sacred Pole. Both of these narratives will be given later on.
After the great battle on the Big Sioux the Omaha seem to have turned slightly southward, but to have remained in the main on the east side of the Missouri, although war parties apparently reached the river and even crossed to the farther side, where they met and fought the Arikara, who were dwelling where the Omaha live to-day. Traditions are definite in stating that ‘‘the Arikara were first encoun- tered on the west side of the Missouri.”’
About the time of these events the Omaha seem to have returned to the Big Sioux and to have built a village where the river makes a loop, at a point where a small stream enters from a canyon which, the Omaha story says, has ‘‘two cliffs, like pinnacles, standing at its entrance, through which the wind rushes with such violence as to disturb the water.” When they built this village, according to the Legend, the Omaha were living in bark houses (pl. 18). They had met and fought the Arikara, but had not yet adopted the earth lodge. The continued forays of the Omaha made the Arikara seek peace and it was in this village at the mouth of the canyon that peace was made among the Arikara, the Cheyenne, the Omaha, the Ponca, the Iowa, and the Oto, and sought to be confirmed through the ceremony now known among the Omaha as the Wa’wa® (see p. 376)—the same ceremony as the Pawnee Hako.*
In view of the part this ceremony has played in the life of the Omaha and its cognate tribes, it is fitting to call attention to the extent of territory throughout which it was observed before and dur-| ing the seventeenth century. The early French travelers found it among the Caddo group in the country now known as Texas, Loui- siana, and Arkansas, while Marquette met with it among the tribes living on the Mississippi when he entered that stream from the Wis- consin river. The Omaha Legend shows that it was known to the: Arikara on the Missouri river and was probably introduced by them to the Omaha, Ponca, Iowa, Oto, and Cheyenne at the village on the Big Sioux river. The Cheyenne seem to have lost the rite in the course of their western movement, but it has ever since been prac- tised by the other tribes who took part in this peacemaking. A rite which was both recognized and revered throughout so extensive a
a See Hako, in the Twenty-second Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, pt. i.
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390071 HLYVA4
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FLETCH®SR—-LA FLESCHH] ENVIRONMENT; RESULTANT INFLUENCES 15
territory, occupied by so many tribes, must have been instrumental in modifying the customs of the peoples practising it, in extending the use of certain symbols, and in bringing about some measure of unity in the forms of religious beliefs.
CONTACT WITH THE ARIKARA
Traditions are more explicit concerning contact with the Arikara than with any other tribe. Both Omaha and Ponca legends give evi- dence of the influence exerted on the people by this tribe. When the Missouri river was reached by the Omaha, they found the Arikara there, cultivating the maize and living in villages composed of earth lodges—evidently a peaceful, sedentary folk. Omaha war parties from the east side of the river harassed the Arikara, who were living on the west side. The Arikara sought to obtain peace through the influence of the Wa’wa® ceremony, as already related, but Omaha war parties seem finally to have driven them from their homes and to have forced them northward up the Missouri river. The tradition that the Arikara were driven away from the land the Omaha now own is confirmed by a Ponca story that refers to the sale of the Omaha lands to the United States Government in the middle of the last century; at that time an Arikara said to a Ponca: . “Had my people known that these lands were valuable, they would have contested the right of the Omaha to make the sale, for the Arikara were the first to occupy the land, a proof of which is to be seen in the remains of our earth lodges and village sites on the bluffs of the Missouri.’’ These earth circles have often been seen by the writers on the Omaha reservation, and the traditions of the Omaha declare them to be the remains of the earth lodges occupied by the Arikara when they dwelt in this region. Both Omaha and Ponca traditions say that the tribes were together when they met and drove the Arikara northward. It was from the Arikara that the Omaha and Ponca learned to make and use earth lodges. According to the Omaha Legend: “‘It was the women who saved the life of the people. They built the sod houses; they made them by their labor. The work was divided. Men cut the poles and fixed the frame and tied the opening for the smoke hole; the women brought the willows and sod and finished the building.”’
In this connection it is interesting to note that while the Omaha adopted the earth lodge (pl. 19) they did so from a purely practical point of view, as affording them a better permanent dwelling than tents, and were probably ignorant of the symbolic character of the structure. With the tribe from which it was taken this lodge repre- sented certain religious ideas. Rituals attended the cutting of the trees for its structure and the planting of the four posts that inclosed the space about the central fire. The Omaha did not observe any of
76 THE OMAHA TRIBE [BTH. ANN. 27
these ceremonies nor did they use the prescribed number of posts. They set up about the fireplace six, seven, or eight posts as suited their convenience, for the sole purpose of supporting the roof, these posts possessing no ceremonial importance or other significance. The Omaha built the earth lodge only for village use; the tipi, or tent, was still the habitation when on the buffalo hunt. There is a tra- dition that the tribe received the maize from the Arikara but it is questionable if this was the first knowledge the Omaha had of the plant. It may be that in their northward migrations the people passed out of the corn belt into environments not favorable to its cultivation, so that its general use was partially discontinued; but nothing definite is known, although there are indications favorable to this conjecture. If there was any hiatus in the cultivation of the maize among the Omaha, as the following story might suggest, there is nothing to indicate that the tribe has not constantly cultivated it since the time the Missouri was reached. This story, preserved among the Omaha but credited to the Arikara, tells how the latter found the maize and how the former received it from them:
The Arikara were the first to find the maize. A young man went out hunting. He came to a high hill, and, looking down upon a valley, he saw a buffalo bull standing in the middle of a bottom land lying between two rivers where they conjoined. As the young man surveyed the country to find a safe way of approaching the buffalo he was impressed with the beauty of the landscape. The banks of the two rivers were low and well timbered. He observed that the buffalo stood facing the north; he saw that he could not approach the animal from any side within bow shot. He thought that the only way to get a chance to shoot the buffalo would be to wait until the animal moved close to the banks of one of the rivers, or to the hills where there were ravines and shrubs. So the young man waited. The sun went down before the buffalo moved; the young man went home disappointed. Nearly all night the hunter lay awake brooding over his disappointment, for food had become scarce and the buffalo would have given a good supply. Before dawn the young man arose and hurried to the scene of the buffalo to see if he could find the animal somewhere near the place, if it had moved. Just as he reached the summit of the hill, where he was the day before, the sun arose, and he saw that the buffalo was still in the same spot. But he noticed that it was now facing the east. Again the young man waited for the animal to move, but again the sun went down and the buffalo remained stand- ing in the same spot. The hunter went home and passed another night of unrest. He started out again before dawn and came to the top of the hill just as the sun arose, and saw the buffalo still standing in the same place, but it had turned around to face the south. The young man waited until dark for the buffalo to move, and had to go again to his home disappointed, where he passed another sleepless night. The hun- ter’s desire to secure the game was not unmixed with some curiosity to know why the buffalo should so persistently remain in that one spot without eating or drinking or lying down to rest. With this curiosity working in his mind, he arose for the fourth time before dawn, and hastened to the hill to see if the buffalo was still standing in the same place. It was again daylight when he came to the hill, and there stood the buffalo exactly in the same place, but it had turned around to face the west. Being now determined to know what the animal would do, the young man settled down to watch as he had done the three days before. He thought that the animal was acting in this manner under the influence of an unseen power for some mysterious purpose,
FLETCHER—LA FLESCHE] ENVIRONMENT; RESULTANT INFLUENCES Tl
and that he, as well as the buffalo, was controlled by the same influence. Darkness came upon him again with the animal still standing in the same position. The hunter returned to his home and lay awake all night, wondering what would come of this strange experience. He arose before dawn and again hurried to the mysterious scene. As he reached the summit of the hill the light of day spread over the land. The buffalo had gone. But in the spot where it had been standing there stood some- thing like a small bush. The young man approached the place with a feeling of curiosity and disappointment. He came to the object that from the distance appeared like a small bush and saw that it was a strange plant. He looked upon the ground and saw the tracks of the buffalo, and followed them as they had turned from the north to the east and to the south and to the west, and in the center there was but one buffalo track, and out of that had sprung this strange plant. He examined the ground near this plant to find where the buffalo had left the place, but there were no other footprints besides those near the plant. The hunter hurried home and told of his strange experience to the chiefs and the prominent men of his people. The men, led by the hunter, proceeded to the place of the buffalo and examined the ground, and found that what he had told them was true. They saw the tracks of the buffalo where he had turned and stood, but could find no tracks of his coming to the place or leaving it. While all of these men believed that this plant was given to the people in this mysterious manner by Wako™da, they were not sure how it was to be used. The people knew of other plants that were used for food, and the season for their ripening, and, believing that the fruit of this strange plant would ripen at its own proper time, they arranged to guard and protect it carefully, awaiting the time of its ripening.
The plant blossomed, but from their knowledge of other plants they knew that the blossom of the plant was but the flower and not the fruit. When they were watching the blossom to develop into fruit, as they expected it would, a new growth appeared from the joints of the plant. Their attention was now diverted from the blossom to this growth. It grew larger and larger, until there appeared at the top something that looked like hair. This, in the course of time, turned from pale green to a dark brown, and after much discussion the people believed that this growth was the fruit of the plant and that it had ripened. Up to this time no one had dared to approach within touch of the plant. Although the people were anxious to know the use to which the plant could be put or for which it was intended, no one dared to touch it. As the people were assembled around the plant undetermined as to the manner of examining it, a youth stepped forward and spoke:
“Everyone knows how my life from my childhood has been worse than worth- less, that my life among you has been more for evil than for good. Since no one would regret, should any evil befall me, let me be the first to touch this plant and taste of its fruit so that you may know of its qualities whether they be good or bad.’”’ The people having given their assent, the youth stepped boldly forward and placed his right hand on the blossoms of the plant, and brought his hand with a down- ward motion to the root of the plant as though blessing it. He then grasped the fruit and, turning to the people, said: ‘‘It is solid, it is ripe.” He then parted the husks at the top very gently and, again turning to the people, he said: ‘‘The fruit is red.’’ He took a few of the grains, showed them to the people, then ate of them, and replaced the husks. The youth suffered no ill effects, and the people became convinced that this plant was given them for food. In the fall, when the prairie grass had turned brown, the stalk and the leaves of this plant turned brown also. The fruit was plucked and put carefully away. In the following spring the kernels were divided among the people, four to each family. The people removed to the spot where the strange apparition had taken place, and there they built their bark huts along the banks of the two rivers. As the hills began to take on a green tinge
78 THE OMAHA TRIBE [wrH. ann, 27
from the new prairie grass, the people planted the kernels of this strange plant, hav- ing first built little mounds like the one out of which the first stalk grew. To the great joy of the people the kernels sprouted and grew into strong and healthy plants. Through the summer they grew, and developed, and the fruit ripened as did that of the first stock. The fruit was gathered and eaten, and was found to be good. In gathering the fruit the people discovered that there were various colors—some ears were white and others were blue and some were yellow.
The next season the people reaped a rich harvest of this new plant. In the fall of the year these people, the Arikara, sent invitations to a number of different tribes to come and spend the winter with them. Six tribes came, and among them were the Omaha. The Arikara were very generous in the distribution of the fruit of this new plant among their guests, and in this manner a knowledge of the plant spread to the Omaha.
The composition of this story presents points of interest. The importance and the mysterious power of the great game, the buffalo, reflect the thought of the hunting tribe; with it is blended the equally mysterious gift of the maize, so sacred to the tiller of the ground, for the buffalo and the maize represented the principal food supply of the people. The scene of the marvelous occurrence is placed in a hilly country where flowed rivers and yet the prairie seems to have been near at hand, for the story tells of the observation of the people that ‘‘in the fall, when the prairie turned brown, the stalk and leaves of this plant turned brown also,” and that they timed the planting of the kernels the following spring by the upspringing of ‘‘the new prairie erass.”” Thenwe are told that ‘‘ when the people removed to the spot, where the strange occurrence had taken place, they built their ‘bark huts’ along the banks of the two rivers.”
The bark hut (see pl. 18) is a type of dwelling belonging to a forest people. The Omaha used to live in such houses, as is told in the ancient Legend here so often quoted, and in other Omaha traditions. The people seem well aware that they once lived in bark houses like those in use among the Winnebago at the present day. The Arikara were not a forest people, and did not use the bark hut. The presence of these details illustrates how a story takes on coloring and becomes modified in passing from a people of one culture to a people of another. That the cultivation of the maize was long known and practised by the Arikara is evident from their rites, tra- ditions, and customs when they were first known historically; but that the Omaha gained their first knowledge of the plant from them is very doubtful.
SEPARATION OF PONCA FROM OMAHA; FINDING OF HORSES
The Ponca were the last of the cognates to form a tribe by them- selves. They were with the Omaha at the peace ceremony with the Arikara and other tribes, but their departure seems to have taken place not far from that time and on or near the Missouri river.
FLETCHER-LA FLescup] ENVIRONMENT; RESULTANT INFLUENCES 79
According to Ponca traditions already given, the people followed this stream northward to a place where ‘‘they could step over the water,’ and thence they seem to have turned southward. As they were going ‘‘across the land,’’ they hunted buffalo far toward the Rocky mountains, and on one of their hunts they encountered the Padouca (Comanche). The following tradition tells of this meeting and its results:
At that time the Ponca had no animals but dogs to help them to carry burdens. Wherever they went they had to go on foot, but the people were strong and fleet; they could run a great distance and not be weary. While they were off hunting buffalo they first met the Padouca, and afterward had many battles with them. The Padouca were mounted on strange animals. At first the Ponca thought the men and animals were one creature, but they learned better after a while. The Padouca had bows made from elk horn. They were not very long, nor were they strong. To make these bows the horn was boiled until it was soft. While in this condition it was scraped down, then spliced and bound together with sinew and glue. Their arrows were tipped with bone. But the weapon the Padouca depended on in fighting was a stone battle-ax. Its long handle was a sapling bound with rawhide to which a grooved stone ax head, pointed at both ends, was bound by bands of rawhide. This weapon made them terrible fighters at close quarters. The weakness of their bows and arrows reduced the value of their horses in battle save as a means to bring them rapidly up to their enemies, where they could bring their battle-axes into play. If their foes were armed with strong bows and arrows, the Padouca would suffer before they came to close range. To protect their horses from arrows they made a covering for the horses’ breasts and sides, to prevent an arrow taking effect at ordinary range. This covering (armor) was made of thick rawhide cut in round pieces and made to overlap like the scales of a fish. Over the surface was sand held on by glue. This covering made the Ponca arrows glance off and do no damage. The Padouca protected their own bodies by long shields of rawhide. Some of them had breastplates made like those on their horses. When the Ponca found out that the terrible creature they first encountered was aman on the back of an animal, they called the animal kawa, a name in use by the Osage to-day to designate the horse. The Ponca noticed the smell of the horse, and the odor would apprise them of the approach of the Padouca. When a man perceived the smell, he would run and tell the herald, who would at once go about the camp, and ery: “The wind tells us the kawa are coming!’’ So the Ponca would make ready to defend themselves. The Ponca had many battles with the Padouca. The Ponca did not know the use of the horses, so they killed them as well as the men. Nor could they find out where were the Padouca villages, for when the two tribes met, the Padouca always moved in an opposite direction from the location of their dwellings. So the Ponca could not discover where the Padouca lived.
One day the two tribes had a great battle. The people fought all day long. Some- times the Ponca were driven, sometimes the Padouca, until at last a Ponca shot a Padouca in the eye, and he dropped from his horse. Then the battle ceased. After the death of this man one of the Padouca came toward the Ponca and motioned that one of the Ponca should come toward him. Then the Padouca said in plain Ponca: “Who are you?) What do you call yourselves?’’ The Ponca replied: “ We call ’our- selves Ponca; but you speak our language well; are you of our tribe?’? The Padouca said: ““No; we are Padouca. I speak your language as a gift froma Ponca spirit. As I lay one day on a Ponca grave after one of our battles with you a man rose from the grave and spoke to me, so I know your language.”’
Then it was agreed to make peace. Visits were exchanged, the Ponca bartered their bows and arrows for horses, and found out the whereabouts of the Padouca village.
80 THE OMAHA TRIBE [ETH. ANN. 27
The Padouca taught the Ponca how to ride and to put burdens on the horses. When the Ponca had learned how to use horses they renewed war with the Padouca and attacked them in their village. The Padouca met the Ponca outside their village but, being driven, jumped into the stockade which surrounded the village and fought from behind the barricade. The Ponca made such continual war on the Padouca and stole so many of their horses that the Padouca abandoned their village and departed we know not where. After that the Ponca followed the Platte river east and returned to the Missouri, bringing the horses back with them.
That is how the Ponca first had horses, and we have had them ever since.
There is no definite tradition among the Omaha as to the tribe from which they first obtained horses. The Legend already quoted says:
It happened that a man in his wanderings discovered two animals. At first he thought they were elk, but they did not look like elk. Then he thought they were deer, but they were larger than deer. He did not know what they were, although he saw many. When the man showed himself the animals did not run away, but circled around him. He was troubled, and, fearing them, he tried to get away, but the animals kept about him; he edged off and finally reached the village. The people were curious; they saw that the animals were gentle and could be led. Some of the men tried to mount them, but fell off, for they did not know how to ride. The people found the animals could bear burdens and be led by a string. There were two, male and female; they multiplied; and thus horses came among the Omaha. The people loved the horses, and when they died the people wailed. So dogs wete no longer the sole bearers of the people’s burdens.
There are traditions which say that “horses came from the Southwest.”’
Traditions concerning the movements of the Omaha when in the vicinity of the Missouri river are somewhat more definite but they are still vague.
In 1695 Le Sueur places the Omaha near the Missouri river, where the Iowa had joined them.¢ As he was about to establish his trading post on the Blue Earth, Le Sueur sent runners to recall the Towa that they might build a village near the fort, as these Indians were “‘industrious and accustomed to cultivate the earth.’ The trader hoped thus to procure provisions for his post as well as workers for the mines.’ De I’Isle’s map (1703) places the Omaha near the mouth of the Big Sioux. About 1737 a trading post was established near the southern end of Lake Winnipeg, where the Omaha are said to have traded;° they have a tradition that ‘“‘long ago they visited a great lake to the far north and traded there with white men.’”’ This post may have been Fort La Reine. It appears on Jeffery’s map of 1762.4 Carver, who traveled in 1766, says that ‘‘to this place the Mahahs, who inhabit a country 250 miles southwest, come also to trade with them; and bring great quantities of Indian corn, to ex-
@ Minnesota FHlistorical Collections, 1, 328, 332.
> Neill’s The History of Minnesota, etc., 164, Philadelphia, 1858. ce Ibid., 186.
@Tbid., 300.
FLETCHER—-LA FLESCHE] ENVIRONMENT; RESULTANT INFLUENCES 81
change for knives, tomahawks, and other articles.”’"* The Omaha knowledge of this northern country would seem to have been tradi- tional, and may have been connected with their earlier sojourn in the wooded region of the north.
MEETING WITH THE WHITE MEN?
From the Sacred Legend ‘already quoted, in which epochal events of the tribe are mentioned, it appears that the first meeting with the white race was in the northern region near the lakes, where the Omaha used birch-bark canoes. The Legend says:
One day the people discovered white objects on the waters, and they knew not what to make of them. The white objects floated toward the shores. The people were frightened. They abandoned their canoes, ran to the woods, climbed the trees, and watched. The white objects reached the shore, and men were seen getting out of them. The Indians watched the strange men, but did not speak or go near them. For several days they watched; then the strangers entered into the white objects and floated off. They left, however, a man—a leader, the Indians thought. He was in a starving condition. Seeing this, the Indians approached him, extending toward him a stalk of maize having ears on it, and bade him eat and live. He did eat, and expressed his gratitude by signs. The Indians kept this man, treating him kindly, until his companions returned. Thus the white people became acquainted with the Omaha by means of one whom the latter had befriended. In return the white people gave the Indians implements of iron. It was in this way that we gained iron among us.
From the story of this encounter and the fact that the Omaha are known historically to have traded at a fort near Lake Winnipeg, it is probable that the incident cited in the legend refers to some reconnoitering party of white adventurers, possibly of the Hudson Bay Company, one of whose number remained behind, and was later picked up or joined by the rest of the party.
The Omaha had come into contact with the French prior to 1724. At that time, in order to prevent the eastward spread of Spanish influence, a trading post was established on the Missouri river. The French then counted on the friendship of the Omaha, Osage, Iowa, Oto, and Pawnee, and were instrumental in bringing about peace between these tribes and the Padouca at a council called by M. de Bourgmont, commandant of Fort Orleans, which was held on one of the western tributaries of the Kansas river.
The following tradition may refer to an occurrence not long prior to this council:
“The Omaha were camped in the timber, and one day a man heard pounding in the woods. He went to see what caused the strange noise and returned to the camp in great fright. He said he
@Carver’s Three Years’ Travel Through the Interior Parts of North-A merica, etc., 69, Philadelphia, 1796. >The Appendix to this volume deals with the more recent history of the Omaha in their relations with the whites.
83993°—27 ErH—11——6 b
82 THE OMAHA TRIBE [BTH. ANN. 27
had seen some sort of a beast, his face covered with hair and his skin the color of the inner layer of the corn husk.’’ This inner husk is called wa’xo"ha, and the Omaha name for white man, wa’ze, is prob- ably a corruption of this term.
The tradition continues as follows: ‘‘ This was not the first meet- ing of the Omaha with the white race, but the earlier encounter had been forgotten by the people.’’ This statement probably refers to the meeting described in the Sacred Legend, as already quoted. The ‘“wa’xe built houses out of logs, and traded with the people.” The old men of the tribe used to declare that these early traders were French.
INFLUENCE OF TRADERS
Contact with the traders had a disturbing influence on the politics of the tribe. The traders lent aid to those chiefs and leading men who favored schemes for barter, and these Indians used the favors shown them to enhance their own importance in the tribe. The fol- lowing narrative, compiled from stories told by old men of the tribe, illustrates this state of affairs:
The great-grandfather of a chief who was living twenty-five years ago visited the trading post at St. Louis, and on his return assumed an air of importance, saying that he had been made a great chief by the white men. He began to appoint ‘‘soldiers”’ and ambitious men sought his favor. He made Blackbird a “‘soldier” and took him to St. Louis. [This was the Blackbird the apocryphal story of whose burial on horseback on the bluffs of the Missouri is told by Lewis and Clark.] Blackbird was a handsome man and the white people made much of him, showing him more attention than they did his companion. When Blackbird returned to the tribe he declared he had been made a chief by the white people. Blackbird was an ambitious man, who loved power and was unscrupulous as to how he obtained it. The traders found him a pliant tool. They fostered his ambitions, supplied him with goods and reaped a harvest in trade. From them he learned the use of poisons, particularly arsenic. If an Indian opposed him or stood in the way of his designs, sickness and death overtook the man and Blackbird would claim that he had lost his life through supernatural agencies as a punishment for attempting to thwart his chief. Because of these occurrences Black- bird was feared. He exercised considerable power and adopted the airs of a despot. Before he died, however, the secret of his poison- ings became known and the fact led to the loss of much of his power. The romantic picture of his interment on horseback must be credited to grateful traders, as must also be the bestowal of his name on the hills and creek where later the Omaha built a village when they
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FLETCHER-LA FLESCHE] ENVIRONMENT; RESULTANT INFLUENCES 83
moved to their present reservation. It is a fact that horses were frequently strangled at funerals and their bodies left near the burial mound, which was always on a hill or at some elevation, but they were never buried alive or interred with the body. It is one of the humors of Indian history that a relic hunter should have picked up
’ Fig. 15. Big Elk.
a horse’s skull on one of the Blackbird hills and preserved it in a museum in memory of this fanciful entombment.
The “Blackbird hills” (pl. 20) are not known to the Omaha by that name, but as O"po"to"ga xaitho" (“where Big Elk is buried”’). Big Elk (fig. 15) died in 1853. He was the third of his name, a member of the We’zhi"shte gens, and a leading chief of the tribe. According to tradition, all three, named Big Elk, were men of ability, brave and
84 THE OMAHA TRIBE [wrH. ANN. 27
prudent chiefs. The last of the name was a man of considerable foresight and what may be termed an advanced thinker. He took part in some of the early treaties of his tribe and visited Washington before his death. On his return from this visit he called the tribe together and made the following address, which is here given as it was told more than twenty-five years ago:
My chiefs, braves, and young men, I have just returned from a visit to a far-off country toward the rising sun, and have seen many strange things. I bring to you news which it saddens my heart to think of. There is a coming flood which will soon reach us, and I advise you to prepare for it. Soon the animals which Wako™da has given us for sustenance will disappear beneath this flood to return no more, and it will be very hard for you. Look at me; you see I am advanced in age; I am near the grave. I can no longer think for you and lead you asin my younger days. You must think for yourselves what will be best for your welfare. I tell you this that you may be prepared for the coming change. You may not know my meaning. Many of you are old, as I am, and by the time the change comes we may be lying peacefully in our graves; but these young men will remain to suffer. Speak kindly to one another; do what you can to help each other, even in the troubles with the coming tide. Now, my people, this is all I have tosay. Bear these words in mind, and when the time comes think of what I have said.
One day, in 1883, during the allotment of the land in severalty to the Omaha tribe, as a large group of the Indians were gathered about the allotting agent watching the surveyor and talking of the loca- tion of allotments, there stood on a hill near by an old Indian. In a loud voice he recited this speech of Big Elk. At its close he paused, then shouted: ‘Friends, the flood has come!” and disap- peared.
To the best of his understanding Big Elk tried to face his people toward civilization. At the same time he was politic and kept the tribe well in hand. Instances of his eloquent and courtly speech have been preserved in official proceedings with the Government and these betray a dignity and heartiness that accord with the fol- lowing incident: The son who Big Elk hoped would succeed him died in the prime of young manhood and the father grieved sadly for