A Study of Siouan Cults: Eleventh Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1889-1890, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1861, pages 351-544Dorsey, James Owen
Religion
A Study of Siouan Cults: Eleventh Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1889-1890, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1861, pages 351-544
Dorsey, James Owen
Siouan Indians -- Religion
An unknown Omaha had a vision of deer, so he decorated his tent
accordingly. (See Fig. 176.) George Miller could not furnish the man’s
name.
§ 51. Among the members of the order of Grizzly Bear shamans was an
Omaha named ┴ebi‘a (Frog). The top of his tent was painted yellow,
as shown in Fig. 177. There was no other decoration; but this yellow
evidently was connected with a grizzly bear vision, as it appears
in the decoration adopted by the father of Two Crows, who was not
only one of the two leaders of the order of Thunder shamans (Iñgȼaⁿ
iȼa‘eȼĕ-ma) but also a member of the orders of Buffalo and Grizzly
Bear shamans (┴e iȼa‘eȼĕ-ma and Maⁿtcu iȼa‘eȼĕ-ma). (See Pl. XLIV, D,
in which a grizzly bear is depicted as emerging from his den. The blue
part represents the ground.)
This decoration (of the tent of Two Crows’ father) is thus described by
George Miller: Maⁿtcú iȼa‘eȼaí egaⁿ´ ʇí tĕ égaⁿ gáxai.
Grizzly bear they have as tent the so they
visions of it std. ob. make it
Maⁿtcú wadaⁿ´bai tĕ´di ʇan´de kĕ maⁿ´taʇa éȼaⁿbe tí
Grizzly bear they see them when ground the within emerging come
lg. ob.
wadaⁿ´bai, gaⁿ´ égaⁿ gáxai ʇí tĕ. ┴an´de kĕ ʇúȼĕ-naⁿ´i,
they see them and so they tent the Ground the they usually
make it std. lg. ob. paint blue
ob.
ʇí hébe kĕ zíȼĕ-naⁿ´i.” That is, “When they have had visions
tent part the they usually
lg ob. paint yellow.
of grizzly bears, they decorate their tents accordingly. When they see
grizzly bears, they behold them coming out of the ground, and so they
paint the tents. They always (or usually) paint the ground blue,
and part of the tent they paint in a yellow band.” This shows the
conventional use of colors. See Pl. XLIV, E, for the sketch of another
tent representing the vision of a grizzly bear.
[Illustration: FIG. 177.--Tent of ┴ebi‘a.]
[Illustration: FIG. 178.--Tent of a Kansa who had an eagle vision.]
KANSA MYSTERY DECORATIONS.
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