STUDY FROM THE OMAHA TRIBE: IMPORT OF THE TOTEM. 585 



eutraiice camped the We'zlim-shte — a symbolic name probably mean- 

 ing- the representatives of anger. The We'-zhi»-shte were Elk people, 

 having in charge the Sacred Tent of War, in which the worship of 

 Thunder, as well as all rites i)ertaiuing to war, of which Thunder was 

 the god, took place. 



It would lead too far afield to follow at great length the interrela- 

 tions of the gentesj or the dominance of position and leadership in 

 tribal rites and ceremonies conceded to certain gentes; or to indicate 

 the scars left upon the Hu'-dhu ga by the breaking away of groups of 

 kindred ; or the devices used to keep intact an ancient form and order. 

 The point to be borne in mind is, that the position of the gentes in the 

 tribe, and the interlacing of their functions, were regulated by the 

 ascription of different powers to their totems; and that the unification 

 and strengthening of the tribal structure, as in the unification and 

 strengthening of the gens, depended upon the restraining fear of super- 

 natural punishment by the totemic powers. 



In this rapid review of Omaha beliefs and customs connected with 

 the totem, many observances have not even been mentioned, and of 

 those indicated the details have had to be omitted in order to keep 

 strictly within the limits of our subject, but the fundamental ideas 

 which have been briefly considered will be found to underlie all rites 

 and ceremonies within the tribe. 



Linguistic evidence as to the totem. — We turn now to the language for 

 further evidence as to the import of the totem. 



The name of the concrete sign of the vision is Wa-/ra'-be, a sacred 

 thing. The word is applied to sacred objects other than the totem, 

 such as the sacred pole, the sacred tents, the sacred tribal pipes, etc. 



The name of a religious society always included the name of the 

 manifestation of the vision of its members. For instance, the Bear 

 society was called Wa-tha'be i'-dha-e-dhe — literally rendered, the 

 Bear with or by compassion — that is, those upon whom the Bear had 

 compassion. I'-dha-e-dhe implies that this compassion, this pity, was 

 aroused by a human being making a personal appeal, either by his 

 destitute appearance or the moving character of his supplication. 

 Usage forbade the application of this word to any emotion excited by 

 animal life; it could only express a feeling between man and man, or 

 between man and the manifestation of Wa-Kow'-da. It did not repre- 

 sent an abstract idea, as of a virtue, but a feeling awakened by direct 

 contact with need. In the prayer already cited as a part of the rite of 

 the vision, the man makes a direct appeal to Wa-iiow'-da ("Wa-kowda! 

 here needy I stand"), and reference to this act is made in the employ- 

 ment of the word i'dha-e-dhe in the term designating the Religious 

 societies. 



The name of a gens indicated its totem, or the characteristic of the 

 group of totems in a composite gens. When the people of a gens were 

 spoken of in reference to their totem, the word i'-ni-ka shi-ki-dhe was 



