Omaha Dwellings, Furniture and Implements | Page 7

(s[)i]n[']de-eh��[|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 (s��-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 (h��-ma?g[|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 (��-ma?g[|c]e).
The women had m��ca[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 mand��ha. 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]��ci-��ki[p]��da^{n}. The rudder or steering oar (��[|c]isa^{n}['][|c][)e]) was fashioned like the oars (mand��[|c]ug��hi), with the blade flat and of the breadth of two hands. The rowers (u[|c]��gahi ak��) sat near the bow, and the steersman ([|c]isa^{n}['][|c]a ak��) 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]ah��nu[k]a [p]��xe, green-hide rattles, were of two sorts, one of which is "[|c]ig��je," bent a little. Specimens of this form are in the National Museum.
Two kinds of rattles were called [t]a-c��ge, 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]��xe-ga[k]�� b[|c]��ska, or flat drum, is illustrated by a specimen (no. 21675) in the National Museum. The [|c]��xe-ga[k]�� gad��je 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]��xe-ga[k]��, or [k]��ge [|c]��xe-ga[k]��, 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]��ci-hi, or popgun wood) by pushing out the pith. No holes were made in the sides of the tube.
Nis��de [t]a?[']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]��[|c]i^{n}-[t]a?[']ga, Big Pawnee.
The large flute is illustrated in figure 319.[1] Wah�� nis��de, or bone flutes, were made of the long bones from the eagle wing. These small flutes have only one hole. Reed flutes, [|c]��q[|c]e nis��de, 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]��[c]na).]
The ja^{n}-w��ti^{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-d��ona, "wood with a smooth head," is a club made of ironwood, which is very hard. According to the late Joseph La Fl��che, the Omaha form of this weapon had a steel point projecting from the ball.
[Illustration: Fig. 321.--Omaha club (ja^{n}-d��[c]na).]
[Illustration: Fig. 322.--Omaha club (weaq[|c]ade).]
Figures 320 and 321 are forms of the ja^{n}-[p]��[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). The other has a ball carved at the end of a straight handle, with a wooden point (of one piece with the ball and handle) projecting from the ball, making an angle of about 130�� with one side of the handle. There is a steel point inserted in the ball, forming an angle of about 110�� with the other side of the handle. The i^{n}[']-wate-ji?[']ga is something like a slung shot. A round stone is wrapped in a piece of hide which is fastened to a wooden handle about 2 feet long.
Tomahawks.
The heads of tomahawks as well as of battle-axes were at first made of stone; but within the last century and a half they have been fashioned of iron.
Spears.
Lances, darts, or