THE OMAHA
The gentes keeping the sacred pipes and those having the sacred tents are designated among the Omaha by appropriate designs. The sacred tent of the Wejincte was the tent of war, those of the Hañga were the tents associated with the buffalo hunt and the cultivation of the soil. The diameter of the circle (figure 34) represents the road traveled by the tribe when going on the buffalo hunt, numbers 1 and 10 being the gentes which were always in the van. The tribe was divided into half tribes, each half tribe consisting of five gentes. The sacred tents of the Omaha and all the objects that were kept in them are now in the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Cambridge, Massachusetts.
FIG. 34.—Omaha camping circle.
The two groups of gentes forming the half tribes or phratries, sometimes composed of subgentes or sections, are as follows:
Hañgacenu gentes—1, Wejincte, Elk. 2, Iñke-sabĕ, Black shoulder, a Buffalo gens; the custodian of the real pipes of peace. 3, Hañga or Ancestral, a Buffalo gens; the regulator of all the so-called pipes of peace and keeper of two sacred tents. 4, ¢atada, meaning uncertain; in four subgentes: a, Wasabe hit`ajĭ, Touch-not-the-skin-of-a-black-bear; b, Wajiñga ¢atajĭ, Eat-no-small-birds; Bird people; c, ʇe-da it`ajĭ, Touch-no-buffalo-head; Eagle people; d, ʞe-`in, Carry-a-turtle-on-the-back; Turtle people. 5, ʞanze, Wind people.
Ictasanda gentes—6, Man¢iñka-gaxe, Earth-lodge-makers; coyote and wolf people. 7, ʇe-sĭnde, Buffalo-tail; a Buffalo-calf people. 8, ʇa-da, Deer-head; Deer people. 9, Iñg¢e-jide, Red dung; a Buffalo-calf gens.[pg 227] 10, Icta-sanda, meaning uncertain ("gray eyes"?), said to refer to the effect of lightning on the eyes. This last gens consists of Thunder and Reptile people.
The Iñke-sabĕ formerly consisted of four subgentes. When the gens met as a whole, the order of sitting was that shown in figure 35. In the tribal circle the Wa¢igije camped next to the Hañga gens, and the other Iñke-sabĕ people came next to the Wejincte; but in the gentile "council fire" the first became last and the last first.
The Ieki¢ĕ or Criers.
The Naq¢eit`a-bajĭ, Those-who-touch-no-charcoal.
The three subgentes here named sat on the same side of fireplace.
The Hañga formerly had four subgeutes, but two of them, the Wa¢iitan or Workers, and the Ha-ʇu-it`ajĭ, Touches-no-green(-corn)-husks, are extinct, the few survivors having joined the other subgentes. The remaining subgentes are each called by several names: 1, ʇcsanha-ʇa¢ican, pertaining to the sacred skin of an albino buffalo cow, or Wacabe, Dark buffalo; or Hañga-qti, real Hañga; or ʇe-¢eze-¢atajĭ, Do-not-eat-buffalo-tongues. 2, Janha-ʇa¢ican, pertaining to the sacred (cottonwood) bark; or Waq¢exe-a¢in, Keeps-the-"spotted-object" (the sacred pole); or Jan-waqube-a¢in, Keeps-the-sacred-or-mysterious-wood (pole); or ʇa-waqube-¢atajĭ, Does-not-eat-the-sacred (mysterious)-buffalo-sides; or Minxa-san-¢atajĭ-kĭ Petan-¢atajĭ, Eat-no-geese-or-swans-or-cranes.
FIG. 35.—Iñke-sabĕ gentile assembly. A, The Wa¢igije, Maze or Whorl, or Wagnbe-gaxe-aka, He-who-acts-mysteriously. B, The Watanzi-jide-¢atajĭ, Those-who-eat-no-red-corn.
In the tribal circle the Wacabe camped next to the Iñke-sabĕ, and the Waqe¢xe-acin were next to the Wasabe-hit`ajĭ subgens of the ¢atada; but in the Hañga gentile assembly the positions were reversed, the Wacabe sitting on the right side of the fire and the Waq¢exe-a¢in on the left.
The Wasabe-hit`ajĭ subgens of the ¢atada was divided into four sections: Black-bear, Raccoon, Grizzly-bear, and Porcupine. The only survivors are the Black-bear and Raccoon (Singers).
The Wajiñga ¢atajĭ subgens was divided into four sections: 1, Hawk people, under the chief Standing Hawk (now dead). 2, Blackbird people, under the chief Wajina-gahiga. B, Starling or Thunder people. 4, Owl and Magpie people.
The ʞanze gens was divided into at least two subgentes, the Keepers of the pipe and the Wind people. Lion, of the Deer-head gens, said that there were four subgentes, but this was denied in 1882 by Two Crows of the Hañga gens.
The Man¢iñka-gaxe subgentes, as given by Lion, were: 1, Coyote and Wolf people. 2, In`ĕ-waqube-a¢in, Keepers-of-the-mysterious-stones. 3, Niniba-t`an, Keepers-of-the-pipe. 4, Minxa-san-wet`ajĭ. Touch(es)-not-swans. Cañge-skă, White Horse, chief of the Man¢iñ-ka-gaxe (in 1878-1880) named three subgentes, thus: 1, Qube, Mysterious person, a modern name (probably including the Miʞasi and In`ĕ-waqube-a¢in, and certainly consisting of the descendants of the chief Wa-jiñga-sabe or Blackbird). 2, Niniba-t`an. 3, Minxa-san-wet`ajĭ.
The ʇa-da were divided into four parts: 1, Niniba-t`an, Keepers-of-the-pipe, under Lion. 2, Naq¢e-it`ajĭ, Touches-no-charcoal, under Boy Chief. 3, Thunder-people, under Pawnee Chief. 4, Deer-people, under Sinde-xanxan (Deer's-)tail-shows-red-at-intervals (-as-it-bounds-away).
The Ictasanda gens also was in four parts: 1, Niniba-t`an, Keepers-of-the-pipe. 2, Real Ictasanda people, (Numbers 1 and 2 were consolidated prior to 1880.) 3, Wacetan or Reptile people, sometimes called Keepers-of-the-claws-of-a-wildcat. 4, Real Thunder people, or Those-who-do-not-touch-a-clamshell, or Keepers-of-the-clamshell-and-the-tooth-of-a-black-bear.
The social organization of the Omaha has been treated at length by the author in his paper on Omaha Sociology.[6]