Omaha Dwellings, Furniture and Implements | Page 4

with thick hair
on them, and covered themselves with similar hides.
For pillows they used ibehi^{n} or i^{n}behi^{n}. When the vegetation
was about 3 inches high in the spring, the Indians killed deer and pulled
off the hair in order to remove the thin skin or tissue next to it. This
latter, when thoroughly dried, is smooth and white, resembling
parchment. It was used for pillows and moccasin-strings. When used
for pillows the case was filled with goose feathers or the hair of the
deer until it was about 2 feet long and 9 inches high. During the day,
and whenever there was occasion, they were used as seats; but if none
could be had, the people sat on winter robes or hides forming the
couches.[1] Back of the couches and next to the interior tent-poles were
placed the baggage, sacks of corn, and other household properties.
The upright tent is one form of the Dakota "wake[']ya," the plural of
which, "wake[']yapi," undoubtedly gave rise to the familiar
"wick[']iup" of the plains, and also to "wä-ka[']-yo" of Morgan.[2]
Cradles.
A board of convenient size, usually about a yard long and a foot wide,
was selected to form a cradle or u[|c]uhe. No pillow was needed. A soft
skin ([p]aq[|c]uqaha [|c]a^{n}) covered with plenty of thick hair was
laid on the board, and on it was placed the infant.
[Footnote 1: Hammocks and bedsteads were unknown prior to their
introduction by the traders and other white people.]
[Footnote 2: Contributions to North American Ethnology, vol. iv., 1881,

p. 114.]
[Illustration: Fig. 311.--Omaha cradle--plan.]
In the annexed figures, a is the [)i]ndua[|c]isi^{n}ka^{n}he, the
object painted on the board at the end where the infant's head is laid;
b is the [)i]ndei[|c]id[)i]ndi^{n} ("that which is drawn taut over
the face"), the two strings of beads and sinew or thread (sometimes
made of red calico alone), which keep in place the fan, etc.; the fan
([)i]ndeagani), which is suspended from a bow of wood, (c) is
about 6 inches square, and is now made of interwoven sinew on which
beads have been strung. Occasionally thimbles and other bright objects
dangle from the bottom of the fan. The i[|c]a[|c]istage (d) is the
band by which the infant is fastened to the cradle.
[Illustration: Fig. 312.--Omaha cradle--side view.]
Children's Swings.
For swings the ends of two withes of buffalo hide were secured to four
trees or posts which formed the corners of a parallelogram. A blanket
was thrown across the withes and folded over on them. The infant was
laid on top of the fold and swung from side to side without falling.
Brooms.
Brooms were of two kinds. One form was made of sticks tied together,
and was used for sweeping the ground outside of the tent or earth lodge,
and the interior of the earth lodge, except the fireplace. The other kind
was made of goose or turkey feathers, and was used for sweeping the
fireplace of an earth lodge.
Pottery.
Pottery has not been made by the Omaha for more than fifty years. The
art of making it has been forgotten by the tribe.
Mortar and Pestles.

A mortar was made by burning a large hole in a round knot or piece of
wood about 7 inches in diameter. The lower end was sharpened to a
point, which was thrust into the ground when needed for use. After
putting corn in a mortar of this description, the woman grasped the
wooden pestle in the middle, with the larger end upward; the smaller
end, which was about an inch in diameter, was put into the mortar. The
operation of pounding corn among the Omaha was called "he." The
mortar (uhe) and pestle (wehe) were both made commonly of elm,
although sometimes they were fashioned of white oak. Mortars were of
various sizes, some of them measuring 2 feet in diameter. Pestles were
always of hard and heavy wood, and fully 3 feet long, taperring from 4
inches to an inch in diameter.
[Illustration: Fig. 314.--Omaha pestle.]
[Illustration: Fig. 313.--Omaha mortar.]
Spoons, Ladles and Drinking Vessels.
Spoons were made of horn, wood, or pottery. The black spoons made
of buffalo horn ([t]ehe sab[)e]), are not used by such Omaha as belong
to the Buffalo gentes (Iñkesab[)e], [|C]atada, [T]esinde, etc.) which
may not touch a buffalo head. Other horn spoons of light color are
made of cow horn. These are of modern origin. Wooden spoons
(ja^{n}[t]ehe) were made of knobs or knots of trees. Spoons made of
buffalo horn are found among the Omaha and Ponka, but the Osage,
Kansa, and Kwapa use clam shells ([t]ihaba, in [|C]egiha; tcühaba,
tcühuba, in Kansa), so the Kansa call a small spoon, tcühaba jiñga.
Spoons of buffalo horn had their handles variously ornamented by
notches and other rude carving, often terminating