414 A STLDY OF SIOUAN CULTS. 



and on certaiu occasions tliey are addressed as "graudfatbeis." There 

 used to be live of these bags among the Ouialia, but only tliree are now 

 in existence. Those which could be carried in time of war were made 

 of the skins and feathers of the gf eda" or pigeon hawk, the i"be-jaiika 

 or fork-tailed hawk, and the nickucku or swallow.' 



j^ade iKJ-efe, according to Big Elk (but denied by Joseph La Fleche 

 and Two Crows) is the mystic rite performed by the principal captain 

 when near the camp of the enemy. It is thus described by Big Elk 

 (See §62): 



" Four times he untied the bag which he had made sacred. He caused the wind 

 ti) waft the odor of the uiedicine toward the lodges. When the mediciue arrived 

 there, it made the Pawnees forget their warlike temj)er; it made them forget their 

 weapons.''^ 



That there was some foundation for this statement, compare what is 

 said in Omaha Sociology, p. 321 : 



"When the i)rincipal captains wish to open their sacred hags, they assemble their 

 followers in a circle, making them sit down. Any of the fidlowers or servants may 

 be ordered to make an "nje:ti" in the center of the circle by jiulliug up the grass, 

 then making a hole in the ground (the " U-ma-ne of Miss Fletcher ''). Then the sacred 

 bags are laid at the feet of the iirincipal captains, each one of whom opens his own 

 bag (i. e. the one borrowed by him from its keeper), holding the mouth of the bird 

 toward the foe, even when some of the warriors are going to steal horses." 



During the ordeal of the " wastegistu,'' as the Omaha call it, the suc- 

 cessful warriors were called up, one by one, and as each man stood over 

 one of the sacred bags, lie addressed the bag itself thus : 

 "Hau', i°c'a'ge-ha, eda'da" uwi'b((-a ta miiike (fa^'ja, ifausi'cta''-ma'ji 



Ho! old man ! what I will tell you though I tell ;i I not 



lie 



uwi'b^'a ta' miiike," i. e., "Ho, venerable man! though I will tell you 



I will tell you 



something, I will not lie when I tell it to you." As he spoke he let a 

 small stick drop on the bag. It was supposed that if the stick rested 

 on the bag instead of rolling off, the man had told the truth (Om. Soc, 

 p. 328). • 



§ 60. Osage tribal fetiches. — The corresponding Osage custom has been 

 described by the author : ^ The old men assembled at the war tent. 

 The sacred bags were brought into the tent to test the warriors, who 

 were watched very closely by the old men. All the old men who had 

 been distinguished in war were painted with the decorations of their 

 respective gentes. * * * Each warrior had four sticks about 6 

 inches long, and he was required to lay them in succession on the sa- 

 cred bag. The warriors were taken in the following order: First, the 

 captain, next the lieutenants, then the heralds, after whom came the 

 man who had struck the first blow, then he who gave the second blow, 

 and so on. As each captain laid his first stick on the bag he said, 

 " Ho, O grandfather ! I lay this down on you because I am the one 



'See Om. Soc, p. 320. ' Kept. Peabody Museum, Vol. ni. p. 263, note 8. 



»Contr. N. A. Ethn., Vol. VI, p. 404. * In the Am. Naturalist, Feb., 1884, pp. 128, 129. 



