﻿178 
  THE 
  OMAHA 
  TBIBE 
  [eth. 
  axn. 
  27 
  

  

  were 
  also 
  typified, 
  and 
  were 
  connected 
  with 
  the 
  ceremonies 
  pertaining 
  

   to 
  the 
  cutting 
  of 
  the 
  child's 
  hair, 
  ceremonies 
  in 
  which 
  this 
  gens 
  formerly 
  

   took 
  part, 
  and 
  represented 
  the 
  father, 
  the 
  sky. 
  Of 
  the 
  ancient 
  rites 
  

   only 
  a 
  few 
  vestiges 
  now 
  remain, 
  such 
  as 
  the 
  painting 
  of 
  spots 
  on 
  the 
  

   child 
  along 
  the 
  sides 
  of 
  its 
  spine, 
  when 
  a 
  few 
  days 
  after 
  birth 
  the 
  child 
  

   received 
  its 
  baby 
  name. 
  This 
  was 
  done 
  by 
  an 
  old 
  man 
  of 
  the 
  gens, 
  

   who 
  dipped 
  three 
  fingers 
  into 
  the 
  paint 
  and 
  with 
  them 
  made 
  the 
  

   symbolic 
  spots 
  on 
  the 
  child. 
  These 
  spots 
  had 
  the 
  double 
  significance 
  

   of 
  the 
  fawn 
  — 
  the 
  young 
  or 
  newborn 
  of 
  the 
  deer 
  — 
  and 
  the 
  constella- 
  

   tion 
  known 
  by 
  the 
  name 
  of 
  "the 
  deer's 
  head.'' 
  Names 
  in 
  the 
  gens 
  

   refer 
  to 
  the 
  lightning, 
  and 
  it 
  is 
  said 
  that 
  red 
  lines 
  were 
  sometimes 
  

   painted 
  on 
  the 
  child's 
  arms, 
  typical 
  of 
  it. 
  

  

  There 
  were 
  no 
  subgentes 
  in 
  the 
  Tapa' 
  gens, 
  but 
  formerly 
  there 
  were 
  

   groups 
  in 
  charge 
  of 
  certain 
  duties 
  connected 
  with 
  the 
  ancient 
  rites. 
  

   These 
  groups 
  continued 
  to 
  cling 
  together, 
  although 
  their 
  duties 
  became 
  

   obsolete 
  with 
  the 
  loss 
  of 
  the 
  rites. 
  They 
  still 
  exist 
  and 
  are 
  known 
  as 
  

   the 
  group 
  under 
  Mike'nitha 
  or 
  Oi 
  n 
  'dexo 
  n 
  xo 
  n 
  . 
  The 
  members 
  of 
  this 
  

   group 
  sometimes 
  speak 
  of 
  themselves 
  as 
  Tapa'xti 
  ("the 
  real 
  or 
  original 
  

   Tapa"') 
  ; 
  the 
  group 
  under 
  Pa'thi 
  n 
  gahige 
  seems 
  to 
  have 
  had 
  charge 
  of 
  

   that 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  ancient 
  ceremonies 
  which 
  referred 
  to 
  the 
  thunder; 
  

   to 
  the 
  group 
  under 
  Zhi 
  n 
  ga'gahige 
  seems 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  committed 
  

   the 
  symbolic 
  fawn 
  skin. 
  Pa'thi 
  n 
  gahige 
  and 
  Zhi 
  n 
  ga'galuge 
  were 
  not 
  

   chiefs 
  but 
  leading 
  men. 
  These 
  groups 
  have 
  sometimes 
  been 
  mistaken 
  

   for 
  subgentes. 
  

  

  Tabu 
  : 
  charcoal 
  and 
  verdigris 
  could 
  not 
  be 
  touched 
  by 
  this 
  gens. 
  

   The 
  verdigris 
  by 
  its 
  color 
  was 
  said 
  to 
  symbolize 
  the 
  sky, 
  and 
  the 
  

   association 
  of 
  charcoal 
  with 
  the 
  verdigris 
  would 
  in- 
  

   dicate 
  that 
  the 
  dark, 
  or 
  night, 
  sky 
  was 
  symbolized 
  

   in 
  the 
  tabu. 
  

  

  The 
  symbolic 
  cut 
  of 
  the 
  hair 
  consisted 
  in 
  shaving 
  

   the 
  head, 
  leaving 
  only 
  a 
  tuft 
  over 
  the 
  forehead 
  and 
  

   a 
  thin 
  lock 
  at 
  the 
  nape 
  of 
  the 
  neck. 
  The 
  signifi- 
  

   cance 
  of 
  this 
  style 
  is 
  uncertain 
  (fig. 
  38). 
  

  

  At 
  the 
  organization 
  of 
  the 
  tribe 
  in 
  its 
  present 
  

   fig. 
  3s. 
  cut 
  of 
  hair, 
  form 
  a 
  group 
  of 
  families 
  became 
  the 
  Nini'bato" 
  

   Tapa-gens. 
  subdivision, 
  and 
  its 
  leader 
  had 
  a 
  seat 
  in 
  the 
  tribal 
  

  

  Council 
  of 
  Seven 
  Chiefs. 
  The 
  Xini'bato" 
  observed 
  the 
  tabu 
  of 
  the 
  

   gens, 
  but 
  the 
  hair 
  of 
  the 
  children 
  was 
  cut 
  in 
  the 
  style 
  of 
  all 
  the 
  

   Nini'bato" 
  subdivisions 
  in 
  the 
  tribe. 
  

  

  This 
  gens 
  affords 
  another 
  instance 
  of 
  the 
  change 
  that 
  takes 
  place 
  

   in 
  the 
  general 
  significance 
  of 
  the 
  name 
  of 
  a 
  gens 
  when 
  the 
  rites 
  

   intrusted 
  to 
  it 
  have 
  become 
  obsolete 
  and 
  lost. 
  The 
  star 
  cult 
  rites 
  of 
  

   the 
  gens 
  being 
  no 
  longer 
  practised, 
  the 
  deer's 
  head 
  ceased 
  to 
  be 
  

   regarded 
  merely 
  as 
  symbolic 
  and 
  took 
  on 
  a 
  literal 
  interpretation. 
  

  

  