Omaha sociology (1884 N 03 / 1881-1882 (pages 205-370)). James Owen Dorsey
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but the chiefs insisted, and he yielded. Then Two Crows told all the Omahas present not to smoke the small pipe. This he had a right to do, as he was a Hañga. Wacuce soon died, and in a short time he was followed by his daughter and his eldest son.
It takes four days to make any one understand all about the laws of the sacred pipes; and it costs many horses. A bad man, i. e., one who is saucy, quarrelsome stingy, etc., cannot be told such things. This was the reason why the seven chiefs did not know their part of the ritual.
LAW OF MEMBERSHIP.
§ 20. A child belongs to its father's gens, as "father-right" has succeeded "mother-right." But children of white or black men are assigned to the gentes of their mothers, and they cannot marry any women of those gentes. A stranger cannot belong to any gens of the tribe, there being no ceremony of adoption into a gens.
THE WEJINCTE OR ELK GENS.
§ 21. This gens occupies the first place in the tribal circles, pitching its tents at one of the horns or extremities, not far from the Ictasanda gens, which camps at the other end. When the ancient chieftainship was abolished in 1880, Mahin-¢iñge was the chief of this gens, having succeeded Joseph La Flèche in 1865.
The word "Wejincte" cannot be translated, as the meaning of this archaic word has been forgotten. It may have some connection with "wajin´cte," to be in a bad humor, but we have no means of ascertaining this.
La Flèche and Two Crows said that there were no subgentes in this gens. But it seems probable that in former days there were subgentes in each gens, while in the course of time changes occurred, owing to decrease in numbers and the advent of the white men.
Taboo.—The members of this gens are afraid to touch any part of the male elk, or to eat its flesh; and they cannot eat the flesh of the male deer. Should they accidentally violate this custom they say that they are sure to break out in boils and white spots on different parts of the body. But when a member of this gens dies he is buried in moccasins made of deer skin.
Style of wearing the hair.—The writer noticed that Binze-tig¢e, a boy of this gens, had his hair next the forehead standing erect, and that back of it was brushed forward till it projected beyond the former. A tuft of hair at the back extended about 3 inches below the head. This style of wearing the hair prevails only among the smaller children as a rule; men and women do not observe it.
Some say that `An-wegan¢a is the head of those who join in the worship of the thunder, but his younger brother, Qaga-man¢in, being a more active man, is allowed to have the custody of the Iñg¢an¢ě and the Iñg¢anhañgac`a. J. La Flèche and Two Crows said that this might be so; but they did not know about it. Nor could they or my other informants tell the meaning of Iñg¢an¢ě and Iñg¢anhañgac`a. Perhaps they refer either to the wild-cat (iñg¢añga), or to the thunder (iñg¢an). Compare the Ictasanda "keepers of the claws of a wild-cat."
§ 22. The sacred tent.—The sacred tent of the Elk gens is consecrated to war, and scalps are given to it, but are not fastened to it, as some have asserted. B¢anti used to be the keeper of it, but he has resigned the charge of it to the ex-chief, Mahin-¢iñge.
The place of this sacred tent is within the tribal circle, and near the camping place of the gens. This tent contains one of the wa¢íxabe, a sacred bag, made of the feathers and skin of a bird, and consecrated to war. (See § 196.) There is also another sacred bag in this tent, that which holds the sacred ʇíhaba or clam shell, the bladder of a male elk filled with tobacco, and the sacred pipe of the gens, the tribal war-pipe, which is made of red pipe-stone. The ʇihaba is about nine inches in diameter, and about four inches thick. It is kept in a bag of buffalo hide which is never placed on the ground. In ancient days it was carried on the back of a youth, but in modern times, when a man could not be induced to carry it, it was put with its buffalo-skin bag into the skin of a coyote, and a woman took it on her back. When the tribe is not in motion the bag is hung on a cedar stick about five feet high, which had been planted in the ground. The bag is fastened with some of the sinew of a male elk, and cannot be opened except by a member of the Wasabe-hit`ajĭ sub-gens of the ₵atada. (See § 45, etc.)
§ 23. Service of the scouts.—When a man walks in dread of some unseen danger, or when there was an alarm in the camp, a crier went around the tribal circle, saying, "Majan´ i¢égasañga té wí á¢inhe+!" I who move am he who will know what is the matter with the land! (i. e., I will ascertain the cause of the alarm.) Then the chiefs assembled in the war tent, and about fifty or sixty young men went thither. The chiefs directed the Elk people to make the young men smoke the sacred pipe of the Elk gens four times, as those who smoked it were compelled to tell the truth. Then one of the servants of the Elk gens took out the pipe and the elk bladder, after untying the elk sinew, removed some of the tobacco from the pouch (elk bladder), which the Elk men dare not touch, and handed the pipe with the tobacco to the Elk man, who filled it and lighted it. They did not smoke with this pipe to the four winds, nor to the sky and ground. The Elk man gave the pipe to one of the bravest of the young men, whom he wished to be the leader of the scouts. After all had smoked the scouts departed. They ran around the tribal circle, and then left the camp. When they had gone about 20 miles they sat down, and the leader selected a number to act as policemen, saying, "I make you policemen. Keep the men in order. Do not desire them to go aside." If there were many scouts, about eight were made policemen. Sometimes there were two, three, or four leaders of the scouts, and occasionally they sent some scouts in advance to distant bluffs. The leaders followed with the main body. When they reached home the young men scattered, but the leaders went to the Elk tent and reported what they had ascertained. They made a detour, in order to avoid encountering the foe, and sometimes they were obliged to flee to reach home. This service of the young men was considered as equivalent to going on the war path.
§ 24. Worship of the thunder in the spring.—When the first thunder is heard in the spring of the year the Elk people call to their servants, the Bear people, who proceed to the sacred tent of the Elk gens. When the Bear people arrive one of them opens the sacred bag, and, after removing the sacred pipe, hands it to one of the Elk men, with some of the tobacco from the elk bladder. Before the pipe is smoked it is held toward the sky, and the thunder god is addressed. Joseph La Flèche and Two Crows do not know the formula, but they said that the following one, given me by a member of the Ponka Hisada (Wasabe-hit`ajĭ) gens, may be correct. The thunder god is thus addressed by the Ponkas: "Well, venerable man, by your striking (with your club) you are frightening us, your grandchildren, who are here. Depart on high. According to [P]á¢innanpájĭ, one of the Wasabe-hit`ajĭ, who has acted as a servant for the Elk people, "At the conclusion of this ceremony the rain always ceases, and the Bear people return to their homes." But this is denied by Joseph La Flèche and Two Crows, who say, "How is it possible for them to stop the rain?"
While the Elk gens is associated with the war path, and the worship of the thunder god, who is invoked by war chiefs, those war chiefs are not always members of this gens, but when the warriors return, the keeper of the sacred bag of this gens compels them to speak the truth about their deeds. (See § 214.)
§ 25. Birth names of boys.—The following are the birth names of boys in the Elk gens. These are sacred or nikie names, and sons used to be so named in former days according to the order of their births. For example, the first-born son was called the Soft Horn (of the young elk at its first appearance). The second, Yellow Horn (of the young elk when a little older). The next, the Branching Horns (of an elk three years old). The fourth, the Four