HUNTING CUSTOMS

§ 128. Kinds of hunting.

—

^{There are two kinds of hunting}

^known

among

the (pegiha.

One

^is called "abac," answering to the xoiwere

"kiuan^ira," and the "wotihni" of the Dakotas. This refers to the huntingofthe largeranimals by a lew men, oreven by one^{person, the} family of each hunter having been ^{left at}

home

or in the tribal camp.

The

other kindisthe ^"%eune,"

when

all thepeople go in a body, with their families,

moving

from i>lace to place as they seek for herds of bufl'aloes. This latter is often called " gaqfa"'" by the

Omahas and

Ponkas,

and

^"jfiqra"' "by the xoiwere tribes.

§ 129. Huntimjseasons.

— ^{The summer}

^hunt

^was

^{not undertaken till}

the corn

and

i)uinpkins

had

been planted,the

weeds

cut,

and

the beans gathered.

The

time forthe return

was when

the

wind

blew open the

"Jaqcazi," the suniiowers and the flowers of other speciesof the "ja,"

which

was

about the ^first of September. It

was

onlyduring the sum-

283

284 OMAHA

SOCIOLOGY.

iiifi- liiiut tliat rlic tribe

camped

in the tribal circleon tbe open prairie.

The

fallor winter hunt gavea

name

tothe season

when

it began"t'a"- gaqfa"," the huntiiuj/nll, or later fall, asdistinguished from ^"fa""the

Itari-esforearlier fall. This laterfall corresponded with thelatterpart of October.

Then some

of the

men

took tlieir families with them, and went ⁱⁿ pursuit of deer,or occupied themselves with trapping beaver and otter.

But

most of the people

went

on the fall hunt

when

they sought the "me-lia,"'literally, "spring hides," that ^is, those which iiad thick hair.

They

did not

camp

in the tribal circle, as it

was

too cold topitch their tentson the open prairie; buteach head of afamily had

his tent jtitched ina shelteredspot^;

and

for this purpose the hunters did notalways go inone large party,but scatteredinseveral directions,

camping

wherever they could iind heavytimber or brush that could jirotect their lodges during heavy winds.

They

returned

home

ⁱⁿ the spring aboutthe

month

ofApril.

§ 130. Preliminary/eastheldbeforethedepartureforthe

summer

hunt.

—

The

principalchieforhead

man

of theHafiga gens prepared a feast,to which heinvited all the chiefs and brave men.

An

^liike-sabe

man

was sent as ieki(f'e (crier, herald) or wag^-a (messenger) around thevillage,

and he called to each guest to bring his bowl

and

spoon.

When

the guests had assembled^atthe lodge of the

Hanga

chiefthe two princnpal chiefs sat attheback of the lodge, opposite the entrance, and on each side of

them

were ranged the subordinate chiefs aroundthe circle, ac- cording to theirrank. After

them

were seated the braves,asfarasthe entrance, on theleftside of which sat the giver of thefeast, while on the right side were the wag^'a (Waka"-ma"(f'i" and xeha° -ma"(j'i'', the keepers of the sacred tentsof the Hanga),

who

were expectedtoattend to the fireand thekettles.

The

sacred pipeswere lighted,accordingto the prescribed rules,

and

passedaround thecircle. (See _§§ 18

and

111.)

The

objectofthe council wasexplainedby one ofthe

head

chiefs say- ing, "

Come

^! consider the question. Let us remove. In

how many

days shall

we remove?" The

question

was

then discussed

by

othei's,

and having agreed

among

themselves

what

courseto pursue, one said,

"_tjqectig((-ita"ijp,wata"'zi-hicti g(f-ita"iiji,diibaja° 'i[i,a"wa"'ha"tai "

—

When

they have prepartd their caches and have worled (i. e., examined)

their cornstalks, let us remove after an interval offour days.

When

thechiefs perceived

what

was thesense of the council they decided on the route.

When

the food

was

sufficientlycooked tlie

wag^a removed

the kettles from the fire.

Then

one of the head chiefs called a

young man

by name, saying, "

Cha"

cete we'fitau' ga," Handle that kettlefor

us.

Then

the

young man

holding a spoon in his right

hand

dipped it

intoone of thekettles, took out a piece of a choice part of the meat.

His left

hand

being elevated, with extended palin^ he presented the meat in thespoon to each of the four winds, beginning atthe entrance ofthe lodge,

and

hefinished the

ceremony by

casting the meat intothe

fire.

DOHSEV.J

HUNTING CUSTOMS FEAST DEPARTURE.

2>^5

Tbeu

thefood was _{served out} to the guests, the best jiortions of it

beiug placed before the chiefs.

Each

person

who

received a portiou thankedthehost,u.singtheappropriatekiuship term,as,

"Hau!

ji^feha!"

Thanhs! elder brother.'—^<'

Rani

kage!" Thankft! younger brother!—

"Hau!

negiha!" Thmiks! mother's brother!

The

old

men

jtresent

thanked the host, chiefs,and

young

men.

Food

isprecious to them,so they talked a long timeabout it.

The youug meu

left

some

ofthe food iuthekettlesfor thecriers aud old meu,

who

theu ateout of the ket- tlesinstead of bowls.

The

feastended,

smoking

succeeded,afterwhich the guests rose insuccession, thanked the host,

aud

passed out of the lodgeinan orderlymanner, beginning with those on theleftof _{the en-} trance and fireplace. Thesepassed in singlefilebefore theheadchiefs,

and roundthe restof the circleof the guests,till they reached the en- trance

when

they passed out.

Then

thoseontheright of thefireplace

made

acomplete circuitof the lodge,passedbeforethe headchiefs

and

wentout of the lodge. In each case the guest followed the course of the sun as he appears to revolve around theearth.

The

criers sang through the village in praise of the host,

whom

they thanked for his hospitality.

They

also thanked the chiefs and

young men who

were present atthefeast; and they proclaimed tothe people thedecision of the council.

§ 131. Preparations for the departure.—

Tha women

buried in caches whatever they wished to leave. Food, etc.,

was

placed in a blanket, which

was

gathered up at the corners

and

tied with a thong; then the bundle

was

allowed tofall to thebottom of thecache.

Many

of such bundleswere put into a single cache.

Then

the

women

went over the corn-fields to see thatall the

work

had beenfinished.

They

prepared theirpack-saddles and litters,

and mended

moccasins and othercloth- ing.

The young men

spent part of the time in dancing in honor_{of the}

"watcigaxe ^ji uue(|-6aka," the

men

atwhose lodges thedancingsocie- ties met.

§ 132. The departure.—Thfi

day

for their departure having arrived, the

women

loaded theirhorses

and

dogs,

and

took asgreat weights on their

own

backs as they could conveniently_transport.

Such

lodges as were left unoccupied

by

agedor infirm people weresecured by closing the entrances with large quantities of brushwood. Those

meu who

were the owners of

many

horses were able to

mount

their tamilieson horseback, but tlie most of the people were obliged togo afoot. Be- fore starting the place for passing the night

was

determined and an Inke-sabe

man

was sent through the village a.'^ crier saying, "Maja"' gatuadi(f-ajite,ai,afa+!'-—_{T/,e^ say,} indeed, thatyou shalfpitlh the tents in that land ichich is out of ^sight!

He

described the location of the place as he

made

this proclamation, so that the abae-ma (hunters or scouts) might

know

where they were expected to rejoin the people.

Tliis precaution

was

taken each succeeding night,or elseon the mor'

row

before the departure of the hunters.

286 OMAHA

SOCIOLOGY.

§ 133. The Hiufufja or Tribal Circle.—{See §§ 9-12).

They

generally selected souie place uear a stream,

and

they tried to find a level spot large

enough

^to

Mow

the formation of a single hufuga, bnt

when

so largealevel could not be had, the

Omahas

^{pitched their} lodges in two concentriccircles,

and

the

Poukas

in threecirclesof thatarrangement.

The

exacr order of the

encampment

of the geutes in these concentric circleshas notbeen preserved.

As

soonas thetents wereerected each

woman

put

up

her wAma"ciha, of which there were twoor three for each tent.

They

were used ^fordrying thejanu^a or fresh meat, and each

was made

by sticking into the ground twoforked sticks thatwere aboutfour feet high, about six or eight feet apart,

and

placing a pole across them.

The

piecesof

meat

were

hung

across the transverse pole of each wama° ciha.

After the setting

up

ofthe tent ofone ofthe keepers of thewa(f;ixabe orsacred bags, a stick

was

^{thrust in the ground outsidethetent,}

and

the wafixabe

was hung

on ^it, providedthere

was

no rain.

But

should a rainensue ^afterthe

bag was hung

^{outside, or if it}

was

raining at the time the tent

was

pitched, the stick

was

set

up

without'delay within the tent,

and

the

bag was hung

on ^it.

§ 134. The Waij;a° or directors of ^{the hunt.}

— The

^{chiefs always ap-} pointed four

men

to act as directorsof the hunt.

He who

wished to be the principal director

had

to provide a pipe

and

astandard called the " wac.ibe."

The

former

had

^a bowl of red pipe-stone, but

was

not oneofthesacred pipes.

The

latterconsisted ofan oakor hickorystick about eight feet long,

and

reddened, towhich

was

fastened a

row

of eagle feathers,

some

of which were white

and

others spotted. Their use will beexplained ^hereafter.

A

"nikide" ^(see § 151)

was

fastened tothe top of the stick.

The

chiefs said to the directors, "It is good

to do such

and

such things."

The

directors considered whether it

would be right or not,

and

finally decided

what

course .should be pur- sued. Then, if

any

accident occurred, or quarrels between

men

^or

women, dog

fights, high winds, rain, etc., ensued, the director

who had

advised goingin that direction

was

blamed, and ^his advice was disre-

garded fromthat time, so he

had

to resign,

and

let

some

oneelse take his place.

During

thelast

summer

huntof the

Omahas

^the directors were Ictafabi, Nuga, and Duba-ma"(('i", of the Inke-sabe gens, and a fourth man,

whose name

^{has been forgotten. Icta(j;abisucceeded his}

fatheras the principal director.'^

§ 135.

When

the people stopped

and camped

for only asingle night, '^Thesedirectorswere not necessarily luke-sabemen. The wacabe andpipewere alwaysabantloued wh'^u tbe people were abouttoreturn home. TheoriliTofcere- moniesvaried. Sometimesthesacred polewasanointedafterthefirstherdofbuffa- loeshad been surrounded. In that ease the abandonmentofthewacabe and iiipe

was postponed awhile. Sometimes they were abandoned ^{before the pole} was anointed; and sometimes they wereretained till theendof the Hede-watci. They were abandoned during the day. The pipewasfastened across the middle ofthe wacabe,whichwasstuckintotheground onahill.

HORSEY-.I

TRIBAL CIRCLE — ^DIRECTORS

^SCOUTS.

²⁸⁷

the act was called "uji^;" bat

when

they .stopped at a placefor two or more daj's, the acitwas

known

as "epaze." Thislatterhappened

when

thehorses weretiredor the weather

was

bad. ^"U^i di'iba sata" da"'- ctea'" ^5[i,^pazai"

—

Whetithey had campedbut onenight at each placefor fourorJive nights, tueystopped to rest for two ormore^days.

§ 136. Appointmentofthe scouts.

—

^It

^was

^{generallytwo orthree weeks}

after the departure from the village that they reached the country wherethe bulfalo abounded. Meanwhile, the people were frequently iu need of food, so it

was

customaryfor

some

of the

men

to leave the

camp

each morning to seek

game

ofanj' kind for thesustenance of the tribe till the buffalo herds were surrounded. This service, too, was sometimescalled"abae,"and, also, "wada"'be(fe,"togoto seeor scout;

and

the

men

were ^"abae-ma"or ^"wada° 'be-ma." Before theirdejiart- ure they were

summoned

to the

Wacabe

tent

by

Tciihlc, theaged liike- sabecrier,

who

stood

by

that tent, .and calledfor each

man

in a loud voice.

The man

himself

was

notnamed, but the

name

^called

was

that ofhis small son. Thus,

when Two Crows was summoned,

Tcahicsaid,

"Gai"-baji

hau+

^!" asthelatter

was

then the

young

son of

Two

Crows,

and

thefather

knew

that he

was summoned. When

the fathers had assembled at the

Wacabe

teat, each one

was

thus addressed

by

the principal director: "

You

^{shall goas a scout.}

No

matter

what

thing you see, you ^shall reportit justas ^itis. If you do not tell the truth

may

you be struck

by

lightning!

May

^{snakes bite} you^!

May men

slay you!

May

your feet hurt you!

May

your horse throw you!"

When

the sons are large

enough

they go themselves as scouts

when

called by name.

These scouts or hunters were expected to bring to the

camp what game

theykilled,

and

toreconnoiterthesurroundingcountryfor buffalo and enemies.

They

used to traverse a vast extent of country,

and

to shoot atallanimals except the buffalo.

Whenever

those

who

went the farthest

came

in sight of thebuffalo, or discovered ^.signs of their prox- imity, they dared not shoot at the animals, but theywere

bound

to return atonce to the tribe toreport the fact.

When

they got in sight of thecam]i, orofthetribeinmotion,they

made

signs with their blank- ets or robes. (See First

Annual

Eeport of the

Bureau

of Ethnologj'.

Sign Language, p. 532.)

§ 137. Returnofthescoutswhenthe tentsare pitched.

—

^{Ifthe tentswere}

pitched

when

the scouts

came

iu sight, the latter

went

at once to the

Wacabe

tent,where the ^e-sa"-ha ^is kept.

As

soon as each director heardor learntofthecomingof the scouts,he proceeded tothe

Wacabe

tent.

When

^allfourhadarrived thescouts

made

areport.

They

never told any

news

on such occasiontill they reached the sacred tent^; and

when

they reported,they did not say, "

We ^saw

buffalo."

They had

to say, if they discovered a herd, "tj'cia5ii((;6-dega", ^ei ebfega""

—

I may

have deceived myself, hut

I

think that they were lujffaloes.

The

words

288 OMAHA

SOCIOLOGY.

are proiiomiced very deliberately.

"How many

were there?" said the directors.

The

^{reply luigbt l)e,'' I} think about forty."

They

were afraidoftellinga falsehoodtothedireetor.s

and

the keeper of the sacred tent. Big'Elk said that

when

they reported they used to 'Tjvea goodrobeto the pole in the other sacrCd tent, but this isdenied by

La

Fleche

and Two

Crows.

After hearing the report the ^directors sent thecrier for thechiefs,

who

assembled atthe

Wacabe

tent.

He

^{also proclaimed that all the}

young men

^{should go thither; so they went, and stood outside.}

^The Hanga man

^{(the keeperof the sacred} tent?) told the

young

men,

"In

such adirection there are so

many

buffaloes."

Then

the

men

^leftthe

women

in the camp,

mounted

their horses, and hastened towards ^the herd.

§ 138. Return of ^{the scouts}

when

thepeople are moving.

—

^{Ifthe people}

were

moving

along

when

the scouts

came

in sight, the fourdirectors proceeded in advance ^to meet ^the scouts,

and

the Inke-sabecrier ac-

companied them.

He ^marched

^{behind the directorstill they}

^met

^the

scouts,

when

he

advanced

to the front,

and

received the reportfrom one of the scouts,

who

spoke in a whis])er.

Then

the crier whispered the

news

to theprincipal director,

who

stood on hisleft, and he whis- pered it to thenext director,

and

so on. After the crier told the tir^t director, theformerstepped

backward

several ]iacesto the rear of the fourdirectors,

and

lay

down

with his head pointing in the direction

whence

the scouts caine. After all of the directors heard the news, they

smoked

once, and then sent the crier to proclaim the news.

The

scouts i>roceeded to their families after delivering their report tothe directors.

The

crier iiroclaimed thus^: "(f!azige te, ai

afa+l" That

is,

"

They

say indeed that

you

shall halt^!"

The

tentswere pitched im- mediately,as the people

knew

that a herdof buffaloes had been found.

Then

the

men

hastened towardtheherd,eachone beingmounted.

§ 139.

Some

of the

men

usedtoaddress their horses thus:

"Ho, my

child! do yourbest. I shall do

my

best." This

was

not said

by

all.

Some

gave medicine to their horses to

make them

swift. (See the j.i(fi"-wasabedance. Chapter X.)

§ 1-40. Council andai>pointment of pnlicemen.

— ^As

^{soon as they could}

see theherd they stopped.

Then

the criercalled certain

young men

by name, saying, ^" Let usconsecrate

some

ja or sides of buffalo meat.

You

^willtake a ^a forme." (See § 151.)

A

^council

^was

^held by the chiefsand directors,

and

having decided to surround the herd, i)olice- m.en wereappointed. These

wanace

were selected from thewahehaji or brave men.

They had

no

work

to do ^till they were near the herd.

Then

they

had

to watch ^{the people to} keep

them

from scaring off' the herd

by moving

before the propertime. All

who

disobeyed

them

were severely punished. Cada(j-ice, an aged

Omaha, who

^is

now

lame and

l)alsied in one limb,

was

once strong

and

highlyesteemed by^hispeople;

but he violated therules of the hunt,and allthepolicemen floggedhim

DOusET.l

POLICEMEN SURROUNDING A HERD. 289

SO unmercifully that he uever fully recovered from the efi'ects of his punishment.

The

offense

was

committed

when

the people

had

beenun- successful in tiuding aherd,

and

were almoststarved. Suddenly

some

buflaloeswerediscovered.

Though

^it

was

against thelawforanysmall

number

of

men

to go against the herd, independentlyof therest, two or three, including Cadacfiice, disobeyed, and, rushiug forward, scared

oft' the herd, so that none were caught.

On

another hunt,

when

the

men

were behind a bank, seven of

them

wishedtoascend thehillsooner than

Two Crows

directed.

They

started

up

againsthiswishes; buthe rushed after

them and

lashed

them

right i.nd leftwith his whip, com- pelling

them

to desist.

During the council the chiefssaid, "Let us consecrate

some

buffalo tongues,

and

alsotwoorfour hearts." Then,callingon

two

of the young- men, they ^said, "

Young

men, you will get the hearts

and

touguesfor us,and place

them

together atthesacredtent."

§ 141. Order of approaching and surrounding a herd.

— ^The

^attack-

ing party was alwaysled by

two men

carrying the sacred objects be- longingtotheprincipal director; one

man

carried the pipe, and the other bore the

wacabe

standard.

They marched

abreast,

and

behind

them came

thetwo

young men who had

been chosento collectthe hearts

and

tougues.

The

latterwore no clothing buttheirbreechcloths,

and

they carried onlytheir

bows and

knives. Behind

them came

the hunt- ers, notgoing abreast or in any fixed order, but

somewhat

scattered.

When

^tlietwo leadersreached the proper distancefromthe herd they separated, one going to the right

and

the other to the left, eachone proceedingina course nearly theshapeofa semicircle,

and

followed

by

half of the men.

They

began to form theirlines for surrounding the herd,

and

the leadersrau on ^till they

had met

in the rearof theherd, and then passed oneanother, goinga short distance around ontheop- posite side.

Then

the attack began.

The

beavers of the pipe and standard werecalled "'A^'sagi-ma,"theswiftones.

§ 142. Collection of thehearts and ^tongues.

—

After they separated in front of the herd the two

young men

^behind

them

did notfollow them, but kept straight ahead towards the front of the herd, where they stopped. Thej' wereobliged to beconstantlyon the alert in order to avoid the onset ofany buffalothatmightrush towai-ds them.

As

soon as thej'

saw

that an animal

was down

they rushed towards it

and

pi'o-

ceeded tocutout the heart

and

tongue.

Then

they passed to thenext onethat

was

^slain,

and

so on.

Each

one cut out eight or ten tongues, but he

was

obliged to cut a hole in the throat before taking out the tongue, which

was drawn

throughthathole. This

was

thelasttime that the tongues could touch

any

toolor metal,except

when

they were^boil- inginthe kettles at the sacred tent.

As

fast as the

men removed

the hearts

and

tougues they cut holesin them, through which

was

thrust one end of a bow.

When

all were strung on the

bows

they were ^se- curedby tyingpieces of green hide to theendsofeach bow.

The bow

3

ETH

19