After delivery the patient is bound tightly about the abdomen, to reduce the size, as is the custom among civilized nations. Then is she washed in cool water if it be summer time, but in tepid water if it be cold weather. She must bathe twice a day. Mr. Hamilton was told that "the flow of blood ceased then to a great extent, especially after a few days; seldom lasting beyond ten days." La Flèche said that the women do not tell about the cessation of the flow. When the woman is strong she may go to work on the following day; but if she be weak she may require a fortnight or three weeks for recovering her strength.
When the husband asks about the infant, and they reply "It is a boy," or "It is a girl," he is very glad. Sometimes the husband treats a girl infant better than a boy, saying, "She cannot get anything for herself, whereas a son can take care of himself, as he is strong." Mr. Hamilton says, "I have heard of cases of severe labor. Women act as midwives, and with some skill, removing the placenta when adhering to the uterus, and in the usual manner."
Soon after birth the child is washed all over, wrapped in clothes, which are bound loosely around it. About two or three days after birth the infant's father or grandfather gives it a name, which is not always a nikie name. (See the account of the ceremony in the [T]a[p]a gens, when a child is four days old, § [65].) Sometimes it is put into the cradle or board in two or three days; sometimes in about a week.
Nursing.—Another woman serves as wet-nurse till the mother's breasts are full of milk. Mammary abscess is very rare.
§ 91. Number of children.—In 1819-'20 Dougherty wrote thus: "Sterility, although it does occur, is not frequent, and seems to be mostly attributable to the husband, as is evinced by subsequent marriages of the squaws. The usual number of children may be stated at from four to six in a family, but in some families there are ten or twelve. Of these the mother has often two at the breast simultaneously, of which one may be three years of age. At this age, however, and sometimes rather earlier, the child is weaned by the aid of ridicule, in which the parents are assisted by visitors." In 1882 La Flèche and Two Crows declared that there are many cases of barrenness. Children are not very numerous. While some women have seven, eight, nine, or even ten children, they are exceptional cases. And when a woman gives birth to so many, they do not always reach maturity. There are women who have never borne any children, and some men have never begotten any. One woman, who is of Blackfoot origin, is the wife of James Springer, an Omaha, and she has borne him twelve children; but no other woman has had as many.
CHILDREN.
§ 92. Diseases of children.—Summer complaint from teething is rare. Diarrhea, however, occurs frequently, even in children who walk, and when they are about four feet high. This may be accounted for as follows: their mothers' milk or other food disagrees with them. Dougherty found that during their first year the Omaha children suffered more from constipation than from any other complaint; and he said that this was relieved by soap suppositories. This is not the case now, according to La Flèche and Two Crows; and the writer never heard of its prevalence when he resided among the Ponkas and Omahas.
§ 93. Adoption of children.—The Omaha idea of adoption differs from ours. A member of the same gens, or one who is a consanguinity cannot be adopted; he or she is received by a relation. Two examples of this were told to the writer: Gahige received Wacuce's eldest son when the father died, because the former had been the potential father of the youth, who succeeded Wacuce as custodian of the sacred pipes. Now Gahige keeps the pipes himself for his son. Anpan-skă, of the Wejincte gens, gave his son, Binze-tig¢e, to his chief, Mahin-¢iñge, to be his son and servant. Mahin-¢iñge having received his kinsman, the latter has become the keeper of the treaty between the United States and the Omahas. This boy is about sixteen years of age.
Omaha adoption is called "ciégi¢ě," to take a person instead of one's own child. This is done when the adopted person resembles the deceased child, grandchild, nephew, or niece, in one or more features. It takes place without any ceremony. An uncle by adoption has all the rights of a real uncle. For example, when Mr. La Flèche's daughter Susette wished to go to the Indian Territory to accept a situation as teacher, and had gained the consent of her parents, Two Crows interposed, being her uncle by adoption, and forbade her departure. (See §§ [118] and [126].)
§ 94. Clothing of children.—Children were dressed in suits like those of their parents, but they used to wear robes made of the skins of the deer, antelope, or of buffalo calves. When the boys were very small, say, till they were about four years old, they used to run about in warm weather with nothing on but a small belt of cloth around the waist, according to Dougherty; and the writer has seen such boys going about entirely naked. Girls always wear clothing, even, when small. When a boy was eight years old, he began to wear in winter leggings, moccasins, and a small robe.