Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 137 



Thus, the system which I collected for the Ponca does not match 

 any of those previously described, nor, in fact, do any two of these 

 agree! Sj^mbolism probably did exist, but of a very loose and in- 

 dividual character, the wearer assigning the symbolism after he had 

 made his favorite ornament. After all, in small tribes such as the 

 Ponca and Omaha, it was quite easy to keep one's heroes straight 

 even without distinctive ornaments. 



At the present time the porcupine and deer-hair roach headdress, 

 the crow belt, and various "war honor" type feathers are worn indis- 

 criminately by all dancers in the Southern Ponca Heduska dance. 

 PLC, the only Northern Ponca dancer, sometimes wears such regalia 

 in the dance as well. His favorite headdress, however, is a buffalo- 

 skin cap, with horns, of the type worn by the Buffalo shamans and the 

 Big-belly warrior society. Attached to this headdress are crow 

 feathers, owl feathers, an eagle feather, and a coyote tail. PLC 

 explained that the creatm-es represented by these decorations were 

 all "takers of the meat" (i.e., scavengers on the battlefield), and were 

 thus considered the guardians of warriors. The same creatures were 

 represented in the original form of the crow belt or dancing bustle 

 (Fletcher and La Flesche, 1911, pp. 441-442). Another dance head- 

 dress occasionally worn by PLC is a red-fox-skin turban with an erect 

 golden eagle tail feather at the back. Leonard Smith stated that this 

 headdress was formerly the insignia of the Ponca warrior. Chiefs 

 wore a similar headdress but of otterskin, with a downy eagle plume 

 in the back. 



Actual "wars" of long duration and involving large numbers of 

 men were not common with the Ponca, as we have noted above. 

 The most common type of warlike endeavor, according to PLC, JLR, 

 OK, LMD, LRL, and Lea Peniska, was the small raiding expedition 

 which went in search of scalps and horses. Such war parties were led 

 by an experienced man who owned or could borrow a sacred war bundle 

 which guaranteed success to his venture. 



The procedure followed on such a raid is succinctly described by 

 Skinner, as follows: 



The war leader, who carried a sacred waxuhe, or war bundle, and went ahead 

 of the party could neither turn back nor go aside. If the party saw the foe, or 

 desired him to turn off, they pulled him back, or turned him in the direction 

 they wanted to go. He slept by himself, and all his cooking was done for him. 

 Buffalo meat was prepared, and an attendant offered it to him in his hands on a 

 bunch of sagebrush. The leader might only take four bites. 



Scouts were sent out to all four points of the compass and told to watch, or, at 

 night, to listen for the enemy. They went wrapped in white or gray blankets 

 and acted like wolves, stooping over and trotting and signaling by howling. 

 If they saw anything they came in trotting together, then apart, then coming 

 together. At night, when the leader wanted them to return, generally about 

 midnight, the party would howl like wolves to call them in. The scouts went as 



