282 



OMAHA DWELLINGS, FURNITURE, ETC. 



[ETH. ANN. 13 



Two kinds of rattles were called '4a cAge, i. e., "deers-claws," from 

 the composition of one variety, though the other was made of molars 

 of the elk. 



The Omaha used three styles of drums. The (f6xe-gaj[u b((:aska, or 

 flat drum, is illustrated by a specimen (no. 21675) in the Natioua] 

 Museum. The (('^xe-gajiu gad^.je is made of biifialo hide, cowhide, or" 



the skin of a horse. An example 

 of this drum (no. 24682) is also in 

 the National Museum, and is illus- 

 trated by the accompanying figure 

 317. The ja"' 'cfexe-gajn'i, or jfiige 

 ^•exe-gajjii,is a wooden or box drum, 

 rei)resented by the accompanying 

 figure 318, also from a specimen (no. 

 58610) in the National Museum. 



Whistles were made of elder 

 (ba^ucihi, or poi^gun wood) by 

 pushing out the pith. No holes 

 were made in the sides of the tube. 

 Nisiide jail'ga, or large flutes, 

 were made of red cedar. A branch 



Fig. 317.-Skin drum. waS CUt Off, rouuded, Split OpCU 



with a knife, and hollowed out; then six holes were made in the side 

 of one of them, and the halves were stuck together again. When one 

 of these instruments is blown it produces quavering notes. The best 

 specimens were made by jAfi°!;aii'ga, Big Pawnee. 



Fig. 318 Box drum. 



The large flute is illustrated in figure 319. ^ Wahi nisiide, or bone 

 flutes, were made of the long bones from the eagle wing. These small 

 flutes have only one hole. Reed flutes, fiq(('e nisude, were made of a 

 kind of reed which grows south of the Omaha territory, probably in 



1 Compare Bee Hfe, " AMM 129-8429, Gray and Matthews," in the National Museum. 



