Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 149 



is undoubtedly a factor, but the fact that the old pattern of divorce 

 was simple separation is probably more relevant. 



Dorsey (ibid., p. 260) mentions a widow remarrying in a rather 

 unusual manner. She ran a race with her suitors and the one who 

 caught her became her husband. This "reverse Sadie Hawkins" pro- 

 cedure was considered loose conduct on the part of the widow by 

 Dorsey's informants. 



PLC commented as follows on the status of the aged in Pone a 

 society: 



The Poncas took care of their old people as best they could. They tried to 

 treat the old people as good as possible, because everyone gets old sooner or later. 

 In the old days, if the tribe was going on a long journey, the old people were 

 sometimes left behind. It was said that nature would take care of them. The 

 old people were well loved because they knew the stories and history of the tribe. 



J. O. Dorsey (1885 a, p. 107) states that the old were "addressed 

 reverently when alive" and in another work (1890, p. 29) he mentions 

 a certain corrupt form of speech "used by old women and children," 

 which indicates that the aged were treated with indulgence. In yet 

 a third study (1884 a, pp. 274-275) he writes: 



The Omahas and Ponkas never abandoned the infirm aged people on the 

 prairie. They left them at home, where they could remain till the return of the 

 hunting party. They were provided with a shelter among the trees, food, water, 

 and fire .... The Indians were afraid to abandon {wag4d) their aged people, 

 lest Wak4da should punish them when they were away from home. 



An interesting comment upon Ponca acculturation and how it 

 affected the old men's position in the tribe is contained in Whitman's 

 "Xiibe, A Ponca Autobiography": 



In a society in which the goals could best be reached by the young, the practice 

 of xiibe [the use of supernatural power, JH] gave to the older men the necessary 

 instrument of control by which they could maintain their ascendancy over an 

 ambitious younger generation. Xtlbe kept the young in their place. As a man 

 grew older he acquired more and more power. As his physical vigor slowly 

 diminished, he took on supernatural strength. Only at the end of his life did a 

 man give up his power, usually to a receptive and selected son. By this act he 

 was thought to kill himself; his life was ended; and he died. 



Now that the white man has shattered xiibe with his superior power, the Ponca 

 father has little left to hand on to his son; the old man can no longer maintain his 

 ascendancy, because today the young have lost faith and interest. They no longer 

 fear their elders who have become an economic burden instead of a source of spir- 

 itual and economic strength. The effect on Ponca society of this loss of respect 

 has been one of rapid and tragic disintegration. [Whitman 1939, pp. 192-193.] 



With the foregoing statement in mind, I discussed xube with some 

 of the younger Ponca. Though a few could "speak the language" 

 of xiibe, that is, knew how it was supposed to operate, it was very 

 clear that to most of them the various sacred rites in which this 

 sacred power figured, together with their bundles and paraphernalia, 



718-071—65 11 



