4 THE, MYTHOLOGY OF Wii wWiICi tT A, 
In culture, the Wichita belonged to the southern Plains group, 
and the pursuit of the buffalo was secondary to that of agriculture. 
Even to-day their cornfields are not inconsiderable, and with encourage- 
ment would become a source of great profit to them; for apparently 
throughout their whole career they have been devoted to agriculture, 
raising large crops of corn, beans, melons, etc. The produce of their 
fields was, of course, supplemented by the flesh of the buffalo and other 
wild game, but unlike the more nomadic tribes of the north they were 
by no means dependent upon the buffalo. As among the Pawnee, many 
of their inost important ceremonies were concerned with the cultivation 
of their fields. 
The Wichita were village-dwellers, occupying substantial and 
spacious habitations of a bee-hive shape, commonly known as “grass- 
lodges,” of which a few still remain, and the construction of which has’ 
not been entirely given up. In building this lodge, upright forks of 
cedar are erected, varying in number from eight to fourteen or six- 
teen, according to the size of the lodge desired. ‘Transverse beams, | 
also of cedar, connect these forks. Leaning against them, one end rest- 
ing on the ground, and so placed as to form a circle, are long, slender 
cedar poles, which are united at the top. Transversely over this frame- 
work are placed long, slender, decorticated willow poles, held in position 
by thongs of slippery elm bark. A long, coarse, bunch grass is spread 
over the entire surface in layers, beginning at the bottom and continuing 
upward till the top is reached. The grass covering is held in place by 
additional slender willow poles. Where these poles cross the uprights 
bunches of grass are tied. 
The lodges vary in diameter from fifteen to thirty feet. The beds 
are two or three feet from the ground and are arranged around the 
wall, the upright forks serving to mark the position of the beds. The 
number of beds varies according to the size of the lodge, six being the 
usual number, while twelve is not an extraordinary number. Houses 
of diminutive size are occasionally built to hold a single family. The 
lodge has two openings, about two feet wide and three and a half feet 
high, one on the east and one on the west side. Each opening is pro- 
vided with a door made of grass over a willow framework. These 
doors do not move on hinges, but are easily set aside, either from within 
or from without. The eastern door is usually left open in the morn- 
ing, while the western door is used in the afternoon. Generally a similar 
opening is found on the south side of the lodge. This at the present 
time is not used as a door, and seems to be a survival of a time when 
the lodges had both a north and south door, which, however, were used 
