﻿FLETCHER-LA 
  FLESCHB] 
  RELIGION 
  AND 
  ETHICS 
  597 
  

  

  thai 
  the 
  religious 
  element 
  was 
  somewhat 
  overlaid 
  by 
  the 
  material 
  

   benefits 
  sought 
  through 
  the 
  ceremonials. 
  

  

  The 
  introduction 
  of 
  the 
  child 
  to 
  the 
  cosmos. 
  

  

  Turning 
  the 
  Child. 
  

  

  The 
  consecration 
  of 
  the 
  boy 
  to 
  Thunder. 
  

  

  The 
  He'dewachi, 
  the 
  only 
  ceremony 
  in 
  which 
  all 
  the 
  people 
  — 
  men, 
  

   women, 
  and 
  children 
  — 
  took 
  part 
  and 
  were 
  led 
  b}' 
  the 
  two 
  Sacred 
  

   Pipes, 
  borne 
  by 
  their 
  hereditary 
  keepers, 
  in 
  the 
  rhythmic 
  advance 
  

   by 
  gentes 
  toward 
  the 
  symbolically 
  decorated 
  pole 
  standing 
  in 
  the 
  

   center 
  of 
  the 
  large 
  circle 
  made 
  by 
  the 
  assembled 
  tribe. 
  The 
  teaching 
  

   of 
  this 
  joyous 
  anil 
  picturesque 
  ceremony, 
  it 
  may 
  be 
  recalled, 
  was 
  

   that 
  the 
  tribe 
  must 
  be 
  a 
  living 
  unit, 
  even 
  as 
  the 
  tree 
  and 
  its 
  branches 
  

   are 
  one 
  (p. 
  251). 
  

  

  The 
  Wa'wa 
  n 
  ceremony; 
  this 
  was 
  classed 
  with 
  the 
  We'wacpe 
  

   because 
  it 
  was 
  a 
  means 
  of 
  bringing 
  about 
  peaceful 
  relations 
  within 
  

   and 
  without 
  the 
  tribe. 
  

  

  Wako 
  n 
  'da 
  

  

  ~Walio 
  n 
  'da 
  is 
  not 
  a 
  modern 
  term 
  and 
  does 
  not 
  lend 
  itself 
  to 
  verbal 
  

   analysis. 
  The 
  word 
  wano 
  n 
  'xe 
  means 
  "spirit." 
  The 
  ideas 
  expressed 
  

   in 
  the 
  words 
  wakcP'da 
  and 
  wano 
  n 
  'xe 
  are 
  distinct 
  and 
  have 
  nothing 
  in 
  

   common. 
  There 
  is 
  therefore 
  no 
  propriety 
  in 
  speaking 
  of 
  Wako 
  n 
  'da 
  

   as 
  "the 
  great 
  spirit." 
  Equally 
  improper 
  would 
  it 
  be 
  to 
  regard 
  the 
  

   term 
  as 
  a 
  synonym 
  of 
  nature, 
  or 
  of 
  an 
  objective 
  god, 
  a 
  being 
  apart 
  

   from 
  nature. 
  It 
  is 
  difficult 
  to 
  formulate 
  the 
  native 
  idea 
  expressed 
  

   in 
  this 
  word. 
  The 
  European 
  mind 
  demands 
  a 
  kind 
  of 
  intellectual 
  

   crystahzation 
  of 
  conceptions, 
  which 
  is 
  not 
  essential 
  to 
  the 
  Omaha, 
  

   and 
  which 
  when 
  attempted 
  is 
  apt 
  to 
  modify 
  the 
  original 
  meaning. 
  

   Wako"'da 
  stands 
  for 
  the 
  mysterious 
  life 
  power 
  permeating 
  all 
  natural 
  

   forms 
  and 
  forces 
  and 
  all 
  phases 
  of 
  man's 
  conscious 
  life. 
  The 
  idea 
  

   of 
  Wako 
  n 
  'da 
  is 
  therefore 
  fundamental 
  to 
  the 
  Omaha 
  in 
  his 
  relations 
  

   to 
  nature, 
  including 
  man 
  and 
  all 
  other 
  living 
  forms. 
  As 
  has 
  been 
  

   said 
  by 
  a 
  thoughtful 
  member 
  of 
  the 
  tribe, 
  "No 
  matter 
  how 
  far 
  an 
  

   Omaha 
  may 
  wander 
  in 
  his 
  superstitious 
  beliefs 
  and 
  attribute 
  godlike 
  

   power 
  to 
  natural 
  objects, 
  he 
  invariably 
  returns 
  to 
  Wako 
  n 
  'da, 
  the 
  

   source 
  of 
  all 
  things, 
  when 
  lie 
  tails 
  into 
  deep 
  and 
  sober 
  thought 
  on 
  

   religious 
  conceptions." 
  

  

  Visible 
  nature 
  seems 
  to 
  have 
  mirrored 
  to 
  the 
  Omaha 
  mind 
  the 
  

   ever-present 
  activities 
  of 
  the 
  invisible 
  and 
  mysterious 
  Wako 
  u 
  'da 
  and 
  

   to 
  have 
  been 
  an 
  instructor 
  both 
  in 
  religion 
  and 
  in 
  ethics. 
  The 
  rites 
  

   pertaining 
  to 
  the 
  individual 
  (p. 
  115) 
  reveal 
  clearly 
  the 
  teaching 
  of 
  

   the 
  integrity 
  of 
  the 
  universe, 
  of 
  which 
  man 
  is 
  a 
  part; 
  the 
  various 
  

   We'wacpe 
  rites 
  emphasize 
  man's 
  dependence 
  on 
  a 
  power 
  greater 
  

   than 
  himself 
  and 
  the 
  idea 
  that 
  supernatural 
  punishments 
  will 
  

   follow 
  disobedience 
  to 
  constituted 
  authority. 
  Natural 
  phenomena 
  

  

  