DORSEv.i FUNCTIONS OF GENTES AND SUBGENTES. 543 



many occasions, the other crier being a member of the 3£a°ze or Wind 

 gens. An Ictasauda man usually filled and emptied the pipes; but a 

 Haiiga man filled them when the sacred pole was anointed. The jjCda- 

 it'aji keeper of a sacred pipe really kept instead the sacred tobacco 

 pouch and buffalo skull. The Iilke-sabg and jje-dait'aji keepers carried 

 the two pipes around the circle of chiefs. The Black bear people aided 

 the Elk people in the worship of the Thunder-being in the spring of 

 the year. 



§ 397. The following division of labor existed iu the Ponka tribe : The 

 Wasabe-hit'aji and Hisada gentes led iu the worship of the Thunder- 

 being. The (pixida and Nikada.ina gentes led in war. The Wacabe, 

 Maka", and ISTuqe, all bufl'alo gentes, regulated the buffalo hunt. The 

 Wajaje (Reptile people) with wlioni used to be the Kecta or Owl people, 

 appear to have been servants of the subaquatic powers. 



§ 398. In the Kansa tribe we find that the Earth Lodge and Elk 

 gentes consecrated the mystic fireplaces whenever a new village was 

 established; that the Earth Lodge people consecrated the corn, and 

 regulated the buffalo hunt as well as farming; that the Elk people 

 directed the attack on the buffalo herd ; that the Ghost people announced 

 all deaths; that the two Hafiga gentes led in war and in mourning for 

 the dead ; that the Tciju wactage was a peace-making gens ; that a mem- 

 ber of the Deer gens was the crier for the tribe; that the member of the 

 Lu or Thunder-being gens could not take part in the waqpele gaxe 

 (§28) and must remain in the rear of the other warriors on such an 

 occasion ; and that the Wind people, who had to pitch their tents in 

 the rear of the other gentes had a ceremony which they j)erformed 

 whenever there was a blizzard (§ .55). 



§ 399. In the author's account of Osage war customs he relates the 

 following incidents: On the first day of preparation for tlie wari)ath 

 the Black bear ijeople bring willows and kindle a fire outside the. war 

 tent. On the same day some other Haiij[a people deposit branches of 

 dried willow in some place out of sight of the war tent, and the (f-'uqe 

 men (part of the Buffalo-bull gens) bring in those branches. On the 

 next day men of the Night gens (a sort of Black bear people) set the wil- 

 low branches on fire, and they and the Elder Osage peojile say prayers. 

 After this there is a struggle to secure pieces of the charcoal. An Elk 

 man and a Ka"se man act as criers. On the third day an Osage man 

 brings in the sacred bag for the Haujfa or Waoaoe mourner (the gens 

 of each man is not specified, but both men belong to the right or war 

 side of the tribe), and a Sin:^sai[(f'e man brings in a like bag for the 

 mourner belonging to the Tsiou or peace side of the tribe. On the 

 fourth day a woman of a Buffalo gens on the right or Haii j[a side of the 

 tribe lays down two strips of buffalo hide so that the warriors may take 

 the first step on the warpath. After the warriors start, a (puqe man 

 is taken ahead of them in order to perform some ceremony which has 

 not been recorded. 



