OMAHA MYSTERY DECORATIONS. 



401 



it resembled the world in which we live. The rainbow and hail de- 

 picted on the tent formed part of the vision, but their exact signifi- 

 cance has not been explained. 



Cu-na ma"-fi", an Omaha, had a vision which gave him the right to 

 use the decoration given in Fig. 108. The meanings of the different 

 marks have not been learned. Cui[a ma"fi" bequeathed the blanket 

 to his son, ^jaxe-gia" (Flying Orow), now known as Gilbert Morris. 



§48. The old chief x*'"*^"" i'^''^ ''^•^""^' '^^ Maj. Long), Distant-wliite 

 Buffalo, father of the chiefs Standing Hawk and Fire Chief, had a vision 

 of a cedar tree, which he painted on each side of his tent, as seen in 

 Fig. IGO. The next sketch (Fig. 170) shows the back part of another 

 tent of j^e-sa". The blue band near tlie top is called " sabe" (black); 

 below this is the sun and a blue rainbow ; near the bottom are two 

 horsetails. The only decorations on the front of the tent are two 

 horsetails, one on each side of the entrance. This teut was used by 



Fig. 169.— Tent of xe-3a° ; vision of a cfrtar. 



FifJ. 170. — Tent of x^-sa" ; snn and rainbow vision. 



Standing Hawk after the death of his father. This decoration may 

 have been made after a vision of horses, as Standing Hawk was a 

 member of the order of Horse Shamans (Oange iifa'e^-e-ma). George 

 Miller speaks thus about it : 



Ga"' 



And 



niaci^ga aka 



man the aul). 



nikagahi 



chief 



Ci 



atai 



he was 

 beyond 



ega"' i(fa'e<fe da"'ctea"'i 



fa" ugai, i\\. Ui cau'ge 



the be painted he painted the Again horse 

 cv.ob. tent with it. 



iS he had a 



Tision 



sin'de cti 



tail too 



perhp.pa 



te, 



the (past 

 act) 



gdxai, hide 



he made hottom 



That is, "As the man was 



a 



ke'di. jjihu3[a" dasi (fa" siibecfai 



at the Smoke hoh^ tip end the part ho blackened 



head chief, he may have had a vision, for he occupied a tent on which 

 he i)ainted the sun, and he also decorated it with horse-tails at the lower 

 part. He painted the border of the smoke-hole a dark blue (^u sabg, 

 11 ETH 26 



