352 OMAHA SOCIOLOGY

DonsET]

DANCES. 353

are invitedtodance. "figi'a"wa^^tcigdxetai,"

You

willdancethedance of ^exploits.

The

visitors sitina circle and the

members

of the

home

tribesit outside.

A

drum, ^sticli, a " crow,"

and

a club orhatchetare placed insidethe^circle. There^isnosinging.

When

the

drum

isstruck one ofthe visitorsdances.

He who

hassomething to tellabouthimself takes the crow

and

attaches ittohis belt.

Then

he takes the club or hatchet.

When

the

drummers

beatfasterallof

them

say, "Hi^! hi! hi^!

"

When

they stop beating the dancer tells

what

hehas done. Pointing inonedirection withhiscluborhatchethesays, "In that placeI killed aman." Pointing elsewhere, he says,"There I took hold of a man."

"_Ibrought backso

many

horsesfromthattribe." Sometimesthey beat the

drum

again before he finishes telling his exploits. Sometimes a

man

recounts

much

about himself, ifvery brave, takingfoursuchinter- vals tocomplete his part of the performance.

When

behasfinishedhe handsthecrow

and weapon

tothenext dancer. Thereare fourdancers in all.

Some

tell their exploits two orthree times, i. e., they

may

re- quire two orthree intervals orspaces of time after the beating of the

drum

to tell allthat they

have

to say.

When

the fourthdancer stops thedanceis over. (See the

He

watci, attheendofthe

He^ucka

dance,

§217.) This isnotdanced very often.

§272. TheGhostdance.

—

Wandxei(j;ae^6-maarethose

who

havesuper- natural communications with ghosts.

The

dance is called

Waudxe

I^a^^e wdtcigdxe. Formerly the

Ponkas had

this dance,

and

the

Oma-

has

saw

^it

and

covetedit; so they took it. Ithas notbeendanced by the

Omahas

^foraboutforty years.

La

Fleche

and Two Crows

never

saw

it, but they

have

heard of it; and they speak ofitas " liqtaji;edada"

ignxtiw^&fi," undesirable_; totally unfitfor anyuse.

But

^ja^i'^-na'^paji

says that^it

was

an ^" uwaqube,"a sacredthing.

No women

participated.

A

^feast

^was

^{called, the}

men

assembled, a

drum was

struck,

and

they danced.

The

dancers

made

their bodies gray,

and

called themselves ghosts.

§ 273. The

Padanka

dance.—

The PddaQka

watci

(Camanche

dance?)has not been held

among

the

Omahas

since jafi° na^paji canremember.

The Omahas

bought it from another tribe,

and had

^it a long time.

When

Mr.J.

La

Plfeche

was

small,he

saw

alittle of it.

He

and

Two Crows

have heard about it.

The drum was

struck; thedancersred- dened their bodies with Indian red; they wore head-dresses of crow feathers orof the large _feathersof the great owl.

Each

one carried the "!jacdge^"or rattles of deers'claws.

§ 274. TheHel;dnadance.

—

^This

^was

introduced

among

the

Omahas

by theOtos

when

theyvisited the formertribe inAugust,1878.

The

Otos

callit " He-ka"'yu-ha." Itis found

among

the Sacs

and

otherIndians south of the

Omahas.

Thisis the dance in which the

young

people of both sexes participate,

and

it is called " umi° ^ig^a° ," as it leads the

young men

to think of courting the girls.

When

a

young man

^wishes to havea chancefor sayingsomething to 3

ETH

²³

354 OMAHA

SOCIOLOGY.

ii girl

whom

he admires he boils for a feast,

and

iuvites the guests.

All the

young men

^assemble,

^and

^{the unmarried girls and boyyattend,} though^{the girls never}go without aproper escort. Motherstake their daughters,

and

husbands gowiththeir wives.

The

^{dance is held inalarge} earth-lodge,in the middleol which a fire iskept up,

and

candles areplaced onsupportsaroundthe walls. Some- times the boys blowout the ^{lights all} at once after a preconcerted signal,

and

great confusion ensues. Allwear^their gayest clothingand plentyofornaments, ^{i^'iue}ribbon is worn on clothing, hats, etc.

When

ayouthwishes to court agirl,he-waitstillthegirl approaches

him

^{in the dance.}

Then

he takes her by ^thehands, and dances facing her.

As

thereis great confusion, no one^else can hear him addressing her, his face being veryclose toher's.

Every

time the

drumming

stops, the dancersin each pairchange ^places,but theystillfaceeach other.

When

a

woman

or girl wishes a

man

as a partner, she takes

him

by thehands

when

hegetsclose toherin the dance.

When

a distant " mother's brother^" meets one

whom

he calls his niece, he

may

address her thusin sport: "A° wdtcigaxe tai,wih6^!" i. e.,

"Second daughter^{of the family, let} us dance."

She

replies,"Give

me

pay." So he

makes

her a present of a necklace or of

some

other orna- ment, and shedances with him.

A

^{real uncle neveracts thus.}

Sometimes

when

a girlspies

among

the spectators an aged

man who

is akinsman,she will rushto

him

iu sport,take

him

by thehands, pull

him

to hisfeet,

and make him

dancewith her.

On

the otherhand,

when

a

young man

spies an agedfemale relativelooking on,he

may

rushto her, in sport, and i)ull her into the ring

making

her dance with him.

There ^isa feast after the dance. If there is but a small supplyof food only the

women

and girlseat-; butifthere isplenty, the

men

wait

till the others

have

eaten awhile, then they partake. After thefeast theguests go

home

^; butthey sleep nearly allof the following day, as they are very tired.

§ 275. The

Mandan

^dance.

— ^{The Ponkas}

^{obtained this dance from the}

Dakotas

and theOraahas ^{learned it} fromthe Ponkas.

None

but aged

men

and those in the prime of life belong to this society. All are ex- pected tobehave themselves, to be sober,

and

refrain fromquarreling andfighting

among

themselves. (Foranaccount ofone of their feasts, see § 111.)

This dance iscelebrated as a bravery dance over the bodies of

any

warriors

who have

been slain

by

theenemy.

Each body

is placed in a sitting posturein thelodge, asifalive,

and

with arattleofdeers'claws fastened to one arm. (See Contributions to N. A. Ethnology, Vol.

VI, PartI, pp. 431, 452.) Thisdance has been ^obsoletefor

some

time

among

^the

Omahas.

It

was

danced ^{iu 1853.} (See § 218.)

§27G. The

TuMla

dancewasobtainedfromthe

Dakotas by

thePonkas,

who

taughtittothe

Omahas.

Thisdanceis for boys

what

the

Mandan

danceis for aged

men and men

in theprime oflife. Its rulesresemble

BonsEY.]

DANCES. 355

those of the other dauce, but.the songs

aud

dances aredifferent.

The

behavior of the

members

^is notas goodas that of the

members

of the

Mandau

society, though quarreling is forbidden. This is a bravery dance.

Two women

attend assingers.

Two men who

donotfeardeath arethe leaders in the dance.

Each

onecarries a ^"wah^kuzi^" or "wa- q<^6xe-fAze, ofwhich theendleatheronthebent part of thepoleiswhite, aud thepole is

wrapped

ina piece of otter skin.

§277. The

Sun

dancehas notbeenpracticed

among

the Oraabas.

They

can give no accountof it, though

some

of the ceremonies of the Ilede- watci,such as the procession to the place forfelling the tree, the race forthetree, thefelling of the tree, the

manner

in whichit is carried to thevillage, and the preparation of the ^"uje^i,"agreevery remarkably with theaccount of the

Sun

dance read by Miss A.G. Fletcher before the

American

Association forthe

Advancement

of Science,in August, 1882.

The Ponkas

obtained thisdance from theDakotas.

§ 278.

The

^"

Wana

watcigdxe,"or Beggingdance, isnot found

among

the

Omahas

; but

among

thePonkas, Dakotas,etc.,the

members

ofany dancing societydo dauce at timesin ordertogetpresents.

§ 27i). Ponl-adancingsocieties.

— ^{The Ponka men}

^{have two otherdanc-}

ingsocieties: theGak'6xe (which the

Omaha

Duba-ma° ^i° says is the

same

astheHi° sk4

yuha

ofthe Dakotas)

and

the^aduxe.

No

informa- tionhasbeen gained respecting thesesocieties.

The Ponka women

have three dancing societies: the Pa-fAta", the Gat'ana,

and

theMa^'zgska na° 'p'i° (Those

who

wear silvernecklaces).

CHAPTER ^XI.