THE GOVERNMENT

CHAPTER ^XI.

DOKSEYj

THE GOVERNMENT —

^CHIEFS.

³⁵⁷

of thesacred pipes,

and

thewafa° ^areof a civil character.

The

chiefs are religiousofficers during thebuffalohunt^; they are always praying

Wakanda,

and showing the pipes to him.

They

do notact as lead- ersof the hunt, which isthe office of thewa^a", though they can

make

suggestions to thelatter.

They

cannot

draw

theirrobestightlyaround

them when

they are thus praying,

and

they

must

besober

and

gentle.

The

keepers of the sacred pipes are regarded as chiefsin

some

sense, though they are not allowed tospeak in the tribalassembly. ^"

Each

chief is a

member

of thetribal assembly, though heis nota chief

by

virtue ofsuch membership, but

by

choice of the

members

of his gens."

While

the chieftainship is not hereditary, each chief tries to

have

one of hisnear

kinsmen

elected as his successor.

§284.

Head

c/^'e/s.—Thoseof the highest grade are the "nikagahi uju," or principal chiefs. There

have

always been two ofthis rank

among

the

Omahas

^tillthelatechangeof the

government

in18«0.

The

head chiefs have generally been chosen fromthe

Haugacenu

gentes, though there is nolaw forbidding the selectionofa

member

of one of theIctasanda gentes.

The

followingisthe succession of theprincipal chiefs of the

Omahas

fromthe timeof the celebrated Black Bird

I. Gahige-:janga,

The

ElderGahige,

commonly

calledWajiiiga-sabe, Black Bird, of the Ma^^inka-gaxe (an Ictasanda) gens;

and

x^-sa"- i'-c'age.

The

Elder^e-sa",or

The

Venerable

man,

Distant-whiteBuffalo, of the <|/atada(Haiigacenu) gens. 11. j^e-sa" i° c'age (continued),

and

A-'pa^-ska,

White

Elk, of the Weji^cte (aHaiigaceuu) gens. III. ^e- sa" i"c'age [continued),

and

A° pa° -^auga, BigElk, of theWeji"ctegens, subsequently

known by

his

Pawnee

name,Ta-i'-ki-ta'-wa-hu. This

was

the celebratedBig Elk mentioned

by

Long, Say,andothersin 1819-'20.

IV. Taikitawahu,

and

tJha° -jiiiga or

Wah^xi,

called Icta-4aiiga, Big Eyes, by the whitemen.

The

latter

was

an Ictasandaman.

He

mar- ried a sisterof G(|;eda° naji° , and this

was

one reason

why

the latter succeeded

him

asoneof the principalchiefs. V. In 1843, A^pa^-^aiiga jiuga, the

Younger

Big Elk, of the Weji° cte gens,

and

G^eda° -naji° , Standing

Hawk,

of the (patadagens.

Another

reason for the appoint-

ment

of the latter was the friendship existingbetween his father,j^e- sa° ,

and

Taikitawahu. VI.

On

^thedeath of A^pa^-^ailga, his adopted sou, Icta-ma^zg, Iron Eyes, or Joseph

La

Fleche,

was made

hissue cesser,

and

so he

and

Gcfseda^-naji"were the principal chiefs till the former

was

set aside. Since then there has beenconfusion about the head chieftainship,as well asaboutthechieftainshipin general,ending

in theelection of sevenchiefs of equalrankin 1880.

§285. Stihordinatechiefs.

— ^Next

^to ^the nikagahi uju are the

under

chiefs,ornikagahi, of

whom

the

number

ⁱⁿ each tribe varies from time to time.

When

both of the head chiefs retire from office or die there

isanentirechangeofthe subordinatechiefs; all

must

resign,

and

others

must

beelected to filltheir places.

Thus when

A° pa° -;angajiiigaand

358 OMAHA

SOCIOLOGY.

Gfeda"iia.ji"succeeded to the

head

chieftainship, in 1843, fully sixty subordinate chiefs were appointed.

Among

these were A^ba-hebe, of the j,ii-&<i gens; Ictaduba, of theWasabehit'aji subgens; jasi-duba and Za° zi-mand6, of the jja^ze gens; Ta° wa"-gaxe, of the Ma° ((;iuka- gaxe gens^; and ja^u"-gahige, of the xa-da.

Some

chiefshave beenap- pointed by the UnitedStates Government, and so

have

beenrecognized as chiefsby ^theUnited Statesagentin hiscouncilswith thetribe; but these are distinct from the regular chiefs. In 1878 the writer found three of this kind of chiefs

among

the

Omahas. They had

been appointed

by

theUnited Statesabouttheyear1869. Cange-skS,

was made

chief in the place of Ta"wa"-gaxe; Ibaha° bi, instead of his father, Wanujiige, of the Ictasanda gens;

and

Wani:)a-waq6, thekeeperofthe sacred pipe of the xa-da

was

the third.

In 1878the following werethe ^chiefs

who met

theagentin councils:

Gfeda^-naji"

and

his brother, jede-gahi,

who

were considered thehead chiefs by some;

Ma° tcuna"ba,

oftheHaiiga; Gahige,oftheliikesabg;

Mahi° -^iuge, of the Weji^cte; Wacka° -ma° ^i° , the third

^atada

chief;

CaSge

^ska, Waui:ia-waqfe,

and

Ibaha^bi.

The

last three always ap- pearedto standtogether,formingathird partyin the tribe, asopposed tothe chiefs' party (to which the others belonged),

and

thatof the

young men

^or progressives.

§280.

Omaha

chiefs electedin March,1880.

—

^{These were} ^elected

^by

^an

assembly ^{of the} whole tribe, in open council,

and by

show

of hands.

All are of equal rank, therebeing no principal chiefs

jede-gahi (of the chiefs' party)

and Na° pewaf6

orCyujiiiga (ofthe

young

men'si>arty),of the<|/atada(G^eda^-naji"

and

Wacka"ma"(f,i"were deposed). Gahige(ofthechiefs' party)

and

Duba-ma"^i° ^(ofthe

young

men'sparty),of theliike-sabg. 3^axe-^a"ba, or

Two Crows

(ofthe

young

men's party), and Icta-basude(ofthechiefs'party),ofthe

HaQga. The

latter

was

substituted for his aged ^father, Ma'^tcu-na^ba.

The

only Ictasandachief elected

was

Cange-sk3, of the Ma° ^iuka-gaxe. Mahi"-

^iiige,

Wauijawaqg, and

Ibaha° bi wereignored.

A

^few

^months

^later^three

^more

^were^elected^: ^Sindexa"xa° instead of Wanija-waqg, of thej,a-da; Waha° -^inge, ofthe xe-smde;

and

Ibaha"-

bi, of the Ictasanda,

making

tenchiefs.

§287. Keepers of ^thesacred pipes.

—

^These

^have

^been^chiefs

among

the Ponkas, and itseems j)robable that theyare reckoned as such

among

the

Omahas.

(See the accountof the inauguration of

Ponka

chiefs,

§289.)

Though

no council could be opened without their assistance, they were not allowed to take part in

any

of thedeliberations. (See §296.)

§ 288.

Who

can he elected chiefs.

— ^As

^a ^rule, ^they

^must

^be ^{such as}

have won

good

reputation in the tribe.

A

^generous

^man,

^one

who

has given

presents or feasts than his kinsmen, stands a chance ofbeing elected a chief by

and

by.

The

presents, however,

must

made

to the poor

and

aged, of those

who

^are not kinsmen. Some-

CHIEFS — INAUGURATION OF PONKA

CHIEFS.

359

times a

man

^iselected

who

has uot led agood life; but they

make

liim chief with the hope that the

uew

respousibilities resting on

him may

sober him,

and make him

a wise man. Sometimesa

man

succeeds to the chieftainship through theefitbrts of

some kinsman

or afBuity

who

is a chief or head^chief.

Occasions of such ^elections.

— ^The

resignation or death of oneof the principal chiefs^; the resignation of both of theprincipal chiefs, orthe resignation ofoneand ^tlie death oftl.eother.

§L'8'J. ISacredor mysteriousritespertainingtotheinitiationorinaugura-

tion of^chiefs.

—

^(1).

^Among

^the^Poukas. Ma^'egahi, of the Hisada,told thefollowing: j\Iusa-naji"ofthe

Wacabe,

Ce-naji"of the Maka",(/'a'ega"

of the Nuqe, ^Si-ij-inge of the Maka", Ma"zesi-ugada" (of the half-breed band), and

Canugahi

ofthe(pixida,carry the sixsacred pipesfour times around the tribal circle.

Muxanaji"

puts

up

alarge tent (inthe middle ofthe circle),

unwraps

thebundlecontaining thesix pipes,andthen the five other

men accompany him

aroundthecircle.

The

^sacred ^])ipes^are ^feared

by

all except those

who

are tobe

made

chiefs, sometimes four, five, or six men. These are outside (of their lodges),

and

as the old

men ^come

around, ^if they have agreed ^{to be-}

come

chiefs, they put the pipe-stems to their mouths, but they do not inhale any of the smoke. Wlieu the old

men have

gone around ^the fourth time the chiefs assemble in the large tent.

The women and

children stay outside or back of the circle, as they are afraid of the pipes.

Even

the horses are sent to the rear.

When

thechiefs elect enter the large tent they give

many

horses to the retiring chiefs.

Then

theyput the pipes to their

mouths and

inhale thesmoke,for if they should refuse to inhale it, they

would

die very soon thereafter, before the end of the year.

Niula"axa's accountof the ceremonies atthe time of his election is as follows:

When

an oldchief resigns,atentisset

up

in the middle of the circle.

They

bring-

back

some

wild sage, which ^is used as a bed forthe sacred pipes. Thesearelaid

on the wild sageinthe middleofthetent,

next to the sacred bufl'alo skull.

The

hanga-j[i'a"ze or privilegeddecoration is

painted on the skull, into the nostrils of which

some

sprigs of wild sage arethrust.

All the chiefs paint the hanga-jji'a"ze on

theirfaces,

and

stickplumesintheirhair.

They

wearbuflalorobeswith thehair outside,and redden theirarm-pits,elbows,

and

the toesoftheir moccasins.

They

reddenblankets attheelbowsandnexttothe

arm

^pits,

inimitation ofthebuffaloes.

The

retiring chiefssayto their successors,

Flc.^41.-ThePonkastvleof bau<;a;ii'a"ze.

Dalam dokumen Omaha sociology (Halaman 164-168)

CHAPTER XI.

THE GOVERNMENT —

357

and

The

Wakanda,

They

make

They

draw

them when

and

must

and

The

some

Each

member

by

by

members

While

have

kinsmen

Head

have

among

Omahas

government

The

Haugacenu

member

The

Omahas

The

commonly

and

The

The

man,

and

White

and

known by

Pawnee

was

by

and

Wah^xi,

The

was

He

was

why

him

Younger

and

Hawk,

Another

ment

and

On

La

was made

and

and

was

— Next

under

whom

number

When

must

and

must

Thus when

358 OMAHA

head

Among

CHAPTER ^XI.

³⁵⁷

— ^Next

^by

^months

^more

^have

— ^As

^must

^man,