﻿PLBTCHBB-LA 
  FLESCHB] 
  RECENT 
  HISTORY 
  613 
  

  

  previously 
  occupied 
  exclusively 
  by 
  the 
  French. 
  This 
  nearer 
  approach 
  

   of 
  the 
  English 
  to 
  the 
  Omaha 
  country 
  soon 
  began 
  to 
  make 
  itself 
  felt 
  

   along 
  lines 
  thai 
  developed 
  rapidly 
  after 
  the 
  Louisiana 
  Purchase 
  had 
  

   brought 
  their 
  country 
  under 
  the 
  control 
  of 
  the 
  United 
  States— 
  a 
  change 
  

   that 
  had 
  the 
  effect 
  of 
  relieving 
  American 
  traders 
  from 
  international 
  

   embarrassments 
  — 
  and 
  as 
  a 
  result, 
  trading 
  posts 
  quicldy 
  spread 
  along 
  

   the 
  Mississippi 
  and 
  Missouri 
  rivers, 
  with 
  St. 
  Louis 
  as 
  headquarters. 
  

   No 
  important 
  post 
  was 
  built 
  in 
  the 
  immediate 
  vicinity 
  of 
  the 
  

   Omaha 
  villages 
  but 
  during 
  the 
  last 
  decade 
  of 
  the 
  eighteenth 
  cen- 
  

   tury 
  men 
  in 
  the 
  employ 
  of 
  the 
  fur 
  companies 
  visited 
  the 
  people 
  

   and 
  instituted 
  trading 
  relations 
  with 
  them. 
  The 
  story 
  of 
  Black- 
  

   bird, 
  mentioned 
  on 
  page 
  82, 
  is 
  a 
  memorial 
  of 
  this 
  contact. 
  During 
  

   the 
  first 
  quarter 
  of 
  the 
  nineteenth 
  century 
  a 
  small 
  post 
  was 
  estab- 
  

   lished 
  near 
  the 
  Omaha 
  village 
  and 
  maintained 
  there 
  for 
  a 
  time. 
  The 
  

   usual 
  custom 
  among 
  the 
  traders 
  before 
  the 
  establishment 
  of 
  a 
  

   United 
  States 
  Indian 
  agency 
  among 
  a 
  tribe 
  was 
  to 
  erect 
  a 
  small 
  log 
  

   cabin 
  and 
  to 
  time 
  the 
  trader's 
  visit 
  so 
  that 
  he 
  would 
  he 
  present 
  

   with 
  his 
  goods 
  when 
  the 
  tribe 
  returned 
  from 
  its 
  annual 
  hunt, 
  or 
  

   when 
  special 
  hunting 
  parties 
  which 
  went 
  out 
  exclusively 
  for 
  pelts 
  

   came 
  back 
  with 
  the 
  product 
  of 
  the 
  chase. 
  At 
  no 
  other 
  time 
  was 
  

   anyone 
  connected 
  with 
  the 
  trading 
  company 
  present 
  among 
  the 
  

   Omaha. 
  The 
  trader's 
  arrival 
  was 
  signaled 
  by 
  the 
  firing 
  of 
  guns 
  to 
  

   draw 
  the 
  people 
  together 
  for 
  business. 
  

  

  Introduction 
  of 
  Metal 
  Implements 
  

  

  From 
  the 
  first 
  the 
  native 
  industries 
  were 
  affected 
  by 
  the 
  advent 
  of 
  

   the 
  traders, 
  who 
  introduced 
  articles 
  of 
  white 
  manufacture. 
  It 
  was 
  

   not 
  long 
  before 
  the 
  metal 
  knife 
  replaced 
  the 
  native 
  implement 
  of 
  

   chipped 
  stone. 
  It 
  is 
  said 
  that 
  when 
  metal 
  knives 
  were 
  first 
  brought 
  

   by 
  the 
  early 
  traders 
  fchey 
  cost 
  the 
  Omaha 
  the 
  value 
  of 
  one 
  dollar 
  

   apiece. 
  An 
  interesting 
  example 
  of 
  the 
  conservation, 
  in 
  ceremonies, 
  

   of 
  early 
  types 
  of 
  useful 
  articles 
  is 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  requirement 
  that 
  one 
  

   of 
  the 
  gifts 
  essential 
  in 
  the 
  rite 
  of 
  tattooing 
  (p. 
  503) 
  was 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  

   the 
  strong, 
  red-handled 
  knives 
  of 
  the 
  kind 
  first 
  known 
  to 
  the 
  tribe. 
  

   The 
  metal 
  knife 
  soon 
  became 
  the 
  constant 
  companion 
  of 
  men 
  and 
  

   women, 
  serving 
  all 
  domestic 
  purposes, 
  but 
  it 
  never 
  supplanted 
  the 
  

   ancient 
  flint 
  knife 
  in 
  tribal 
  rites. 
  The 
  lock 
  of 
  hair 
  taken 
  from 
  the 
  

   head 
  of 
  the 
  male 
  child 
  when 
  he 
  was 
  consecrated 
  to 
  Thunder 
  (p. 
  122) 
  

   was 
  cut 
  by 
  a 
  Hint 
  knife; 
  only 
  a 
  Hint 
  knife 
  could 
  be 
  used 
  when 
  bleed- 
  

   ing 
  for 
  curative 
  purposes. 
  The 
  ancient 
  name 
  (nto"/<i") 
  was 
  trans- 
  

   ferred 
  without 
  change 
  from 
  the 
  flint 
  to 
  the 
  metal 
  knife. 
  The 
  name 
  

   for 
  the 
  stone 
  ax, 
  mo 
  n 
  'pepe, 
  was 
  similarly 
  transferred 
  to 
  the 
  metal 
  ax; 
  

   that 
  for 
  "hoe," 
  we'e, 
  was 
  afterward 
  given 
  to 
  the 
  plow. 
  Sooner 
  or 
  

   later 
  all 
  stone 
  implements 
  yielded 
  to 
  those 
  of 
  iron 
  and 
  the 
  chipping 
  

  

  