﻿82 
  THE 
  OMAHA 
  TRIBE 
  [eth. 
  ANN. 
  27 
  

  

  had 
  seen 
  some 
  sort 
  of 
  a 
  beast, 
  his 
  face 
  covered 
  with 
  hair 
  and 
  his 
  skin 
  

   the 
  color 
  of 
  the 
  inner 
  layer 
  of 
  the 
  corn 
  husk." 
  This 
  inner 
  husk 
  is 
  

   called 
  wa'xo 
  n 
  ha, 
  and 
  the 
  Omaha 
  name 
  for 
  white 
  man, 
  wa'xe, 
  is 
  prob- 
  

   ably 
  a 
  corruption 
  of 
  this 
  term. 
  

  

  The 
  tradition 
  continues 
  as 
  follows 
  : 
  ' 
  ' 
  This 
  was 
  not 
  the 
  first 
  meet- 
  

   ing 
  of 
  the 
  Omaha 
  with 
  the 
  white 
  race, 
  but 
  the 
  earlier 
  encounter 
  had 
  

   been 
  forgotten 
  by 
  the 
  people." 
  This 
  statement 
  probably 
  refers 
  to 
  

   the 
  meeting 
  described 
  in 
  the 
  Sacred 
  Legend, 
  as 
  already 
  quoted. 
  The 
  

   "wa'xe 
  built 
  houses 
  out 
  of 
  logs, 
  and 
  traded 
  with 
  the 
  people." 
  The 
  

   old 
  men 
  of 
  the 
  tribe 
  used 
  to 
  declare 
  that 
  these 
  early 
  traders 
  were 
  

   French. 
  

  

  Influence 
  of 
  Traders 
  

  

  Contact 
  with 
  the 
  traders 
  had 
  a 
  disturbing 
  influence 
  on 
  the 
  politics 
  

   of 
  the 
  tribe. 
  The 
  traders 
  lent 
  aid 
  to 
  those 
  chiefs 
  and 
  leading 
  men 
  

   who 
  favored 
  schemes 
  for 
  barter, 
  and 
  these 
  Indians 
  used 
  the 
  favors 
  

   shown 
  them 
  to 
  enhance 
  their 
  own 
  importance 
  in 
  the 
  tribe. 
  The 
  fol- 
  

   lowing 
  narrative, 
  compiled 
  from 
  stories 
  told 
  by 
  old 
  men 
  of 
  the 
  tribe, 
  

   illustrates 
  this 
  state 
  of 
  affairs: 
  

  

  The 
  great-grandfather 
  of 
  a 
  chief 
  who 
  was 
  living 
  twenty-five 
  years 
  

   ago 
  visited 
  the 
  trading 
  post 
  at 
  St. 
  Louis, 
  and 
  on 
  his 
  return 
  assumed 
  

   an 
  air 
  of 
  importance, 
  saying 
  that 
  he 
  had 
  been 
  made 
  a 
  great 
  chief 
  by 
  

   the 
  white 
  men. 
  He 
  began 
  to 
  appoint 
  "soldiers" 
  and 
  ambitious 
  men 
  

   sought 
  his 
  favor. 
  He 
  made 
  Blackbird 
  a 
  "soldier" 
  and 
  took 
  him 
  to 
  

   St. 
  Louis. 
  [This 
  was 
  the 
  Blackbird 
  the 
  apocryphal 
  story 
  of 
  whose 
  

   burial 
  on 
  horseback 
  on 
  the 
  bluffs 
  of 
  the 
  Missouri 
  is 
  told 
  by 
  Lewis 
  

   and 
  Clark.] 
  Blackbird 
  was 
  a 
  handsome 
  man 
  and 
  the 
  white 
  people 
  

   made 
  much 
  of 
  him, 
  showing 
  him 
  more 
  attention 
  than 
  they 
  did 
  his 
  

   companion. 
  When 
  Blackbird 
  returned 
  to 
  the 
  tribe 
  he 
  declared 
  he 
  

   had 
  been 
  made 
  a 
  chief 
  b} 
  T 
  the 
  white 
  people. 
  Blackbird 
  was 
  an 
  

   ambitious 
  man, 
  who 
  loved 
  power 
  and 
  was 
  unscrupulous 
  as 
  to 
  how 
  

   he 
  obtained 
  it. 
  The 
  traders 
  found 
  him 
  a 
  pliant 
  tool. 
  They 
  fostered 
  

   his 
  ambitions, 
  supplied 
  him 
  with 
  goods 
  and 
  reaped 
  a 
  harvest 
  in 
  trade. 
  

   From 
  them 
  he 
  learned 
  the 
  use 
  of 
  poisons, 
  particularly 
  arsenic. 
  If 
  

   an 
  Indian 
  opposed 
  him 
  or 
  stood 
  in 
  the 
  way 
  of 
  his 
  designs, 
  sickness 
  

   and 
  death 
  overtook 
  the 
  man 
  anil 
  Blackbird 
  would 
  claim 
  that 
  he 
  had 
  

   lost 
  his 
  life 
  through 
  supernatural 
  agencies 
  as 
  a 
  punishment 
  for 
  

   attempting 
  to 
  thwart 
  his 
  chief. 
  Because 
  of 
  these 
  occurrences 
  Black- 
  

   bird 
  was 
  feared. 
  He 
  exercised 
  considerable 
  power 
  and 
  adopted 
  the 
  

   airs 
  of 
  a 
  despot. 
  Before 
  he 
  died, 
  however, 
  the 
  secret 
  of 
  his 
  poison- 
  

   ings 
  became 
  known 
  and 
  the 
  fact 
  led 
  to 
  the 
  loss 
  of 
  much 
  of 
  his 
  power. 
  

   The 
  romantic 
  picture 
  of 
  his 
  interment 
  on 
  horseback 
  must 
  be 
  credited 
  

   to 
  grateful 
  traders, 
  as 
  must 
  also 
  be 
  the 
  bestowal 
  of 
  his 
  name 
  on 
  the 
  

   hills 
  and 
  creek 
  where 
  later 
  the 
  Omaha 
  built 
  a 
  village 
  when 
  they 
  

  

  