﻿494 
  THE 
  OMAHA 
  TRIBE 
  [eth. 
  ass. 
  27 
  

  

  refers 
  to 
  creative 
  acts, 
  for 
  through 
  the 
  mysterious 
  power 
  of 
  Wako 
  n 
  'da 
  

   night 
  brought 
  forth 
  day. 
  Night 
  was 
  therefore 
  the 
  mother 
  of 
  day, 
  

   and 
  the 
  latter 
  was 
  the 
  emblem 
  of 
  all 
  visible 
  activities 
  and 
  manifes- 
  

   tations 
  of 
  life. 
  The 
  feminine 
  cosmic 
  force 
  was 
  typified 
  not 
  only 
  by 
  

   night 
  but 
  by 
  the 
  heavenly 
  bodies 
  seen 
  by 
  night, 
  as 
  the 
  masculine 
  cos- 
  

   mic 
  force 
  was 
  symbolized 
  by 
  day 
  and 
  the 
  sun. 
  The 
  credential 
  of 
  a 
  

   man's 
  attainment 
  to 
  membership 
  in 
  the 
  Ho 
  n 
  'hewachi 
  was 
  the 
  right 
  

   to 
  tattoo 
  on 
  a 
  maid 
  certain 
  cosmic 
  symbols 
  of 
  night 
  and 
  day. 
  The 
  

   woman 
  thus 
  tattooed 
  was 
  called 
  a 
  Ni'lcagahi 
  wau, 
  woman 
  chief 
  

   (ni'kagahi, 
  "chief;" 
  wau, 
  "woman"). 
  The 
  origin 
  of 
  the 
  Ho 
  n 
  'hewachi 
  

   is 
  lost 
  in 
  antiquity; 
  it 
  is 
  said 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  "given 
  by 
  Wako 
  n 
  'da 
  to 
  

   help 
  the 
  people." 
  This 
  society 
  exists 
  in 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  cognate 
  tribes 
  

   and 
  is 
  as 
  highly 
  regarded 
  among 
  them 
  as 
  among 
  the 
  Omaha. 
  

  

  So 
  great 
  were 
  the 
  requirements 
  demanded 
  of 
  a 
  man 
  for 
  admission 
  

   to 
  the 
  Ho 
  n 
  'hewachi 
  that 
  the 
  successful 
  candidate 
  was 
  said 
  to 
  have 
  

   been 
  "pitied" 
  (compassionately 
  helped) 
  "by 
  Night," 
  as 
  otherwise 
  he 
  

   could 
  not 
  have 
  accomplished 
  the 
  tasks 
  required. 
  The 
  symbols 
  tat- 
  

   tooed 
  on 
  the 
  girl 
  were 
  designated 
  xthexe, 
  an 
  untranslatable 
  name 
  

   meaning 
  a 
  mark 
  of 
  honor 
  or 
  of 
  distinction. 
  It 
  will 
  be 
  remem- 
  

   bered 
  that 
  the 
  Sacred 
  Pole 
  (see 
  p. 
  219) 
  was 
  called 
  Waxthe'xe, 
  signi- 
  

   fying 
  "that 
  which 
  has 
  the 
  power 
  to 
  bestow 
  honor 
  or 
  distinction." 
  

   The 
  Sacred 
  Pole, 
  as 
  its 
  name 
  implies, 
  was 
  representative 
  of 
  the 
  

   authority 
  which 
  was 
  the 
  fount 
  of 
  honor 
  in 
  the 
  tribe. 
  Permission 
  to 
  

   place 
  this 
  mark 
  of 
  honor 
  on 
  a 
  girl 
  had 
  to 
  be 
  given 
  by 
  the 
  Seven 
  

   Chiefs, 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  by 
  the 
  members 
  of 
  the 
  Ho 
  n 
  'hewachi. 
  TheHo 
  n 
  'he- 
  

   wachi 
  is 
  claimed 
  to 
  be 
  very 
  old 
  and 
  in 
  connection 
  with 
  this 
  claim 
  it 
  

   should 
  be 
  remembered 
  that 
  the 
  ancient 
  name 
  of 
  the 
  Cedar 
  Pole 
  (see 
  

   p. 
  219) 
  was 
  Waxthe'xe, 
  and 
  that 
  the 
  name 
  of 
  this 
  ancient 
  and 
  sacred 
  

   object, 
  whose 
  ceremonies 
  had 
  become 
  lost, 
  was 
  transferred 
  to 
  the 
  

   new 
  Sacred 
  Pole 
  when 
  the 
  latter 
  emblem 
  was 
  set 
  up 
  in 
  the 
  interests 
  

   of 
  tribal 
  unity 
  and 
  stability 
  of 
  government. 
  The 
  ancient 
  pole 
  

   of 
  cedar, 
  according 
  to 
  tradition 
  and 
  myth, 
  was 
  allied 
  to 
  ceremonies 
  

   connected 
  with 
  Thunder 
  and 
  with 
  the 
  creation 
  of 
  the 
  human 
  race. 
  

   It 
  was 
  kept, 
  as 
  was 
  the 
  Sacred 
  Shell, 
  in 
  the 
  Sacred 
  Tent 
  in 
  charge 
  

   of 
  the 
  We'zhi"shte 
  gens. 
  According 
  to 
  traditions 
  and 
  beliefs, 
  the 
  

   rites 
  pertaining 
  to 
  the 
  Shell 
  were 
  connected 
  with 
  the 
  cosmic 
  forces 
  

   which 
  brought 
  the 
  universe 
  into 
  being 
  and 
  maintained 
  its 
  life. 
  

   While 
  it 
  is 
  impossible 
  clearly 
  to 
  trace 
  connection 
  between 
  the 
  Ho 
  n 
  'he- 
  

   wachi 
  and 
  the 
  ceremonies 
  that 
  once 
  clustered 
  about 
  the 
  ancient 
  Cedar 
  

   Pole 
  and 
  the 
  Sacred 
  Shell, 
  yet 
  the 
  name 
  given 
  to 
  the 
  mark 
  of 
  honor, 
  

   (xthexe), 
  the 
  symbols 
  used, 
  and 
  the 
  sex 
  of 
  the 
  person 
  on 
  whom 
  they 
  

   must 
  be 
  tattooed, 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  the 
  name 
  of 
  the 
  society 
  to 
  which 
  they 
  

   belonged, 
  all 
  afford 
  a 
  strong 
  probability 
  that 
  the 
  ancient 
  cosmic 
  

   rites, 
  long 
  since 
  lost, 
  were 
  related 
  to 
  the 
  Ho 
  n 
  'hewachi, 
  if 
  they 
  do 
  not 
  

   in 
  part 
  survive 
  in 
  the 
  ceremonies 
  of 
  this 
  society, 
  ceremonies 
  which 
  

  

  