§ 275. The Mandan dance.—The Ponkas obtained this dance from the Dakotas and the Omahas learned it from the Ponkas. None but aged men and those in the prime of life belong to this society. All are expected to behave themselves, to be sober, and refrain from quarreling and fighting among themselves. (For an account of one of their feasts, see § [111].)
This dance is celebrated as a bravery dance over the bodies of any warriors who have been slain by the enemy. Each body is placed in a sitting posture in the lodge, as if alive, and with a rattle of deers' claws fastened to one arm. (See Contributions to N. A. Ethnology, Vol. VI, Part I, pp. 431, 452.) This dance has been obsolete for some time among the Omahas. It was danced in 1853. (See § [218].)
§ 276. The Tukála dance was obtained from the Dakotas by the Ponkas, who taught it to the Omahas. This dance is for boys what the Mandan dance is for aged men and men in the prime of life. Its rules resemble those of the other dance, but the songs and dances are different. The behavior of the members is not as good as that of the members of the Mandan society, though quarreling is forbidden. This is a bravery dance. Two women attend as singers. Two men who do not fear death are the leaders in the dance. Each one carries a "wahékuzi" or "waq¢éxe-¢áze", of which the end feather on the bent part of the pole is white, and the pole is wrapped in a piece of otter skin.
§ 277. The Sun dance has not been practiced among the Omahas. They can give no account of it, though some of the ceremonies of the Hede-watci, such as the procession to the place for felling the tree, the race for the tree, the felling of the tree, the manner in which it is carried to the village, and the preparation of the "ujéʇi," agree very remarkably with the account of the Sun dance read by Miss A. C. Fletcher before the American Association for the Advancement of Science, in August, 1882. The Ponkas obtained this dance from the Dakotas.
§ 278. The "Waná wátcigáxe," or Begging dance, is not found among the Omahas; but among the Ponkas, Dakotas, etc., the members of any dancing society do dance at times in order to get presents.
§ 279. Ponka dancing societies.—The Ponka men have two other dancing societies: the Gak'éxe (which the Omaha Duba-man¢in says is the same as the Hinská-yuhá of the Dakotas) and the ₵adúxe. No information has been gained respecting these societies.
The Ponka women have three dancing societies: the Pa-¢átan, the Gat'ána, and the Man´zěskă nan´p'in (Those who wear silver necklaces).