﻿72 
  THE 
  OMAHA 
  TRIBE 
  [BTH. 
  ANN. 
  27 
  

  

  he 
  found 
  it 
  covered 
  with 
  stall's 
  having 
  curs 
  bearing 
  kernels 
  of 
  these 
  colors. 
  He 
  took 
  

   an 
  ear 
  of 
  each 
  kind 
  and 
  gave 
  the 
  rest 
  to 
  the 
  people 
  to 
  experiment 
  with. 
  They 
  tried 
  

   it 
  for 
  food, 
  found 
  it 
  good, 
  and 
  have 
  ever 
  since 
  called 
  it 
  their 
  life. 
  As 
  soon 
  as 
  the 
  people 
  

   found 
  the 
  corn 
  good, 
  they 
  thought 
  to 
  make 
  mounds 
  like 
  that 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  kernels 
  had 
  

   been 
  hid. 
  So 
  they 
  took 
  the 
  shoulder 
  blade 
  of 
  the 
  elk 
  and 
  built 
  mounds 
  like 
  the 
  first 
  

   and 
  buried 
  the 
  corn 
  in 
  them. 
  So 
  the 
  corn 
  grew 
  and 
  the 
  people 
  had 
  abundant 
  food. 
  

  

  In 
  their 
  wanderings 
  the 
  people 
  reached 
  the 
  forests 
  where 
  the 
  birch 
  trees 
  grow 
  and 
  

   where 
  there 
  were 
  great 
  lakes. 
  Here 
  they 
  made 
  birch-bark 
  canoes 
  and 
  traveled 
  in 
  

   them 
  about 
  the 
  shores 
  of 
  the 
  lakes. 
  A 
  man 
  in 
  his 
  wanderings 
  discovered 
  two 
  young 
  

   animals 
  and 
  carried 
  them 
  home. 
  He 
  fed 
  them 
  and 
  .they 
  grew 
  large 
  and 
  were 
  docile. 
  

   He 
  discovered 
  that 
  these 
  animals 
  would 
  carry 
  burdens, 
  so 
  a 
  harness 
  was 
  fixed 
  on 
  

   them 
  to 
  which 
  poles 
  were 
  fastened 
  and 
  they 
  became 
  the 
  burden 
  bearers. 
  Before 
  

   this 
  every 
  burden 
  had 
  to 
  be 
  carried 
  on 
  the 
  back. 
  The 
  people 
  bred 
  the 
  dogs 
  and 
  they 
  

   were 
  a 
  help 
  to 
  the 
  people. 
  

  

  "WESTERN 
  MOVEMENTS 
  

  

  The 
  western 
  movement 
  of 
  the 
  people 
  is 
  not 
  definitely 
  traced 
  in 
  

   any 
  of 
  their 
  traditions, 
  nor 
  is 
  there 
  any 
  account 
  of 
  the 
  separations 
  

   of 
  kindred 
  which 
  from 
  time 
  to 
  time 
  must 
  have 
  taken 
  place. 
  By 
  

   inference, 
  there 
  must 
  have 
  been 
  considerable 
  warfare, 
  as 
  the 
  making 
  

   of 
  peace 
  with 
  enemies 
  is 
  referred 
  to. 
  The 
  tribe 
  seem 
  to 
  have 
  lin- 
  

   gered 
  long 
  in 
  the 
  northern 
  territory 
  now 
  covered 
  by 
  the 
  States 
  of 
  

   Minnesota, 
  North 
  Dakota, 
  South 
  Dakota, 
  and 
  Iowa, 
  and 
  between 
  the 
  

   Mississippi 
  and 
  Missouri 
  rivers; 
  their 
  claims 
  to 
  portions 
  of 
  this 
  

   territory 
  were 
  acknowledged 
  in 
  the 
  last 
  century 
  when 
  they 
  joined 
  in 
  

   the 
  treatj 
  r 
  made 
  at 
  Prairie 
  du 
  Chien 
  in 
  1S30, 
  at 
  winch 
  time 
  they 
  

   relinquished 
  all 
  their 
  rights 
  to 
  this 
  land 
  to 
  the 
  United 
  States. 
  Six 
  

   years 
  later 
  they 
  made 
  a 
  like 
  relinquishment 
  of 
  their 
  claims 
  east 
  of 
  

   the 
  Missouri 
  river 
  in 
  the 
  States 
  of 
  Missouri 
  and 
  Iowa. 
  Tradition 
  is 
  

   silent 
  as 
  to 
  their 
  movements 
  from 
  the 
  Lake 
  region 
  south 
  to 
  the 
  Ohio 
  

   river, 
  where 
  it 
  is 
  said 
  they 
  parted 
  from 
  the 
  Quapaw, 
  as 
  already 
  told. 
  

  

  A 
  period 
  of 
  considerably 
  more 
  than 
  three 
  hundred 
  years 
  must 
  have 
  

   elapsed 
  between 
  the 
  time 
  of 
  parting 
  from 
  the 
  Quapaw 
  on 
  the 
  banks 
  

   of 
  the 
  Mississippi, 
  at 
  the 
  mouth 
  of 
  the 
  Ohio, 
  and 
  the 
  date 
  of 
  the 
  

   Omaha's 
  first 
  cession 
  to 
  the 
  United 
  States, 
  mentioned 
  above. 
  After 
  

   the 
  separation 
  from 
  the 
  Quapaw 
  it 
  is 
  not 
  probable 
  that 
  the 
  Omaha 
  

   were 
  ever 
  again 
  as 
  far 
  south 
  as 
  the 
  Ohio 
  river 
  or 
  as 
  far 
  east 
  as 
  Lake 
  

   Michigan. 
  

  

  Tradition 
  says 
  that 
  the 
  Omaha 
  after 
  parting 
  from 
  the 
  Quapaw 
  

   followed 
  the 
  Mika'to" 
  ke 
  river 
  (the 
  Des 
  Moines) 
  to 
  its 
  headwaters, 
  and 
  

   wandered 
  northeast. 
  One 
  day 
  about 
  thirty 
  years 
  ago 
  the 
  old 
  men 
  

   were 
  talking 
  of 
  these 
  early 
  movements 
  of 
  the 
  tribe 
  when 
  Shu'denaci 
  

   said, 
  "I 
  think 
  that 
  we 
  could 
  trace 
  the 
  sites 
  of 
  the 
  oltl 
  Omaha 
  villages 
  

   of 
  the 
  time 
  the 
  tribe 
  went 
  up 
  the 
  Mi'kato" 
  ke". 
  The 
  question, 
  How 
  

   could 
  the 
  sites 
  be 
  identified? 
  elicited 
  the 
  reply: 
  "By 
  the 
  circles 
  of 
  

   stones 
  which 
  were 
  left 
  when 
  the 
  people 
  abandoned 
  a 
  village." 
  It 
  was 
  

   the 
  custom 
  to 
  place 
  stones 
  around 
  the 
  bottom 
  of 
  the 
  tent 
  cover 
  to 
  

   hold 
  it 
  firmly 
  on 
  the 
  ground; 
  when 
  the 
  tent 
  was 
  taken 
  down 
  the 
  

  

  