146 



OREGON JARGON OREJONES 



[b. a. e. 



khogean tribes was with similar intent, 

 as also were the emetics just referred to 

 in use among the Virginian peoples. 



While undergoing initiation into a 

 secret society on the n. Pacific coast a 

 youth fasted, and for a certain period 

 disappeared into the woods, where he 

 was supposed to commune with the spirit 

 of the society in complete solitude. Any 

 one discovering a Kwakiutl youth at this 

 time could slay him and obtain the secret 

 society jirivileges in his stead. On the 

 plains the principal participants in the 

 Sundance (q. v.) had skewers run through 

 the fleshy parts of their backs, to which 

 thongs were attached, fastened at the 

 other end to the Sun-dance pole. Some- 

 times a person was drawn up so high as 

 barely to touch the ground and afterward 

 would throw his weight against the 

 skewers until they tore their way out. 

 Another participant would have the 

 thongs fastened toaskull, which he pulled 

 around the entire camping circle, and no 

 matter what obstacles impeded his prog- 

 ress he was not allowed to touch either 

 thongs or skull with his hands. During 

 the ceremony of Dakhpike, or Nakhpike, 

 among the Hidatsa, devotees ran arrows 

 through their muscles in different parts 

 of their bodies; and on one occasion a 

 warrior is known to have tied a thirsty 

 horse to his body by means of thongs 

 passed through holes in his flesh, after 

 which he led him to water, restrained 

 him from drinking without touching his 

 hands to the thongs, and brought him 

 back in triumph. The special ordeal of 

 a Cheyenne society was to walk with 

 bare feet on hot coals. A person initi- 

 ated into the Chippewa and Menominee 

 society of the Midewiwin was "shot" 

 with a medicine bag and immediately 

 fell on his face. By making him fall 

 on his face a secret society spirit or the 

 guardian spirit of a N. W. coast shaman 

 also made itself felt. When introduced 

 into the Omaha society, called Wash- 

 ashka, one was shot in the Adam's apple 

 l)y something said to be taken from the 

 head of an otter. As part of the cere- 

 mony of initiation among the Hopi a man 

 had to take a feathered prayer-stick to 

 a distant spring, running all the way, 

 and return within a certain time; and 

 chosen men of the Zuni were obliged to 

 walk to a lake 45 m. distant, clothed only 

 in the l^reech-cloth and so exposed to the 

 rays of the burning sun, in order to de- 

 posit plume-sticks and pray for rain. 

 Among the same peojjle one of the or- 

 deals to which an initiate into the Priest- 

 hood of the Bow was subjected was to sit 

 naked for hours on a large ant-hill, his 

 flesh exposed to the torment of myriads 

 of ants. At the time of the winter solstice 

 the Hopi priests sat naked in a circle and 



suffered gourds of ice-cold water to l)e 

 dashed over them. Ordeals of this kind 

 enter so intimately into ceremonies of 

 initiation that it is often difficult to dis- 

 tinguish them. 



Certain regulations were also gone 

 through before war expeditions, hunting 

 excursions, or the preparation of medi- 

 cines. Medicines were generally com- 

 pounded by individuals after fasts, absti- 

 nence from women, and isolation in the 

 woods or mountains. Before going to 

 hunt the leader of a party fasted for a 

 certain length of time and counted off so 

 many days until one arrived which he 

 considered his lucky day. On the N. W. 

 coast the warriors bathed in the sea in 

 winter time, after which they whipped 

 each other with branches, and until the 

 first encounter took place they fasted 

 and abstained from water as much as 

 possible. Elsewhere warriors were in 

 the habit of resorting to the sweat-lodge. 

 Among the tribes of the E. and some 

 others prisoners were forced to run be- 

 tween two lines of people armed with 

 clubs, tomahawks, and other weapons, 

 and he who reached the chief's house ora 

 certain mark in safety was preserved. 1 n- 

 asmuch as the object behind most tor- 

 tures was to break down the victim's 

 self-command and extort from him some 

 indication of weakness, while the aim of 

 the victim was to show an unmoved coun- 

 tenance, flinging back scorn and defiance 

 at his tormentors until the very last, 

 burning at the stake and its accompany- 

 ing horrors partook somewhat of the 

 nature of an ordeal. (j. r. s. ) 



Oregon jargon, Oregon trade language. 

 See (Jdnook jargon. 



Orehaoue, A Cayuga chief who opposed 

 the Jesuits and caused- Father Carheil's 

 withdrawal. He aided the English of 

 Albany in preventing Penn's purchase of 

 Susquehanna lands, and visited De la 

 Barre in 1684. In 1687 Denonville sei7.ed 

 him and sent him to France. He was then 

 called Goiguenha [Cayuga] -Oreouahe, and 

 often Taweeratt; also Wahawa by the 

 Onondaga. In 1688 the Cayuga wished 

 for "Taweeratt, the chief warrior of 

 Cayouge, who is lamented amongst them 

 every day." Returning in 1689, Oreha- 

 oue became attached to Count Frontenac 

 and fought for the French. He died in 

 1698 and was buried with high honors 

 as "a worthy Frenchman and good 

 Christian." (w. m. b. ) 



Orejones (Span.: 'big-eared people'). 

 Indians of the N. W. coast. As the wear- 

 ing of lip, nose, and ear ornaments is 

 common among Indians on the northern 

 coasts, Taylor (Cal. Farmer, Aug. 24, 

 1863) believes there can be little doubt 

 that the word Oregon is derived from 

 the Spanish nickname, used to distin- 



