﻿FLETCHEK-LA 
  FLESCHE] 
  RELIGION 
  AND 
  ETHICS 
  599 
  

  

  Tliis 
  use 
  lias 
  been 
  frequently 
  explained 
  to 
  the 
  writers, 
  who 
  have 
  been 
  

   urged 
  not 
  to 
  fall 
  into 
  error 
  as 
  to 
  what 
  is 
  meant 
  by 
  Wako 
  n 
  'da. 
  

   These 
  explanations 
  have 
  come 
  from 
  members 
  of 
  the 
  societies 
  to 
  which 
  

   the 
  songs 
  belonged 
  wherein 
  the 
  word 
  occurs, 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  from 
  men 
  who 
  

   did 
  not 
  belong 
  to 
  these 
  secret 
  societies, 
  so 
  that 
  the 
  writers 
  feel 
  sure 
  

   that 
  there 
  is 
  a 
  distinction 
  in 
  the 
  Omaha 
  mind 
  between 
  varying 
  mean- 
  

   ings 
  of 
  the 
  word 
  w<ih>"'da. 
  The 
  Wako"'da 
  addressed 
  in 
  the 
  tribal 
  

   prayer 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  tribal 
  religious 
  ceremonies 
  which 
  pertain 
  to 
  the 
  

   welfare 
  of 
  all 
  the 
  people 
  is 
  the 
  Wako 
  n 
  'da 
  that 
  is 
  the 
  permeating 
  life 
  of 
  

   visible 
  nature 
  — 
  an 
  invisible 
  life 
  and 
  power 
  that 
  reaches 
  everywhere 
  

   and 
  everything, 
  and 
  can 
  be 
  appealed 
  to 
  by 
  man 
  to 
  send 
  him 
  help. 
  

   From 
  this 
  central 
  idea 
  of 
  a 
  permeating 
  life 
  comes, 
  on 
  the 
  one 
  hand, 
  

   the 
  application 
  of 
  the 
  word 
  wako 
  n 
  'da 
  to 
  anything 
  mysterious 
  or 
  

   inexplicable, 
  be 
  it 
  an 
  object 
  or 
  an 
  occurrence; 
  and 
  on 
  the 
  other 
  hand, 
  

   the 
  belief 
  that 
  the 
  peculiar 
  gifts 
  of 
  an 
  animate 
  or 
  inanimate 
  form 
  can 
  

   be 
  transferred 
  to 
  man. 
  The 
  means 
  by 
  which 
  this 
  transference 
  takes 
  

   place 
  is 
  mysterious 
  and 
  pertains 
  to 
  Wako 
  n 
  'da 
  but 
  is 
  not 
  Wako 
  n 
  'da. 
  

   So 
  the 
  media 
  — 
  the 
  shell, 
  the 
  pebble, 
  the 
  thunder, 
  the 
  animal, 
  the 
  

   mythic 
  monster 
  — 
  may 
  be 
  spoken 
  of 
  as 
  wako 
  n 
  'das, 
  but 
  they 
  are 
  not 
  

   regarded 
  as 
  the 
  Wako 
  n 
  'da. 
  

  

  Personal 
  prayers 
  were 
  addressed 
  directly 
  to 
  Wako 
  D 
  'da. 
  A 
  man 
  

   would 
  take 
  a 
  pipe 
  and 
  go 
  alone 
  to 
  the 
  hills: 
  there 
  he 
  would 
  silently 
  

   oiler 
  smoke 
  and 
  utter 
  the 
  call, 
  Wako 
  n 
  'da 
  ho!, 
  while, 
  the 
  moving 
  cause, 
  

   the 
  purport 
  of 
  his 
  prayer, 
  would 
  remain 
  unexpressed 
  in 
  words. 
  If 
  his 
  

   stress 
  of 
  feeling 
  was 
  great, 
  he 
  would 
  leave 
  the 
  pipe 
  on 
  the 
  ground 
  

   where 
  his 
  appeal 
  had 
  been 
  made. 
  This 
  form 
  of 
  prayer 
  (made 
  only 
  

   hymen) 
  was 
  called 
  Niniba-ha 
  (niniba, 
  "pipe"), 
  "addressing 
  with 
  the 
  

   pipe." 
  

  

  Women 
  did 
  not 
  use 
  the 
  pipe 
  when 
  praying; 
  their 
  appeals 
  were 
  

   made 
  directly, 
  without 
  any 
  intermediary. 
  Few, 
  if 
  any, 
  words 
  were 
  

   used; 
  generally 
  the 
  sorrowful 
  or 
  burdened 
  woman 
  simply 
  called 
  on 
  

   the 
  mysterious 
  power 
  she 
  believed 
  to 
  have 
  control 
  of 
  all 
  things, 
  to 
  

   know 
  all 
  desires, 
  all 
  needs, 
  and 
  able 
  to 
  send 
  the 
  required 
  help. 
  

  

  Entebbelation 
  of 
  Men 
  and 
  Animals 
  

  

  The 
  relation 
  of 
  animals 
  to 
  the 
  various 
  rites 
  of 
  the 
  gentes 
  is 
  difficult 
  

   to 
  explain 
  for 
  the 
  reason 
  that 
  the 
  outlook 
  on 
  nature 
  and 
  all 
  living 
  

   creatures, 
  of 
  the 
  white 
  race 
  is 
  so 
  different 
  from 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  Indian. 
  

   Accustomed 
  as 
  we 
  are 
  to 
  classify 
  animals 
  as 
  domesticated 
  or 
  wild 
  

   and 
  to 
  regard 
  them 
  as 
  beneath 
  man 
  and 
  subservient 
  to 
  him, 
  it 
  requires 
  

   an 
  effort 
  to 
  bring 
  the 
  mind 
  to 
  the 
  position 
  in 
  which, 
  when 
  contemplat- 
  

   ing 
  nature, 
  man 
  is 
  viewed 
  as 
  no 
  longer 
  the 
  master 
  but 
  as 
  one 
  of 
  many 
  

   manifestations 
  of 
  life, 
  all 
  of 
  which 
  are 
  endowed 
  with 
  kindred 
  powers, 
  

   physical 
  and 
  psychical, 
  and 
  animated 
  by 
  a 
  life 
  force 
  emanating 
  

   from 
  the 
  mysterious 
  Wako 
  n 
  'da. 
  

  

  