Omaha Dwellings, Furniture and Implements | Page 7

to thrust the noose in front
of a horse. When he succeeded in passing the noose over the head of an
animal, he threw away the stick, which had become separated from the
noose, and held the rope alone, which he pulled toward him. When the
horse was caught, the man made an [)i]ndú[|c]ici^{n}. (bridle or face
cover), being careful to place some buffalo hair over the nose and under
the chin, to guard against paining the horse, whose eyes remained
uncovered.
[Footnote 1: Long, S. H.; Exp. Rocky Mts., vol. 1, p. 291, Phila., 1822]
Trappings for the saddle (s[)i]n[']de-ehé[|c][)e]) were used. Some years
ago a specimen of Omaha trapping was presented by the writer to the
Anthropological Society of Washington, and subsequently was
deposited in the National Museum.
Traveling Gear.
Snow-shoes (sé-hi^{n}be) were worn by the Omaha and Ponka when
they traversed a region, north of their modern, habitat.
For traveling on foot a staff (hí-mañg[|c]e) was used when it was
necessary to pass over mountains; also when, heavy loads had to be
carried. This staff differed from the crutch (í-mañg[|c]e).
The women had máca[k]a^n, or straps, for aiding them in carrying
loads of wood, etc.
Boats.

When they wished to cross streams they made hide boats, or mandéha.
These were manufactured from dried buffalo hides, which were sewed
together with sinew, and so tightly that no water could penetrate the
seams. Ten branches of red willow were placed within, the ends being
bent upward and fastened by withes to two other saplings, which
extended the whole length of the boat at the inside of the gunwale. The
ten pieces were the [t]íci-íki[p]áda^{n}. The rudder or steering oar
(í[|c]isa^{n}['][|c][)e]) was fashioned like the oars (mandú[|c]ugáhi),
with the blade flat and of the breadth of two hands. The rowers
(u[|c]úgahi aká) sat near the bow, and the steersman ([|c]isa^{n}['][|c]a
aká) took his seat at the stern.
Musical Instruments.
Battles were of five kinds, [P]exe were generally gourds; wata^{n}[']
[p]exe, gourd rattles, were always round, and were partially filled with
seed, fine shot, or gravel, [T]ahánu[k]a [p]éxe, green-hide rattles, were
of two sorts, one of which is "[|c]igúje," bent a little. Specimens of this
form are in the National Museum.
Two kinds of rattles were called [t]a-cáge, i.e., "deers-claws," from the
composition of one variety, though the other was made of molars of the
elk.
[Illustration: Fig. 317--Skin drum.]
[Illustration: Fig. 318--Box drum.]
The Omaha used three styles of drums. The [|c]éxe-ga[k]ú b[|c]áska, or
flat drum, is illustrated by a specimen (no. 21675) in the National
Museum. The [|c]éxe-ga[k]ú gadáje is made of buffalo hide, cowhide,
or the skin of a horse. An example of this drum (no. 24682) is also in
the National Museum, and is illustrated by the accompanying figure
317. The ja^{n}['] [|c]éxe-ga[k]ú, or [k]úge [|c]éxe-ga[k]ú, is a wooden
or box drum, represented by the accompanying figure 318, also from a
specimen (no. 58610) in the National Museum.
Whistles were made of elder (ba[t]úci-hi, or popgun wood) by pushing

out the pith. No holes were made in the sides of the tube.
Nisúde [t]añ[']ga, or large flutes, were made of red cedar. A branch was
cut off, rounded, split open with a knife, and hollowed out; then six
holes were made in the side of one of them, and the halves were stuck
together again. When one of these instruments is blown it produces
quavering notes. The best specimens were made by
[P]á[|c]i^{n}-[t]añ[']ga, Big Pawnee.
The large flute is illustrated in figure 319.[1] Wahí nisúde, or bone
flutes, were made of the long bones from the eagle wing. These small
flutes have only one hole. Reed flutes, [|c]íq[|c]e nisúde, were made of
a kind of reed which grows south of the Omaha territory, probably in
Kansas. The Omaha obtained the reeds from some of the southern
tribes and made them into flutes having but one hole each.
[Footnote 1: Compare Ree fife, "AMM 129-8429, Gray and
Matthews," in the National Museum.]
[Illustration: Fig. 319.--Omaha large flute.]

WEAPONS.
Clubs.
[Illustration: Fig. 320.--Omaha club (ja^{n}-[p]á[c]na).]
The ja^{n}-wéti^{n}, "striking-wood," is a four-sided club. It is made
of ash, and is as long as from the elbow to the tips of the fingers. The
ja^n-dáona, "wood with a smooth head," is a club made of ironwood,
which is very hard. According to the late Joseph La Flèche, the Omaha
form of this weapon had a steel point projecting from the ball.
[Illustration: Fig. 321.--Omaha club (ja^{n}-dá[c]na).]
[Illustration: Fig. 322.--Omaha club (weaq[|c]ade).]

Figures 320 and 321 are forms of the ja^{n}-[p]á[c]na which may be
seen in the National Museum (nos. 2649 and 22419). The weaq[|c]ade,
another kind of war club, is made of some kind of hard wood. There are
two varieties, one of which is shown in figure 322 (National Museum
no. 23729).