﻿38 
  THE 
  OMAHA 
  TRIBE 
  [eth. 
  ANN. 
  27 
  

  

  of 
  their 
  tribal 
  organization 
  offers 
  equally 
  strong 
  testimony. 
  It 
  would 
  

   seem 
  that 
  the 
  parent 
  organization 
  had 
  so 
  impressed 
  itself 
  upon 
  the 
  

   mode 
  of 
  life 
  and 
  thought 
  of 
  the 
  people 
  that 
  when 
  groups 
  branched 
  

   off 
  and 
  organized 
  themselves 
  as 
  distinct 
  tribes 
  they 
  preserved 
  the 
  

   familiar 
  characteristic 
  features; 
  for 
  all 
  of 
  these 
  cognate 
  tribes 
  

   have 
  certain 
  features 
  in 
  common. 
  All 
  are 
  divided 
  into 
  kinship 
  

   groups 
  which 
  practise 
  exogamy 
  and 
  trace 
  descent 
  through 
  the 
  father 
  

   only. 
  Each 
  group 
  or 
  gens 
  has 
  its 
  own 
  name 
  and 
  a 
  set 
  of 
  personal 
  

   names, 
  one 
  of 
  which 
  is 
  bestowed 
  on 
  each 
  child 
  born 
  within 
  the 
  gens. 
  

   These 
  personal 
  names 
  refer 
  either 
  to 
  the 
  symbol 
  which 
  belongs 
  to 
  

   and 
  marks 
  the 
  kinship 
  group 
  or 
  to 
  the 
  rites 
  allied 
  to 
  the 
  symbol, 
  

   which 
  were 
  the 
  especial 
  charge 
  of 
  the 
  gens. 
  

  

  According 
  to 
  traditions 
  preserved 
  among 
  the 
  Omaha, 
  Ponca, 
  

   Osage, 
  Kansa, 
  and 
  Quapaw 
  tribes, 
  their 
  severance 
  from 
  the 
  parent 
  

   organization 
  of 
  which 
  they 
  once 
  formed 
  a 
  part, 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  their 
  

   later 
  partings 
  from 
  one 
  another, 
  did 
  not 
  occur 
  through 
  any 
  concerted 
  

   action; 
  they 
  were 
  the 
  result 
  of 
  accident, 
  as 
  in 
  the 
  case 
  already 
  cited 
  

   of 
  the 
  Omaha 
  and 
  the 
  Quapaw, 
  or 
  of 
  strifes 
  fomented 
  by 
  ambitious 
  

   chiefs, 
  or 
  of 
  circumstances 
  incident 
  to 
  following 
  the 
  game. 
  A 
  tradi- 
  

   tion 
  of 
  the 
  Wazha'zhe 
  or 
  Osage 
  tells 
  that 
  they 
  broke 
  away 
  from 
  the 
  

   Ponca 
  because 
  of 
  a 
  quarrel 
  over 
  game. 
  The 
  Wazha'zhe 
  gens 
  

   of 
  the 
  Ponca 
  have 
  a 
  like 
  story, 
  which 
  says 
  "The 
  parting 
  was 
  due 
  

   to 
  a 
  quarrel 
  about 
  game. 
  Those 
  who 
  left 
  us 
  became 
  lost 
  but 
  we 
  

   hear 
  of 
  them 
  now 
  as 
  a 
  large 
  tribe 
  bearing 
  our 
  name, 
  Wazha'zhe." 
  

  

  Tradition 
  indicates 
  also 
  that 
  when, 
  for 
  some 
  reason 
  or 
  other, 
  a 
  

   group 
  broke 
  off, 
  not 
  all 
  of 
  the 
  members 
  belonged 
  to 
  one 
  gens 
  but 
  

   to 
  several 
  gentes 
  of 
  the 
  parent 
  organization, 
  and 
  when 
  this 
  group 
  

   organized 
  as 
  a 
  distinct 
  tribe, 
  those 
  of 
  gentile 
  kindred 
  retained 
  their 
  

   identity 
  in 
  name 
  and 
  the 
  practice 
  of 
  a 
  common 
  rite, 
  and 
  formed 
  

   a 
  gens 
  in 
  the 
  new 
  tribe. 
  These 
  traditions 
  are 
  corroborated 
  by 
  con- 
  

   ditions 
  which 
  obtain 
  in 
  all 
  of 
  these 
  cognate 
  tribes. 
  

  

  For 
  instance, 
  among 
  the 
  Omaha, 
  Osage, 
  Kansa, 
  and 
  Quapaw 
  a 
  

   turtle 
  group 
  is 
  found 
  as 
  a 
  subgens 
  in 
  each 
  tribe, 
  and 
  in 
  each 
  instance 
  

   its 
  members 
  are 
  the 
  keepers 
  of 
  the 
  turtle 
  rites 
  of 
  the 
  tribe. 
  

  

  Again, 
  among 
  the 
  Omaha, 
  Osage, 
  Kansa, 
  and 
  Quapaw 
  the 
  Kansa, 
  

   or 
  Wind 
  people, 
  form 
  a 
  gens 
  in 
  each 
  tribe, 
  and 
  in 
  each 
  of 
  the 
  tribes 
  

   are 
  the 
  keepers 
  of 
  rites 
  pertaining 
  to 
  the 
  wind. 
  

  

  Among 
  the 
  Omaha, 
  Osage, 
  Kansa, 
  and 
  Quapaw 
  tribes 
  there 
  is 
  in 
  

   each 
  a 
  gens 
  similar 
  to 
  the 
  Mo 
  n 
  'thi 
  n 
  kagaxe 
  ("earth 
  makers"). 
  

  

  A 
  Nu'xe, 
  or 
  Ice 
  gens, 
  is 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  Ponca 
  tribe, 
  and 
  the 
  name 
  

   is 
  borne 
  also 
  by 
  a 
  subgens 
  in 
  each 
  the 
  Osage, 
  Kansa, 
  and 
  Quapaw 
  

   tribes. 
  

  

  There 
  is 
  a 
  tradition 
  that 
  the 
  Ponca 
  were 
  once 
  a 
  gens 
  hi 
  the 
  Omaha 
  

   tribe 
  and 
  broke 
  awav 
  in 
  a 
  body, 
  and 
  that 
  when 
  thev 
  became 
  a 
  tribe 
  

  

  