CALUMET DANCE THE PIPES. 277

tionbefore them. Sometimes hesays, " I

am

poor.

Douotcome."

lu that case the messeuger returus home,

and

the dauce does uot take place.

But

ifthe awa"i aka approve, and his kindred give their con- sent, he sends the messenger backwith a favorable reply. In

some

instances,

when

one

man

hasasked anotherto dancethecalnniit(Uinc<>

forhim, the other one has replied, "

Why

should I dance it foryou^'?

Why

^{should I give such a}privilege toa

bad man

^?

"

§120.

At

theappointedtime,thedancingparty, wliich consistsoftwo leaders

and many

companions,repairs tothe

place ofdestination. Sometimesthe leaders take from twentyto thirty

men

with ^tlieni.

They

reach the lodge of thea\va"i aka,

and

there the two niniba wi-awa", or calumet pipes,areplaced onaforked support,which

isdrivenintothesoilinthebackpart of the lodge.

§121. Descriptionofthepipes,etc.

— ^The

^fol-

lowingisadescriptionofthecalumet pipes

:

In the placeof a pipe-bowl each

weawa"

hastheheadand neckofa^"mi"'xadahi";ii,"

orgreen-necked duck.

Next

to this, on the upper^sideofthe stem,are (yellowish⁾feathers of thegreatowl,extendingaboutsixinches.

Next

arelong wing-featheisofthe

war

^eagle,

split

and

stuck on longitudinally in three places, ason an arrow shaft.

At

the end of these is

some

horsehair, which has been reddened. It is

wrapped

around the stem, tied on with sinew, and then over that ^is fastened

some

ofthefurof thewhiterabbit, with

some

ends dangling aboutsix inches.

The

^horsehair extends fullysix inches be-

low thefur oftherabbit. This horsehair is

attached in twootherplaces, and tied in a similar manner.

The

three tufts are equi- distant,say,sixinchesapart.

Xear

thelast tuftistheheadof awajiii'ga-da,woodcock^(J), the nose of which is white,

and

the head feathersarered.

The

bill isturned towards the mouth-piece.^

The

headofthe

duck

issecuredtothestem by the ^•'ha-jide," which used tobe

made

of deer orantelopeskin,butsince^thecomingof

JFrankLaFlfechesaidthathehadseeu threeheadsofwajiugadaon onepilie,aud thattheimiiibfrvariedfrom ouetosix. There wasuo part of the ueckof thebird, audthelowermandil)lewasremoved. luthisrespectonly theabovetiguredoesuot represeut the Omaha^pijje.

Fig.:o. Calumet

278 OMAHA

SOCIOLOGY.

Fig.21—Rattlesuaedinthe Pipedauce.

the white

men

a pieceof red blanketorIndianclothhasV)eeiisubstituted.

Next

to this are suspended ^the

two "we;a"or

eggs, which are two

lii"qpe, or plumesof the eagle.

But

the Indians

compare them

tothe eoo-or tothe eagletinthe egg,towhichtheadoptedchildisalso likened.

The

^{childis still}immature; but by

and

by he will grow,

and

fly like the eagle.

Next

are attached a

number

of eagle feathers. These are secured

by

twocords, called the "inaca" ifaze ()-a","

made

ofdeeror an- telope skin.

On

one pipe theeagle feathers arewhite,being those ofamale eagle, and the pipe-stem ^is dark ^blue.

On

^{the other,they are spotted black}

and white,being those of a female eagle^;

and

thepipe-stemisdark^blue.

§ 122. There ^ai'e two gourd

rattles,oneforeachpipe.

Each

gourd ^is about live inches in diameter.

A

^{handle is thrust}

through ^thegourd, one end of which projects about an inch

beyond

the top of the gourd.

Blue^stripesabouthalfan inch wideencircleeach gourd; and

two

blue stripes crossingeach other at right anglesextend half

way

around, terminating

when

they meet the otherstripe,whichdividesthe gourdⁱⁿ

two

parts.

Around

thehandle

istied deerskin,antelopeskin,ora piece ofbuffalo skin.

The

^e-nexe, or Iniftalobladder, which is sent at first

by

the messcnirci', is i)ainted with three blue stripes,as onthegourdrattles. It^is tiiJ with a small, fluepieceof the skin of a deer orantelope,arranged soas to beopened

vei'y easily and with theends danglinga little.'"

§ 123.

When

the pipes are rested against the forked stick, the heads of the ducks are placed nextthe ground.

A

short distancefrom the pipes are

two

sticksconnected with anearofcorn,which

is sacred, it

must

be a perfectear; the grains

must

not be rough or shriveled. If grains are wanting on one

row

or side, the earis rejected.

All the people^eatthe corn,soit is regarded as a mother. (See-§ 1G3.)

These ^{sticks are} reddened with wase-jide-nika, or Indian red.

The

longer stick, which^is nearer the ^{pipes, is} stuck about four inches into the ground,

and

projects a few inches above the ear of corn.

The

otherstick is fastened tothe opposite ^side of the ear of corn; the top of ^{it is}on a line with the top of the ear,

and

tlie bottom extends a short distance below the bottom of the ear,but ^it does not reach to the ground.

The

ear of corn is held between the sticks

by

"^ah^-

FlG.22—Tbe ^{Dakota style of}

tobacco-poucli used ^liy the Omahasinthe Pipedance.

'"This is the regular Omaha ^style. The above figure shows the U.akota ^style.

Oueof thiskiuclwasgiventoFrankLaFlechebyan Omaha ^to

whom

heLadgiven ahorse.

D0K8ET.]

THE

PIPES

— ^{FEASTING AND}

^SINGING.

²⁷⁹

^isa"'," which is

wrapped

around

them

all. Tliis fastening is

made

of theplaited orbraided hairtaken from theheadof a buffalo.

An

^eagle

plume

(hi"qpe) is fastenedwith sinew to the top of the smaller stick.

The

lower part of the ear of corniswhite,

and

the upperpart ispainted green.

Fig. ^3.—Thepositionsofthe pipes, the ear ofcom,etc.

§ 12-4. Feastincj and^sinfjinrj.

— ^The

^next

^morning

before sunrise

some

of thevisitors sing as a signal for the people to arise and assemble.

Before they sing the awa"i

ama

say to them, ^"

Come, O

^{fathers, sing}

ye."

They

do not singoveran hour,perhaps notquite so long.

When

the

men

begin to singthe pipes are takenfrom their support,

and

are not returned^till thesinging is concluded.

The

singing is inside the lodge,as they sit around thefire.

They

sing again after breakfast, a third timein the afternoon,

and

once

more

at night. This generally continues for two days, during which time the visitors ai-e feasted.

Sometimesthey continue thefeasts forthree days.

Gifts^bestoiced.

— ^{The day}

^{after thefeasts,whichis}generally the third

280 OMAHA

SOCIOLOGY.

(lay, the principal visitor gives presents to his host,

who

^collectsall

of the people of his village or ^tribe.

He

addresses thechiefs, saying,

'•

My

^{fatherhasbrought these things to me."}

^Then

^{he givesthe pres-}

ents tothe chiefs.

The

pileofgifts is often aboutfourfeethigh.

One

ormoreof thechiefsthenspeaktothe

young men who accompany

them,

"These^{things are givento you.}

Do

with

them

^as you please. Give

them

to

whom

you desire to present them." Presentlyone

young man

arises and ^{says, "1 will give a horseto}

my

father,"

meaning

the prin- cipal visitor.

He

^{is followed}

^by

^another,

^and

^{so on,till all} have spoken

who

haveadesire to

make

presents.

Some

ofthe

young men

give

many

horsestothevisitors.

When

theprincipal chief seesthat

enough

horses have been given inequal

numbers

toeach visitorhesays, "

Come,

cease ye."

Then

^{the chiefs imitatethe}

young men

in giving presents ^tothe visitors, taking care to givenone of

them

a larger sharethan therest.

Thisexchangeof presentsconsumestheentireday.

The

principalvisitor has theright to distribute the horses

among

^{his party.}

§ l-'.j. The dance.—

Th&

next

day two

of the servants of theprincipal

visitor are selected to do the dancing.

They must

be

men who

are

" cka"' ^{^ipi," i. e., skillful in} imitating the

movements and

actsof the

war

eagle,itsflying, etc.

When

^itis

windy

a screenisset up,but

when

itis calm there is none. Before the dance is

begun

the

man

^for

whom

theceremony is

made

leadshisson or daughterto hisvisitors, saying,

''(f,'e iifawa"' te ha'," Please dance for ^{this one.}

But

the parent does

not bring the child

by

himself; one of the dancers always goes forthe child,

and must

carryitonhis back to the lodge wherethe dancers are staying.

When

one ofthe

men came

to thehouseofMr.

La

Fleche for hisdaughter Susette, she

was

very small

and

so

was

afraidoftheman,

and

refusedto go with him.

So

her mother's mother ^{carried her part}

Fig.^24.

—

^Decorationof the child'sface.

ofthe way, and then the

man

took herto thelodge. After thefather has addressed the visitorsthe child is caused to sit with the

members

of thedancing party. Itsfaceis paintedred,

and

over thatis painted inblue,the

hanga

i[i'a"ze,

and

astripe

down

the nose."

An

^eagle

^plume

H.

—

^Thehauge>ii'a"zet'orthe childinthecalumettlance tUfierssomewhatfromthat used bj-thechiefsandother adults. lu the former the stripes nextthemouthare wanting, and,instead, ispaintedthestripedownthenose.