Omaha Dwellings, Furniture and Implements | Page 4

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 "w?-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 (I?kesab[)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; tc��haba, tc��huba, in Kansa), so the Kansa call a small spoon, tc��haba ji?ga. Spoons of buffalo horn had their handles variously ornamented by notches and other rude carving, often terminating in the head of a bird, the neck or handle of each being elevated at an angle of 50�� or 60�� with the bowl, which, was about 3 inches in width by about 5 in length. As the handle of such a spoon usually terminates in a head or hook, it was impossible for it to slip into the bowl when the hook rested on the outside of the rim of the bowl.
Food was served in