32 Virginia Shropshire Heath 



certain religious rites of his gens, which he must observe, to- 

 gether with the penalties attached to their violation. 



We bashna or " To-Cut-the-Hair " 



So ends the first ritual, but for the boy there is still another 

 observance. Destined to become a warrior — and every Omaha 

 man must fit himself to defend home and tribe — the boy's life is 

 further consecrated to Thunder, as the god of war, by another 

 priest whose special duty it is. 



Leading the boy to the west side of the fire, the officiating 

 priest faces him towards the east. He selects a lock of hair from 

 the crown of the boy's head, ties it, and cuts it ofif, laying it away 

 in a sacred case. As he performs this act, he sings, — 



" Grandfather ! far above on high, 

 The hair like a shadow passes before you. 

 Grandfather! far above on high, 



Dark like a shadow the hair sweeps before you into the midst of 

 your reahn," 



The severing of the lock, a potent determiner of life and death 

 in the Indian mind, implies the consecration of the boy's life to 

 Thunder, the power controlling the warrior's destiny. Symbolic- 

 ally this hair-oft'ering with all its vital significance is sent to the 

 Thunder God, who in the following song is represented as accept- 

 ing the life pledge to him and as declaring his determination to 

 do with it as he pleases : 



" What time I will, then only then, 

 A man lies dead, a gruesome thing, 

 What time I will, then suddenly 



etc. 



Like a shadow dark the man shall lie," 



What else may occur before the final song, is not recorded. 

 The concluding chant, however, is an invocation to the flames, the 

 third of the cosmic forces according to the Omaha : 



" Come hither, haste to help me, 

 Ye flames, ye flames, O come ! 



408 



