90 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 68 



The loom and the batten, after havings been ceremonially prepared 

 and consecrated by the No"'ho'^zhi"g"a for the weaving" of the 

 symbolic shrine of the sacred hawk, are believed to have become pos- 

 sessed of mythical power that could bring about not only the defeat 

 of the enemies of the tribe, but punish by misfortune any individual 

 member who might treat with irreverence these consecrated articles. 

 The deer's antler used for a batten in the ceremonial weaving is 

 believed to possess greater mystical power than the loom, because 

 it not only symbolizes the sacred arrows of the Wazhazhe sub- 

 division, but also the arrows of all the warriors of the tribe. 



STUDY OF THE FOX, SAUK AND POTAWATOMI INDIANS 

 Dr. Truman Michelson, of the Bureau of American Ethnology, 

 left Washington on July ii, for field research among the Foxes near 

 Tama, Iowa. Here he revised the texts pertaining to the White 

 Bufifalo Dance, obtained the esoteric meanings of the songs in these 

 texts, and elucidated certain obscure passages. A part of the socio- 

 logical work of the previous year was duplicated as a check. Lists 

 of ceremonial organizations were made, and the names of the 

 " officers " and the triljal dual divisions of these w^ere secured. It 

 was discovered that at least certain gentes have names for dogs and 

 horses appropriate only to those belonging to members of given 

 gentes ; accordingly a number of such names was collected. A list 

 of native terms of fishes and grubs was secured. A number of 

 ceremonies (including the Snake Dance, which is rarely given, and 

 some burials) were witnessed. 



Near the close of September Dr. Michelson proceeded to the Mis- 

 souri Sauks, who are partly in Kansas, partly in Nebraska. It soon 

 became apparent that all who were worthy of ethnologic study had 

 joined the Potawatomi in Kansas. Proceeding among the latter 

 he spent a couple of days working with the Sauks, mainly on socio- 

 logical matters. It appears that the regulations governing member- 

 ship in the tribal dual division are not the same as among the Foxes 

 of Iowa ; nor are they apparently in absolute agreement with those 

 of the Sauks of Oklahoma. Considering the brief stay with the 

 Potawatomi, work was exceptionally successful. The phonetics of 

 their language are rather complicated, some of the consonants at 

 once recalling similar Delaware ones. A good beginning was made 

 in regard to sociology, though details in many cases must be supplied 

 later. It appears that the tribe is organized in exogamic groups with 

 totemic names, with descent in the male line. The chieftainship 



