344 OMAHA SOCIOLOGY

iiro mouibcrsof^tlu; society.

Two

are appoiutecl to beat thedrums,aud four to beat the ^rattles on the pillows. These^six performers are not

members

of the society.

§ 250.

When

onewishestojointhesocietyhe

must

proceedas follows:

Duringthedaythe candidate boilsfoodforafeast, to which heinvites all the

members

of the society.

About

twilight theyarrive, aud hav- ing partakeu of the feast they receive presents from the candidate,

who

asks

them

to admit him to their society. If they agree to admit him afeast isappointed forthe nextday in connection with the dance,

when

he will be initiated. Before the ceremony, however, the chiefs conferwithoneanother, sayiug, "

Wi

ab^i"' t^miiike. Nikaci"'gaw;iga- zu'ga", ab(j;i"' t4miiike. U^iika° pi t6ga° ab^i"' tAmiiike."

—

^{/ iclll have}

him. Twill have him,as he isan honestman.

I

^will havehim, as hewill beafine looking^-person.

§ 251. Dress

and

ornaments of^{the dancers.}

— Two Crows

says that they used toweardeer-skiuleggings.

He

says that thereisnouniform dress for

members

of either sex. ja(J;i"na° paji gavethe following^:

The men

wearredleggings,ofwhich each leg comes

down

over the moccasiu ina point. Ribbon-

work

in

two

parts thatcrossover themoccasins shakes

when

thewearerdances.

Two

kindsof garters areworn together; one kind isof otter-skiu,the otherofbead-workandjeji^hiMe.^' This ^jeji"- hi° departisfastened over thelegging-flaponthe outersideofeach leg,

and is "zAzade" (extending apartlike thesticksof afan)anddangling.

The

^{flai)sof the leggings, which are as wideas} a hand, contain ribbon

work

generally from theknee up, and sometimes thewhole length of the leggings.

When

a

member

wears noshirthe

may ornament

his

body

with a dozen ^"wa<|;ig(j;eze," or convoluted lines. These are I'ed, six in front and ^six on theback^; of those in front,

two

are at the waist, two higherup on the chest, and two on the

arm

; and of thoseon the back two arenear thenapeof the neck, two lower down,

and

twojust above the waist.

A

^{red stripe about afinger wideis put on theface,extend-}

ingfromeach side ofthe

mouth

tothejaw,andsimilar stripesare

drawn down

on the sides of the nose. jLeji° hi° de head-dresses are worn, and

some

havedeer's tail head-dresses on their heads, surmounted

by

very white feathers, which are

waving

slowly as the dancers move.

Two Crows

says that they

now

turn

dawn

theflapsor hi° b6dihaofthe moc- casins.

The

women'sattireconsistsofagaycalico

body

orsacque, ornamented with

two

rowsof small pieces of silver as large ascopper cents, ex- teTidingall around the neckofthe

garment

^; leggings with an abun- danceofribbon embroidered ontheflaps; short garters ofL)eji"hi° de aud bead-work; moccasins

dyed

black and ornamented with porcupine work, and a redor black blanket.

^£6-ugdckeui° , ear-bobs, areworn.

'"Yarnofvariouscolorsintervoven.

LOiisET]

THE WACICKA DANCING

SOCIETY.

345 The

parting ofthehairis reddened, and a narrow red stripeis

made

from the temple tothe jaw.

Two Crows

says that there are different stylesofi)uttiugthe painton the eyes,etc.,with the exception of the

two methods

given above, which nevervary.

§252.

The

dance

may

take place out of doors, or else in an earth- lodge. Itisstarted by the leaders,

who

begin the song, which isthen taken

up

bythesingers.

The

dancers form acircle,;indaroundthisthey dance, following the course ofthe sun,accordingtojafi° -na"-paji. There are different steps in the dance,

and

each person keeps time with the beating of the drums.

ja(|;i° -na° pajl says that the wacicka is as thick as apencil, and is

abouta halfaninch long. Itis white. It is generally shotatthecandi- date

by

a

member who

^isnotoneofJiiskindred,thoughthekinsman

may

do the shooting. Itisgenerallygiven "wa(|;ianaj]," inrisihly,being shot from the

mouth

of the possessor intothat of the candidate, lodging in his throatnear the

Adam's

apple, and knocking

him

down.

Then

the candidate staggers and coughs, "

Ha

^! ha^!" (whispered).

He

^{hits him-}

selfon thebackofhisheadanddislodges the wacicka intohishand,where

itlieswhite.

A

^sacred

bag

isalsogiventothecandidate.

The

wacicka

is always keptin the

mouth

ofthe otter (that^is, in the hi-ugaqixe), ex cept

when

the

owner

wishestoshootitfrom his

mouth

(atacandidate'?), according to ^ja^i^-na^paji.

But

J.

La

Fleche and

Two Crows

say that thewacickaisspit intothe

mouth

of an otter

when

they wish to useit in the dance.

A

^fewof those carrying bags imitatethe cry of the otter or thatof the flying squirrel:

"Ten

! ten! tcu! tcu! tcu!" (inthirty -second notes).

Each

one has a small piece of

wood

that has been hollowed with a knife, andfeathers thathave been cut thin have been fastened on the wood,

making

a whistle which causesthe imitation of the cry of those animals.

On

each

bag some

bells areputon the tailofthe animal, and porcupine work is around the legs.

The

dancer holds thehead in one

hand

and thetail in the other. Itis aimed atthe person tobe shotat.

None

arethus shotat but

members

and candidates.

§253. Order of shooting.

—

^{All stand in a circle.}

Then

four of their

number

are placed in the middle, standing in a row.

They who

do the shootingremain in the circle, andeach one ofthem shootsatone ofthe fourinthe middle.

When

thelatterorthe second fourhave ^"

gaomule"

{i. e., have

made

the wacicka

come

out oftheirthroats

by

hittingthem-

selves onthe backofthe neck), they returntotheirplacesin the circle,

and thefour

who

shotat

them

stepintothe center and are shotat by a third four.

When

the second four have " gaonude," they return to their places, and thethird four take their places inthe middle; andso on^tillallhave beenshotat once.

Then

thefirstfour stepintothe center again, and the lastfour shoot atthem. This endsthe dance.

§254.

None

but

members

can take part in the dance, and the "iiwa-

346 OMAHA

SOCIOLOGY.

weqdqa." This

uwaweqaqa

^{or iqta}

^was

^{neverwituessed}

^by

^J.

La

Plfeche aiul

Two

^Crows.

No

^{oueever said to them, "I}

^saw

^the

^uwaweqaqa

^iu

the Wac'icka dance."

But

they have heard persons speak in ridicule of a

woman who

^{joined the} dance without her husband.

Of

course,if the woman's

husband

or other

kinsman was

present, he

would

be un- willinu for any^{stranger to}abuse hiswife or kinswoman.

The women

admitted to this society werenot necessarilythe tattooed

women.

That there^is

some

foundationfor the statement that lewd ^{rites oc-}

tuirred during

some

part of the dance^is

more

probableaftera compar- ison of theseason ^forthis dance with the

Ponka

phrase, "Wihe, d^je t'a". A"f^aQ'giqtd!"

—

^[ylittlesister (or mi/femalefriend), grassabovnds.

{Let) us delight in each othet!

Frank La

^Flfeche thinks that this is

without foundation.

He

^{says that four days werespent in the secret}

initiation, the publicceremony taking placeon thelast day.

§255.

AThen Frank La

Fl^che witnessed the publicceremony in the lodge tlie

members

werestationed all aroundthe^circle.

The

fourcan- didateswere placedbetweentheiireplaceandthedoor,

and

thence they began ^to dance around ^{the fire,}

moving

from left to right.

As

they were dancing around, oneofthe

members

having an ^otter-skin

bag

left theouter circle,

and

began to follow them,

moving

in acircle between that ofthe dancers and that of the members.

While

the singing was goingon, he shotat each of tlie four candidateswith hissacred bag.

After these wereshot at,all the

members

danced,

and

then

any

one of

them

was

at liberty to shootattheothers.

§ 256. The T'hug^i (7ance.—I"'kug(j;i a(j;i'"-ma, or

Qub6

i"'-kug(j;i afi"'-

ma, Thesocietyof^thosewhohavethetranslucentstones. ^ja((;i° -ua''pajiisays thatthis isabad dance, the

members

being ^"wiispaji."

Each member

hasoueofthei"kug(j!i,withwhichheorshe shootsat

some

oueelse. These i"-kugfi aresmall stones which are translucent

and

white.

The mem-

bers of this society claim the

power

of shooting secretly

any some

oue with d^je orsidiihi,

and making

him lame. <ja(j;i° na"paji alsosays that they sometimesshoot persons secretly with "^ama"'," which ^isa piece of the intestine of a wolf, and about six inches loug. This produces fatalconsequences.

Frank La

Flfeche has heard this asserted, but it is denied

by

Joseph

La

Fleche and

Two

Crows.

They

do not

know

about the following, for which ja^i° ua° paji^is the authority:

"In

order toshoot the i"-kug(J;i, ^it is putin a hollow at the base of the eagle tiiu,

which is

waved

forward veryrapidly,hurling the stoneto a greatdis- tance, aboutfortyor fiftyyards."

There is no special season for this dance.

They

dance all day, and sometimesatnight^;

and

therearenot separate placesforthe twosexes, as

men

and

women

dance " iki^ibfa"," mixed, or intermingled.

Drums,

rattles, etc., are used, as in the

Wacicka

afi".

Some men

wearlarge leggings as well asbreech cloths; butno gay ^clothing.

The women wear

sacques,leggings, red blankets,

and

bead necklaces

;

and theyredden the parting of the hair

and

the cheeks

somewhat

as

''OR>-F.Y.]

THE

I^'kUGcI'I

and BUFFALO

DANCES.

347

tliej do for the

Wacicka

afi".

The men wear mauy

plumes iu their hair, and carry fans

made

ofeagles' wiugs.

They have

no regularpat- terns forpainting themselves; butthey use as paint eithec" _wasejide- nika" (Indian red) or " ma° ((!inkaqnde^" (gray clay).

The

only survivingleadersof this society are

xewuga and

Sihiduba.

Among

the

members

are BfT'-ti,xand-nnaiha",Ui(fa"be-'a° sa,Cage-ska, xaqiewaf-6-jiuga, d^a-sa", Inigani, Maja^kide, Si-qude, Nande-wahi, and

some women.

According to J.

La

Fl^che, this isone of the dancesthat are considered "waqube." It is obsolescent. B(|;a° -ti, Sihiduba, and xand-uua"ha" arethewazefeordoctorswlio treat biliousnessandfevers^• but they do not go together to visitapatient.

§ 257. TheBuffalo dawce.—xe-i^a^^e-ma, Thesocietyof those tcho have supernatural communkations with the Buffaloes, The Buffalo dancers.

Four

ofthe

men

ofthisdancearegoodsurgeons.

T wo

Crows'fatherwas a

member

of the society,

and

understoodthe use of the medicine, which hetransmittedto his son.

Two Crows

says that having inherited the righttothe medicine, he understands the dutiesof the doctors,but not

allaboutthedance,ashe has paidno attention tothe ^"}e i^aefg,"which has been the dutyofothers.

Until recently,thefour doctors of this society were as follows: Ni-

^dctage,the princiiialdoctor,

now

dead;

Two Crows

(now the_principal one), ja<j;i"-gahige, of the x^-da, and Zizika-jiuga, of the Inkesabe.

Two Crows

gives portions of the medicine to the other doctors, and they ''w^zefg," administer it to the patients. A° ba-hebe used to be a doctor. Theother

members whose names

have beenobtained are these

:

Duba

ma^^i"^, xe-ujia-ha, Icta-q((;u'a, xenuga-ja° -f,iiike, I''c'age-wahi(f!e,

and Gackawaiig^c. X'il'*^-Ji"ga,

now

dead,

was

a

member.

§ L'oS. Times fordaneing.

—

^{After the}recovery of apatient, the

mem-

bers ofthis society hold a dance,to

which

they

may

invitethe

members

oftheHorsedance, butnot thoseofthe

Wolf

dance.

When

they arenot called todanceafterthe recoveryof patients,

Two Crows

says that they

may

dance

when

theyplease,andinvitethe

mem-

bers ofthe Horse and

Wolf

dancingsocieties to join

them

; but thelat- tercan never dance independently of the Buffalo dancers.

ja4'i"-na"paji says (but

Two Crows

denies) that "

when

the corn is

withering for

want

ofrain the

members

of the Buflalosociety have a dance.

They

borrow a largevessel,which they fill with water,andput in the center oftheircircle.

They

dancefour times aroundit.

One

of their

number

drinks

some

of the water, spurts it

up

intotheair,

mak-

ing afinespray in imitation ofa fog or mistingrain.

Then

he knocks overthe vessel, spilling thewater on theground.

The

dancers thenfall

down and

drink

up

the water, getting

mud

all overtheirfaces.

Then

they spurt the water

up

into theair,

making

fine misting rain, which saves the corn."-'" Ifthisisnotdone bythe

members

oftheBuffalo so- ciety,it isprobably done byothers,

and

ja^i° na° paji has

made

a mis

20In theOsagetradition,cornwasderived fromfour buffalo bulls. See

^

^{31, 36,}

123, and 163.