Fig. 41.—The Ponka style of hañga-ʞi`anze.
Nudan-axa's account of the ceremonies at the time of his election is as follows: When an old chief resigns, a tent is set up in the middle of the circle. They bring back some wild sage, which is used as a bed for the sacred pipes. These are laid on the wild sage in the middle of the tent, next to the sacred buffalo skull. The hañga-ʞi`anze or privileged decoration is painted on the skull, into the nostrils of which some sprigs of wild sage are thrust. All the chiefs paint the hañga-ʞi`anze on their faces, and stick plumes in their hair. They wear buffalo robes with the hair outside, and redden their arm-pits, elbows, and the toes of their moccasins. They redden blankets at the elbows and next to the arm-pits, in imitation of the buffaloes. The retiring chiefs say to their successors, "Qubéʞi¢ái-gă!" i. e., "Cause yourselves to be sacred by means of the animals that you see in your dreams when you fast." When they have left the large tent, and have returned to their respective lodges, they sit with their robes over their heads, and before they leave their lodges again, they must make new tent-flaps, which is a sacred act. The bearers of the sacred pipes are Ce-najin of the Makan, He¢icije of the Nuqe, [P]a¢in-gahige (of the Wajaje?), Muxa-najin of the Wacabe, a Nika[p]aᴐna man, and Canugahi of the ₵ixida. As the old men reach the tents of each gens it is announced by some of the spectators, "They have reached the Nuqe!" for example. When Cenajin arrives at the tents of each gens, he says, "Ho! I have come to you." The pipes are handed in succession to the candidate who sits at the end. Muxa-najin addresses a few words to each of the candidates who are not the sons of chiefs, but to those who are the sons of chiefs many words are spoken. I belonged to this latter class, so all the old men said to me, "Níʇa í¢ib¢an taté! Inc`áge cí taté! ₵iádi gáhi, ¢ijin´¢e gáhi, ¢iʇígan gáhi, ámustáqti ¢idan´beman¢in´taí! Wágazuqti man¢in´ gan´¢a-gă." i. e., "You shall have your fill of life! You shall live to be an aged man! Your father was a chief, your elder brother was a chief, and your grandfather was a chief; may they continue to look directly down on you! Desire thou to walk very honestly." At length they say, "Can," Enough! Then the crier proclaims, "Can´ á¢a, u+!" i. e., "It is indeed enough, halloo!" Then all the people walk rapidly to the tent in the middle of the circle, each one trying to get there before the others so as to get a good seat. So they reach there and pass around the tent. At the time of my inauguration I sat at the door of the large tent. Those who had no seats within, (i. e., as chiefs) sat outside. They were addressed thus: "Gí¢iʞan ité¢a-gă! Égi¢e ě´di ¢ag¢in´ te hă!" i. e., "Make room! Beware how you sit there!" By and by the two principal chiefs came, stepping very deliberately, and took their places at the head of the circle of those within the large tent.
(2) Among the Omahas, as told by La Flèche and Two Crows:
Only one old man goes once around the tribal circle. He starts from his own gens, the Iñke-sabě, and enters but a single tent of each gens. He tells the people of that gens to question all their fellow gentiles who wish to be chiefs. The old man enters the Wejincte tent last of all. The men of each gens assemble by themselves. Some are afraid to undertake the chieftainship, saying, "It is difficult; I am unwilling." If a candidate is "naxíde-¢iñ´ge," or "wáspajĭ," i. e., disobedient or ill-behaved, the men of his gens can prevent his acceptance of the office. The next day the chiefs assemble in a large tent. The decorations of the chiefs, the disposition of the sacred pipes and buffalo skull are similar to what happens among the Ponkas, with a few exceptions. The chiefs do not redden their arm-pits, elbows, and the toes of their moccasins, and the hañga-ʞi`anze is slightly different.
The only clothing worn by the chiefs during this ceremony consists of moccasins, leggings, breech-cloths, and buffalo robes, with the hair outside. The place of meeting is the earth-lodge belonging to one of the principal chiefs. Besides the chiefs, only a few very brave men are admitted to witness the ceremony and to act as servants. The keepers of the sacred pipes are there; and the two old men of the Hañga who keep the sacred tents, sit by the door, as the wag¢a, to get wood and water, and to attend to the boiling of the food for the feast. The rest of the people, including the brave men and the young men, are not invited to the feast, but they can sit outside the lodge. When the crier says, "Cana¢a, u+!" the candidates know that he refers to them, so they and the people hasten to the earth-lodge. (See Fig. 2, § [18].)
Fig. 42.—The Omaha style of hañga-ʞi`anze.
The brave young men may be selected from each gens to hand around the food; and one of the principal chiefs calls on two by name to lade out the food.
The principal chief who is about to retire tells each new chief where he must sit in the circle of chiefs, and to whatever place he is thus assigned he must regard that as his seat in the assembly from that time on. The seat in question is resigned to the new chief by one of the retiring chiefs, except when some of the subordinate chiefs vacate their places to move nearer to the head chiefs, in which case the new chiefs are told to take the places thus vacated.