2IO SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 



which is still practically terra incognita is the ritualistic origin myths. 

 The conservative character of the Kickapoo is responsible for this. 

 I even failed to obtain the tale of the death of the culture-hero's 

 younger brother. One informant admitted with obvious fear that he 

 knew it, but not sufficiently well to narrate. It has become clear that 

 among the Kickapoo of Oklahoma some gentes definitely belong to one 

 of the tribal dual divisions, others to the other ; and a few gentes 

 are not strict. As descent is male, it follows that the tribal dual divi- 

 sion does not divide each gens as it does among the Fox. 



The object of the trip among the Fox of Iowa was to restore one 

 Fox text phonetically, and to obtain some new texts (in the current 

 syllabic script) on Fox ceremonials, in both which projects I was suc- 

 cessful. Conditions are rapidly changing from when I first was among 

 the Foxes in 191 1. The fight against schooling was rampant at that 

 time. Ceremonial life is still very active, but the younger generation 

 are becoming sophisticated. Years ago this was not so, as the follow- 

 ing anecdote will show. On one occasion during field-work several 

 years ago, a young Indian man drove me to town. In the bank, where 

 I had an errand, I happened to notice that the barometer read " cy- 

 clone." I hurried out, and, in spite of the protests of my Indian driver, 

 insisted upon going out to my residence, explaining that there was 

 going to be a big rain, although the sun was then shining brightly. 

 We drove out, but had barely reached the outskirts of Tama when 

 the sky became black, and a terrific storm was upon us. The worst 

 was over when we reached my residence, so I took my packages, and 

 started to go to the house. The Indian drove on, and then turned 

 back and beckoned to me. ' Mike," he said, " how did you know it 

 was going to rain? " I explained the workings of a barometer to him, 

 but he looked at me incredulously, almost with awe. Had I told him 

 that I had been blessed by the Thunder-birds, he would have under- 

 stood and believed me. 



