FIG. 159.—Tent of Wanukige.
If a man who became eligible by his vision to membership in the order of Thunder shamans ventured to wear the decorated robe without inviting the members of the order to a feast, he incurred the anger of the members and misfortune was sure to follow. Should a man wear such a decorated robe without having had a vision of the mystery object, he was in danger (if the object was connected with the Thunder-being, etc.) of being killed by lightning. Every Omaha feared to decorate his robe, tent, or blanket with an object seen by another person in a dream or vision. For instance, George Miller would not dare to have bears’ claws, horses’ hoofs, etc., on his robe, because neither he nor his father ever saw a bear or horse mysteriously. There are penalties attached to violations of the prohibitions of the other orders, but George Miller did not know about them.
FIG. 160.—Robe of Ȼaqube.
Besides the personal mystery decoration of the robe or blanket, is that of the tent. Pl. XLIV, E is a sketch of a tent, furnished to the author by Dried Buffalo Skull, an old man of the Ȼatada gens of the Omaha. The decoration of this tent was the personal mystery or “qube” of Hupeȼa, Sr., father of Hupeȼa, Jr. (now known as ┴enugaʇañga), of the Wasabe-hit‘ajĭ or Black Bear sub-gens of the Ȼatada. After the death of Hupeȼa, Sr., the decoration became the property of his kinsman, Agaha-wacuce, of the same sub-gens, and father of Ԁaȼiⁿnaⁿpajĭ. The circle at the top, representing a bear’s cave, is sometimes painted blue, though Agaha-wacuce had it reddened. Below the four zigzag lines (representing the lightnings of different colors) are the prints of bears’ paws. The lower part of the tent was blackened with ashes or charcoal. Among the four zigzag lines, red, according to Mr. Francis La Flèche, symbolizes the east.
FIG. 161.—Robe of Ԁahe-ʇap‘ĕ.
Wanukige, a chief of the Ictasanda gens, had a vision of the aurora borealis, so he depicted this on his robes and tent, as shown in Figs. 158 and 159. On the tent were seven stripes, three on each side of the entrance and one in the rear. Each robe that he wore had seven stripes.
FIG. 162.—Generic decoration referring to night, etc.