﻿362 
  • 
  THE 
  OMAHA 
  TRIBE 
  [BTH. 
  ANN. 
  27 
  

  

  is 
  no 
  indecision 
  in 
  the 
  mind 
  of 
  the 
  wearer 
  — 
  he 
  will 
  be 
  ready 
  for 
  

   speech 
  or 
  act 
  when 
  the 
  opportune 
  moment 
  arrives. 
  

  

  Now 
  the 
  man 
  is 
  addressing 
  the 
  tribe 
  or 
  council 
  (pi. 
  53, 
  c). 
  The 
  

   moment 
  waited 
  for 
  has 
  arrived 
  and 
  he 
  steps 
  forth 
  to 
  speak 
  Ins 
  

   thought, 
  to 
  impress 
  his 
  views 
  upon 
  his 
  tribesmen. 
  

  

  In 
  "The 
  admonition" 
  the 
  adjustment 
  of 
  the 
  drapery 
  suggests 
  a 
  

   pause, 
  a 
  change 
  of 
  mental 
  attitude 
  (pi. 
  53, 
  d). 
  The 
  mind 
  of 
  the 
  

   speaker 
  has 
  reverted 
  to 
  some 
  past 
  experience 
  in 
  his 
  long 
  career, 
  from 
  

   winch 
  he 
  draws 
  a 
  lesson 
  and 
  gives 
  it 
  as 
  an 
  admonition 
  to 
  the 
  people. 
  

  

  Perhaps 
  the 
  most 
  striking 
  illustration 
  of 
  this 
  expressive 
  use 
  of 
  the 
  

   garment 
  was 
  its 
  adjustment 
  in 
  the 
  case 
  of 
  anger 
  (fig. 
  82). 
  Stung 
  by 
  

   sudden 
  wrong 
  or 
  injury, 
  the 
  man 
  grasps 
  the 
  edges 
  of 
  his 
  robe 
  and 
  hast- 
  

   ily 
  draws 
  it 
  up 
  over 
  his 
  head, 
  thus 
  withdrawing 
  from 
  observation. 
  

   The 
  rousing 
  of 
  his 
  anger 
  has 
  made 
  him 
  intensely 
  conscious 
  of 
  his 
  per- 
  

   sonality 
  and 
  he 
  responds 
  to 
  the 
  primitive 
  impulse 
  "to 
  cover 
  him- 
  

   self," 
  to 
  put 
  something 
  upon 
  himself, 
  that 
  he 
  may 
  feel 
  consciously 
  

   separate 
  from 
  his 
  fellows. 
  The 
  draped 
  figure 
  of 
  the 
  man 
  hooded. 
  by 
  

   the 
  robe 
  which 
  he 
  holds 
  with 
  tense 
  hands 
  not 
  only 
  emphasizes 
  the 
  

   impulse 
  which 
  the 
  legend 
  assigns 
  as 
  fundamental 
  to 
  the 
  garment 
  — 
  

   that 
  of 
  the 
  desire 
  to 
  differentiate 
  one's 
  self 
  from 
  the 
  horde 
  — 
  but 
  it 
  

   suggests 
  the 
  steps 
  we 
  have 
  traced 
  in 
  the 
  use 
  and 
  purpose 
  of 
  the 
  

   garment 
  from 
  the 
  uncut 
  animal 
  skin 
  up 
  to 
  the 
  period 
  when 
  it 
  could 
  

   express 
  man's 
  personal 
  emotions, 
  a 
  freedom 
  he 
  could 
  have 
  achieved 
  

   only 
  within 
  the 
  arena 
  of 
  society. 
  

  

  Property 
  

  

  Household 
  furniture 
  was 
  simple. 
  The 
  robes 
  used 
  for 
  bedding 
  

   were 
  of 
  hide 
  taken 
  from 
  the 
  buffalo 
  bull 
  in 
  the 
  winter 
  when 
  the 
  fur 
  

   was 
  the 
  heaviest. 
  This 
  bedding 
  was 
  called 
  umi'zhe. 
  The 
  pillows 
  

   (i'behi 
  n 
  ) 
  were 
  of 
  soft 
  deerskin 
  stuffed 
  with 
  the 
  long 
  winter 
  hair 
  of 
  the 
  

   deer. 
  There 
  were 
  no 
  contrivances 
  for 
  seats 
  in 
  the 
  tent. 
  In 
  the 
  earth 
  

   lodge 
  were 
  couches, 
  already 
  described 
  (p. 
  98) 
  . 
  The 
  cooking 
  and 
  eating 
  

   utensils, 
  the 
  mortar 
  and 
  pestle 
  for 
  grinding 
  corn, 
  and 
  the 
  packs 
  for 
  

   storing 
  food 
  and 
  clothing 
  — 
  all 
  those 
  things 
  which 
  pertained 
  to 
  the 
  

   household 
  were 
  the 
  property 
  of 
  the 
  wife. 
  Hers, 
  also, 
  was 
  the 
  tent. 
  

   All 
  other 
  things 
  were 
  individual 
  property 
  and 
  belonged 
  to 
  the 
  mem- 
  

   bers 
  of 
  the 
  family. 
  Even 
  the 
  articles 
  belonging 
  to 
  the 
  children 
  were 
  

   considered 
  as 
  their 
  own, 
  and 
  were 
  not 
  disposed 
  of 
  without 
  their 
  con- 
  

   sent. 
  In 
  the 
  Omaha 
  tribe 
  there 
  was 
  no 
  communal 
  property. 
  The 
  

   land 
  was 
  the 
  bountiful 
  "mother 
  earth" 
  which 
  brought 
  forth 
  food 
  for 
  

   all 
  living 
  creatures. 
  There 
  was 
  no 
  property 
  in 
  land 
  or 
  in 
  springs, 
  as 
  

   the 
  country 
  was 
  well 
  supplied 
  with 
  never-failing 
  springs 
  and 
  streams. 
  

   Proprietorship 
  in 
  garden 
  plots 
  was 
  recognized 
  as 
  long 
  as 
  the 
  plots 
  

   were 
  used 
  but 
  the 
  produce 
  belonged 
  to 
  the 
  woman. 
  

  

  