﻿204 
  THE 
  OMAHA 
  TRIBE 
  [eth. 
  ass. 
  27 
  

  

  and 
  defended 
  from 
  lurking 
  war 
  parties, 
  in 
  order 
  to 
  have 
  time 
  and 
  

   security 
  for 
  her 
  work. 
  A 
  lazy 
  fellow 
  or 
  an 
  impulsive, 
  improvident 
  

   man 
  could 
  not 
  acquire 
  the 
  property 
  represented 
  by 
  these 
  gifts. 
  There 
  

   was 
  no 
  prescribed 
  number 
  of 
  gifts 
  demanded 
  for 
  entrance 
  into 
  the 
  

   Xu'de 
  order 
  but 
  they 
  had 
  to 
  be 
  sufficient 
  to 
  warrant 
  the 
  chiefs 
  in 
  

   admitting 
  him, 
  for 
  the 
  man 
  once 
  in 
  the 
  order 
  could, 
  by 
  persistent 
  

   industry 
  and 
  care, 
  rise 
  so 
  as 
  to 
  become 
  a 
  candidate 
  for 
  the 
  order 
  of 
  

   Sha'be 
  when 
  a 
  vacancy 
  occurred. 
  

  

  When 
  a 
  favorable 
  decision 
  as 
  to 
  the 
  candidate 
  was 
  reached 
  the 
  

   chiefs 
  arose 
  and 
  followed 
  the 
  Sacred 
  Pipes, 
  borne 
  reverently, 
  with 
  the 
  

   stems 
  elevated, 
  by 
  the 
  two 
  leading 
  chiefs. 
  Thus 
  led, 
  the 
  company 
  

   walked 
  slowly 
  about 
  the 
  camp 
  to 
  the 
  lodge 
  of 
  the 
  man 
  who 
  had 
  been 
  

   elected 
  a 
  Xu'de 
  and 
  paused 
  before 
  the 
  door. 
  At 
  tins 
  point 
  the 
  man 
  

   had 
  the 
  option 
  to 
  refuse 
  or 
  to 
  accept 
  the 
  honor. 
  If 
  he 
  should 
  say: 
  "I 
  

   do 
  not 
  wish 
  to 
  become 
  a 
  chief," 
  and 
  wave 
  away 
  the 
  tribal 
  pipes 
  offered 
  

   him 
  to 
  smoke, 
  thus 
  refusing 
  permission 
  to 
  the 
  chiefs 
  to 
  enter 
  his 
  lodge, 
  

   they 
  would 
  pass 
  on, 
  leaving 
  him 
  as 
  though 
  he 
  had 
  not 
  been 
  elected. 
  

   When 
  the 
  man 
  accepted 
  the 
  position 
  he 
  smoked 
  the 
  pipes 
  as 
  they 
  

   were 
  offered, 
  whereupon 
  the 
  chiefs 
  entered 
  his 
  lodge," 
  bearing 
  the 
  

   pipes 
  before 
  them, 
  and 
  slowly 
  passed 
  around 
  his 
  fireplace. 
  This 
  act 
  

   signified 
  to 
  all 
  the 
  tribe 
  that 
  the 
  man 
  was 
  thenceforth 
  a 
  chief, 
  a 
  

   member 
  of 
  the 
  order 
  of 
  Ni'kagahi 
  xu'de. 
  He 
  was 
  now 
  eligible 
  to 
  

   other 
  honors 
  — 
  all 
  of 
  which, 
  however, 
  depended 
  upon 
  further 
  efforts 
  

   on 
  his 
  part. 
  (For 
  portrait 
  of 
  Omaha 
  chiefs, 
  see 
  pis. 
  36, 
  37.) 
  

  

  Eligibility 
  to 
  enter 
  the 
  order 
  of 
  Ni'kagahi 
  sha'be 
  depended 
  upon 
  

   the 
  performance 
  of 
  certain 
  graded 
  wathi 
  n 
  'ethe. 
  Vacancies 
  occurred 
  

   only 
  by 
  death 
  or 
  by 
  the 
  resignation 
  of 
  very 
  old 
  men. 
  A 
  vacancy 
  

   was 
  filled 
  by 
  the 
  one 
  in 
  the 
  Xu'de 
  order 
  who 
  could 
  " 
  count 
  " 
  the 
  most 
  

   wathi 
  n 
  'ethe 
  given 
  to 
  the 
  chiefs 
  or 
  who 
  had 
  performed 
  the 
  graded 
  

   acts 
  of 
  the 
  wathi 
  n 
  'ethe. 
  The 
  order 
  and 
  value 
  of 
  these 
  graded 
  acts 
  

   were 
  not 
  generally 
  known 
  to 
  the 
  people, 
  nor 
  even 
  to 
  all 
  the 
  chiefs 
  

   of 
  the 
  Xu'de. 
  Those 
  who 
  became 
  possessed 
  of 
  this 
  knowledge 
  were 
  

   apt 
  to 
  keep 
  it 
  for 
  the 
  benefit 
  of 
  their 
  aspiring 
  kinsmen. 
  The 
  lack 
  

   of 
  this 
  knowledge, 
  it 
  is 
  said, 
  occasionally 
  cost 
  a 
  man 
  the 
  loss 
  of 
  an 
  

   advantage 
  which 
  he 
  would 
  otherwise 
  have 
  had. 
  

  

  There 
  were 
  seven 
  grades 
  of 
  wathin'ethe 
  the 
  performance 
  of 
  which 
  

   made 
  a 
  man 
  eligible 
  to 
  a 
  place 
  in 
  the 
  order 
  of 
  Ni'kagahi 
  sha'be. 
  

   They 
  ranked 
  as 
  follows: 
  

  

  First. 
  Washa'be 
  ga'xe 
  (washa'be, 
  "an 
  official 
  staff;" 
  ga'xe, 
  "to 
  

   make"). 
  This 
  grade 
  consisted 
  in 
  procuring 
  the 
  materials 
  necessary 
  

   to 
  make 
  the 
  washa'be, 
  an 
  ornamented 
  staff 
  carried 
  by 
  the 
  leader 
  of 
  

   the 
  annual 
  buffalo 
  hunt. 
  (See 
  p. 
  155.) 
  These 
  materials 
  were 
  a 
  

   dressed 
  buffalo 
  skin, 
  a 
  crow, 
  two 
  eagles, 
  a 
  shell 
  disk, 
  sinew, 
  a 
  pipe 
  

   with 
  an 
  ornamented 
  stem, 
  and, 
  in' 
  olden 
  times, 
  a 
  cooking 
  vessel 
  of 
  

   pottery, 
  replaced 
  in 
  modern 
  times 
  by 
  a 
  copper 
  kettle. 
  The 
  money 
  

  

  