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263. Verily, at that time and place, it has been said, in this house,
264. The Chief Messenger
265. Hastened to
266. The side of the heavens
267. Where lay Shoⁿ´-ge, the Dog (Sirius), as though suspended in the sky,
268. And returned with him to the people.
269. They spake to him, saying: O grandfather,
270. The little ones have nothing of which to make their bodies.
271. Then, at that very time,
272. The Dog replied: The little ones shall make of me their bodies,
273. Behold my toes, that are gathered closely together,
274. I have not folded them together without a purpose.
275. I have made them to be a sign of old age.
276. When the little ones make of me their bodies,
277. When they become aged men,
278. In their toes, closely folded together,
279. They shall see the sign of old age.
280. Behold the folds of skin on my ankle.
281. I have not put them there without a purpose.
282. I have made them to be a sign of old age.
283. When the little ones make of me their bodies,
284. When they become aged men,
285. In the skin of their ankles, gathered in folds,
286. They shall see the sign of old age.
287. Behold the flaccid muscles of my thigh.
288. They have not become flaccid without a purpose.
289. I have made them to be a sign of old age.
290. When the little ones make of me their bodies,
291. When they become aged men,
292. They shall see in the flaccid muscles of their thighs the sign of old age.

293. Behold my shoulders, that are drawn close together.
294. They are not drawn together without a purpose.
295. I have made them to be a sign of old age.
296. When the little ones make of me their bodies,
297. When they become aged men,
298. They shall see in their shoulders drawn together the sign of old age.

299. Behold the flaccid muscles of my throat.
300. They have not become flaccid without a purpose.
301. I have made them to be a sign of old age.
302. When the little ones make of me their bodies,
303. When they become aged men,
304. They shall see in the flaccid muscles of their throat the sign of old age.

305. Behold the folds of the corners of my mouth.
306. They are not put there without a purpose.
307. I have made them to be a sign of old age.
308. When the little ones make of me their bodies,
309. When they become aged men,
310. They shall see in the corners of their mouth the sign of old age.

311. Behold the folds in the corners of my eyes.
312. They are not put there without a purpose.
313. I have made them to be a sign of old age.
314. When the little ones make of me their bodies,
315. When they become aged men,
316. They shall see in the corners of their eyes the sign of old age.

317. Behold the tip of my nose.
318. It is not placed there without a purpose.
319. I have placed it there for chasing away other gods.
320. I use it for keeping other gods from entering my house.
321. When the little ones make of me their bodies,
322. They shall use it to chase away other gods, as they travel the path of life.

323. Behold the hair on the crown of my head grown thin.
324. It has not grown thin without a purpose.
325. I have made it to be a sign of old age.
326. When the little ones make of me their bodies,
327. When they become aged men,
328. They shall see in their whitened hair
329. The sign of old age, as they travel the path of life.
330. There comes a time
331. When a calm and peaceful day comes upon me,
332. So there shall come upon the little ones a calm and peaceful day, as they travel the path of life.

The most important wi´-gi-es (recited parts of a ritual) used in the child-naming rituals are those which relate to the life symbols of a gens, such as the sun, the moon, the morning and evening stars, night and day, deer, elk, bear, etc., which are called wa-zho´-i-ga-the, objects of which bodies are made; and those which relate to the personal, sacred names adopted by a gens to be used by its members for their children. The wi´-gi-e relating to the life symbols are usually recited at the beginning of the ceremony. (See wi´-gi-e of the Ṭsi´-zhu Wa-shta-ge gens, p. 60.) The name wi´-gi-es, called Zha´-zhe Ḳi-ṭoⁿ (Zha´-zhe, name; Ḳi-ṭoⁿ, the taking of), are recited when all the Noⁿ´-hoⁿ-zhiⁿ-ga who were invited to take part in the ceremony of the conferring of a name upon a child have assembled. The life-symbol and the name-taking wi´-gi-es are paraphrases of the mythical stories of the origin of the people of a gens. These mythical origin stories are called Ni´-ḳi-e, freely translated, Sayings of the Ancient Men.

Xu-tha´-wa-ṭoⁿ-iⁿ (pl. 7), of the Ṭsi´-zhu Wa-noⁿ gens of the Ṭsi´-zhu great tribal division, recorded the life symbol wi´-gi-e of his gens (see pp. 75-84) but he declined to give the wi´-gi-e of the sacred gens names. However, these names appear in the Wi´-gi-e Ṭoⁿ-ga, Great Wi´-gi-e (36th Ann. Rept. Bur. Amer. Ethn., pp. 254-269), which are here given in their order, as follows:

1. ’Iⁿ-çka´, White Rock. In the origin story of this gens the people came down from the sky, as eagles, to the earth and alighted upon seven trees. Thence:

36. They moved onward over the earth.
37. They came to the top of a rocky cliff,
38. Close to it they came and paused,
40. They spake to one another, saying: White Rock
41. We shall make to be a personal name for ourselves.

—(36th Ann. Rept. Bur. Amer. Ethn., p. 255.)

2. Moⁿ´-hiⁿ Wa-ḳoⁿ´-da, Mysterious Knife. From the White Rock the people went forth to wander over the earth. They thought to make for themselves a knife for ceremonial use. The Sho´-ḳa went again and again to find the right kind of stone of which to make the knife. He brought home the red flint, the blue flint, the flint streaked with yellow, the black flint and the white flint, one after the other, each of which was rejected as being unfit for use by the little ones as a knife. Finally he brought home a round-handled knife which was accepted as suitable for the purpose. Then followed the idea of the people of making a magical war club for ceremonial use. The Sho´-ḳa went in search for the right kind of tree out of which to make it. He brought to the elder brothers the hickory tree, the thick-barked hickory tree, the red oak tree, the red wood tree, the dark wood tree, each of which was rejected as being unsuitable for use as a club. Then he brought to them the willow tree, a tree that never dies. This the elder brothers accepted as eminently fitted for use as a club, and:

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
FORTY-THIRD ANNUAL REPORT PLATE 7

XU-THA´-WA-ṬON-IN (ṬSI´-ZHU WA-NON GENS)

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
FORTY-THIRD ANNUAL REPORT PLATE 8

STRAPS FOR TYING CAPTIVES

268. Their round-handled-knife
269. They quickly took from its resting place,
271. And spake, saying: It is a fear-inspiring knife,
272. Verily, it is a mysterious knife.
273. Mysterious-knife
274. The little ones shall take as their personal name.
276. They lifted the round-handled knife
277. And quickly stabbed with it the body of the willow tree.
278. Then from its wound its life-blood streamed forth.

—(36th Ann. Rept. Bur. Amer. Ethn., p. 261.)

3. We´-thiⁿ-ça-gi, Strong-strap. With the mysterious knife the people shaped out of the “tree-that-never-dies” a mystic club. Taking with them the knife and the club they went in search of a buffalo and found one. On coming in sight of the animal they brandished the magic weapon four times in the air and the buffalo fell lifeless to the ground:

511. The skin of the (left) hind leg
512. They cut into a narrow strip,
514. And said: Verily the skin stretches not,
515. We shall make use of it as we travel the path of life.
517. Verily, it is a strong strap,
519. We shall consecrate it for ceremonial use,
520. Therefore Strong-strap
521. We shall make to be our sacred personal name.

—(36th Ann. Rept. Bur. Amer. Ethn., pp. 267-268.)

4. We´-thiⁿ-ga-xe, Strap-maker. By the cutting of the first strap out of the skin of the left hind leg of the magically killed buffalo the people of the Ṭsi´-zhu Wa-noⁿ gens created for themselves the office of making the straps (pl. 8) for the warriors for the tying of captives when any are taken. As they continued to cut out the strap they said:

523. Strap-maker, also,
524. We shall make to be our sacred personal name.

—(36th Ann. Rept. Bur. Amer. Ethn., p. 268.)

5. Wé-thiⁿ-zhiⁿ-ga, Slender-strap. The strap they made out of the skin of the left hind leg of the animal was long and slender, and when they had finished it,

526. They said: Slender-strap, also,
527. We shall make to be our sacred personal name.
549. The skin of the left side
550. They cut in a circle,
552. And seven slender straps
553. They made of it for the Ṭsi-zhu who possesses seven fireplaces,
554. One for each fireplace,
556. And they said: We shall consecrate these straps for ceremonial use.

—(36th Ann. Rept. Bur. Amer. Ethn., pp. 268-269.)

These seven straps cut from the left side of the buffalo were to serve as types for similar straps to be ceremonially made for each of the other gentes of the tribe when about to go to war, to use in tying captives.

6. He-thi´-shi-zhe, Curved-horn. As the people saw the horns of the buffalo they exclaimed:

558. Behold the left horn,
559. We shall consecrate it for ceremonial use,
561. Therefore Curved-horn, also,
562. We shall make to be our sacred personal name.

—(36th Ann. Rept. Bur. Amer. Ethn., p. 269.)

7. He-thi´-zha-ge, Outspread-horns. The people noticed that the horns of the buffalo stood wide apart and outspread and so they exclaimed:

564. Outspread-horns, also,
565. We shall make to be our sacred personal name.
566. And they said, again: Behold the left horn,
568. We consecrete it for ceremonial use.

—(36th Ann. Rept. Bur. Amer. Ethn., p. 269.)

Personal names relating to any of the life symbols of a gens serve to keep the members informed of their place in the gentile and tribal organization. For example: Men who were given such names as Ho-çoⁿ´, White-fish; To´-ho-ho-e, Blue-fish; and Ho´-ḳi-e-çi, Wriggling-fish, know that they are members of the Ho´-i-ni-ḳa-shi-ga, Fish-people, gens whose life symbol is the Fish, and that the place of their gens is in the Wa-zha´-zhe, the first of the two subdivisions of the Hoⁿ´-ga great tribal division which symbolizes the earth. The Wa-zha´-zhe subdivision typifies the water portion of the earth.

Those who were given such names as O´-poⁿ-ṭoⁿ-ga, Great-elk; Moⁿ´-thiⁿ-ḳa-ga-xe, Maker-of-the-land; and Moⁿ-zhoⁿ´-ga-xe, Maker of-the-earth, know that they are members of the Elk gens whose life symbol is the male elk (36th Ann. Rept. Bur. Amer. Ethn., p. 165, lines 274 to 354) and that the place of their gens is with the Hoⁿ´-ga, the second of the two subdivisions of the Hoⁿ´-ga great tribal division which symbolizes the earth. The Hoⁿ´-ga subdivision typifies the land portion of the earth.

Men who bear the names P̣i-çi´, Acorn; U-bu´-dse, Profusion; and Noⁿ-bu´-dse, Profusion (by the treading of the eagles on the branches of the red oak tree) know that they are members of the Ṭsi´-zhu Wa-shta-ge (Peacemaker) gens, that the life symbol of their gens is the red oak tree, the emblem of fruitfulness, and that the place of their gens in the tribal organization is with the Ṭsi´-zhu, the second of the two great tribal divisions which symbolizes the sky, including the sun, moon and stars that move therein. (See 36th Ann. Rept. Bur. Amer. Ethn., p. 281, lines 111 to 120.)

Fig. 5.—Totemic cut of the Omaha boys’ hair. No. 1 is typical of the head and tail of the elk. No. 2 symbolizes the head, tail, and horns of the buffalo. No. 2a—the children of this subgens and those of the Ni-ni´-ba-toⁿ subgens of other gentes have their hair cut alike; the locks on each side of the bared crown indicate the horns of the buffalo. No. 3 represents the line of the buffalo’s back as seen against the sky. No. 4b stands for the head of the bear. No. 4c figures the head, tail, and body of small birds. No. 4d, the bare head, represents the shell of the turtle; and the tufts, the head, feet, and tail of the animal. No. 4e pictures the head, wings, and tail of the eagle. No. 5 symbolizes the four points of the compass connected by cross lines; the central tuft points to the zenith. No. 6 represents the shaggy side of the wolf. No. 7 indicates the horns and tail of the buffalo. No. 8 stands for the head and tail of the deer. No. 9 shows the head, tail, and knobs of the growing horn of the buffalo calf. No. 10 symbolizes reptile teeth. The children of this gens sometimes have the hair shaved off so as to represent the hairless body of snakes.