324 OMAHA SOCIOLOGY. 



§ 205. New names talcen. — When the warriors have been four nights 

 on the way, excluding' the night of departure from the village, the war- 

 riors generally take new names. But if any one likes his old name he 

 can retain it. According to La Fleche and Two Crows, the ceremony 

 is very simple. The captain tells all present that such a man has 

 changed his name ; then he addresses the Deity in the sky and the one 

 under the ground : " Thou Deity on either side, hear it ; hear ye that 

 he has taken another name." 



According to < ja^i n -na n paji, the warriors collect clothing and arrows, 

 which they pile up in the center of the circle. As each man places his 

 property on the pile, he says, " I, too, O war chief, abandon that name 

 which is mine!" (This is probably addressed to the Thunder god.) 

 Then one of the principal captains takes hold of the man by the shoul- 

 ders, and leads him all around the circle, following the course of the 

 sun. When he has finished the circumambulation (which is denied by 

 La Fleche and Two Crows), the captain asks the man, " What name 

 will you have, O warrior?" The man replies, "O war chief, I wish to 

 have such and such a name," repeating the name he wishes to assume. 

 The captain replies, "The warrior is speaking of having a very precious 

 name!" Then one of the men is sent to act as crier, to announce the 

 name to the various deities. The addresses to the deities vary in some 

 particulars. The following was the proclamation of the Ponka, Ciide- 

 gaxe, when the chief, Nuda u '-axa, received his present name : " He is 

 truly speaking, as he sits, of abandoning his name, halloo ! He is in- 

 deed speaking of having the name Cries for- the war-path, halloo! Ye 

 big head-lands, I tell you and send it (my voice) to you that ye may 

 hear it, halloo ! Ye clumps of buffalo grass, I tell you and send it to 

 you that ye may hear it, halloo ! Ye big trees, I tell you and send it 

 to you that ye may hear it, halloo ! Ye birds of all kinds that walk 

 and move on the ground, I tell you and send it to you that ye may 

 hear it, halloo! Ye small animals of different sizes, that walk and 

 move on the ground, I tell you and send it to you that ye may hear it, 

 halloo ! Thus have I sent to you to tell you, O ye animals ! Eight in 

 the ranks of the foe will he kill a very swift man, and come back after 

 holding him, halloo ! He speaks of throwing away the name Naji n/ -ti£e, 

 and he has promised to take the name Nuda n/ -axa, halloo !" The origi- 

 nal $ egiha will be found on pages 372, 373 of Part 1, Vol. YI, " Contribu- 

 tions to K A. Ethnology." According to the Omaha ,jaf i u -ua n paji, the 

 following proclamation was made when he received bis present name ; 

 but this is disputed by La Fleche and Two Crows : 



"He is indeed speaking of abandoning his name! He is indeed speak- 

 ing (as he stands) of having the name, He-fears-not-a-Pawnee when-he- 

 sees-him. Ye deities on either side (i. e., darkness and the ground), I 

 tell you and send it to you that you may hear it, halloo! O Thunder, 

 even you who are moving in a bad humor, I tell you and send it to you 

 that you may hear it, halloo ! O ye big rocks that move, I tell you and 



