﻿598 
  THE 
  OMAHA 
  TRIBE 
  [etii. 
  ank. 
  27 
  

  

  served 
  to 
  enforce 
  ethics. 
  Old 
  men 
  Have 
  said: 
  "Wako 
  n 
  'da 
  causes 
  

   ilav 
  to 
  follow 
  night 
  without 
  variation 
  and 
  summer 
  to 
  follow 
  winter; 
  

   we 
  can 
  depend 
  on 
  these 
  regular 
  changes 
  and 
  can 
  order 
  our 
  lives 
  by 
  

   them. 
  In 
  this 
  way 
  Wako 
  n/ 
  da 
  teaches 
  us 
  that 
  our 
  words 
  and 
  our 
  

   acts 
  must 
  be 
  truthful, 
  so 
  that 
  we 
  may 
  live 
  in 
  peace 
  and 
  happiness 
  

   with 
  one 
  another. 
  Our 
  fathers 
  thought 
  about 
  these 
  things 
  and 
  

   observed 
  the 
  acts 
  of 
  Wako 
  n/ 
  da 
  and 
  their 
  words 
  have 
  come 
  down 
  to 
  

   us." 
  Truthfulness 
  in 
  word 
  and 
  in 
  action 
  was 
  fundamental 
  to 
  the 
  

   scheme 
  of 
  ethics 
  taught 
  among 
  the 
  Omaha. 
  As 
  applied 
  to 
  action, 
  

   it 
  involved 
  the 
  idea 
  of 
  honesty 
  and 
  of 
  faithfulness 
  to 
  a 
  duty 
  laid 
  upon 
  

   a 
  person, 
  whatever 
  its 
  nature, 
  whether 
  of 
  a 
  scout 
  (p. 
  425), 
  a 
  runner 
  

   in 
  search 
  of 
  a 
  herd 
  of 
  buffalo 
  (p. 
  279), 
  or 
  the 
  performance 
  of 
  a 
  rite 
  by 
  

   its 
  proper 
  custodian. 
  No 
  untruthful 
  report 
  or 
  evasion 
  of 
  responsi- 
  

   bility 
  was 
  permitted 
  to 
  go 
  unpunished, 
  the 
  penalty 
  it 
  was 
  believed 
  

   being 
  inflicted 
  supernaturally. 
  The 
  instances 
  related 
  concerning 
  

   the 
  fate 
  of 
  the 
  keepers 
  of 
  the 
  Sacred 
  Tent 
  of 
  War 
  who 
  shirked 
  their 
  

   rssponsibilty 
  and 
  met 
  their 
  death 
  by 
  the 
  lightning 
  stroke 
  were 
  cited 
  

   as 
  proof 
  of 
  the 
  watchfulness 
  of 
  Wako 
  n 
  'da 
  over 
  truthfulness 
  as 
  

   applied 
  to 
  acts. 
  For 
  like 
  reason, 
  all 
  vows 
  had 
  to 
  be 
  kept. 
  Some- 
  

   times 
  a 
  man 
  when 
  praying 
  for 
  success 
  in 
  hunting 
  vowed 
  to 
  give 
  

   the 
  first 
  deer 
  or 
  other 
  game 
  secured 
  to 
  Wako 
  n 
  'da, 
  and 
  no 
  man 
  having 
  

   made 
  such 
  a 
  vow 
  would 
  break 
  it, 
  even 
  though 
  he 
  and 
  his 
  family 
  had 
  

   to 
  go 
  hungry. 
  (Such 
  offerings 
  were 
  always 
  handed 
  to 
  a 
  keeper.) 
  

  

  While 
  the 
  conception 
  of 
  Wako 
  n 
  'da 
  may 
  appear 
  somewhat 
  vague 
  

   certain 
  anthropomorphic 
  attributes 
  were 
  ascribed 
  to 
  it, 
  approxi- 
  

   mating 
  to 
  a 
  kind 
  of 
  personality. 
  Besides 
  the 
  insistence 
  on 
  truthful- 
  

   ness 
  in 
  word 
  and 
  deed 
  already 
  mentioned, 
  there 
  were 
  other 
  qualities 
  

   involving 
  pity 
  and 
  compassion, 
  as 
  shown 
  in 
  the 
  account 
  given 
  in 
  the 
  

   Sacred 
  Legend 
  concerning 
  the 
  institution 
  of 
  the 
  rite 
  of 
  No 
  n 
  'zhi 
  n 
  zho 
  D 
  

   (]>. 
  128) 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  rite 
  itself 
  and 
  its 
  accompanying 
  prayer 
  (p. 
  130). 
  

   All 
  experiences 
  in 
  life 
  were 
  believed 
  to 
  be 
  directed 
  by 
  Wako"'da, 
  

   a 
  belief 
  that 
  gave 
  rise 
  to 
  a 
  kind 
  of 
  fatalism. 
  In 
  the 
  face 
  of 
  calamity, 
  

   the 
  thought, 
  "This 
  is 
  ordered 
  by 
  Wako 
  n 
  'da," 
  put 
  a 
  stop 
  to 
  any 
  form 
  

   of 
  rebellion 
  against 
  the 
  trouble 
  and 
  often 
  to 
  any 
  effort 
  to 
  overcome 
  it. 
  

  

  Not 
  only 
  were 
  the 
  events 
  in 
  a 
  person's 
  life 
  decreed 
  and 
  controlled 
  

   by 
  Wako 
  n 
  'da, 
  but 
  man's 
  emotions 
  were 
  attributed 
  to 
  the 
  same 
  source. 
  

   An 
  old 
  man 
  said: 
  "Tears 
  were 
  made 
  by 
  Wako 
  n 
  'da 
  as 
  a 
  relief 
  to 
  our 
  

   human 
  nature; 
  Wako 
  n 
  'da 
  made 
  joy 
  and 
  he 
  also 
  made 
  tears!" 
  An 
  

   aged 
  man, 
  standing 
  in 
  the 
  presence 
  of 
  death, 
  said: 
  " 
  From 
  my 
  earliest 
  

   years 
  I 
  remember 
  the 
  sound 
  of 
  weeping; 
  I 
  have 
  heard 
  it 
  all 
  my 
  long 
  

   life 
  and 
  shall 
  hear 
  it 
  until 
  I 
  die. 
  There 
  will 
  be 
  partings 
  as 
  long 
  as 
  

   man 
  lives 
  on 
  the 
  earth; 
  Wako"'da 
  has 
  willed 
  it 
  to 
  be 
  so!" 
  

  

  The 
  use 
  of 
  the 
  term 
  Wako 
  n 
  'da 
  in 
  the 
  songs 
  of 
  the 
  Washis'ka 
  athi", 
  

   or 
  Shell 
  society, 
  ami 
  the 
  I"'gthu". 
  or 
  Thunder 
  society, 
  needs 
  a 
  word 
  of 
  

   explanation, 
  as 
  it 
  has 
  led 
  to 
  misunderstandings 
  of 
  Omaha 
  belief. 
  

  

  