CULTIVATION OF THE GROUND.
§ 163. This is regulated by the Hañga gens, as corn and the buffalo meat are both of great importance, and they are celebrated in the sacred songs of the Hañga when the feast is made after the offering of the buffalo hearts and tongues. (§ [143].)
Corn is regarded as a "mother" and the buffalo as a "grandfather." In the Osage tradition corn was bestowed on the people by four buffalo bulls. (See Calumet dance, § [123], and several myths, in Part I, Contributions to N. A. Ethnology, Vol. VI.)
At harvest one of the keepers of the Hañga sacred tents (Frank La Flèche thinks it is the Wacabe or [T]e-san-ha keeper) selects a number of ears of red corn, which he lays by for the next planting season. All the ears must be perfect ones. (See Calumet dance, § [123].)
In the spring, when the grass comes up, there is a council or tribal assembly held, to which a feast is given by the head of the Hañga gens. After they decide that planting time has come, and at the command of the Hañga man, a crier is sent through the village. He wears a robe with the hair outside, and cries as he goes, "Wa¢a`e te, ai a¢á u+!"—They do indeed say that you will dig the ground! Halloo! He carries the sacred corn, which has been shelled, and to each household he gives two or three grains, which are mixed with the ordinary seed-corn of that household. After this it is lawful for the people to plant their corn. Some of the Iñke-sabě people cannot eat red corn. This may have some connection with the consecration of the seed-corn.