DORSET] 



IMPLEMENTS OP BUFFALO HORN. 



277 



to a point, which was tlirust into the grouud wheu ueedeil for use. 



After putting- corn in a mortar of this description, the woman grasped the 



wooden pestle in the middle, with the larger 

 end ujtward ; the smaller end, 

 which was about an inch in 

 diameter, was i)ut into the mortar. 

 The operation of pounding corn 

 among the Omaha was called 

 "he." The mortar (uhe) and pes- 

 tle (wehe) were both made com- 

 monly of elm, although some- 

 times they were fashioned of 

 white oak. Mortars were of 

 various sizes, some of them meas- 

 uring 2 feet in diameter. Pestles 

 were always of hard and heavy 

 wood, and fully 3 feet long, taper- 

 ring from 4 inches to an inch in 



FiG.3u..-omaha diameter. 



pestle. 



i'lQ. 313.— Omaha mortar. 



Spoons, Ladles, and Drinking Vessels. 



Spoons were made of horn, wood, or pottery. The black spoons made 

 of buffalo horn (jebe sab6), are not used by such Omaha as belong to the 

 Buffalo gentes (liikesabc', (|!atada, j^esinde, etc.) which may not touch 

 a buffalo head. Otlier horn spoons of light color are made of cow horn. 

 These are of modern origin. Wooden spoons (ja"^ehe) were made of 

 knobs or knots of trees. Spoons made of buffalo horn are found among 

 the Omaha and Poiikn, Viut the Osage, Kansa, and Kwapa use clam 

 shells (:^ihaba, in (^'egiha; tciihaba, tciihuba, in Kansa), so the Kansa 

 call a small spoon, tciihaba jinga. Spoons of buffalo horn had their 

 handles variously ornamented by notches and other rude carving, often 

 terminating in the head of a bird, the neck or handle of each being 

 elevated at an angle of 50° or 60° with the bowl, which was about 3 

 inches in width by about 5 in length. As the handle of such a spoon 

 usiuilly terminates in a head or hook, it was impossible for it to slip 

 into the bowl when the hook rested on the outside of the rim of the 

 bowl. 



Food was served in bowls of a very wide and simple form and of 

 various sizes, generally carved out of large knots of wood. These 

 served as drinking cur)s (ni'icf'ilta"), but now cups of tin or earthenware 

 are used for that purpose. 



Water Vessels. 



When pottery was made, they used bowls and kettles. Some used 

 wooden bowls of diflfereut sizes, the largest being about 3 feet in 

 diameter. When they went on the hunt, they used the inijeha (or 

 sack made of the muscular coating of the buffalo i>aunch, by filling 



