﻿136 
  THE 
  OMAHA 
  TRIBE 
  [eth. 
  ann. 
  27 
  

  

  When 
  the 
  Omaha 
  visited 
  the 
  towns 
  and 
  cities 
  of 
  the 
  white 
  people, 
  

   they 
  applied 
  to 
  these 
  settlements 
  the 
  same 
  designation. 
  St. 
  Louis 
  

   and 
  Washington 
  were 
  spoken 
  of 
  as 
  to 
  n 
  'wo 
  n 
  gtho 
  n 
  . 
  To 
  distinguish 
  the 
  

   village 
  signifying 
  the 
  gens, 
  from 
  the 
  village 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  tribe 
  dwelt 
  

   the 
  name 
  of 
  the 
  stream 
  on 
  which 
  the 
  latter 
  was 
  situated 
  was 
  men- 
  

   tioned. 
  When 
  the 
  gens 
  was 
  spoken 
  of, 
  to 
  the 
  term 
  to 
  n 
  'wo 
  n 
  gtho 
  n 
  was 
  

   added 
  vla'no 
  n 
  , 
  which 
  means 
  a 
  group 
  of 
  a 
  kind 
  in 
  a 
  given 
  place. 
  

   While 
  the 
  idea 
  of 
  relationship 
  is 
  not 
  directly 
  stated, 
  the 
  word 
  uba'no 
  11 
  

   added 
  to 
  the 
  term 
  for 
  "village" 
  is 
  understood 
  to 
  indicate 
  a 
  village 
  of 
  

   people 
  who 
  are 
  kindred, 
  of 
  one 
  .kind, 
  between 
  whom 
  marriage 
  is 
  

   prohibited. 
  

  

  The 
  question 
  "To 
  what 
  gens 
  do 
  you 
  belong?" 
  put 
  into 
  Omaha 
  and 
  

   literally 
  translated, 
  would 
  be, 
  "In 
  which 
  of 
  the 
  various 
  (many) 
  

   villag' 
  i 
  (of 
  the 
  tribe) 
  are 
  you 
  there 
  (have 
  you 
  a 
  place)?" 
  If 
  the 
  

   questioner 
  belonged 
  to 
  the 
  Omaha 
  or 
  the 
  Ponca 
  tribe, 
  he 
  would 
  know 
  

   the 
  names 
  of 
  the 
  gentes, 
  so 
  the 
  reply 
  would 
  be: 
  "Tapa', 
  there 
  I 
  am;" 
  

   that 
  is, 
  "I 
  belong 
  to 
  the 
  Tapa' 
  gens." 
  But 
  if 
  the 
  question 
  were 
  asked 
  

   by 
  a 
  stranger, 
  a 
  member 
  of 
  a 
  different 
  tribe, 
  to 
  whom 
  the 
  names 
  

   of 
  the 
  Omaha 
  gentes 
  were 
  unknown, 
  then 
  the 
  reply 
  would 
  indicate 
  

   the 
  symbol 
  of 
  the 
  religious 
  rite 
  (the 
  tabu) 
  of 
  the 
  gens 
  of 
  the 
  person 
  

   questioned, 
  and 
  he 
  might 
  say: 
  "I 
  am 
  a 
  buffalo 
  person" 
  or 
  an 
  "elk 
  

   person." 
  The 
  reply 
  would 
  not 
  be 
  understood 
  to 
  mean 
  that 
  the 
  

   man 
  thought 
  of 
  himself 
  as 
  a 
  buffalo 
  or 
  an 
  elk, 
  or 
  as 
  descended 
  from 
  

   one, 
  but 
  as 
  belonging 
  to 
  a 
  group 
  which 
  had 
  charge 
  of 
  rites 
  in 
  which 
  

   that 
  animal 
  was 
  used 
  as 
  a 
  symbol. 
  The 
  rites 
  thus 
  spoken 
  of 
  were 
  

   designated 
  as 
  Ni'kie, 
  a 
  and 
  in 
  them 
  all 
  the 
  people 
  had 
  a 
  claim, 
  although 
  

   those 
  who 
  officiated 
  at 
  a 
  rite 
  were 
  confined 
  to 
  the 
  particular 
  gens 
  

   which 
  had 
  charge 
  of 
  the 
  rite. 
  

  

  It 
  was 
  the 
  duty 
  of 
  a 
  gens 
  having 
  charge 
  of 
  a 
  Ni'kie 
  rite 
  to 
  take 
  

   care 
  of 
  the 
  symbols 
  and 
  paraphernalia 
  of 
  the 
  rite, 
  and 
  act 
  as 
  its 
  priests, 
  

   so 
  to 
  speak; 
  but 
  the 
  claim 
  to 
  take 
  part 
  in 
  the 
  ceremony 
  was 
  not 
  

   confined 
  to 
  the 
  gens 
  having 
  charge 
  of 
  the 
  rite, 
  for 
  the 
  people 
  of 
  the 
  

   tribe 
  had 
  a 
  voice 
  in 
  it 
  and 
  a 
  share 
  in 
  its 
  benefits. 
  

  

  Each 
  gens 
  had 
  its 
  distinctive 
  name. 
  Some 
  of 
  the 
  names, 
  as 
  has 
  

   been 
  already 
  pointed 
  out, 
  occur 
  in 
  more 
  than 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  tribes 
  that 
  

   are 
  close 
  cognates 
  of 
  the 
  Omaha. 
  These 
  duplicated 
  names 
  may 
  have 
  

   been 
  names 
  of 
  gentes 
  in 
  the 
  parent 
  organization, 
  and 
  when 
  the 
  

   Omaha 
  and 
  their 
  cognates 
  organized 
  as 
  distinct 
  tribes 
  the 
  remnants 
  

   of 
  the 
  former 
  gens 
  may 
  have 
  clung 
  together 
  and 
  kept 
  their 
  old 
  rites 
  

   and 
  name. 
  An 
  Omaha 
  gens, 
  however, 
  was 
  not 
  a 
  simple 
  but 
  a 
  com- 
  

  

  aNi'kie 
  is 
  compounded 
  from 
  n&'k 
  (from 
  ni'kaihiga, 
  " 
  people" 
  ; 
  if. 
  " 
  words 
  or 
  speech"). 
  From 
  ni'ka- 
  

   shiga 
  is 
  also 
  derived 
  ni'kagahi, 
  "chief" 
  {ga'fte, 
  "thrown 
  upon") 
  — 
  literally, 
  "those 
  upon 
  whom 
  the 
  

   people 
  are 
  thrown'' 
  or 
  "who 
  carry 
  the 
  people." 
  Ni'kie 
  signifies 
  a 
  declaration 
  by 
  the 
  people 
  or 
  their 
  

   chiefs 
  of 
  consent 
  to 
  a 
  certain 
  proposition. 
  

  

  