326 OMAHA SOCIOLOGY. 



§ 209. Capture of horses. — Two men who are active go to steal horses 

 from the enemy. This departure is called "^i-gaqa afai," they have 

 gone to get the better of (those in) the lodges (of the enemy), and is 

 explained by " wama^f-a" a$ai," they have gone to steal. The two men 

 may go together or may separate and try to steal horses at whatever 

 places they can find any. Should these followers fail, two of the offi- 

 cers must make an attempt. These officers may be either the captains 

 or the lieutenants. Sometimes a youth steals off from the warriors, 

 and tries to capture a horse. The policemen try to prevent this, as the 

 youth might alarm the foe. No matter who captures the horses, he 

 must deliver them to the two principal captains. If many horses have 

 been captured, the men take them to a safe distance, and then they are 

 distributed among the members of the party. He who captured the 

 horses is always the first to receive one from the captains. Each of the 

 (principal) captains has his special followers, who are obliged to bring 

 to him all the horses which they capture. And the captain, in like 

 manner, shares his booty with his followers. Thus, when < ja^i n -na n pajl 

 captured horses from the Dakotas, when he was one of the captains, 

 he distributed eight horses among his own followers. (See p. 442, Part 

 I, Vol. VI, Contributions to N. A. Ethnology.) When he recovered 

 the horses from the enemy, the warriors thanked him, saying that on 

 account of his act they would not be compelled to make their feet 

 sore from walking home. When but few horses have been taken, only 

 the elder men receive them ; but when many have been captured, all of 

 the party share alike. 



§ 210. Preparations for attacking the enemy. — Before the attack is 

 made, it is usually the custom for scouts to make a thorough survey of 

 the enemy's camp. So, when Two Crows led his party against the Yank- 

 tons, in 1854, and had discovered the proximity of the foe, he first 

 sent one of the lieutenants, c ja$i n -na n paji, to count the lodges. On his 

 return, another lieutenant, Sin'de-xa n 'xa n , was sent by Two Crows, for 

 the purpose of learning if the enemy were sleeping. The latter having 

 reported, Two Crows himself, being one of the captains, went with 

 Srnde-xa n/ xa n to make a final examination. Having ascertained the lo- 

 cation of the sleepers, they returned to their party, and began the attack 

 at midnight. When jjahe^jiuga and Mku^ib£a n had led a small party 

 against the Pawnee Loups, they sent back a messenger to the Omaha 

 camp, and when four scouts were sent from the camp, Wabaskaha, who 

 was one of the small war party, deceived them, sayingthat the Cheyennes 

 were in the camp near at hand. Then many of the Omahas joined the 

 small party changing it into a nuda n hi n -;auga. This was after the death 

 of the chief Black Bird, in the early part of this century. When the 

 main body of the Omahas had joined the others, they proceeded without 

 delay to surprise the camp of the Pawnees. Having arrived just at the 

 outsideof the village, they crawled towards it in perfect silence, goingby 

 twenties, each one holding the hand of the man next to him. The captain, 



