LA FLE8CHE) 



CHILD-NAMING RITE 



87 



Those who were given such names as 0'-po°-to''-ga, Great-elk; 

 Mo°'-thi°-ka-ga-xe, Maker-of-the-land; and Mo°-zho°'-ga-xe, Maker- 

 of-the-earth, know that they are members of the Elk gens whose 

 life symbol is the male elk (36th Ann. Rept. Bur. Amer. Ethn., 

 p. 165, lines 274 to 354) and that the place of their gens is with the 

 Ho^'-ga, the second of the two subdivisions of the Ho^'-ga great 

 tribal division which symbolizes the earth. The Ho^'-ga subdivision 

 typifies the land portion of the earth. 



Men who bear the names Pi-gi', Acorn; U-bu'-dse, Profusion; 

 and No°-bu'-dse, Profusion (by the treading of the eagles on the 

 branches of the red oak tree) know that they are members of the 

 Tsi'-zhu Wa-shta-ge (Peacemaker) gens, that the life symbol of 

 their gens is the red oak tree, the emblem of fruitfulness, and that 



Fig. 5.— Totemic cut of the Omaha boys' hair. No. 1 is typical of the head and tail of the elk. No. 2 sym- 

 bolizes the head, tail, and horns of the buffalo. No. 2a— the children of this subgens and those of the 

 .Mi-ni'-ba-to" subgens of other gentes have their hair cut alike; the locks on each side of the bared crown 

 indicate the horns of the butlalo. No. 3 represents the Une of the bulTalo's back as seen against the sky. 

 No. 4b stands for the head of the bear. No. 4c figures the head, tail, and body of small birds. No. 4d, 

 the bare head, represents the shell of the turtle; and the tufts, the head, feet, and tail of the animal. No. 

 4c pictures the head, wings, and tail of the eagle. No. 5 symbolizes the four points of the compass con- 

 nected by cross lines; the central tuft points to the zenith. No. 6 represents the shaggy side of the wolf. 

 No. 7 indicates the horns and tail of the buffalo. No. 8 stands for the head and tail of the deer. No. 9 

 shows the head, tail, and knobs of the growing horn of the butTalo calf. No. 10 symbolizes reptile teeth. 

 The children ot this gens sometimes have the hair shaved off so as to represent the hairless body of snakes. 



the place of their gens in the tribal organization is with the Tsi'-zhu, 

 the second of the two great tribal divisions which symbolizes the 

 sky, including the sun, moon and stars that move tnerein. (See 

 36th Ann. Rept. Bur. Amer. Ethn., p. 281, Imes 111 to 120.) 



The Gentile Hair Cut of Children 



Another custom, akin to the taking of personal gentUe names, was 

 originated by the ancient No'"-ho''-zhi°-ga, that of the adoption by 

 each of the various gentes of the tribe of a particular style of hair 

 cut for the young children to typify one of the life symbols of the 

 gens. (Fig. 5.) The style adopted by the Ho^'-ga gens of the 

 Ho°'-ga tribal subdivision for their children was that of cutting 

 nearly all the hair of the head close to the skin, leaving an unbroken 



