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[Transcriber's Note:

The letters a-i, upper case and lower case, enclosed in square brackets
are script font. All other letters enclosed in square brackets are
rotated 180 degrees.

Letters preceded by a caret are superscript.

Characters enclosed by curly braces and underscore are subscript.

Italics delimited by underscores.

Bold delimited with equal signs.

Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation are as in the original.]




OMAHA SOCIOLOGY.

BY

REV. J. OWEN DORSEY.

Third Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of
the Smithsonian Institution, 1881-82, Government Printing Office,
Washington, 1884, pages 205-370.




SIOUAN ALPHABET.

[This is given to explain the pronunciation of the Indian words in the
following paper]


  a, as in _father_.
  `a, an initially exploded a.
  ă, as in _what_.
  `ă, an initially exploded ă.
  ä, as in _hat_.
  c, as sh in _she_. See ś.
  ᴐ, a medial _sh_, a sonant-surd.
  ¢ (Dakota letter), as _ch_ in _church_.
  ç, as _th_ in _thin_.
  [ç], a medial ç, sonant-surd.
  ¢, as _th_ in _the_.
  e, as in _they_.
  `e, an initially exploded e.
  ě, as in _get_.
  `ě, an initially exploded ě.
  g, as in _go_.
  ġ (in Dakota), _gh_. See x.
  ḣ (in Dakota), _kh_, etc. See q.
  i, as in _machine_.
  `i, an initially exploded i.
  ĭ, as in _pin_.
  j, as _z_ in _azure_, or as _j_ in French _Jacques_.
  ʞ, a medial k, a sonant-surd.
  k', an exploded k.
  ñ, as _ng_ in _sing_.
  hn, its initial sound is expelled from the nostrils, and is scarcely
      heard.
  o, as in _no_.
  `o, an initially exploded o.
  [p], a medial b (or p), a sonant-surd.
  p', an exploded p.
  q, as German _ch_ in _ach_. See ḣ.
  [s], a medial s (or z), a sonant-surd.
  ś (in Dakota), as _sh_ in _she_. See c.
  ʇ, a medial t, a sonant-surd.
  t', an exploded t.
  u, as _oo_ in _tool_.
  `u, an initially exploded u.
  ŭ, as _oo_ in _foot_.
  ṵ, a sound between o and u.
  ü, as in German _kühl_.
  x, _gh_, or nearly the Arabic _ghain_. See ġ.
  dj, as _j_ in _judge_.
  tc, as _ch_ in _church_. See ć.
  tc', an exploded tc.
  ʇᴐ, a medial tᴐ, a sonant-surd.
  ʇ[s], a medial ts, a sonant-surd.
  ts', an exploded ts.
  ź (in Dakota), as _z_ in _azure_, etc. See j.
  ai, as in _aisle_.
  au, as _ow_ in _cow_.
  yu, as _u_ in _tune_.

The following have the ordinary English sounds: b, d, h, k, l, m, n, p,
r, s, t, w, y, and z. A superior n (^n) after a vowel nasalizes it. A
plus sign (+) after any letter prolongs it.

With the exception of the five letters taken from Riggs' Dakota
Dictionary, and used only in the Dakota words in this paper, the above
letters belong to the alphabet adopted by the Bureau of Ethnology.




CONTENTS.


                                                                 Page.

  CHAPTER I.--INTRODUCTION                                         211
    Early migrations of the ₵egiha tribes                          211
    Subsequent migrations of the Omahas                            213
    Present state of the Omahas                                    214

  CHAPTER II.--THE STATE                                           215
    Differentiation of organs in the State                         216
    State classes                                                  216
      Servants                                                     217
    Corporations                                                   218

  CHAPTER III.--THE GENTILE SYSTEM                                 219
    Tribal circles                                                 219
    The Omaha tribal circle                                        219
      Rules for pitching the tents                                 220
    The sacred tents                                               221
    The sacred pipes                                               221
      Gahige's account of the tradition of the pipes               222
      A^n-ba-hebe's account of the same                            222
    Law of membership                                              225
    The Weji^n cte or Elk gens                                     225
    The Iñke-sabe or Black shoulder gens                           228
    The Hañga gens                                                 233
    The ₵atada gens                                                236
      The Wasabe-hit`ajĭ subgens                                   236
      The Wajiñga-¢atajĭ subgens                                   238
      The [T]eda-it`ajĭ subgens                                    239
      The [K]eï^n subgens                                          240
    The Ka^nze gens                                                241
    The Ma^n¢iñka-gaxe gens                                        242
    The [T]e-sinde gens                                            244
    The [T]a-[p]a or Deer-head gens                                245
    The Iñg¢e-jide gens                                            247
    The Ictasanda gens                                             248

  CHAPTER IV.--THE KINSHIP SYSTEM AND MARRIAGE LAWS                252
    Classes of kinship                                             252
      Consanguineous kinship                                       253
      Affinities                                                   255
    Marriage laws                                                  255
      Whom a man or woman cannot marry                             256
      Whom a man or woman can marry                                257
      Importance of the subgentes                                  258
      Remarriage                                                   258

  CHAPTER V.--DOMESTIC LIFE                                        259
    Courtship and marriage customs                                 259
    Domestic etiquette--bashfulness                                262
    Pregnancy                                                      263
    Children                                                       265
    Standing of women in society                                   266
    Catamenia                                                      267
    Widows and widowers                                            267
    Rights of parents and others                                   268
    Personal habits, politeness, etc.                              269
    Meals, etc.                                                    271

  CHAPTER VI.--VISITING CUSTOMS                                    276
    The_calumet_dance                                              276

  CHAPTER VII.--INDUSTRIAL OCCUPATIONS                             283
    Hunting customs                                                283
    Fishing customs                                                301
    Cultivation of the ground                                      302

  CHAPTER VIII.--INDUSTRIAL OCCUPATIONS (CONTINUED)                303
    Food and its preparation                                       303
    Clothing and its preparation                                   310

  CHAPTER IX.--PROTECTIVE INDUSTRIES                               312
    War customs                                                    312
      Defensive warfare                                            312
      Offensive warfare                                            315

  CHAPTER X.--AMUSEMENTS AND CORPORATIONS                          334
    Games                                                          334
    Corporations                                                   342
      Feasting societies                                           342
      Dancing societies                                            342

  CHAPTER XI.--REGULATIVE INDUSTRIES                               356
    The government                                                 356
    Religion                                                       363

  CHAPTER XII.--THE LAW                                            364
    Personal law                                                   364
    Property law                                                   366
    Corporation law                                                367
    Government law                                                 367
    International law                                              368
    Military law                                                   368
    Religious law                                                  368




ILLUSTRATIONS.


                                                                 Page.

  PLATE XXX.--Map showing the migrations of the Omahas
         and cognate tribes                                        212
       XXXI.--Tent of Agaha-wacuce                                 237
      XXXII.--Omaha system of consanguinities                      253
     XXXIII.--Omaha system of affinities                           255

  FIG. 12.--The Omaha tribal circle                                220
       13.--Places of the chiefs, &c., in the tribal assembly      224
       14.--Iñke-sabe tent                                         230
       15.--Iñke-sabe style of wearing the hair                    230
       16.--Iñke-sabe Gentile assembly                             231
       17.--The sacred pole                                        234
       18.--Wasabe-hit`ajĭ style of wearing the hair                237
       19.--[T]e-sinde style of wearing the hair                   244
       20.--The weawa^n or calumet pipe                            277
       21.--Rattles used in the pipe dance                         278
       22.--The Dakota style of tobacco pouch used by the Omahas
           in the pipe dance                                       278
       23.--The position of the pipes, the ear of corn, &c.        279
       24.--Decoration of child's face                             280
       25.--Showing positions of the long tent, the pole, and rows
           of "ʇa" within the tribal circle                        295
       26.--Figures of pumpkins                                    306
       27.--The Webajabe                                           310
       28.--The Weubaja^n                                          311
       29.--Front view of the iron                                 311
       30.--Old Ponka fort                                         314
       31.--Diagram showing places of the guests, messengers, etc. 315
       32.--The banañge                                            336
       33.--The sticks                                             336
       34.--Na^na^n au hă                                          336
       35.--₵ab¢i^n au hă                                          337
       36.--Diagram of the play-ground                             337
       37.--The stick used in playing [P]a¢i^n-jahe                338
       38.--The wa¢igije                                           338
       39.--The stick used in playing I^nti^n-buʇa                 341
       40.--The waq¢eq¢e `a^nsa                                    352
       41.--The Ponka style of hañga-ʞi`a^nze                      359
       42.--The Omaha style of hañga-ʞi`a^nze                      361




OMAHA SOCIOLOGY.

BY J. OWEN DORSEY.




CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTION.


§ 1. The Omaha Indians belong to the ₵egiha group of the Siouan family.
The ₵egiha group may be divided into the Omaha-₵egiha and the
Kwapa-₵egiha. In the former are four tribes, speaking three dialects,
while the latter consists of one tribe, the Kwapas. The dialects are as
follows: Pañka, spoken by the Ponkas and Omahas; Waᴐaᴐe, the Osage
dialect; [K]a^nze, that of the Kansas or Kaws, closely related to the
Waᴐaᴐe; and Ugaqpa, or Kwapa.

§ 2. ₵egiha means, "Belonging to the people of this land," and answers
to the Oto "[T]ᴐiwere," and the Iowa "[T]ᴐeʞiwere." Mr. Joseph La
Flèche, who was formerly a head chief of the Omahas, also said that
₵egiha was about equivalent to "Dakota." When an Omaha was challenged in
the dark, when on his own land, he generally replied, "I am a ₵egiha."
So did a Ponka reply, under similar circumstances, when on his own land.
But when challenged in the dark, when away from home, he was obliged to
give the name of his tribe, saying, "I am an Omaha," or, "I am a Ponka,"
as the case might be.

§ 3. The real name of the Omahas is "Uma^nha^n." It is explained by a
tradition obtained from a few members of the tribe. When the ancestors
of the Omahas, Ponkas, Osages, and several other cognate tribes traveled
down the Ohio to its mouth, they separated on reaching the Mississippi.
Some went up the river, hence the name Uma^nha^n, from ʞíma^nha^n, "to
go against the wind or stream." The rest went down the river, hence the
name Ugáqpa or Kwápa, from ugáqpa or ugáha, "to float down the stream."


EARLY MIGRATIONS OF THE ₵EGIHA TRIBES.

The tribes that went up the Mississippi were the Omahas, Ponkas, Osages,
and Kansas. Some of the Omahas remember a tradition that their ancestors
once dwelt at the place where Saint Louis now stands; and the Osages and
Kansas say that they were all one people, inhabiting an extensive
peninsula, on the Missouri River.

On this peninsula was a high mountain, which the Kansas called
Ma^n-daqpaye and Tce-dŭñga-ajabe; the corresponding Osage name being
Ma^n-ʇaqpa¢ě.[1]

Subsequently, these tribes ranged through a territory, including Osage,
Gasconade, and other adjacent counties of the State of Missouri, perhaps
most of the country lying between the Mississippi and the Osage Rivers.
The Iowas were near them; but the Omahas say that the Otos and Missouris
were not known to them. The Iowa chiefs, however, have a tradition that
the Otos were their kindred, and that both tribes, as well as the Omahas
and Ponkas, were originally Winnebagos. A recent study of the dialects
of the Osages, Kansas, and Kwapas discloses remarkable similarities
which strengthen the supposition that the Iowas and Otos, as well as the
Missouris, were of one stock.

At the mouth of the Osage River the final separation occurred. The
Omahas and Ponkas crossed the Missouri and, accompanied by the Iowas,
proceeded by degrees through Missouri, Iowa, and Minnesota, till they
reached the neighborhood of the Red Pipestone quarry. This must have
taken many years, as their course was marked by a succession of
villages, consisting of earth lodges.

Thence they journeyed towards the Big Sioux River, where they made a
fort. They remained in that country a long time, making earth lodges and
cultivating fields. Game abounded. At that time the Yanktons dwelt in a
densely wooded country near the head of the Mississippi; hence the
Omahas called them, in those days, "Ja^n´aʇa ni´kaci^nga, The people
who dwelt in the woods." After that the Yanktons removed and became
known as Yanktons. By and by the Dakotas made war on the three tribes,
and many Omahas were killed by them. So at last the three tribes went
west and southwest to a lake near the head of Choteau Creek, Dakota
Territory, now known as Lake Andes (?). There they cut the sacred pole
(see §§ 36 and 153), and assigned to each gens and subgens its peculiar
customs, such as the sacred pipe, sacred tents, and the taboos. There
were a great many gentes in each tribe at that time, far more than they
have at present; and these gentes were in existence long before they cut
the sacred pole.

After leaving the lake, known as "Waq¢éxe gasai´ ¢a^n, Where they cut
the sacred pole," they traveled up the Missouri River till they arrived
at Ni-úgacúde, White Earth River. They crossed the Missouri, above
this stream, and occupied the country between the Missouri and the Black
Hills, though they did not go to the Black Hills.[2] After awhile, they
turned down stream, and kept together till they reached the mouth of the
Niobrara, where the Ponkas stopped. The Omahas and Iowas continued their
journey till they reached Bow Creek, Nebraska, where the Omahas made
their village, the Iowas going beyond till they reached Ionia Creek,
where they made a village on the east bank of the stream, near its
mouth, and not far from the site of the present town of Ponca.

[1] The writer was told by an Osage that Ma^nʇaqpa¢ě was at Fire
Prairie, Missouri, where the first treaty with the Osages was made by
the United States. But that place is on a creek of the same name, which
empties into the Missouri River on the south, in T. 50 N., R. 28 W., at
the town of Napoleon, Jackson County, Missouri. This could not have been
the original Ma^nʇaqpa¢ě. Several local names have been duplicated by
the Kansas in the course of their wanderings, and there are traces of
similar duplications among the Osages. Besides this, the Omahas and
Ponkas never accompanied the Kansas and Osages beyond the mouth of the
Osage River; and the Kansas did not reach the neighborhood of Napoleon,
Missouri, for some time after the separation at the mouth of the Osage
River.

[Illustration: MAP SHOWING MIGRATIONS OF THE OMAHAS AND COGNATE TRIBES.

_Legend._

  1. Winnebago habitat.
  2. Iowa habitat.
  3. Arkansas habitat.
  4. Kwapa habitat, after the separation from the Omahas, etc.
  5. Route of the Omahas, Ponkas, Kansas, and Osages.
  6