THE FIRE POWERS.
§ 384. Among these were the Thunder-beings and the Sun. The former were usually considered maleficent powers, as distinguished from the Sun, the beneficent Fire power; but occasionally the Thunder-beings were addressed as “grandfathers,” who could be induced to gratify the wishes of the suppliants by granting them success in war (§§ 35, 36). It was probably with reference to the Sun that the East was considered the source of light and life, the West being associated with the taking of life in the chase or on the war path (see § 28). Red among the Omaha is the color symbol of the East, but red is also symbolic of war. The “fire paint” among the Tiɔu gentes of the Osage tribe is red. It is applied when the fire prayers are said. Red is a war color among the Dakota, Omaha, Kansa, and Osage. The Tiɔu crier received in his left hand a knife with the handle painted red. The Hañʞa crier received in his right hand a hatchet with the handle reddened. On the death of a comrade the surviving Osage removed the bark from a post oak, say, about 5 feet from the ground, painted the blazed tree red, broke four arrows and left them and some paint by the tree.[308] Whenever the author saw Pahaⁿle-gaqli, one of the war chiefs of the Kansa, he noticed that the man’s face was painted red all over. In the middle of the war chart of Pahaⁿle-gaqli was a fire symbol; but the chief feared to represent it in the copy which he made for the author. It probably consisted of the four firebrands placed at right angles and meeting at a common center. The Omaha must have had such a symbol at one time (see § 33). The Osage had it, according to their tradition (see §§ 40, 365). The successful warriors among the Omaha could redden their weapons when they joined in the dance.[309]
The Dakota give the following as the sentinels for the Wakinyan: The deer at the north, the butterfly at the east, the beaver at the south, and the bear at the west (§ 116). If these were arranged to conform to the order of Fig. 194 the bear would be at the north, the beaver at the west, the deer at the east, and the butterfly at the south. But there may be a special order of grouping the servants of each class of powers differing from the order of the four powers themselves. The Dakota wakan men say that the Wakinyan are of four colors, black, yellow, scarlet, and blue (§ 116). The Thunder men of the Omaha legend had hair of different colors, the first having white hair, the second red, the third yellow, and the fourth green hair.[310]