306 OMAHA SOCIOLOOY

§ KJS. Melons,

pum

^{plans, etc,}Sak;i(|'i<le ukt'fi",the

common

watcrmolois,

was known

^{totlic Oiiiatias beluie tlie coiningoftlie} white men. It has a green rind, which ^is generally striped, andtheseedsare black. Itisneverdried, but is always eaten raw, hence the name.

They had

uoyellowsakaifidetillthewliites

came;

but theydo ^noteat them.

Wa^a"', l'inn2)lins

—

^{Tlie nati\'e kinds}

are three: wa;a"'([ti, wa4a"'-kukuge, and

wa:^a'"mnxa. Wa4a"qti, the real luiaii)- kiiis are generally greenish, and "bicka,"' round but slightly flatteued on sides like turnips.

They

are usually dried,and are called "wa:)a"'gazaii'de,"because they are cnt in circular slicesand

hung

together, as it were, infestoons (gazaude).

The

second variety is large, white, and striped ; it is not good for drying.

The

wa4a" ninxa are never dried.

Some

are white, others are ^"sabe ^4U ega° ,a sort of black or dark blue," and small. Others, the wa4a"'-nuixa gf^eje,are spotted,andare eaten before they

become

too ripe. In former days, these were the only sweet

articlesoffood. Sometimesi)umpkinsare baked on coals (jeg((-a").

Modern

varieties are two^:

The

wata"- nin'debazu andthe wata° '-jide.

The Oma-

has never plant the latter, as theydo not Thewaja-qtiis:it tii,- top: tbenextis regard ^it as dcsirablc.

Thev

i)lant the

thewaia" niuxa; lliotliiid isthe waia"-

i-i-/.

-»i,."^i

jide;audthebottomoni,thewa»a"ninde former,WhlCh^IStrOUl ^'-!tO2ilectlong,

and

coveredwith knots or lumps.

The

native

pumpkins

are frequently steametl, as thekettle is tilled with

them

cut

in slices with a very small quantity of water added.

Pumpkins

are neverboiled with cjecibeor buffalo entrails^; buttheycan beboiledwith a buffaloi)aniicli, beans, dried meat,

and

with any preparationof corn.

§ 109. Friiils and ^berries.

—

Taspa"', red haws, are seldomeaten;

and

then aretakenraw, notover

two

or threeatatime.

Clumps

^ofthehaw- thorn

abound

on

Logan

Creek, near the

Omaha

reserve,

and

furnish the

Omaha name

for that stream, Taspa"'hi ba^e.

Wajide-nika, which are about thesize of haws,

grow

on low bushes inXorthwest Nebraska.

They

are ediblein the antunui.

Buffaloberrie-', the wajide-qti, or real wajide, are eaten raw, or they aredried

and

then boiledbefore eating.

>iande, ^jiliinis, though dried by the Dakotas, are not dried

by

the

^'egiha and j^oiwere,

who

eat

them

raw.

Fig.26.

—

^Figuresutimnipkius.

atth.- top; thenextis regard ^it

Ihotliiid isthe waia"-

''° '"'«*-l

PUMPKINS,

FRUITS, NUTS, ETC.

307

Nrt"'|)a, choke cherries, are oftwo kinds.

The

larger odos or iia>"pa- jau'ga, abound in a region

known

as ^iz4bahehe, in Northwest Ne- braska,wheretheyareverythick,as

many

as

two

hundred beingfound onasingle bush.

Some

of thebushes are afoot high,others are about twofeet in height.

The

choke-cherries are first

pounded

between two stones,

and

then dried.

The

smallervariety, or na"'pa-jin'ga,

grow

on

tall bushes. Thesecherries are dried.

Gube, hackberries,are thesizeofblack peppers or the smallercher- ries (na° pa-jii5ga).

They

are fine, sweet,

and

black.

They grow

on large trees {Celtis occidentalis), thebarkofwhich is rough

and

inclined tocurl up.

Ag^aukamaiige, raspberries, are dried

and

boiled. Bacte, strawber-

ries, are not dried.

They

are eaten raw.

Jao-qudejuare berries that

grow

near the NiobraraEiver; they are blackand sweet, aboutthesizeofbuffalo berries.

They

_{are dried!}

Nacama"

is the

name

of a speciesof berry or

persimmon

(?), which ripensin thelaterfall. Ithangs inclusters on a smallstalk, which is

bent over

by

theweight of the fruit.

The nacama"

is seldom _eaten by the

Omahas.

Itis black, notquite the sizeofahazel nut;

and

its seed resemblewatermelon seed.

Hazi,

grapes—

one kind, the fox grape, is eaten raw, or dried

and

boiled.

§170.

Wnts.—The

^"

bude"

isliketheacorn,butitgrows on adifferent tree,the trunk of which is red (the red oak?J. These nuts are ripe inthetall.

They

are boiled tillthe water has nearlyboiled away,

when

the latter is poured out,

and

fresh water

and

good ashes are put in.

Then

the nutsare boileda long timetill they

become

black.

The

water and ashesare thrown out, fresh wateris putin the kettle, and thenuts are

washed

till theyare clean,

when

they arefound to be ^" ndjube^"

cookedtillreadytofallto pieces.

Then

theyare

mixed

with wild honey,

and

are ready for one to eat.

They

are "ib^a"qtiw^f6," capable of satisfying

hunger

tothe utmost, but ahandful beingnecessaryforthat end.

A° 'jiHga,hazelnuts,are neither boiled nordried; theyareeaten

raw The same may

be saidof "^4ge," black walnuts.

§171. Fruitswere preservedin wild

honey

alone, accordingto J.

La

Flfeche. Since the arrival of the white people afew of the

Omahas

havecultivated

sorghum

; butinformer daysthe only sugars

and

sirups werethosemanufactured from the sugar maple and box elder or ash- leaved maple.

The Omahas know

nothing about pulse, mesquite,

and

screw-beans.

Nor

do they use seedsof grasses and weeds forfood.

Previoustothearrivalof the whites they did notcultivateany gar- den vegetables; but

now many

of the

Omahas

and

Ponkas

haveraised

many

varietiesin their gardens.

§172. Boots used for

food.—The

utig^e or Indianturnipissometimes

308 OMAHA

SOCIOLOGY.

round, aud atothers elliptical.

Wbeu

theOrnahas wish to dry^it,they pull offthe ^skill.

Then

they cutoff piecesabout twoinches long, and throw

away

thehard interior.

Then

they place thesepieces in amortar and

pound

them, alter which they dry them.

When

they are dried they are frequently

mixed

with grease. Occasionally they are boiled with dried meat without being pounded.

The

sou]) is very good.

Nii ukd^i", or

Pomme

de terre, the native potato, ^is

dug

iu thewinter by the

women.

There are different kinds of this root,

some

ofwhich have goodskins. Several

grow

ona

common

root,thus:

01313^©

^These potatoes are boiled ; then the skins are pulled^off', aud they are^dried.

The

"si"" is an aquatic jilant,resembling the water-lily. Itis also called the ^"si° '-uke^i'',"being the wild rice. In orderto prepare^itas food itis roastedunder hotashes.

The

otherrice isthe " si"'-wauin'de"; thestalkon which it grows^is the " si° '-wanin'de-hi," a species of rush which grows with rice in

swamps. The

grain is translucent, and is the principal article of diet forthose Indians

who

^{I'eside in} very cold regions north of the Ponkas.

Si"'-skuskuba, which

some Ponkas

said

was

thecalamus, is

uow

very rare.

Few

^oftheOrnahas

know

^it at present.

They

usedto eat itafter boiling^it.

Frank La

Fl^che saidthat thiscould notbecalamus,asthe Ornahas calledthat maka° -ninida,

and

stilleatit.

^ 173. Beans.

—

^Beans, hi^b^iii'ge or ha° b^iii'ge, are planted by the Indians.

They

dry

them

before using them.

Some

are large,others are small, being of different sizes.

The

Indians speak of

them

thus:

"buiahna^i, b(J;iiska6ga° ," they are generally curvilinear, and aresome

u-hatjiat.

La

Fltehe

aud Two Crows

^{s^jeak} of

many

varieties,which are pro- bably of one

and

the

same

species ^: "Hi° b(J5iugesdb6g(|;ej^,beans that have black spots. 2.

Ska

gfej6, thosewith white spots. 3. Zi'gijiej^,

those with yellowspots. 4. Jide gif;ej6, those with red spots. 5.

Qude

g((;ej6, those with gray spots. 6. Jidgqti, very red ones. 7. SAbeqti,

very black ones. 8. Jide c4be 6ga",those that are a ^sort of dark red.

9. Ska, white. 10. j^u (5ga" s4b6, dark blue. 11. Ji' 6ga" siibg, dark orangered. 12. Ska, ug^e t6 jide, white,with red on the

"ug^e"

or part that is unitedtothevine. 13. Hiug(j;(§t6sab6,those thatare black on the " ug^e." 14. jqu gfeje ega", blue,with white spots. 15. A° pa°

hi"ega° ,

qude

zi ega", like the hair of anelk, asortof grayish yellow.

The

hi"b^i""abe, or hi"b^iiigema^tanaha,wild beans, arenot plauted.

They come

up of their

own

accord.

They

are flat aud curvilinear,aud

abound

undertrees.

The

lieldiiiicehoard

them

iu theirwinterretreats, which theIndians seekto rob.

They

cook

them by

putting

them

inhot ashes.

§ 174. j^efawe^is the

name

givento the seeds

and

root of the Nelum- bium luteum,and is thus described

by an Omaha

^:

The

ije^awe ^is the root of an aquatic plant, which is notvery abundant. It has a leaf likethatof alily, butabout two feet iu diameter, lying onthe surface

DonsKT., ROOTS, BEANS, ETC.

309

of the water.

The

stalk comes up tbroiigh the luiildle of the leaf, and projectsabout two feet above the water.

Ou

topis aseed-pod.

The

seed are elliptical, almost shapedlike bullets, andthey are black and very hard.

When

the ice is firm or the water shallow,the Indiansgo

for the seed,which they parch

by

afire,and beat open, theneat.

They

also eattheroots. Ifthey wish tokeep

them

for a long time, they cut off theroots inpiecesabout six inches long,

and

dry

them

;ifnot, they boil them.

§ 175. Hi° 'qa is the root of a sahi or water grass which grows be-

neaththe surface of

Lake

Xik'umi,near the

Omaha

Agency, Nebraska.

This root, which ^isabout thesizeofthe firstjoint of one's forefinger,is

bulbous and black.

When

the

Omaha

boys go into bathe they fre-

quentlyeatit insport, afterpullingoffthe skin.

Two Crows

says that adultsnever eat it. J.

La

Fl^che never ate it,but hehasheard of it.

§176. Savors, flavors,etc.

—

^{Salt, niskifg,}

^was

used before theadvent ofthewhites.

One

place

known

to the

Omahas was

onSalt River,near Lincoln, Nebr., which cityis

now

called by

them

"]Sri-ski(f6."

At

that place the salt collectedontop of the sand

and

dried.

Then

the

Omahas

used to brush it together with ieathers

and

take it up for use.

What was

on the surface ivas verywhite,

and

fit for use; but that beneath was

mixed

with sand

and was

not disturbed.

Rock

salt

was

foundat the headof a stream, southwest of the Republican, whichflowed into thenorthwest part of the Indian Territory,

and

they gave theplace the name, "Ni-skf^e sagi_(fa", Wherethehard salt w." In orderto get this salt,they brokeinto the

mass by

punching withsticks,

and

the de- tached fragments were broken

up by

pounding.

Peppers, aromatic herbs, spices, etc.,werenot

known

informer days.

Clay was never used asfood nor as asavor.

§ 177. Drinks.

— The

only drinks used were soups and water. Teas, beer, wine, or other fermented juices,

and

distilled liquors, were un- known. (See § 109.)

§ 178. Narcotics.

—

^{Nativetobacco,ornini.}

The

plant, ninihi

was

the onlynarcotic

known

previous tothe

coming

ofourrace. It differsfrom the

common

tobacco plant; noneofithasbeenplantedin

modern

times.

J.

La

Fl^che

saw some

of it

when

he

was

small. Its leaves were ";ii

qude

4ga"," asort of a blue color, and were about the size of a man's hand,

and

shaped

somewhat

likea tobaccoleaf. Mr. H.

W. Henshaw,

ofthe United States Geological Survey, has been

making some

investi- gationsconcerning the narcoticsusedby

many

oftheIndiantribes.

He

findsthat the Rees

and

othertribesdid havea native tobacco,andthat

some

ofit is stillcultivated. This strengthens the probability that the niniofthe

Omahas

and

Ponkas was

a nativeplant.

Mixed

tobacco or killickinnickis called ninigahi by the

Omahas

and Ponkas. This

name

implies that native or

common

tobacco Cnini) has been mixed(igahi) with

some

other ingredient. " Thislatter isgener- allythe inner barkof thered willow {Gormis sericea), a7idoccasionally