THE ICTASANDA GENS

248 OMAHA

SOCIOLOGY.

Taboo.

— ^They

^ilouoteata bufialocalf. (Seej^esiudegeus.) Itappears thatthe

two

Ictasanda buffalogentes arebuffalo calf gentes, and that thetwonafigaceiiubnfi'alogentes areconnectedwith the

grown

buffalo.

Decoration ofnkiii tents.

—

^{Thisconsistsofacircle paintedoneachside}

of the entrance, within which is sketched the

body

of abuffalo calf, visible from theflanks up.

A

^similarsketchis

made

onthebackofthe tent.

§G8. Birth names_ofboys.

—

^{These are as follows,but their}exact order has notbeen gained: Buffalo calf. Seeks its Mother. Stands at the End.

Horn

Erect with the sharp end toward thespectator. Buffalo (calf?)Rolls over.

Made

dark

by

heat very suddenly. Ma^zeda", mean- ing

unknown.

Subgentes.

— ^The

^{Ing^e-jideare}not dividedformarriagepurposes. Lion, however, gave foursubgentes; but hecould not give the

names and

ta- boos.

He

said that

Horn

Erect

was

thehead ofthe first.

The

present head of thesecond is LittleStar. Rolls over is the

head

of thethird

;

aud Singer of thefourth.

Names

of men.

— ^Walking

^{Buffalo. Buffalo}

^Walks

^alittle. (Buffaloes) Continue Approaching. Tent-poles stuck Obliquely in the ground.

Becomes

Cold suddenly.

Hawk

Temper.

Bad

Buffalo. (Buffalocalf)

Seeks its Mother. (Buffalo bull) Kolls over. Stands at the End.

Singer.

Crow

Skin. SmallBank.

Kausas

Head.

Eapid

(asariver).

Sacred

Crow

that speaks inVisions.

White

Feather.

Walks

at the End.

Names

ofwomen.

— Moon-Hawk

Female.

Moon Horn

Female. (Buf- faloes)

Make

theground Stripedas theyrun. Walks,seekingher own.

ooii'-Ev1

THE ICTASANDA

GENS.

249

Gaagig((!e-hna° ,which probablyreferstothunderthatispassingby.

The

second is,

The

Thunder-godisEoariug as he Stands.

The

third, Big Shoulder.

The

fourth.

Walking Forked

lightning.

The

^tifth,

The

thun-

dergod Walks

lloaring.

The

sixth, Sheet-lightning

Makes

aGlarein- sidetheLodge.

The

seventh,

The

Thunder-godthat

Walks

After others at the closeof a storm.

Birthnames of girls.—

The

^{first is}called

The

Visible(Moon)inMotion.

The

second.

The

Visible one thathas

Come

back

and

isina Horizontal attitu<le.

The

third, Zizika-wate,

meaning

uncertain; refers to wild turkeys.

The

fourth.

Female

(thunder?)

who

Eoars.

The

^tifth,

She who

^is

Ever Coming

back Visibly (referring tothe moon?).

The

sixth

White Eyed Female

in the distance.

The

seventh, Visible ones in dif- ferent places.

§71. Subgentes.—For marriage purposes the gens is divided into three parts, according to

La

Flfeche

and Two

Crows. I. Niuiba-t'a", Keepers ofthe Pipe,

and

IlealIctasanda, ofwhichxe-uvfa^ha,jjawaha, Waji° -a° ba,and Si-(fede-jiiiga are the onlysurvivors. II. Waceta° , or Eeptilepeople,underIbaha"bi. III. Ingf^{a° .}

Thunder

people,

among who

are Ui^a° be-a"sa

and

Wanace-jinga.

Lion divided thegensinto four parts. I. Niniba-t'a",underxe-U5[a° ha.

II. Real Ictasandapeople, under Waji"-a"ba. III.

Waceta"

(referring to the thunder, according toLion, but denied

by Two

Crows), Reptile people, under Ibaha^bi. These are sometimes called Keepers of the Clawsof the Wild-cat,because theybind theseclaws tothe waistof a

newborn

infant, putting

them

on theleft side. IV.

The

Real

Thunder

peoplearecalled.Those

who

donot touch the

Clam

shell, or.Keepersof the

Clam

shell, or.Keepers ofthe

Clam

shell

and

theTooth of aBlack bear. Thesebind a clamshell tothe waist ofachild belongingto this subgens,

when

he is forward in learning to walk. (See§§ ^2-1, 43, 45,

and 63.)

At

the time that

Waui;awaq6

gavethisinformation,March, 1880,he said that there were buttwo

men

leftin theMniba-t'a",j,e-U3ia"ha,and

gawaha. Now

^it appears that they have united with Waji"-a° baand

Si((;ede-jinga, the survivors of the Ictasandaqti. j^euija^ha, being the keeperofthe Ictasanda sacred pipe, holds

what was

a veryimportant ofBce, that of being the person

who

hastheright tofillthesacred pipes for the chiefs. (See _§§ 17 and 18.) j^e-u^ja^ha does not, however,

know

the sacred words used on suchoccasions, as his father, Mahi"zi, died withoutcommunicating

them

to him.

But some

say that there is another dutydevolving on this keeper.

There has been a custom in the tribe not to cutthe hairof children

when

they were small,even after they began to walk.

But

before a child reached theageoffour years, it

was

necessaryforittobe taken, with such other children as had nothad theirhaircut, to the

man who

filledthe sacred pipes.

Two

orthree old

men

oftheIctasandagenssat togetheron that occasion.

They

senta crier around the

camp

or ^vil-

250 OMAHA

SOCIOLOGY.

lage. saying, "

You who

^{wish to liave your chiUlren's haircut bring}

tliein."

Then

thefather, orelse the mother,

wouUl

take thechild,v>-ith

apairof good moccasinsfor the child to put on, alsoa ])rcsont for the kee])erofthesacredpipe, which might consist of a pair of moccasins,

some

arrows, or a dress, ^etc.

When

the parents

had

arrived withtheir children each one addressed thekeeperof the pipe, saying, ''Venerable man, you ^{willplease cut}

my

child's hair," handing

him

the present at the

same

time.

Then

^theold

man would

take achild, cut offone lock aboutthe length of a finger, tie it up,

aud

put it with the rest in a sacred buflalo hide.

Then

theold

man

put the littlemoccasii s on the child,

who

had not

worn any

previously,

and

afterturning

him

around four times he addressed

him

thus: "_xw^P'il'a?

Wakan'da

^a'C'ficJ^e-de

>iaci ma>'i!:in'ka si ii(};ag^6 tat^

—

Orandchild,

may Walamda

inty you, and

may

yourfeetrestfora ^long timeonthe f/roundP'

Another

form of the address

was

this^: "

Wakan'da

^{^a'ei^i^e tate!} ]Ma° (^iii'kasia^ag(j;etat<5.

Gudihega" hn6 ^tat6!

—

May

Walcnndapityyou!

May

ijourfeet treadthe

ground!

May

you go ahead {?. e.,

may you

live hereafter)!"

At

the conclusion of the

ceremony

the parent took the child home,

and

on arriving there the father cutofftherestof thechild's hair,accordingto thestyleofthe gens.

La

Flechetold the following, in 1879: "Ifit

was

desired, horns were^left,

and

a circleofhair around thehead, with one lockat each side, over the ear.

Some

saythatthey cutoff

more

ofthe hair, leavingnone ontop

and

only acircle around the head."

But

the writerhas notbeen^{able toascertain}whetherthis referred to any par- ticulargens, as theIctasanda orto thewholetribe. " _Itis thedutyof

\Vaji"-a"ba, of theEeal Ictasanda, to cut the children's hair.

The

&epers

^of the Pipe

and

the Eeal Ictasanda weredistinct subgentes, each havingspecial duties." (FranJc

La

Fleche.)

§ 72.

Names

of men.

—

x®""^''*^"^^ (Sentinel Buffalo

Apart

from the

h'.n-d) and his brother, ^jawaha, arethe only survivors of the Keepersof the Pipe.

Hanga-cenu and

Mahi° -zi (YellowEock) are dead.

II. RealIctasandapeople.

—

Waji"-a"baand Small Heel are the only survivors.

The

following used to belong to this subgens: Eeptile Catcher. (Thunder-god) Threatensto strike.

Wishes

to Love. Frog.

(Thunder)

Makes

a

Eoar

as itPassesalonf;. Night Walker.

Euns

(on) theLand. Sacred Month. Soles of(gophers')

Paws

^{turned Outward.}

The

Eeclining Beaver. Snake.

Touched

the distant^foe. Eusty-yellow Corn-husk (an

Oto

name).

Young

Black bear.

He who

BoiledaLittle (a

nickname

for a stingy man). Small Fireplace.

He who

Hesitates about askingafavor.

Maker

ofa

Lowland

forest.

Stomach

Fat.

HI.

Waceta"

subgens.

— ^Eoar

^ofapproachingthunder.

He who made

the foe ^stir.

He who

tried to anticipate the rest in reaching the

body

of a foe. Cedar Shooter. Flat

Water

(the Platte or Nebras- ka).

He

^is

Known.

Thunder-god) Eoarsas he Stands. Sharp Stone.

(Thunder that)

Walks

^after the others attheclose of a storm. Big Shoulder. (Thunder)

Walks On

high. Wace-jiuga (Small Eeptile?)

BoiisET.]

THE ICTASANDA

GENS.

251

Wace-ta" (Stauding Eeptilef.) Wace-ta^-jiuga (Small Standing Bep-

tile!). (Snake)

Makes

himself

Eonnd.

Sheet-lightningFlashes Sud- denly. Forked-lightningWalks. Thiindei'makeshe sound "z-f!" Black cloud in the horizon.

Walks

during the Night.

White

Disposition

(or, Sensible). Sole of the foot.

He

got thebetter of theLodges(of the foebystealing their horses). Ibaha"bi

(He

is

Known)

gave the following as

names

of Ictasandamen, but J.

La

Flfeche

and Two Crows

doubtthem. Large SpottedSnake. (Snake)

Makes

(afrog)

Cry

out (by biting him)." Small Snake." (Snake) Lies ^Stiff. Big Mouth. Black Eattlesuake. (Snake that)Puffs up ^itself.

IV. Thunder subgens.

—

Sheet-lightning Flashes inside the Lodge.

Swift ^at

Eunuiug up

a hill.

Young

Policeman. Cloud.

He Walks

with them.

He ^who

^{Is enviedbecause he has a pretty wife, a} good horse,etc., though he^ispoororhomely.

Names

of^tcomen.

— Da"ama.

She AloneisVisible. SkinDress.

She who

^{Is returningEoaring} or Bellowing.

She who

^is

made Muddy

as sheMoves.

Moon

hasReturnedVisible.

Moon

^is

Moving On

^high.''

^These names arefound inthecorresponding Ponka gens,theWajajeorOsage,a reptile gens.

'Manynames have been omitted because anexact translationcould not be given, though the references to certainanimalsormythicalancestorsareapparent. Itis thewish ofthe writer to publish hereafter acomparative listofpersonal namesof the cognate tribes, Omahas, Ponkas,Osages, Kansas, and Kwaiias, forwhich con- siderablematerialhasbeencollected.

CHAPTER IV.