﻿188 
  THE 
  OMAHA 
  TRIBE 
  [EIH. 
  ASN.27 
  

  

  It 
  has 
  been 
  impossible 
  to 
  learn 
  the 
  exact 
  nature 
  of 
  this 
  ritual, 
  but 
  

   from 
  the 
  little 
  information 
  that 
  could 
  be 
  gleaned 
  it 
  would 
  seem 
  to 
  

   have 
  been 
  a 
  history 
  of 
  the 
  development 
  of 
  the 
  Sacred 
  Pipes 
  and 
  

   their 
  ceremonies. 
  The 
  old 
  chiefs 
  who 
  had 
  heard 
  it 
  regarded 
  it 
  as 
  

   too 
  sacred 
  to 
  talk 
  about. 
  

  

  The 
  Nini'bato 
  11 
  subdivision 
  bids 
  fair 
  soon 
  to 
  follow 
  the 
  lost 
  ritual, 
  

   as 
  only 
  one 
  person 
  survives. 
  

  

  When 
  the 
  growing 
  corn 
  was 
  infested 
  by 
  grasshoppers 
  or 
  other 
  

   destructive 
  insects 
  the 
  owner 
  of 
  the 
  troubled 
  field 
  applied 
  to 
  the 
  

   I 
  n 
  shta'cu 
  n 
  da 
  gens 
  for 
  help. 
  A 
  feast 
  was 
  made, 
  to 
  which 
  those 
  were 
  

   invited 
  who 
  had 
  the 
  hereditary 
  right 
  to 
  make 
  the 
  ceremonial 
  appeal 
  

   for 
  the 
  preservation 
  of 
  the 
  crop. 
  A 
  young 
  man 
  was 
  dispatched 
  to 
  

   the 
  threatened 
  field 
  of 
  corn 
  with 
  instructions 
  to 
  catch 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  

   grasshoppers 
  or 
  beetles. 
  On 
  his 
  return 
  he 
  handed 
  the 
  captured 
  

   insect 
  to 
  the 
  leader, 
  who 
  removed 
  one 
  of 
  its 
  wings 
  and 
  broke 
  off 
  a 
  bit 
  

   from 
  the 
  tip, 
  which 
  he 
  dropped 
  into 
  the 
  vessel 
  containing 
  the 
  food 
  

   about 
  to 
  be 
  eaten. 
  

  

  The 
  whole 
  ceremony 
  was 
  a 
  dramatic 
  form 
  of 
  prayer. 
  The 
  feast 
  

   symbolized 
  the 
  appeal 
  for 
  a 
  plentiful 
  supply 
  of 
  food; 
  breaking 
  the 
  

   wing 
  and 
  putting 
  a 
  piece 
  of 
  its 
  tip 
  into 
  the 
  pot 
  

   of 
  food 
  set 
  forth 
  the 
  wish 
  that 
  the 
  destructive 
  

   creatures 
  might 
  lose 
  their 
  power 
  to 
  be 
  active 
  and 
  

   thus 
  to 
  destroy 
  the 
  corn. 
  This 
  latter 
  act 
  exem- 
  

   plified 
  the 
  belief 
  in 
  the 
  living 
  connection 
  of 
  a 
  

   part 
  with 
  its 
  whole; 
  consequently, 
  the 
  bit 
  of 
  wing 
  

   was 
  thought 
  to 
  have 
  a 
  vital 
  relation 
  to 
  all 
  the 
  

   insects 
  that 
  were 
  feeding 
  on 
  the 
  maize, 
  and 
  its 
  

   fig. 
  42. 
  cut 
  ot 
  hair, 
  severance 
  and 
  destruction 
  to 
  have 
  a 
  like 
  effect 
  on 
  

  

  I» 
  s 
  h,a',u'H!a 
  gens. 
  a 
  „ 
  ^ 
  kmd 
  

  

  This 
  ceremony, 
  which 
  is 
  probably 
  the 
  survival 
  of 
  a 
  rite 
  pertaining 
  

   to 
  the 
  lost 
  subgens, 
  has 
  been 
  inaccurately 
  reported 
  and 
  misunder- 
  

   stood. 
  Only 
  a 
  bit 
  of 
  the 
  wing 
  was 
  cast 
  into 
  the 
  food 
  for 
  the 
  cere- 
  

   monial 
  feast. 
  No 
  other 
  creature, 
  nor 
  any 
  other 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  insect, 
  

   was 
  used. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  hu'thuga, 
  the 
  place 
  of 
  the 
  lost 
  gens 
  (a) 
  was 
  left 
  of 
  the 
  

   I 
  n 
  gthe'zhide; 
  next 
  came 
  the 
  Nini'bato" 
  subdivision 
  (6); 
  then 
  the 
  

   Washe'to" 
  (c) 
  ; 
  this 
  last-named 
  subgens 
  formed 
  the 
  eastern 
  end 
  of 
  

   the 
  line 
  of 
  the 
  I 
  n 
  shta'c.u 
  n 
  da 
  division 
  of 
  the 
  tribe. 
  

  

  Tabu: 
  The 
  entire 
  gens 
  was 
  forbidden 
  to 
  touch 
  all 
  manner 
  of 
  

   creeping 
  insects, 
  bugs, 
  worms," 
  and 
  similar 
  creatures. 
  

  

  The 
  symbolic 
  cut 
  of 
  the 
  hair 
  consisted 
  in 
  removing 
  all 
  hair 
  from 
  the 
  

   crown, 
  leaving 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  little 
  locks 
  around 
  the 
  base 
  of 
  the 
  skull 
  

   (fig. 
  42), 
  said 
  to 
  represent 
  the 
  many 
  legs 
  of 
  insects. 
  

  

  a 
  Lightning 
  is 
  said 
  to 
  feed 
  on 
  the 
  gum 
  weed, 
  mo"koi 
  tonga 
  ("Dig 
  raocasin"), 
  and 
  to 
  leave 
  a 
  worm 
  at 
  

   the 
  root. 
  

  

  

  