22 Virginia Shropshire Heath 



character." Hence, the two great ceremonials referred to, general 

 as they are in practice among plains and eastern woodland peoples, 

 have been fixed upon for illustrative purposes. The Hako was 

 a wide-spread observance among plains Indians, indeed, where- 

 ever agriculture had gained a foothold, and certain features of the 

 Omaha " rites of the individual " were common to most plains and 

 eastern woodland folk. 



The Pawnee Hako^ 



The Hako, so called from certain of its sacred media, has a two- 

 fold purpose : " First, to benefit certain individuals by bringing to 

 them the promise of children, long life, and plenty; second, to 

 affect the social relations of those who took part in it by establish- 

 ing a bond between two distinct groups of persons belonging to 

 different clans, gentes, or tribes^ which was to insure between them 

 friendship and peace." " The meaning flows from a fundamental 

 human relationship, that of Father and Son, recognized in two 

 forms, son-by-adoption and son-by-birth." 



Such is the basic significance of the ceremonial as a whole, 

 drawn from the Pawnee's conception of the universe and the 

 relationship therein — the great and all-powerful Sky Father 

 and the old and ever faithful Earth Mother, the Fathering Sun 

 and the Corn Mother, upon all of whom the red men are as chil- 

 dren dependent. In view of the universal significance, the Paw- 

 nee regulate the time of this observance — " in the spring, when the 

 birds are mating," says the old Tahirussawichi, "or in the summer 

 when the birds are nesting and caring for their young, or in the 

 fall when the birds are flocking, but not in the winter when all 

 things are asleep. With the Hako we are praying for the gift of 

 life, of strength, of plenty, and of peace, so we must pray when 

 life is stirring everywhere." 



It is not necessary to follow up the details of the inauguration 

 of the ceremonial and the period of symbolic preparation. Suffice 



1 According to the account obtained by Miss Fletcher from Tahirus- 

 sawichi, a Pawnee priest and keeper of the Hako. See 22d A. R. B. E., 

 Part II, Washington, 1903. See, also, Open Court, 1913, Alexander, 

 " The Mystery of Life." 



398 



