DOBSEY.] FETICHES OF THE TUIBE AND UENS. 413 



Fetiches may be regarded as of two kinds — those pertaining to the 

 tribe or gens, and those belonging to individual members of the social 

 organization. Some fetiches are amulets, others are charms. 



FETICHES 01>' THE TRIBE ANI> GENS. 



§ 59. Omaha tribal /ctichcs. — The sacred pole and white buffalo hide, 

 in the keeping of the Hanga gens until a few years ago, but now in the 

 Peabody Museum of Arclueology and Ethnology at Cambridge, Mass., 

 were regarded by the Omaha as " wakanda ega"," i. e., "like Wakandas," 

 or "partaking of the nature of deities." During the public thanks- 

 giving after the buffalo hunt, prayer was made towards the sacred pole.' 



The sacred tent in which the sacred pole of the two tribes was kept 

 was never jiainted. When thejjeoiile remained in their permanent vil- 

 lages of earth lodges, the entrance of the sacred tent faced the sun- 

 rise ; but when the tribe migrated, the entrance of the tent faced the 

 direction in which they traveled. The pole was never exposed to dew, 

 rain, or snow, but was kept within the lodge, during any kind of bad 

 weather. It was never laid down, but was 

 tied to a tent pole. In good weather it was 

 exposed to view. Sometimes it was tied to 

 one of the tent poles near the entrance, as 

 shown in Fig. 187. When not tied thus, it 

 rested on a forked post set in the ground, 

 either in the rear of the tent or in front of 

 it. The top of the pole, to which the seal]) 

 was fastened, projected beyond the forked / ;v| "> 



post. When this post was in the rear of the ,: 

 tent, the top of the pole X'ointed towards ■ 

 the tent; but when the post was set up in ^ \ 



front, the pole pointed in the direction to ' \ 



be traveled. The place for the pole in good / ^ 



weather was determined by its keeper. 



The people feared the pole, and they would ■*'"'• iw— sacred tent in which the 

 not dare to tread on the tent or its tent- *"" " "^"^ "^ ' 



poles. Should a horse tread on a tent-pole of this tent, its legs were 

 sure to be broken subsequently. George ^liller knew of two horses 

 that did this, and their legs were broken when the people were sur- 

 rounding a herd of buEfalo. 



Frank La Flcche has told the author about some sacred stone 

 arrows which were used for purposes of divination. Hence, the nikie 

 name, Ma" peji. Bad Arrow, i. e. Good Arrow, a personal name of 

 the Hanga gens. Other objects, which may have been fetiches, have 

 been named in § 5G. In addition to all which have been mentioned 

 must be named the waf ixabe or mysterious bags. While these are not 

 governmental instrumentalities, they are "waqube" mysterious things, 



'See Om. Soc. in 3d, Au. Kept. Bur. Ethn., p. 295. 



