272 OMAHA SOCIOLOGY

the RockyMountains, Vol. I, pp. 322, 323, ^if true, relates to

some

other tribe.

The

average

amount

of

meat

at ameal for au adult

was

two pounds, but

some

ate three pounds.

The maximum

quantity

was

about four jiounds.

§ 108.

During

the sun-dance, the

Poukas

pretended togowithout food ordrinkforthreedays

and

nights; butnear thesun-polecould befound abulbous root, which

was

used

by

the dancers for satisfying hunger and thirst. This secret

was

^told the writer

by

a

man,

an influential chief,

who had

taken partin thedancein former years. This dance is

of

Dakota

origin,

and

isnotpracticed

among

^the

Umahas.

§ 109.

At

thepresent day, the

Omahas

usewheat,flour,sugar,coffee, tea,bacon,andotherkinds of provisions introduced bythe whitepeople.

They

have been familiar with

wheat

for the past ^{forty years.}

Many

subsist chieflyon corn, as theycannot aftbrd to

buy

^great quantities of the provisionswhich have been mentioned.

But

while theyare fondof

wheat

bread,they cannotbe inducedtoeatcornbreadinanyshape,

and

theyneverhavetheircorn

ground

intomeal. Alltry tohave sugar

and

coffeethreetimes a day,even if theyarecompelled togowithout meat.

Within the past twentyyearsthey have found asubstitute for tea. It is

made

of the leaves or rootsof one of the two species of "^abehi."

One

kind iscalled "na° 'pa-!jan'ga ^ab^-hi," or "large cherry ^ab^-hi";

butthe speciesofwhichthe teais

made

isthejab^-hi,whichspreadsout, resemblingtwigs. Itgrows onhills,and^itslarge rootshinder the break- ing of theprairie.

The

^leaves,whicharepreferredfor

making

^thetea, resemble those of redcherry-trees,thoughtheyare smaller.

When

leaves cannotbeobtained, theyboii chipsof the roots,which

makes

thewater veryred.

The

tasteresembles that of the Chinese tea. (See § 177.)

§ 110. CannihttUsm.

—

Cannibalismisnot practiced

among

the

Omahas and

Ponkas,

and

it hasbeen ofrare occurrence

among

the lowas. Mr.

Hamilton says^{: "}I have heard ofanold

Iowa

chief

who

roasted

and

ate the ribsofan

Osage

killed in war; alsoof

some

one

who

bitthe heart of a

Pawnee,

but this

was

evidently donefor thepurpose ofwinuinga reputation forbravery."

§ 111. jPcasfc.—See"§§ 81, 83, lOG, 119, 124, 130, 1-43,151, 187-3, 195-6, 217, 219, 240,249-50, 274, -and 289.

During

thebuffalohunt

and

just before startingonit the onlygens that invited guests to feasts

was

the Haiiga.

And whenever

any im- portant matters, such as the ceremonies connected with planting corn, requireddeliberation, it

was

thedutyof the Haiigachief to prepare a feast and invite thechiefs and other guests. (See §§ 18, 130.)

On

^or-

dinary occasions,

any

one can

have

a feast. (See § 246.)

Then

the principal guestsits attheback of the lodge, opi)ositethedoor, on the right ofwhich arethe seats of the wag(fa, thehost's seat beingon the left of the entrance.

As

the guests enter they i)ass to the left

and

around thecircle, those

coming

^firsttaking seatsnext thewag^a,

and

'O-'sEr.l CANNIBALISM, FEASTS, ETC.

273

thelastoues arriviugfluding-placesuear thehost.

Two young

lueu

who

take out the meat, etc.,from thekettles,

have

nofixed placesfor sitting.

They

give feasts to get horsesand other presents, towin a reputa- tion forgenerosity, and perhaps an election to the chieftainship; also for social

and

other purposes.

The

Mandan /east—The

^following is an account of a feast given by the

Mandan

dancing society:

"When

the food hasbeen prepared the crieror heraldcalls forthose to

come

to thefeast

who

take partin the dance.

To

bad

men

hesays, ^'

Do

not

come

to the _{feast at} which I

am

goingto eat,'and theystay away. Should the guests be slow in com- ing, the last one

who

arrives is punished.

He

^is compelled to eat a large quantity offood, _{G, 8,} or 10 pounds.

The

others sit waiting for

him toeat allthat has been placed beforehim,

and

as they wait they shake the rattles of deer-claws and beat the drum. This is uot a sacred rite,but an amusement. Ifthe

man

finds thathe cannot eatall in hisbowl, helooksaround thecircle

and

finds

some

one to

whom

he gives a blanket, shirt, gnn, or a pair of leggings, with _{the rest}of the food saying, ^'Friend, help

me

{by eating this).^' Should the second

man

failto eatall, heinturn

must make

a present toathird man, and induce

him

to finish the contents of the bowl. Sometimes horses _are given as presents. Shoulda

man come

without an invitation,just to lookon, and enter the lodge of his

own

accord,he

must

give presents toseveralof theguests,

and

depart without joininginthefeast.

When

one smokes, he extends the pipe toanothersaying, ^'Smoke.'

The

sec ond

man smokes

without taking hold of the pipe. Should he forget

and

take hold of it, all the rest give the scalp-yell, and then he is

obliged to

make

a present to

some

onepresent

who

is notone of his kindred. Should one of the

men make

amistakein singing, or should he uot

know how

to sing correctly, as he joins therest, they give the scalp-yell, and heiscompelledto

make

a presentto

some

one

who

isnot one ofhiskindred. Ifone of the guests letsfallanything

by

accident, he forfeits it and cannot take it up.

Any

one else can appropriateit.

While

at thisfeastno one gets angry^; all

must

keep iu agood humor.

None

but old

men

orthose in the prime of lifebelongto this society."

Sometimes the guestsdancedwhiletheywereeating. All woredeers' tail head-dresses,

and

carried rattles of deers'claws on theirarms.

One drum was

used. There

was

no fixed

number

ofsingers; generally there were six.

Each

onedanced ashe stood in his place,instead of moviu"- around the lodge. There

was

no specialoruamentatiouof the face and

body

with paint. All wore good clothing.

The Omahas

_{danced this}

Mandan

^{dance after}the death of

Logan

Fontenelle.

Those

who

boil sacred food, as for the war-path,pour

some

of the soupoutside the lodge,as an offeringfor the ghosts.

§112. Sleeping customs.—

They

sleep

when

sleepy, chiefly at night.

There are no sacredrites connected with sleeping. Adults occupy that part of the lodge nextto the door, havingtheirbeds oneach side ofit.

3

ETH

18

274 OMAHA

SOCIOLOGY.

(See §lOG.) Children have ^their beds atthe backofthe lodge,opposite the entrauce.

When

there are

mauy

children

and

few adults, the for-

mer

occupy mostofthe circle.

Each member

of the household pushes thesticks of

wood

together ("abada"") towardsthe center of the fire, as the ends burn off. It is not the special

work

oftheold

women

ormen.

Xor

are theaged

women

expected to sitatthe door amidriveout the dogs.

Any

one

may

drive

them

from thelodge, exceptⁱⁿ cold weather,

when

they areallowed to remaininside.

§113. Charities.

— ^{The word}

^{for generousis "}waciice,"'

meaning

also

"_to be brave." This is apparently the primary meaning,as a gener- ous

man

^is addressed as one

who

does not fear poverty.

He

^{is re-}

garded as the equal of the

man who

fearsno enemy. Generositycan- not be exercised toward kindred,

who

havea natural right toour as- sistance. All

who

wish to

become

great

men

areadvised by their kin- dred to be kind to the poor

and

aged,

and

to invite guests tofeasts.

When

^{one seesa poor}

man

or

woman,

he should

make

presents, such as goods ora horse, to the unfortunatebeing.

Thus

can he gain the goodwill of

Wakanda,

as well as that ofhis

own

people.

When

the

Omahas

had plenty ofcorn, andthe

Ponkas

or

Pawnees

had verylittle,

the formerusedto sharetheir

abundance

with the^latter.

And

so

when

the

Omahas

were unfortunate with their crops, they

went

on several occasions to the Pawnees,

who

gave them a supply. This

was

custom- ary

among

these

and

other neighboring^tribes.

Presents

must

^alsobe

made

to visitors,

members

ofothertribes.

To

neglectthis

was

regardedas a grossbreachofgood manners. (See§292.) Prior to the advent ^{of the white}

man,

the

Omahas had

a custom, which

was

told the writer

by Frank La

Fleche. W^hen one

man

wished

to favor another

by

enabling

him

to be generous, hegave

him

horses, which the latter, in turn, gave away, ^entitling

him

to have his ears pierced asa token of his generosity.

The

act of the first

man

was

known

as " ni;a gibaqfukife," causing another

man

^to have his ears pierced.

§ 114. Old af/e.

—

^{Old age}

^among

^the

^Omahas

^{does not encounterall}

the difficulties related by Dougherty ^(Long, 1, pp. 250,257). Old

men

do not work.

They

sometimes go ^{after the} horses,or take them to water, but the rest of the time they sit

and

smoke,or relate incidents of their youthful days, and occasionally they tell

myths

fortheamuse-

ment

of thosearoundthem.

Old women

throw

away

superfluousashes,

pound

corn or dried meat,

mend ^and

^{dry moccasins, etc. Sometimes}

they used tobring abundleof sticks for the fire, but that is

now

done by the

men

^{intheirwagons.}

The Omahas and Ponkas

never

abandoned

the infirm aged peo]»leon the prairie.

They

left

them

athome, where they could remain till the return ofthehuntingparty.

They

were providedwith ashelter

among

the trees, food, water, and fire.

They

watched the corn-fields, and

noiiitvj

CHARITIES OLD

AGE.

275 when

theirprovisious gave out,they could gather theears ofcorn,aud procure

some

of the dried

pumpkins

and ^a (dried meat) that

had

been buried ^iu caches by the people.

They

were not left for a long time, generally for but a

month

^ortwo.

The

Indians wereafraid to aband. n

(waa^'ifa)theiragedpeople,lest

Wakanda

shouldpunish

them when

they were

away

fromhome.

They

alwaysjilaced

them

(i(|;a"'waf6)neartheir village, where they

made

their

home

during the winter.

They

do not

grow

grayearly, though Mr. Hamilton

saw some

chil- dren thatwere gray.

But

gray hairsare of such rareoccurrence that an

Omaha woman who

has

them

^iscalled "

Gray

Hair."

When

any one has whitehair itis regarded as atoken thatheor shehas violated the taboo ofthegens, as

wheu

an Ictasanda orWajaje

man

should touch a snake orsmell itsodor.

§ 11.5. Preparation for a^journey.

— ^Wheu

^a

^man

^{is about to starton}

ajourneyhe getshiswifetopreparemoccasins andfoodfor him.

Then

he goes alonetoabluff, andpraysto

Wakanda

togrant

him

ajoyfuland stoutheart as wellas success. (See § 195.)

CHAPTEK VI.