﻿284 
  THE 
  OMAHA 
  TRIBE 
  [eth. 
  ANN. 
  27 
  

  

  to 
  be, 
  and 
  it 
  shall 
  go 
  there 
  when 
  the 
  grass 
  comes 
  again." 
  Pitying 
  

   the 
  old 
  man, 
  the 
  writers 
  acceded 
  to 
  his 
  request, 
  although 
  a 
  large 
  sum 
  

   of 
  money 
  had 
  been 
  given 
  him 
  for 
  the 
  Hide, 
  and 
  they 
  left 
  it 
  with 
  him. 
  

   In 
  February, 
  1898, 
  came 
  the 
  tidings 
  that 
  whde 
  the 
  old 
  man 
  was 
  at 
  the 
  

   Agency 
  (whither 
  he 
  had 
  been 
  called 
  to 
  transact 
  some 
  business), 
  

   thieves 
  had 
  broken 
  into 
  his 
  tent 
  and 
  had 
  stolen 
  the 
  White 
  Buffalo 
  

   Hide. 
  The 
  grief 
  of 
  the 
  old 
  keeper 
  was 
  most 
  pathetic. 
  For 
  months 
  

   every 
  morning 
  he 
  went 
  out 
  and 
  while 
  yet 
  the 
  morning 
  star 
  hung 
  in 
  

   the 
  eastern 
  sky 
  he 
  wailed 
  as 
  for 
  the 
  dead. 
  His 
  sorrow 
  shortened 
  his 
  

   days, 
  for 
  he 
  survived 
  only 
  a 
  season 
  or 
  two. 
  He 
  bitterly 
  lamented 
  not 
  

   putting 
  the 
  Hide 
  where 
  no 
  irreverent 
  hands 
  could 
  reach 
  it 
  — 
  but 
  it 
  

   was 
  too 
  late. 
  After 
  months 
  of 
  search 
  the 
  writers 
  traced 
  the 
  Hide, 
  

   which 
  had 
  been 
  sold 
  to 
  a 
  man 
  in 
  Chicago, 
  and 
  learned 
  the 
  name 
  of 
  

   the 
  thief. 
  Efforts 
  were 
  made 
  to 
  buy 
  back 
  the 
  stolen 
  relic 
  and 
  place 
  

   it 
  where 
  the 
  old 
  keeper 
  had 
  wished 
  it 
  to 
  go, 
  beside 
  the 
  Sacred 
  Pole, 
  

   but 
  the 
  purchaser 
  would 
  not 
  accede 
  to 
  any 
  plan 
  looking 
  to 
  that 
  end. 
  

   The 
  Hide 
  is 
  now 
  deposited 
  with 
  the 
  Academy 
  of 
  Sciences, 
  Lincoln 
  Park, 
  

   Chicago. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  the 
  skin 
  of 
  a 
  small, 
  whitish 
  buffalo, 
  with 
  hoofs 
  and 
  horns 
  

   intact. 
  A 
  row 
  of 
  shell 
  disks 
  are 
  fastened 
  down 
  the 
  back. 
  (PI. 
  41.) 
  

   The 
  exact 
  measurements 
  the 
  writers 
  have 
  been 
  unable 
  to 
  obtain. 
  

   The 
  pipe 
  is 
  peculiar. 
  It 
  is 
  of 
  red 
  catlinite, 
  nearly 
  circular 
  in 
  shape, 
  

   and 
  represents 
  the 
  hoof 
  of 
  the 
  buffalo. 
  (Fig. 
  64). 
  The 
  significance 
  of 
  

   this 
  pipe 
  is 
  indicated 
  in 
  the 
  last 
  stanza 
  of 
  the 
  first 
  song 
  of 
  Part 
  II 
  

   of 
  the 
  ritual 
  belonging 
  to 
  the 
  Hide. 
  (See 
  p. 
  290.) 
  

  

  According 
  to 
  Mo 
  n 
  xe'wathe, 
  who 
  was 
  hereditarily 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  keepers 
  

   of 
  the 
  Tent 
  of 
  the 
  Sacred 
  Hide, 
  there 
  were 
  formerly 
  two 
  Sacred 
  White 
  

   Buffalo 
  Hides, 
  one 
  male, 
  the 
  other 
  female. 
  The 
  male 
  hide 
  was 
  buried 
  

   with 
  its 
  keeper 
  many 
  years 
  ago, 
  so 
  that 
  it 
  was 
  the 
  female 
  that 
  was 
  in 
  

   the 
  charge 
  of 
  Wako 
  n 
  'mo 
  n 
  thi 
  n 
  . 
  The 
  same 
  authority 
  stated 
  that 
  on 
  

   the 
  first 
  or 
  second 
  camp, 
  when 
  the 
  tribe 
  was 
  on 
  the 
  annual 
  buffalo 
  

   hunt, 
  any 
  man 
  who 
  desired 
  to 
  make 
  a 
  present 
  to 
  the 
  Sacred 
  Tent, 
  so 
  

   as 
  to 
  "count" 
  the 
  gifts, 
  could 
  do 
  so 
  in 
  the 
  following 
  manner: 
  He 
  

   would 
  send 
  to 
  the 
  keeper 
  and 
  ask 
  him 
  to 
  "untie 
  the 
  buffalo." 
  The 
  

   keeper 
  made 
  a 
  sort 
  of 
  frame 
  of 
  withes 
  and 
  spread 
  over 
  it 
  the 
  Hide, 
  so 
  

   as 
  to 
  give 
  it 
  the 
  appearance 
  of 
  a 
  live 
  buffalo. 
  The 
  man 
  who 
  wished 
  to 
  

   make 
  gifts, 
  took 
  them 
  and 
  with 
  a 
  little 
  girl 
  stood 
  before 
  the 
  tent 
  but 
  

   at 
  a 
  distance 
  from 
  it. 
  Then 
  he 
  sent 
  his 
  presents 
  one 
  by 
  one 
  by 
  the 
  

   hand 
  of 
  the 
  little 
  girl 
  to 
  the 
  keeper, 
  who 
  received 
  them. 
  When 
  he 
  

   had 
  finished, 
  some 
  other 
  ambitious 
  man 
  would 
  advance 
  with 
  presents 
  

   and 
  send 
  them 
  by 
  a 
  little 
  girl 
  in 
  the 
  same 
  manner. 
  These 
  presents 
  

  

  a 
  The 
  albino 
  buffalo 
  was 
  sacred 
  among 
  all 
  the 
  close 
  cognates 
  of 
  the 
  Omaha 
  and 
  also 
  among 
  the 
  Dakota 
  

   tribes. 
  Catlin 
  mentions 
  that 
  the 
  Mundan 
  gave 
  the 
  Blackfeet 
  the 
  value 
  of 
  eight 
  horses 
  for 
  a 
  white 
  buffalo 
  

   skin, 
  which 
  they 
  placed 
  with 
  great 
  ceremony 
  in 
  their 
  medicine 
  lodge. 
  Personal 
  names 
  referring 
  to 
  the 
  

   white 
  buffalo 
  occur 
  in 
  all 
  the 
  cognates. 
  (For 
  an 
  account 
  of 
  a 
  " 
  White 
  Buffalo 
  Ceremony 
  " 
  among 
  the 
  

   Dakota, 
  see 
  Peabody 
  Museum 
  Reports, 
  m, 
  260-275, 
  1880-80, 
  Cambridge, 
  1887 
  ) 
  

  

  