68 trSES OF PLANTS BY INDIANS [eth. annm 



WhiMi the rorn was approaching maturity, and blackbirds made 

 d<-F>n'dati<.ns on the fields, the men of the Wazhinga-thatazhi subgens 

 of the Omaha tribe used to chew up some grains of corn and spit the 

 cliewi'd corn around over the field. This action was supposed to 

 keep the birds from doing any further damage.' 



In the (Jmaha subgens, the Wazhinga-thatazhi ("those who cat no 

 snuill birds"), the people feared to eat the first mature ears lest the 

 small birds, particularly blackbirds, should come and devour the 

 rest of the crop.= 



A white leaf appearing in a cornfield was hailed with joy by the 

 Onudui as a portent of a bountiful crop for the year and of abun- 

 dance of meat at the ne.xt buffalo hunt. 



.Vniong the Omaha if a murderer passed near a field it was feared 

 tlie effect would be to blight the crop. Some time in the latter half 

 of the nineteenth century a murderer, having passed his tenn of 

 e.xih' for his crime, was returning to his people. As he approached 

 he was warned awav from the fields by their owners. This indi- 

 vidual was a mystery man (" medicine man ") and as such was consid- 

 ered to possess supernatural power, or to be able to enlist the aid of 

 sujjernatural powers by certain prayers and songs: hence as he came 

 by the fields he sang a song to the powers to avert the disastrous effect 

 on the crop, which otherwise his presence might incur. Of this he 

 a.ssured the people to quiet their fears of blight on their crop. 



Corn silks were gathered and, after being dried in the sun, were 

 stored away for use as food. To this end the dried corn silks were 

 groiuid with parched corn, and, it is said, gave sweetness to the 

 compound. 



Our European race little appi-eciatcs the great number and variety 

 of corn food products made by the American tribes. No attempt is 

 here made even to give a full list of such products. 



.VxDROPOnoX FTTtrATUS Mvdil. 



Uada-zh'nh' (Omaha-Ponca), "red hay" (liade^ hay; zMde, red). 



This grass, the most common in the meadows and prairies of the 

 State, was ordinarily used to lay on the poles to support the earth 

 covering of the lodges. The stiff, jointed stems are termed in the 

 Omaha-l'onca language peska. These were often used by little 

 boys in play to make arrows for their toy bows. In making arrows 

 of the stems of this wild grass small boys of the Arikara, Mandan, 

 and Hidatsa tribes would commonly insert a thorn of Crataegus sp. 

 (thorn apple) for an arrow point. With such arrows to their little 

 bows they would train themselves to skill in archery by shooting 

 frogs. The first field matron to the Omaha taught the women to knit. 

 One woman, Ponka-sa°, lost her needles and improvised a set from 



» Dorsoy, Oninha Sociology, p. 238. 

 'Dorsey, Slouan Cults, p. 402. 



