DOESEY.I OMAHA INVOCATIONS OF THE TRAP, ETC. 389 



fireplace) ! " He subsequently changed it to an invocation of the fire- 

 place itself. But it is very probable that there was an invocation of 

 the four firebrands, resembling the ceremonies of the Kansa and 

 Osage (see § 33). George has given all that he remembers of the invo- 

 cations, but he does not recollect the exact order. 



387,3. deje-hide, "lower part," or "roots of grass," an archaic name for "iiiaka"", 

 mediciuo. Niui gakP— the classifier kii shows that a Ions object, the pipe, is 

 referred to, the tobacco being in the pipe when it is offered to tlie jiowers. 



388,1. aii':ag.ai|ai;-i"he, contr. from diViagaifa iii\i"'h(, used here in the seu-so of 

 "abifi"," I have. 



388,12. a"ifa"bakinde, eq. to a'^'anbista ^<5wa(|je, to send them (through) when they 

 are so close that tliey touch me. 



Translation. 



The invisible being who first made the beaver medicine and taught its 

 use to mankind, was thus addressed: "Oh, Thou who didst teach how 

 to make the medicine, here is tobacco! Tliough I have your medicine, 

 the nature of which I do not understand at all, grant that I may easily 

 acquire something or other by means of it ! Here is tobacco ! " 



When he addressed the beavers, he said, Ho, ye Beavers! Here is 

 tobacco ! Let all of you travel in your feeding places which you have 

 made. Here is tobacco ! " To the beaver medicine itself, he said, " Ho, 

 Medicine! Here is tobacco! Stand tliinking thus, 'At any rate 

 an animal shall surely pass me and be caught in the trap, and its nos- 

 trils shall be large enough to smell me.'" The trap itself was thus ad- 

 dressed: "Ho, ye pieces of iron! Here is tobacco! Sit ye and think 

 thus: 'At any rate I will kill one!'" To the pack-strap was said, "Ho, 

 pack-strap! Here is tobacco! Think thou, 'At any rate I shall press 

 against many (juadrupeds.'" The right side of the entrance to the tent 

 (!) was thus addressed: " Ho, Thou who staudest at the right side 

 of the entrance to the tent! (§232) Here is tobacco ! Think thou, 'At 

 any rate I shall continue to have some one bring dead animals on his 

 back and send through me suddenly, rubbing against me as they pass 

 through.'" To the princii)al tent pole the.se words were said, "Ho, 

 Thou who standest with tlie buffalo tail tied to thee ! Here is tobacco ! 

 Think thou, 'At any rate, I shall have a quadruped to come near me.'" 

 When the man invoked the fireplace, he said, "Ho, Fireplace! Here 

 is tobacco! Think thou, 'At any rate I shall sit and have the water 

 fall on me in drops as it boils over fi'om the kettle containing the quad- 

 rn])ed.'" 



These invocations may be compared with what the prophet Habakkuk 

 tells us about the Chaldeans, in the first chapter of his prophecy. In 

 ills prayer to God, he says, "These plunderers pull out all men with the 

 liook, draw them in with their casting net, and gather them with their 

 draw net, and rejoice and are glad in it. Therefore they make offer- 

 ings to their casting net, and burn incense to their draw net, for through 

 them their catch is rich and their food dainty." ' 



* Geikie'a paraphrase, in " Boura with the Bible," vol. V, p. 357. 



