Omaha Dwellings, Furniture and Implements | Page 8

spears are designated by the general term man[']d[)e]hi. The ja^{n}[']-man'd[)e]hi are made of ash, and are from 6 to 8 feet long. There are two kinds, of one of which the handle is round, and about an inch in diameter, and the point is flat and about the width of three fingers at its juncture with the handle.
Besides these there are the lances, called waq[|c]exe-[|c]��ze, of which there are two varieties. One consists of a straight pole, which has been thrust through a piece of buffalo hide that has its long end sewed together, forming a sort of covering. To this hide are fastened feathers of the crow and mi^{n}[']xa-sa^{n}, or swan, in alternate rows or bunches. Between the feathers are fastened square pieces of blanket. About the middle of the pole a space of nearly 6 inches is left without feathers, and this is the place where the spear is grasped. When the pole was not set into a metal point the lower end was cut very sharp.[1] The other variety, or mand[)e]hi [|c]iguje, "bent spear," is the weapon which the Dakota call "wahukeza." It is ornamented with eagle feathers placed at intevals, one being at the end of the curved part; and it generally terminates at the bottom in an iron point. It is possible for one of these waq[|c]exe[|c]aze to reach a man about 6 feet distant; and even mounted men have been killed by them. Spears are used also in some of the dances. Around the shaft is wrapped the skin of a swan or brant. The end feather at the top is white; the other feathers are white or spotted. The bent spear is no longer employed by the Omaha, though the Osage, Pawnee, and other tribes still use it to a greater or lesser extent.
Bows.
[Illustration: Fig. 323.--Omaha bow (za^{n}zi-mand[)e]).]
[Illustration: Fig. 324.--Omaha bow ([t]a[k]a^{n}-mand[)e])]
Bows (man-d[)e]) are of two kinds. One is the man-d[)e] or za^{n}zi-mand[)e] (bow-wood bow), having an unbroken curve past the grip to within an inch or two of each nock.[2] The other kind is the [t]a[k]a^{n}-mand[)e], so called because it has deer sinew glued on its back.[3] Bows were made of hickory, ash, ironwood, or za^{n}zi, the last being greatly preferred. It is a wood resembling that of the Osage orange, with which some persons confound it; but it is black and much harder than the former, the Osage orange wood being yellow, soft, and easily cut. The za^{n}zi is probably that which Dougherty[4] called "bow-wood (Maclura aurantiaca of Nuttall)."
[Footnote 1: See First Annual Report of Bureau of Ethnology, 1879-'80; 1881, Pl. X, "Tolkotin cremation."]
[Footnote 2: This may be the "self-bow" mentioned in the American Naturalist for July, 1886, p. 675.]
[Footnote 3: This is the sinew-backed bow above mentioned.]
[Footnote 4: Long's Expedition, op. cit., vol. I, p. 290.]
Bowstrings were made of the twisted sinew of the elk and buffalo, as among other tribes.
Arrows.
[Illustration: Fig. 325.--Omaha hunting arrow.]
The arrows (ma^{n}) used in former days were of several kinds. The hunting arrow, used for killing the buffalo, was generally about 2 feet long, of the usual cylindric form, and armed with an elongate triangular point, made at first of flint, afterward of sheet iron. The shoulders of the arrow were rounded instead of angular, as in the ordinary barbed form. The point, or head, was firmly secured to the shaft by deer sinew wrapped around the neck of the point, and over that was spread some cement, made in a manner to be afterward explained. The flight of the arrow was equalized by three half-webs of feathers, neatly fastened near its base in the usual manner.
Another kind of hunting arrow was the hid�� naz��[|c][)e], which was altogether of wood. About 6 inches from the point the shaft was triangular or quadrangular; and the point was made by holding the shaft close to a fire and turning it round and round till the heat had reduced it to the proper shape and had hardened it. This was used for killing fish, deer, and small game.
[Illustration: Fig. 326.--Omaha war arrow.]
The war arrow (b) differed from that used in hunting in having a barbed point, which was very slightly attached to the shaft, so that if it penetrated the body of an enemy it could not be withdrawn without leaving the point in the wound.
[Illustration: Fig. 327.--Omaha style of hid��-[t]��ce]
Children used the hid��-[t]��ce, or target arrow, when they began to learn the use of the bow. With this a boy could kill small birds and animals.
The Ponka used to make arrowshafts (ma^{n}sa) of ja^{n}-[']qude-h��, "gray wood," juneberry wood, which grew in their country, but is not found among the Omaha. Most of the Omaha made their shafts of the ma^n'saqtih��, or "real arrow-wood," (Viburnum) as that was the wood best suited for the purpose. Sometimes they were