﻿600 
  THE 
  OMAHA 
  TRIBE 
  [eth. 
  ANN. 
  27 
  

  

  An 
  old 
  Indian 
  explained: 
  "All 
  forms 
  mark 
  where 
  Wako"'da 
  has 
  

   stopped 
  and 
  brought 
  them 
  into 
  existence." 
  The 
  belief 
  that 
  the 
  

   power 
  of 
  Wako 
  n/ 
  da 
  is 
  akin 
  to 
  the 
  directive 
  force 
  of 
  which 
  man 
  is 
  con- 
  

   scious 
  within 
  himself 
  is 
  implied 
  in 
  the 
  old 
  man's 
  remark; 
  each 
  "form" 
  

   was 
  the 
  result 
  of 
  a 
  "stop," 
  where 
  there 
  had 
  been 
  a 
  distinct 
  exercise 
  

   of 
  the 
  will 
  power, 
  an 
  act 
  of 
  the 
  creative 
  force 
  of 
  Wako 
  n 
  'da 
  performed. 
  

   Looking 
  on 
  nature 
  from 
  this 
  standpoint, 
  men, 
  animals, 
  the 
  earth, 
  the 
  

   sky, 
  and 
  all 
  natural 
  phenomena 
  are 
  not 
  only 
  animated, 
  but 
  they 
  bear 
  a 
  

   rclat 
  ion 
  to 
  one 
  another 
  different 
  from 
  that 
  which 
  we 
  are 
  accustomed 
  to 
  

   consider 
  as 
  existing 
  among 
  them; 
  man 
  does 
  not 
  stand 
  apart 
  from, 
  he 
  

   becomes 
  literally 
  a 
  part 
  of 
  nature, 
  connected 
  with 
  it 
  physically 
  and 
  

   related 
  to 
  it 
  psychically. 
  As 
  has 
  been 
  said 
  by 
  the 
  old 
  men. 
  "Man 
  

   lives 
  on 
  the 
  fruits 
  of 
  the 
  earth; 
  this 
  is 
  true 
  when 
  he 
  feeds 
  on 
  the 
  

   animals, 
  for 
  all 
  draw 
  their 
  nourishment 
  from 
  mother 
  earth; 
  our 
  

   bodies 
  are 
  strengthened 
  by 
  animal 
  food 
  and 
  our 
  powers 
  can 
  be 
  

   strengthened 
  by 
  the 
  animals 
  giving 
  us 
  of 
  their 
  peculiar 
  gifts, 
  for 
  each 
  

   animal 
  lias 
  received 
  from 
  Wako 
  n 
  'da 
  some 
  special 
  gift. 
  If 
  a 
  man 
  

   asks 
  help 
  of 
  Wako 
  n 
  'da, 
  Wako 
  n 
  'da 
  will 
  send 
  the 
  asker 
  the 
  animal 
  that 
  

   lias 
  the 
  gift 
  that 
  will 
  help 
  the 
  man 
  in 
  his 
  need." 
  This 
  view 
  of 
  the 
  

   interrelation 
  of 
  men 
  and 
  animals, 
  whereby 
  in 
  some 
  mysterious 
  man- 
  

   ner, 
  similar 
  to 
  the 
  assimilation 
  of 
  food, 
  man's 
  faculties 
  and 
  powers 
  

   can 
  be 
  reinforced 
  from 
  the 
  animals, 
  may 
  assist 
  in 
  explaining 
  why 
  

   animals 
  play 
  so 
  large 
  a 
  part 
  in 
  Omaha 
  rites. 
  

  

  This 
  belief 
  concerning 
  the 
  interrelation 
  of 
  men 
  and 
  animals 
  may 
  

   furnish 
  the 
  key 
  to 
  a 
  better 
  understanding 
  of 
  the 
  myths 
  of 
  the 
  Omaha 
  

   and 
  their 
  cognates, 
  some 
  of 
  which 
  appear 
  to 
  be 
  survivals 
  of 
  a 
  time 
  

   when 
  this 
  belief 
  was 
  in 
  an 
  active 
  and 
  formative 
  stage, 
  a 
  time 
  when 
  

   man 
  was 
  trying 
  to 
  explain 
  to 
  himself 
  the 
  mystery 
  of 
  his 
  conscious 
  life 
  

   and 
  of 
  his 
  environment. 
  Many 
  thoughts 
  arising 
  from 
  this 
  mental 
  

   effort, 
  while 
  intrinsically 
  abstract, 
  became 
  concrete 
  through 
  an 
  imagi- 
  

   native, 
  dramatic 
  story, 
  serious 
  in 
  character, 
  with 
  a 
  burden 
  that 
  could 
  

   not 
  be 
  shifted 
  from 
  symbolic 
  to 
  matter-of-fact 
  speech. 
  In 
  some 
  

   such 
  way 
  and 
  at 
  a 
  period 
  far 
  back 
  in 
  the 
  history 
  of 
  the 
  people 
  the 
  

   myth 
  may 
  have 
  had 
  its 
  rise. 
  Viewed 
  by 
  the 
  light 
  of 
  Omaha 
  tribal 
  

   rites 
  and 
  rituals, 
  it 
  seems 
  probable 
  that 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  myths 
  may 
  be 
  sur- 
  

   vivals 
  of 
  very 
  ancient 
  ceremonies, 
  skeletons, 
  so 
  to 
  speak, 
  from 
  which 
  

   the 
  original 
  ceremonial 
  covering 
  has 
  disappeared. 
  

  

  Many 
  of 
  the 
  mythic 
  stories 
  found 
  among 
  this 
  group 
  of 
  cognate 
  

   tribes 
  are 
  in 
  some 
  of 
  their 
  details 
  obscene, 
  a 
  characteristic 
  for 
  which 
  

   no 
  adequate 
  explanation 
  is 
  to 
  be 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  daily 
  life 
  and 
  customs 
  

   of 
  the 
  people 
  or 
  in 
  the 
  rites 
  as 
  practised 
  during 
  recent 
  centuries. 
  

   Offensive 
  as 
  some 
  of 
  these 
  stories 
  are, 
  they 
  often 
  exhibit 
  a 
  titanic 
  

   audacity 
  that 
  gives 
  to 
  them 
  a 
  kind 
  of 
  grotesque 
  dignity. 
  Even 
  mythic 
  

   stories 
  of 
  this 
  class 
  may 
  also 
  be 
  survivals, 
  which 
  have 
  suffered 
  not 
  

   onlv 
  from 
  the 
  wear 
  and 
  tear 
  of 
  ages 
  but 
  from 
  accretions 
  of 
  minds 
  

  

  