﻿198 
  THE 
  OMAHA 
  TEIBE 
  [BTH. 
  ann. 
  27 
  

  

  tossed 
  into 
  the 
  air 
  and 
  the 
  game 
  proper 
  began. 
  The 
  game 
  is 
  said 
  to 
  

   have 
  had 
  a 
  cosmic 
  significance 
  and 
  the 
  initial 
  movements 
  of 
  the 
  ball 
  

   referred 
  to 
  the 
  winds, 
  the 
  bringers 
  of 
  life. 
  It 
  was 
  played 
  by 
  the 
  two 
  

   divisions 
  of 
  the 
  hu'ihuga 
  as 
  representatives 
  of 
  the 
  earth 
  and 
  the 
  sky. 
  

   The 
  demarcation 
  between 
  the 
  two 
  divisions 
  of 
  the 
  hu'ihuga 
  was 
  

   well 
  known 
  to 
  the 
  boys 
  of 
  the 
  tribe, 
  and 
  no 
  boy 
  dared 
  to 
  go 
  alone 
  

   across 
  this 
  line. 
  When 
  for 
  any 
  purpose 
  a 
  boy 
  was 
  sent 
  on 
  an 
  errand 
  

   from 
  the 
  Ho 
  n 
  'gashenu 
  side 
  to 
  the 
  I 
  n 
  shta'cu 
  n 
  da 
  side, 
  he 
  was 
  obliged 
  

   to 
  go 
  attended 
  by 
  his 
  friends 
  from 
  the 
  gentes 
  belonging 
  to 
  his 
  own 
  

   side, 
  for 
  a 
  fight 
  was 
  alwaj^s 
  the 
  result 
  of 
  an 
  attempt 
  to 
  cross 
  the 
  line. 
  

   It 
  is 
  an 
  interesting 
  fact 
  that 
  while 
  the 
  old 
  men 
  of 
  the 
  tribe 
  generally 
  

   punished 
  boys 
  for 
  fighting 
  together, 
  these 
  juvenile 
  combats 
  over 
  the 
  

   line 
  were 
  not 
  objected 
  to 
  by 
  the 
  parents 
  and 
  elders. 
  This 
  custom 
  

   seems 
  to 
  have 
  come 
  into 
  practice 
  to 
  serve 
  a 
  purpose 
  similar 
  to 
  that 
  

   of 
  the 
  symbolic 
  cutting 
  of 
  the 
  hair. 
  The 
  cutting 
  of 
  the 
  hair 
  was 
  

   done, 
  it 
  was 
  said, 
  in 
  order 
  to 
  impress 
  on 
  the 
  mind 
  of 
  a 
  child, 
  as 
  in 
  an 
  

   object 
  lesson, 
  the 
  gentes 
  to 
  which 
  his 
  playmates 
  belonged. 
  That 
  it 
  

   served 
  its 
  purpose 
  has 
  been 
  observed 
  b} 
  r 
  the 
  writers. 
  Frecpiently 
  

   when 
  a 
  man 
  has 
  been 
  asked 
  to 
  what 
  gens 
  a 
  certain 
  person 
  belonged, 
  

   lie 
  would 
  pause 
  and 
  then 
  say: 
  "I 
  remember, 
  his 
  hair 
  used 
  to 
  be 
  cut 
  

  

  thus 
  and 
  so 
  when 
  we 
  were 
  boys, 
  so 
  he 
  must 
  be 
  ," 
  mentioning 
  

  

  the 
  gens 
  that 
  used 
  this 
  symbolic 
  cut 
  of 
  the 
  hair. 
  The 
  line 
  that 
  

   marked 
  the 
  two 
  divisions 
  of 
  the 
  hu'ihuga, 
  although 
  invisible, 
  was 
  well 
  

   known 
  to 
  the 
  boys 
  as 
  the 
  fighting 
  line, 
  where 
  they 
  could 
  have 
  a 
  scrim- 
  

   mage 
  without 
  being 
  interfered 
  with, 
  and 
  each 
  boy 
  knew 
  his 
  own 
  

   half 
  of 
  the 
  hu'ihuga 
  and 
  the 
  boundary, 
  where 
  he 
  was 
  at 
  liberty 
  to 
  

   at 
  t 
  ark 
  and 
  where 
  he 
  must 
  stand 
  on 
  the 
  defensive. 
  This 
  custom 
  of 
  

   one 
  division 
  standing 
  by 
  its 
  members 
  in 
  a 
  fight 
  as 
  against 
  outsiders 
  

   throws 
  a 
  side 
  light 
  on 
  the 
  word 
  for 
  tribe 
  already 
  referred 
  to. 
  

  

  