DORSEY.j THE GOVERNMENT — CHIEFS. 357 



of the sacred pipes, and the wafa" are of a civil character. The chiefs 

 are religious officers during the buffalo hunt; they are always praying 

 to Wakanda, and showing the pipes to him. They do not act as lead- 

 ers of the hunt, which is the office of the wafa n , though they can make 

 suggestions to the latter. They caunot draw their robes tightly around 

 them when they are thus praying, and they must be sober and gentle. 



The keepers of tbe sacred pipes are regarded as chiefs in some sense, 

 though they are not allowed to speak in the tribal assembly. " Each 

 chief is a member of the tribal assembly, though he is not a chief by 

 virtue of such membership, but by choice of the members of his gens." 

 While the chieftainship is not hereditary, each chief tries to have one 

 of his near kinsmen elected as his successor. 



§ 284. Head chiefs.— Those of the highest grade are the " nikagahi 

 uju," or principal chiefs. There have always been two of this rank 

 among the Omahas till the late change of the government in 18" 0. The 

 head chiefs have generally been chosen from the Hangacenu gentes, 

 though there is no law forbidding the selection of a member of one of 

 the Ictasanda gentes. 



The following is the succession of the principal chiefs of the Omahas 

 from the time of the celebrated Black Bird : 



I. Gahige-^anga, The Elder Gahige, commonly called Wajinga-sabe, 

 Black Bird, of the Ma n £inka-gaxe (an Ictasanda) gens; and j,e-sa n - 

 i n c'age, The Elder j^e-sa 11 , or The Venerable man, Distant-white Buffalo, 

 of the $atada (Hangacenu) gens. II. ^e-sa" iVage {continued), and 

 A n pa n -ska, White Elk, of the Weji n cte (a Hangacenu) gens. III. j,e- 

 sa n i u c'age (continued), and A n pa n 4anga, Big Elk, of the Weji n cte gens, 

 subsequently known by his Pawnee name, Ta-i'-ki-ta'-wa-hu. This was 

 the celebrated Big Elk mentioned by Long, Say, and others in 1819-'20. 

 IV. Taikitawahu, and tJha n -jinga or Wahaxi, called Icta-^anga, Big 

 Eyes, by the white men. The latter was an Ictasanda man. He mar- 

 ried a sister of G^eda n -naji n , and this was one reason why the latter 

 succeeded him as one of the principal chiefs. V. In 1843, A n pa n -^anga 

 jifiga, the Younger Big Elk, of the Weji n cte gens, and G<feda n -naji n , 

 Standing Hawk, of the $atada gens. Another reason for the appoint- 

 ment of the latter was the friendship existing between his father, ^e- 

 sa n , and Taikitawahu. VI. On the death of A n pa n -}anga, his adopted 

 son, Icta-ma n z6, Iron Eyes, or Joseph La Fleche, was made his sue 

 cessor, and so he and G<j:eda n -naji Q were the principal chiefs till the 

 former was set aside. Since then there has been confusion about the 

 head chieftainship, as well as about the chieftainship in general, ending 

 in the election of seven chiefs of equal rauk in 1880. 



§ 2S5. Subordinate chiefs. — Next to the nikagahi uju are the under 

 chiefs, or nikagahi, of whom the number in each tribe varies from time 

 to time. When both of the head chiefs retire from office or die there 

 is an entire change of the subordinate chiefs; all must resign, and others 

 must be elected to fill their places. Thus when A n pa n -;anga jifiga and 



