§ 371. Assuming that we have a correct grouping of the four elements in Fig. 194, it appears that Pahaⁿle-gaqli and Aliⁿkawahu began with the quarters associated with war; that the Tiɔu old man began with those referring to peace, and the Paⁿɥka old man with those pertaining to war, and the principal man of the Kaⁿe gens with those on the peace side.
FIG. 199.—Showing how the Osage prepared the scalp for the dance.
§ 372. In cutting off the under skin from a scalp, the Osage war captain—
stood facing the East * * * Holding the scalp in one hand, with the other he placed the knife-blade across it, with the point toward the South (see Fig. 199). Then he turned the knife with the point toward the East. Next, with the blade resting on the scalp, the point to the South, he moved the knife backward and forward four times, cutting deeper into the scalp on each occasion. Then he made four similar cuts, but with the point to the East. After this, the flat part of the blade being on the scalp, its edge was put against one of the four corners made by the previous incisions (1, 2, 3, and 4), beginning with No. 1. He cut under each corner four times, singing a sacred song each time that he changed the position of the knife. * * * The scalp was stretched and fastened to a bow, which was bent and formed into a hoop. This hoop was tied to a pole, which was carried by the principal kettle-bearer.[292]
Observe that in this ceremony the South and East were the mystic quarters, answering to the “bad winds” of the Iñke-sabĕ tradition.
When the Dakota “priest,” referred to in § 367, wished to rotate the plate containing the cherries and down, he grasped the plate with his right hand (note that the right side of the Osage circle was the war side) between the east and south piles of cherries and his left hand (compare with custom of Tiɔu gens of Osage, § 368) held the plate between the west and north piles.[293]
In the Hede-watci, the Omaha women and girls danced from the east to the south, and thence to the west and north, while the men and boys proceeded in a different order, beginning at the west, and dancing toward the north, and thence toward the east and south.[294]
SYMBOLIC COLORS.
§ 373. On the tent of Hupeȼa (Pl. XLIV, E), a black bear man, were represented four kinds of lightning—blue, red, black, and yellow. This was a mystery decoration (§ 45), and if the colors were associated with the four quarters, the powers were probably invoked in the order shown in Fig. 200. (See §§ 340, 369.)