﻿fletcher-la 
  flesche] 
  LOCATION 
  J 
  LINGUISTIC 
  EELATIONSHIPS 
  39 
  

  

  the 
  subdivisions 
  of 
  the 
  Ponca 
  gens 
  became 
  the 
  gentes 
  of 
  the 
  Ponca 
  

   tribe. 
  This 
  may 
  possibly 
  be 
  true. 
  It 
  would 
  seem, 
  however, 
  that 
  

   in 
  earlier 
  days 
  some, 
  at 
  least, 
  of 
  the 
  Ponca 
  had 
  accompanied 
  the 
  

   Osage, 
  Kansa, 
  and 
  Quapaw 
  groups 
  when 
  they 
  separated 
  from 
  the 
  

   parent 
  organization, 
  and 
  when 
  these 
  groups 
  became 
  distinct 
  tribes 
  

   the 
  Ponca 
  kindred 
  appear 
  to 
  have 
  combined 
  to 
  form 
  a 
  Ponca 
  gens, 
  

   for 
  we 
  find 
  a 
  gens 
  of 
  that 
  name 
  in 
  each 
  of 
  the 
  cognate 
  tribes 
  just 
  

   mentioned. 
  

  

  Another 
  class 
  of 
  evidence 
  which 
  has 
  relation 
  to 
  the 
  former 
  union 
  of 
  

   these 
  tribes 
  is 
  found 
  in 
  personal 
  names, 
  some 
  of 
  which 
  refer 
  to 
  cere- 
  

   monies 
  no 
  longer 
  observed 
  in 
  the 
  tribe 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  names 
  exist 
  but 
  

   still 
  practised 
  in 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  cognate 
  tribes 
  — 
  a 
  fact 
  which 
  indicates 
  

   apparently 
  that 
  the 
  rite 
  was 
  once 
  known 
  and 
  observed 
  by 
  the 
  tribe 
  

   in 
  which 
  the 
  personal 
  name 
  is 
  now 
  found. 
  For 
  instance, 
  in 
  the 
  

   Washe'to" 
  subgens 
  of 
  the 
  I 
  n 
  shta'cu 
  n 
  da 
  gens 
  of 
  the 
  Omaha 
  tribe 
  is 
  

   the 
  name 
  Ushu'demo 
  n 
  thi 
  a 
  , 
  meaning 
  "he 
  who 
  walks 
  in 
  the 
  mist" 
  or 
  

   "in 
  the 
  dust 
  raised 
  by 
  the 
  wind." 
  This 
  name 
  has 
  no 
  significance 
  

   taken 
  merely 
  as 
  an 
  Omaha 
  name, 
  but 
  its 
  meaning 
  becomes 
  apparent 
  

   when 
  we 
  turn 
  to 
  the 
  cognate 
  Osage. 
  In 
  that 
  tribe 
  there 
  is 
  a 
  gens 
  

   called 
  Mo 
  n 
  so'tsemo 
  n 
  i 
  n 
  , 
  meaning 
  "they 
  who 
  walk 
  concealed 
  by 
  the 
  

   mist 
  or 
  dust." 
  The 
  word 
  refers 
  to 
  a 
  rite 
  in 
  the 
  keeping 
  of 
  this 
  gens, 
  

   a 
  rite 
  that 
  pertained 
  to 
  war. 
  When 
  a 
  war 
  party 
  was 
  about 
  to 
  make 
  

   an 
  attack 
  or 
  was 
  forced 
  to 
  retreat, 
  it 
  was 
  the 
  office 
  of 
  this 
  gens 
  to 
  

   perform 
  the 
  rite, 
  which 
  had 
  the 
  effect 
  of 
  causing 
  a 
  mist 
  to 
  rise 
  or 
  a 
  

   strong 
  wind 
  to 
  blow 
  up 
  a 
  cloud 
  of 
  dust 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  warriors 
  could 
  

   walk 
  concealed 
  from 
  their 
  enemies. 
  Again, 
  the 
  Omaha 
  personal 
  

   name 
  Uzu'gaxe, 
  meaning 
  "to 
  clear 
  the 
  pathway," 
  finds 
  its 
  explana- 
  

   tion 
  in 
  the 
  office 
  of 
  the 
  Osage 
  gens 
  of 
  the 
  same 
  name, 
  whose 
  duty 
  it 
  

   was 
  to 
  find 
  a 
  way 
  across 
  or 
  around 
  any 
  natural 
  obstacle 
  that 
  lay 
  

   in 
  the 
  path 
  of 
  a 
  war 
  party, 
  as 
  a 
  safe 
  place 
  to 
  ford 
  a 
  dangerous 
  river 
  

   or 
  a 
  pathway 
  over 
  or 
  around 
  a 
  cliff. 
  

  

  Instances 
  similar 
  to 
  those 
  cited 
  above 
  could 
  be 
  multiplied, 
  all 
  

   going 
  to 
  show 
  that 
  rites 
  and 
  customs 
  lost 
  in 
  one 
  tribe 
  have 
  frequently 
  

   been 
  preserved 
  in 
  another 
  of 
  these 
  cognates. 
  It 
  is 
  probable 
  that 
  

   were 
  all 
  the 
  rites 
  and 
  customs 
  of 
  these 
  tribes 
  brought 
  together 
  and 
  a 
  

   comparative 
  study 
  made 
  of 
  them, 
  much 
  of 
  the 
  ancestral 
  organiza- 
  

   tion 
  from 
  which 
  these 
  cognates 
  took 
  their 
  rise 
  might 
  be 
  discovered 
  

   and 
  light 
  thrown 
  on 
  the 
  question, 
  Why 
  certain 
  forms, 
  religious 
  and 
  

   secular, 
  were 
  lost 
  and 
  others 
  retained 
  and 
  developed; 
  also, 
  as 
  to 
  

   which 
  of 
  these 
  were 
  original 
  with 
  the 
  people, 
  which 
  were 
  adopted, 
  

   and 
  of 
  the 
  latter 
  from 
  what 
  culture 
  they 
  were 
  taken. 
  

  

  In 
  all 
  the 
  traditions 
  that 
  touch 
  on 
  the 
  common 
  source 
  from 
  which 
  

   these 
  cognates 
  have 
  come 
  no 
  reference 
  to 
  the 
  name 
  of 
  the 
  parent 
  

   or 
  common 
  organization 
  is 
  to 
  be 
  found. 
  Ponca, 
  Kansa, 
  Wazha'zhe 
  

  

  