56 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 



are a part of the Southeastern Woodland heritage of the Ponca. 

 Stone-headed war clubs are said to have been borrowed from the Da- 

 kota in the 19th century (PLC, JLR) . 



Like other aspects of their material culture, the housing of the 

 Ponca clearly reflects their mixed Woodland-Prairie-Plains orienta- 

 tion. Four different types of dwelling were in use among the Ponca 

 at the time of White contact. The first was the MqitH, or round 

 earth lodge; the second was the diii4ipu, which resembled the hemi- 

 spherical bark wigwam of the Central Algonquians but was more often 

 covered with hides instead of bark ; the third was the diudipu-sn^de, an 

 elongated lodge of the divdipu type; and the fourth was the tHukedi, 

 or tipi. 



PLC described the construction of the Ponca earth lodge as follows : 



There were four main posts in the center. They were as much as a foot thick. 

 They had crotches in the top, and other poles were laid in these crotches. Then 

 poles were leaned on these center poles all the way around. There was also 

 a series of outer posts but there was no set number for these. The poles that 

 were laid on the center poles also rested on these outside posts. When the 

 framework had been built brush and a kind of red prairie grass were piled on. 

 No wicker work was used in these houses. When this stuff had been piled on 

 the whole thing was covered with dirt. 



The description is a rather good account of the building of a stand- 

 ard Prairie Indian earth lodge, although PLC has neglected to men- 

 tion the stringers connecting the outer ring of posts and the covered 

 entryway, both of which were almost certainly present. Gilmore 

 (1919, p. 75) notes that the posts used in the building of earth lodges 

 were generally of elmwood. He also mentions that sloughgrass and 

 "red hay" or Andropogon furcatus were used as thatching to sup- 

 port the earth covering that completed the lodge (ibid., pp. 66, 68). 

 The latter is undoubtedly the "redgrass" mentioned by PLC. Ac- 

 cording to Skinner, the Southern Ponca were building earth lodges 

 as late as 1880 (1915 c, p. 779) . 



Earth lodges were not built in the tribal circle arrangement, but 

 rather according to individual fancy and convenience (Bushnell, 1922, 

 p. 84; confirmed by PLC). The Ponca lacked any sacred rites in con- 

 nection with the construction of the earth lodge. According to Bush- 

 nell (ibid.), earth lodges were built by the women, but PLC stated 

 that the men aided in the heavy work of bringing in and setting up 

 the heavy posts. PLC stated that earth lodges were always built 

 facing the east in order to catch the morning sun. 



The earth lodge persisted among the Southern Ponca as a ceremo- 

 nial structure for several years after it had ceased to be used as a dwell- 

 ing. The octagonal wooden dancehall, which was used for ceremonies 



