150 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 



were something one spoke of with respect only out of consideration 

 for the feelings of the older people. Though one young man remarked, 

 "It sure would have been wonderful if the old folks had passed that 

 stuff down to us," even this individual had made no effort to learn 

 what little sacred lore remains in the tribe. 



Turning next to the subject of sickness, we note that to the Ponca 

 there were two principal types of iUness: the type which resulted 

 from natural causes and the type which was caused by sorcery or the 

 displeasure of the spirits. Diseases or injuries of the first type were 

 generally treated therapeutically (i.e., herbal teas for stomach dis- 

 orders, splints for broken limbs, etc.). Diseases of the second type, 

 since they were caused by magical or supernatural means, could be 

 combated only by means of a stronger counter magic. Often one 

 could not be sure which type of disease had come, and it was therefore 

 thought best to take no chances. Thus, many Ponca remedies 

 combined therapeutics with magic. 



The following cure for snakebite, given by Fletcher and La Flesche 

 (1911, p. 46), illustrates this well: 



When any one in the tribe chanced to be bitten by a snake, he sent at once for 

 a member of the Wai&ze [Snake, JH] gens, who on arriving at the tent quickly 

 dug a hole beside the fire with a stick, and then sucked the wound so as to draw 

 out the blood and prevent any serious trouble from the injury. The purpose in 

 digging the hole could not be learned from the writer's informant. 



To the Ponca, magical methods were as reasonable as splints for a 

 broken leg. For example, Fletcher and La Flesche (1911, p. 43) 

 mention that members of the ^ixida clan cured pains in the head by 

 wetting an arrow with saliva, setting it in position on the bow string, 

 and then pointing the arrow at the sick man's head four times. Then 

 the &vxida rubbed the afflicted person's head with the arrow, and so 

 effected a cure for the pain. 



The Ponca possessed numerous herbal remedies, many of which 

 were recorded by M. R. Gilmore (1919). The following have been 

 abstracted from his work: 



Puffballs were used as a styptic for any wounds, especially for 

 application to the umbilicus of newborn infants (p. 62) . 



Cedar fruits and leaves were boiled together and used internally 

 for coughs. For a cold in the head, twigs were burned and the smoke 

 inhaled (pp. 63-64). 



Cattail down was used as a dressing for burns and scalds (pp. 

 64-65). 



Calamus was used as a carminative, and the rootstock was chewed 

 as a cough remedy and as a remedy for toothache. For colic an 

 infusion of the pounded rootstock was drunk. As a remedy for colds 

 the rootstock was chewed or a decoction was drunk, or it was used in 

 the smoke treatment (pp. 69-70). 



