410 A STUDY OF SIOUAN C'UL'l'S. 



OMAHA MKIE CUSTOMS. 



§ 54. Among the uikie of the Omaha, the following may be men- 

 tioned: The Wajifiga((-ataji, or " Blackbird people." had a cniious 

 custom during the harvest season. At that time tlie birds used to 

 devour the coru, so the men of this sub-gens undertook to prevent 

 them, by chewing some grains of corn which they spit around over the 

 field.' Dui'ing a fog, tlie 3;e-'i" men would draw the figure of a turtle 

 on the ground, with its head to the south. On the head, tail, middle 

 of the back, and each leg, were placed suuxll i)ieces of a (red) breecih- 

 cloth with some tobacco. They imagined that this would make the 

 fog disappear veiy soou.^ The ;jja"ze gens, being Wind people, fiaj) 

 their blankets to start a breeze when mosquitoes abound.^ The xa-da 

 gens have a form for the naming of a child on the fifth morning after 

 its birth, according to Lion, one of the chiefs of that gens.'' In the 

 feast on the hearts and toiigues,'' the Hanga men who belong to the 

 sub-gens kee])ing the sacred pole, eat the bnfialo tongues, though the 

 biiifalo is their "grandfather" and the eponym of their gens; but 

 they can not eat the " %-^ " or buffalo sides. However, the other Hanga 

 men, who can not eat the tongues, are allowed to eat the consecrated 

 buSalo sides, after the ceremonies counccted with the thanksgiving 

 and anointing of the sacred pole.'' No Omaha child had its hair cut 

 until it had been taken to an old man of the Ictasanda gens, to have 

 the first locks cut, the first moccasins put on the child's feet, and 

 prayers to be said over it. Sometimes the old man said " j^ucpaha, 



O ^rfiiidchiUl, 



Wakan'da (j'a'ecfdcfc-de ^dci ma"(|an'ka si d(fagfe tate," i. e., ''O 



Waltandii pity you wlicii a long tinio soil foot yoii set it sliall, 



erect on 



grandchild, may Wakauda i^ity yon, and may your feet rest a long 

 time on the ground ! " Another form was sometimes used — " Wakanda 

 fa'e((-i(|-e tate. Ma"(J'irdia si a(f-ag(j'e tate. Gudihega" ue tate," i. e., 

 "May Wakanda i^ity you! May your feet tread the ground! May 

 you go ahead (or, live hereafter) ! " ' 



§55. When there is a "blizzard," the other Kansa beg the members 

 of the Tcihaci" or Ka"ze gens to interjiose, as they are Wind jteople. 

 "j^i'tcigu-e', lia"'ba ya'li ku"'bla eyau'. Gih'gajin'ga yi'ta 



O grandtatlier, «la,v j^ood T desire indeed. Child your 



kik'u"'yakiye' tee au'\ a'be au'." i. e., "They say, 'Ogiandfatlicr (said 



you cause bjm to will they 



be decorated (of say * 



painted) 



to one of the Ka°ze gens), I wish good weather. Please cause one of 

 your children to be decorated!'" Then the youngest son of one of the 



'Om. Soc, in 3d Ann. Eept. Bnr. Etiin., p. 238. » Ibid., pp. 245. 246. 



'Ibid., p. 240. ' Ibid., pp. 2!to, 291. 



spjid., p. 241. ' Ibid., p. 295. 



^For d(^tailed accounts, see "Olimpses of Cbild-lifc among tin; Onialia Indians," by ^liss A. C. 

 Fletcher, in Jour. Am. Folklore, vol. i, No. 2, pp. 11.5-118; and Oiiialia Soiiology, in :id Ann. llept. 

 Bur. Ethn., pp. 249, 250. 



