6 THE MYTHOLOGY OF THE WICHITA. 
above the ground. Here they worked and rested in the shade during 
the summer months. A third structure was the corn drying arbor, 
varying in size from ten to twenty feet square and reached by a ladder 
made of a single notched slender tree. Upon this was placed not only 
corn, but meat, etc., to dry, while from its sides and underneath were 
suspended great masses of pumpkins cut into long, thin strips and 
beautifully braided, for which purpose a specially constructed pounder 
was used. Reference is frequently made in the tales to a sleeping arbor, 
upon which it was formerly the custom to make beds for the maidens; 
these were usually smaller in size than the corn drying arbors. In 
addition to the structures described, the Wichita also made use of the 
skin tipi, when on the march, and the sweat-lodge. These differed in 
no essential particular from those used by other Plains tribes. The 
houses were grouped in villages, which occupied the lower levels of a 
hill slope in some well-watered valley. 
The clothing of the men, as a rule, consisted of a loin cloth and 
moccasins. This was supplemented by leggings and the buffalo robe. 
The shirt, such as worn by the northern Plains tribes, was not known. 
The costume of the women consisted of a skirt, generally of buckskin or 
of young buffalo hide, tanned on both sides and wound around the 
- waist and reaching below the knees. The feet and lower legs were en- 
cased in moccasin leggings. It has been said that the women formerly 
wore an apron made of bark, but the Wichita deny this. 
The basis of the social organization of the four tribes was that of 
the village, at the head of which was a chief and a sub-chief. Ejection 
to the chieftainship was never through heredity alone, it being neces- 
sary that the chief’s son should show not only marked ability, but 
bravery and generalship equal to that of his father. It was possible, as 
the stories themselves abundantly illustrate, for the youngest and mean- 
est born boy of the village, through exhibition of bravery, to rise to 
the position of chieftainship. But more than bravery was necessary, 
for the aspirant to this high place must have won the love and respect 
of the members of his tribe by acts of generosity and kindness cover- 
ing the entire period of his life. The power of electing the chief was 
in the hands of the head warriors, who virtually controlled the village, 
and could make or unmake a chief, as they wished. Next in rank to 
the chief was a leader, whose title was The-One-Who-Locates (Oko- 
nitsa), and whose duty it was to be constantly on the lookout for better 
village sites. It was he who was responsible for the removal and laying 
out of new villages and for everything, in fact, pertaining to the loca- 
tion of villages. Next in rank were the medicine-men, who were also 
