At harvest one of the keepers of the Hañga sacred tents (Frank La Flèche thinks it is the Wacabe or [T]e-san-ha keeper) selects a number of ears of red corn, which he lays by for the next planting season. All the ears must be perfect ones. (See Calumet dance, § [123].)
In the spring, when the grass comes up, there is a council or tribal assembly held, to which a feast is given by the head of the Hañga gens. After they decide that planting time has come, and at the command of the Hañga man, a crier is sent through the village. He wears a robe with the hair outside, and cries as he goes, "Wa¢a`e te, ai a¢á u+!"—They do indeed say that you will dig the ground! Halloo! He carries the sacred corn, which has been shelled, and to each household he gives two or three grains, which are mixed with the ordinary seed-corn of that household. After this it is lawful for the people to plant their corn. Some of the Iñke-sabě people cannot eat red corn. This may have some connection with the consecration of the seed-corn.
CHAPTER VIII.
INDUSTRIAL OCCUPATIONS (CONTINUED).
FOOD AND ITS PREPARATION.
§ 164. Meat.—They ate the "ʇa," or dried meat of the buffalo, elk, deer, but seldom tasted that of the beaver. They cut the meat in slices (wága), which they cut thin (máb¢eʞa), that it might soon dry. It was then dried as explained in § [150]. Before drying it is "ʇa-núʞa," wet or fresh meat. The dried meat used to be cooked on glowing coals. When the meat was dried in the summer it lasted for the winter's use, but by the next summer it was all consumed. In the [T]a[p]a and Wejincte gentes venison and elk meat could not be eaten, and certain parts of the buffalo could not be eaten or touched by the Iñke-sabě, Hañga, [T]e-[p]a-it`ajĭ, [T]e-sĭnde, and Iñg¢e-jide. (See §§ [31], [37], [49], [50], and [67].)
The marrow, wajíbe, was taken from the thigh bones by means of narrow scoops, or wébagude, which were made out of any kind of stick, being blunt at one end. They were often thrown away after being used.
The vertebræ and all the larger bones of the buffalo and other animals are used for making wahi-weg¢i, bone grease, which serves as butter and lard. In recent times hatchets have been used to crush the bones, but formerly stone axes (in´-igagan or in´-igacíje) were employed, and some of these may still be found among the Omahas. Now the Omahas use the in´-wate, a large round stone, for that purpose. The fragments of the bones are boiled, and very soon grease arises to the surface. This is skimmed off and placed in sacks for future use. Then the bones are thrown out and others are put in to boil. The sacks into which the grease is put are made of the muscular coating of the stomach of a buffalo, which has been dried, and is known as "ínijeha."
They ate the entrails of the buffalo and the elk. Both the small and large intestines were boiled, then turned inside out and scraped to get off the remains of the dung which might be adhering to them. Then they were dried. According to Two Crows, the iñg¢e, or dung of the buffalo, is not "b¢an-píäjĭ," offensive, like that of the domestic cow. Though the buffalo cow gives a rich milk, the Indians do not make use of that of such as they kill in hunting.
§ 165. La Flèche and Two Crows never heard of any Omahas that ate lice, but the writer saw an aged Ponka woman eat some that she took from the head of her grandson. The following objects are not eaten by any of the gentes: Dried fish, slugs, dried crickets, grasshoppers, or other insects, and dried fish-spawn. Nor do they ever use as drinks fish-oil or other oils.