146 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 



priest to each of the four lifegiving winds or directions. During this 

 ceremony a child's infant name was "thrown away" and a new name, 

 having clan significance, was bestowed. A lock of hair was cut 

 from the heads of boys who were "turned" but this was not done to 

 girls. This ceremony was last performed in the 1930's. Perry Le 

 Claire was the "child" turned and LRL the officiating priest. 



The vision quest was an important part of a Ponca boy's training 

 in former years. The boy went to a secluded place, his face painted 

 with charcoal, and fasted for a number of days, in hopes that some 

 "spirit helper," usually an animal, would "pity" him and give him 

 supernatural power or knowledge. Whitman (1939, pp. 184-185) 

 notes that WBB was sent on the vision quest by his father. The 

 vision quest is no longer practiced by either band of the Ponca. 



There was no puberty ceremony for boys in the Ponca tribe. PLC 

 commented that when a boy became old enough to start being inter- 

 ested in girls he began braiding his hair. This was a sign that he 

 was beginning to think of himself as a man. 



OK remembered a sort of girl's puberty ceremony in which the 

 Northern Ponca chief Birdhead gave away a horse in honor of the 

 fact his daughter had become a woman. The horse was highly 

 decorated, with quilled leg ornaments and a beaded bridle. It was 

 led into the dance ring and given to an old woman with appropriate 

 speeches. This was considered a great honor for the daughter. 



Concerning menstruation, J. O. Dorsey (1884 a, p. 267) writes: 



Among the Omahas and Ponkas the woman makes a different fire for four 

 days, dwelling in a small lodge, apart from the rest of the household, even in cold 

 weather. She cooks and eats alone, telling no one of her sickness, not even her 

 husband. 



Lowie also mentions this custom, and it was mentioned by all of 

 my informants as well (Lowie, 1917, pp. 92-93). Women were 

 considered very dangerous during their period, and were carefully 

 excluded from ceremonies. JLR attributed much of the disease of 

 present-day Indians to the fact that the menstrual taboo is no longer 

 strictly observed. His opinions on this matter were echoed by 

 WBB and other Southern Poncas. 



Ponca boys began going on the warpath at what would be con- 

 sidered, in our culture, a very early age. PLC and JLR stated that 

 it was not uncommon for boys 12 or 13 years old to accompany war 

 parties, and this statement is confirmed by that of J. O. Dorsey 

 (1890, pp. 372-377) concerning young Nudi-axa. Such boys secured 

 water and firewood for the older warriors and performed other camp 

 drudgery. 



Present-day Ponca youths usually attend school until they are 16 

 or 18; they then travel about the country for a year or two before they 

 settle down and marry. The traveling around period is spent in 



