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



used immediately following that of the totem. For instance, the Thunder 

 people — the tw-shta-thuw-da gens — were called In-gdhaw-i'-ni-kashi-ki- 

 dhe — iw-gdhaw', thunder; i'-ni-ka-shi-lii dhe is a composite word, mean- 

 ing, they make themselves a people with — that is, with thunder they 

 make themselves or become a people. The We'-zhiw-shte gens, the Elk 

 people, were called Ow-po?^-i'-ni-ka-shi-ki-dhe — ow-pow elk — with the 

 Elk they make themselves a people. The word i'-ni-ka-shi-ki-dhe 

 clearly indicates the constructive character of the totem in the gens. 



The set of names which belonged to each gens referred to the sign or 

 totem of a family group. These names were called ni'-ki-e, spoken by 

 a chief, or originated by a chief. The word ni'-ki-e points to the forma- 

 tive period when means were being devised to transform the family 

 into a distinct jjolitical group; it argues a central authority, a man, a 

 chief. The individual names which he bestowed allude solely to the 

 power behind the chief, the manifestation of his vision represented by 

 his totem, in the favor of which he and his kindred had made them- 

 selves a people, i'-ni-ka-shi-ki-dhe. 



The Osage equivalent of the Omaha word i'-ni-ka-shi-ki-dhe is zho'i- 

 ga-ra, meaning associated with. The Otoe word used for the same 

 purpose is ki'-gra-jhe, they call themselves. 



The word for tribe, u-ki'-te, when used as a verb, means to fight, to 

 war against outside enemies, indicating that the need of mutual help 

 impelled the various Ton' -won-gdhon (gentes) to band together for self- 

 preservation ; but the order of their grouping was, as we have seen, 

 controlled by their totems. 



Summary. — In the word for tribe, in the formation of the gens within 

 the tribe, and in the rite which brought the individual into what he 

 believed to be direct communication with Wa-Iiow' da, we trace the work- 

 ings of ma.n's consciousness of insecurity and dependence, and see his 

 struggles to comprehend his environment, and to bring himself into 

 helpful relations with the supernatural. And we find in this study of 

 the Omaha totem that while the elements, the animals, and the fruits 

 of the eartb were all related to man through a common life, this relation 

 ran along discrete lines, and that, his appeal for help once granted, 

 relief could only be summoned by means of the Wa-7iu'-be, the sacred 

 object, the totem, which brought along its special line the desired 

 supernatural aid. 



It is noteworthy that the totems of individuals, as far as known, and 

 those of the gentes, represented the same class of objects or phenomena, 

 and, as totems could be obtained in but one way — through the rite of 

 the vision — the totem of a gens must have come into existence in that 

 manner, and must have represented the manifestation of an ancestor's 

 vision, that of a man whose ability and opportunity served to make 

 him the founder of a family, of a group of kindred who dwelt together, 

 fought together, and learned the value of united strength. 



