﻿XVI 
  

   CONCLUSIONS 
  

  

  Looking 
  back 
  over 
  thirty 
  years 
  of 
  acquaintance 
  with 
  and 
  study 
  of 
  

   the 
  Omaha 
  tribe, 
  certain 
  characteristics 
  of 
  the 
  people 
  become 
  apparent. 
  

  

  The 
  traditions 
  of 
  the 
  Omaha 
  indicate 
  that 
  the 
  physiographic 
  con- 
  

   ditions 
  of 
  their 
  environment 
  have 
  always 
  been 
  marked 
  by 
  the 
  absence 
  

   of 
  extremes, 
  as 
  of 
  climate 
  — 
  long 
  seasons 
  of 
  heat 
  and 
  dryness 
  or 
  pro- 
  

   tracted 
  periods 
  of 
  benumbing 
  cold; 
  nor 
  do 
  they 
  appear 
  to 
  have 
  

   experienced 
  the 
  shocks 
  and 
  calamities 
  that 
  are 
  met 
  with 
  in 
  a 
  volcanic 
  

   region; 
  nor 
  have 
  they 
  dwelt 
  amid 
  strikingly 
  impressive 
  features 
  of 
  

   the 
  landscape, 
  as 
  lofty 
  mountains 
  and 
  deep 
  canyons. 
  On 
  the 
  con- 
  

   trary, 
  they 
  seem 
  to 
  have 
  lived 
  in 
  an 
  hospitable 
  country, 
  where 
  

   summer 
  and 
  winter 
  without 
  unusual 
  intensity 
  have 
  followed 
  each 
  

   other 
  in 
  orderly 
  progression. 
  So, 
  too, 
  the 
  days 
  and 
  nights 
  were 
  with- 
  

   out 
  the 
  sharp 
  contrasts 
  found 
  in 
  many 
  regions. 
  This 
  equable 
  movement 
  

   of 
  the 
  seasons 
  and 
  of 
  the 
  days 
  seems 
  profoundly 
  to 
  have 
  impressed 
  the 
  

   Omaha 
  mind 
  and 
  to 
  have 
  led 
  to 
  a 
  conception 
  of 
  stability 
  and 
  the 
  

   attribution 
  to 
  it 
  of 
  a 
  high 
  ethical 
  quality, 
  . 
  one 
  which 
  came 
  to 
  be 
  

   regarded 
  as 
  desirable 
  for 
  man, 
  which 
  he 
  should 
  strive 
  to 
  reproduce 
  in 
  

   his 
  own 
  life 
  and 
  in 
  his 
  relations 
  to 
  others. 
  This 
  quality 
  he 
  allied 
  to 
  

   the 
  idea 
  of 
  truthfulness. 
  The 
  orderly 
  progression 
  of 
  the 
  seasons 
  and 
  of 
  

   day 
  and 
  night 
  he 
  regarded 
  as 
  one 
  method 
  by 
  which 
  Wako 
  n 
  'da 
  taught 
  

   man 
  to 
  be 
  truthful, 
  so 
  that 
  his 
  words 
  and 
  acts 
  could 
  be 
  depended 
  on. 
  

   From 
  the 
  emphasis 
  put 
  on 
  truthfulness 
  and 
  the 
  relegation 
  of 
  the 
  

   punishment 
  of 
  falsehood 
  to 
  Wako"'da, 
  through 
  such 
  natural 
  agencies 
  

   as 
  the 
  storm 
  and 
  the 
  lightning, 
  which 
  broke 
  the 
  ordinary 
  calm 
  and 
  

   stable 
  order 
  of 
  the 
  heavens, 
  we 
  discern 
  how 
  fundamental 
  hail 
  become 
  

   the 
  idea 
  of 
  the 
  necessity 
  of 
  truth 
  to 
  the 
  stability 
  of 
  all 
  forms 
  of 
  life, 
  

   natural 
  and 
  social. 
  

  

  It 
  may 
  be 
  that 
  because 
  of 
  this 
  manner 
  of 
  viewing 
  nature 
  the 
  

   Omaha 
  mythologies 
  are 
  less 
  complicated 
  and 
  ornate 
  (if 
  that 
  term 
  may 
  

   be 
  allowed) 
  than 
  are 
  those 
  of 
  some 
  other 
  tribes. 
  The 
  Omaha 
  seem 
  

   Id 
  have 
  been 
  gfven 
  more 
  to 
  a 
  practical 
  than 
  a 
  fanciful 
  view 
  of 
  nature 
  

   and 
  of 
  human 
  life. 
  While 
  this 
  peculiarity 
  may 
  have 
  tended 
  to 
  make 
  

   them 
  somewhat 
  prosaic 
  along 
  given 
  lines, 
  it 
  led 
  to 
  a 
  certain 
  sturdiuess 
  

   of 
  character 
  that 
  caused 
  them 
  to 
  place 
  a 
  higher 
  value 
  on 
  faculties 
  of 
  

   the 
  mind 
  than 
  on 
  emotional 
  attributes. 
  

  

  The 
  v 
  )maha 
  estimate 
  of 
  the 
  value 
  of 
  thought 
  is 
  strongly 
  brought 
  out 
  

   in 
  their 
  Sacred 
  Legend, 
  which 
  briefly 
  recounts 
  their 
  experiences 
  from 
  

   tlie 
  time 
  when 
  they 
  "opened 
  their 
  eves 
  ami 
  beheld 
  the 
  day 
  " 
  down 
  to 
  the 
  

   608 
  

  

  