58 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 



a camp meeting. It was not used as a dwelling and did not figure 

 in the church service in any way, but served as a symbol that this 

 church, like the Peyote religion, was for Indians and not merely a 

 "White man's church." 



Some Southern Ponca families use wall tents as summer and emer- 

 gency dwellings. Their method of setting up a wall tent, however, 

 differs from that employed by most White campers and clearly iden- 

 tifies the occupants as Indians. Instead of the small stakes provided 

 with the tent they stabilize it with four heavy wooden posts and two 

 2-by-4 crosspieces, two posts and a crosspiece on either "long" side 

 of the tent. The tent ropes at the sides are tied to this crosspiece, 

 which is lashed or nailed to the posts at either end. 



There was generally little furniture in a Ponca dAvelling. A fire 

 for both cooking and warmth was built in the center. Pole beds, 

 of the type used by the Mandan and other earth-lodge building 

 tribes may have been used by the Ponca in the earth lodge and the 

 diudipu-snide, but were not mentioned by my informants. Corn 

 mortars, of elmwood, were sometimes set in the earthen floor of the 

 lodge. 



The bed in a tipi or a diudipu was merely one or more bison robes 

 or blankets (PLC). Clothing and other gear were sometimes hung 

 from a rope strung around inside of the tipi framework (OK) . Wil- 

 low rod "lazybacks" or backrests, in pairs, were generally reserved 

 for the man of the house and his guests, and stood opposite the door 

 of the lodge. 



The Ponca homes which I visited were much like those of neigh- 

 boring Wliites, but were generally furnished much more simply, pre- 

 senting a rather "bare" appearance in many instances. A few chairs, 

 a table, a stove, and a woodbox were often the only furnishings. Pic- 

 tures, when present, were usually of relatives or of religious subjects. 

 Several snapshots placed together in a large frame was a common 

 arrangement. Older persons sometimes hang their valuables from 

 pegs in the wall to keep them out of the reach of children. The staff 

 and "toolkit" of a Northern Ponca Peyote leader (EBC) were ob- 

 served hanging from the wall in this manner. Extra clothing is 

 customarily kept in large trunks. 



Details concerning the cleaning and repair of the earth lodge, 

 diudipu, diudipu-sned€, and tipi could not be secured at this late date. 

 Present-day Ponca dwellings are scrubbed and mopped quite regu- 

 larly, but the frequency, of course, depends upon the particular family. 

 Likewise, the yards of some homes visited were littered with garbage 



