Omaha Dwellings, Furniture and Implements | Page 2

and their tops met the cross timbers on which the willow
posts rested. Stocks of hard willow about 2 inches in diameter rested
with their butts on the tops of the upright slabs and extended on the
cross timbers nearly to the summit. These poles were very numerous,
touching one another and extending all around in a radiating manner,
supporting the roof like rafters. The rafters were covered with grass
about a foot thick; and over the whole lodge, including the sides or
slabs, earth was piled from a foot to 2 feet in depth. Such a covering
lasted generally about twenty years. A hole in the middle served as an
exit for the smoke.
[Footnote 1: James' account of Long's Expedition to the Rocky
Mountains in 1819-'20.]
[Illustration: Fig. 306.--Yellow Smoke's earth lodge.]
In addition to the lodge proper there was a covered way about 10 feet
long and 5 feet wide, the entrance to which had a covering of tanned or
dried buffalo hides. This covering consisted of two hides hanging side
by side, with the inner borders slightly overlapping. They were fastened

to the passageway at the top and at the outer sides, but were loose at the
bottom where they overlapped. This part was raised by a person
entering the lodge. A similar covering was placed at the interior end of
the passageway.
Subsequently to 1855, the Omaha dwelt in three villages composed of
earth lodges, as follows: (1) Biku[']de, a village near the agency; (2)
Windja[']ge, Standing Hawk's village, near the Presbyterian mission
house; and (3) Ja^{n}[|c]a[']te ("Wood Eaters,") named after an insect
found under the bark of trees Sanssouci's village, near the town of
Decatur, Nebraska.
Earth lodges were generally used for large gatherings, such as feasts,
councils, or dances. Occasionally there was a depression in the center
of the lodge which was used as a fireplace; but it was not over 6 inches
deep. Each earth lodge had a ladder, made by cutting a series of deep
notches along one side of a log. On a bluff near the Omaha agency I
found the remains of several ancient earth lodges, with entrances on the
southern sides. Two of these were 75 feet and one was 100 feet in
diameter. In the center of the largest there was a hollow about 3 feet
deep and nearly 4 feet below the surface outside the lodge.
Lodges of Bark or Mats.
The Omaha sometimes make bark lodges for summer occupancy, as did
the Iowa and Sak. [T]iu['][|c]ipu jiñ[']ga, or low lodges covered with
mats, were used by the Omaha in former days. Such lodges are still
common among the Winnebago, the Osage, and other tribes. The
ground plan of such a lodge forms an ellipse. The height is hardly over
7 feet from the ground. The tent poles are arranged thus: Each pole has
one end planted in the ground, the other end being bent down and
fastened to the pole immediately opposite; a number of poles thus
arranged in pairs formed both wall posts and rafters.
[Illustration: Fig. 307.--Ground plan of Osage lodge.]
Generally there was one fireplace and one smokehole in such a lodge;
but when I visited the Osage in 1883, I entered a low lodge with two

fireplaces, each equidistant from its end of the lodge and the entrance,
each fireplace having its smokehole.
Skin Lodges or Tents.
The tent was used when the people were migrating, and also when they
were traveling in search of the buffalo. It was also the favorite abode of
a household during the winter season, as the earth lodge was generally
erected in an exposed situation, selected on account of comfort in the
summer. The tent could be pitched in the timber or brush, or down in
wooded ravines, where the cold winds never had full sweep. Hence,
many Indians abandoned their houses in winter and went into their
tents, even when they were of canvas.
[Illustration: Fig. 308.--Omaha tent (from a photograph by W. H.
Jackson).]
The tent was commonly made of ten or a dozen dressed or tanned
buffalo skins. It was in the shape of a sugar loaf, and was from 10 to 12
feet high, 10 or 15 feet in diameter at the bottom, and about a foot and a
half in diameter at the top, which served as a smokehole
([t]ihu[k]a^{n}). Besides the interior tent poles ([t]ici--3, figure 309)
and the tent skin ([t]iha--1), the tent had the [t]i[|c]uma^{n}ha^{n}, or
the place where the skins were fastened together above the entrance (4).
The [t]i[|c]uma^{n}ha^{n} was fastened with the
[t]ihu[|c]ubaxa^{n}(5), which consisted of sticks or pieces of hide
thrust crosswise through the holes in the tent skins. The bottom of the
tent was secured to the ground by pins ([t]ihu[|c]ugada^{n}--6) driven
through holes ([t]ihugaq[|c]uge)