128 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 194 



would be hit on the base of the spine producing a purple mark which 

 was distinguishable for several months after birth. 



If a pregnant woman ate the pancreas, or kiUed snakes or any 

 animals, she would have a difficult delivery. She should not eat or 

 look at a rabbit or the child would have a split lip. If she ate eggs, it 

 was believed that the child would awaken early in the morning and 

 keep the people awake. She should not quarrel and become angry or 

 the child might come too soon and die. If she braided grass and made 

 a ring of it, or picked up a ring of braided grass, the male child might be 

 deformed. It was believed that working in the cornfield was good for 

 a pregnant woman, for the baby would then be strong but not so large 

 as to make delivery difficult. The older women would tell their 

 daughters having their first babies that if they kept busy and did not 

 think about it, the delivery was always easier. 



Kegardless of residence, it was customary for a woman to give birth 

 to her first baby at her mother's lodge assisted by her female clans- 

 women. Various household rites were employed when delivery was 

 difficult. If delivery was further delayed, her husband's sister and 

 mother were expected to contribute assistance. If their measures 

 failed, certain women having both sacred rites and practical knowledge 

 relating to childbirth were called in and paid to assist the women. 

 The otter was believed to possess the supernatural power to make 

 delivery easier. Other doctors used black root, scrapings from the 

 turtle, or pulverized rattlesnake rattles taken with water to induce 

 delivery. 



It was the maternal grandmother's responsibility to care for the 

 chUd, and bury the placenta or wrap it and place it out of the reach of 

 animals. The child was wrapped in soft tanned hide and placed in a 

 cradle made of buffalo hide. The household group made the cradle, 

 the men providing a young buffalo's hide which the women tanned 

 prior to cutting and sewing the parts together. 



The chUd was taken from the cradle twice a day to be washed and 

 cleaned. The rites of naming the child were viewed as the formal way of 

 introducing him to his father's relatives. Often a child was named by 

 the maternal grandfather living in the lodge and only a nominal 

 payment was made for the service. When the child was named by 

 someone outside of the household — a "distant" father or father's 

 sister — it was customary to procure a supply of fresh meat and garden 

 products, take the chUd to the person giving the name, and pay him 

 with the food. The richer families usually gave a horse also. The 

 name given was taken from some incident or association with the 

 name-giver's sacred bundle. The person giving the name would first 

 pray to his or her medicine bundles. When a boy was to be named, 

 one would ask his sacred things to give him good health so that when 



