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  FOREWORD 
  

  

  The 
  story 
  of 
  their 
  relations 
  with 
  t 
  he 
  Government, 
  of 
  contact 
  with 
  

   the 
  white 
  race, 
  of 
  the 
  overthrow 
  of 
  their 
  ancient 
  institutions, 
  and 
  of 
  

   the 
  final 
  securing 
  of 
  their 
  homes 
  in 
  individual 
  holdings 
  on 
  their 
  tribal 
  

   lands, 
  is 
  briefly 
  told 
  in 
  an 
  appendix 
  to 
  this 
  volume. 
  To-day, 
  towns 
  

   with 
  electric 
  lights 
  dot 
  the 
  prairies 
  where 
  the 
  writer 
  used 
  to 
  camp 
  

   amid 
  a 
  sea 
  of 
  waving 
  grass 
  and 
  flowers. 
  Railroads 
  cross 
  and 
  recross 
  

   the 
  gullied 
  paths 
  left 
  by 
  the 
  departed 
  game, 
  and 
  the 
  plow 
  has 
  oblit- 
  

   erated 
  the 
  broad 
  westward 
  trail 
  along 
  the 
  ridge 
  over 
  which 
  the 
  tribe 
  

   moved 
  when 
  starting 
  out 
  on 
  the 
  annual 
  buffalo 
  hunt. 
  The 
  past 
  is 
  

   overlaid 
  by 
  a 
  thriving 
  present. 
  The 
  old 
  Omaha 
  men 
  and 
  women 
  

   sleep 
  peacefully 
  on 
  the 
  hills 
  while 
  their 
  grandchildren 
  farm 
  beside 
  

   their 
  white 
  neighbors, 
  send 
  their 
  children 
  to 
  school, 
  speak 
  English, 
  

   and 
  keep 
  bank 
  accounts. 
  

  

  When 
  these 
  studies 
  were 
  begun 
  nothing 
  had 
  been 
  published 
  on 
  the 
  

   Omaha 
  tribe 
  except 
  short 
  accounts 
  by 
  passing 
  travelers 
  or 
  the 
  com- 
  

   ments 
  of 
  government 
  officials. 
  None 
  of 
  these 
  writers 
  had 
  sought 
  to 
  

   penetrate 
  below 
  the 
  external 
  aspects 
  of 
  Indian 
  life 
  in 
  search 
  of 
  the 
  

   ideals 
  or 
  beliefs 
  which 
  animated 
  the 
  acts 
  of 
  the 
  natives. 
  In 
  the 
  

   account 
  here 
  offered 
  nothing 
  has 
  been 
  borrowed 
  from 
  other 
  observers; 
  

   only 
  original 
  material 
  gathered 
  directly 
  from 
  the 
  native 
  people 
  has 
  

   been 
  used, 
  and 
  the 
  writer 
  has 
  striven 
  to 
  make 
  so 
  far 
  as 
  possible 
  the 
  

   Omaha 
  his 
  own 
  interpreter. 
  

  

  The 
  following 
  presentation 
  of 
  the 
  customs 
  , 
  ceremonies, 
  and 
  beliefs 
  

   of 
  the 
  Omaha 
  is 
  a 
  joint 
  work. 
  For 
  more 
  than 
  twenty-five 
  years 
  the 
  

   writer 
  has 
  had 
  as 
  collaborator 
  Mr. 
  Francis 
  La 
  Flesche 
  (pi. 
  1 
  ), 
  the 
  son 
  

   of 
  Joseph 
  La 
  Flesche, 
  former 
  principal 
  chief 
  of 
  the 
  tribe. 
  In 
  his 
  hoy- 
  

   hood 
  Mr. 
  La 
  Flesche 
  enjoyed 
  the 
  opportunity 
  of 
  witnessing 
  some 
  of 
  

   the 
  ceremonies 
  herein 
  described. 
  Later 
  these 
  were 
  explained 
  to 
  him 
  

   by 
  his 
  father 
  and 
  by 
  the 
  old 
  men 
  who 
  were 
  the 
  keepers 
  of 
  these 
  ancient 
  

   rites 
  and 
  rituals. 
  Possessed 
  of 
  a 
  good 
  memory 
  and 
  having 
  had 
  

   awakened 
  in 
  his 
  mind 
  the 
  desire 
  to 
  preserve 
  in 
  written 
  form 
  the 
  his- 
  

   tory 
  of 
  his 
  people 
  as 
  it 
  was 
  known 
  to 
  them, 
  their 
  music, 
  the 
  poetry 
  of 
  

   their 
  rituals, 
  and 
  the 
  meaning 
  of 
  their 
  social 
  and 
  religious 
  ceremonies, 
  

   Mi'. 
  La 
  Flesche 
  early 
  in 
  Lis 
  career 
  determined 
  to 
  perfect 
  himself 
  in 
  

   English 
  and 
  to 
  gather 
  the 
  rapidly 
  vanishing 
  lore 
  of 
  the 
  tribe, 
  in 
  

   order 
  to 
  carry 
  out 
  his 
  cherished 
  purpose. 
  

  

  This 
  joint 
  work 
  embodies 
  the 
  results 
  of 
  unusual 
  opportunities 
  to 
  get 
  

   close 
  to 
  the 
  thoughts 
  that 
  underlie 
  the 
  ceremonies 
  and 
  customs 
  of 
  the 
  

   ( 
  )maha 
  tribe, 
  and 
  to 
  give 
  a 
  fairly 
  truthful 
  picture 
  of 
  the 
  people 
  as 
  they 
  

   were 
  during 
  the 
  early 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  last 
  century, 
  when 
  most 
  of 
  the 
  men 
  

   on 
  whose 
  information 
  this 
  work 
  is 
  based 
  were 
  active 
  participants 
  in 
  

   the 
  life 
  here 
  described 
  — 
  a 
  life 
  that 
  has 
  passed 
  away, 
  as 
  have 
  those 
  

   who 
  shared 
  in 
  it 
  and 
  made 
  its 
  history 
  possible. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Edwin 
  S. 
  Tracy 
  has 
  given 
  valuable 
  assistance 
  in 
  transcribing 
  

   some 
  of 
  the 
  songs, 
  particularly 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  Shell 
  society. 
  .Several 
  of 
  

  

  