They also imitate the motions of different animals, playfully, sometimes grotesquely, in their dances. {47} CHAPTER V {III} Tribes and Bands—Fabulous Legends—Wit—Ninnegahe, or Mixed Tobacco—Dances—Otoes—Migrations—Language. THE Omawhaw nation is divided into two principal sections or tribes, which are distinguished by the names Honga-sha-no and Ish-ta-sun-da; the latter means Grey Eyes. The first-mentioned tribe is subdivided into eight bands, viz. 1. _Wase-ish-ta._—This band is interdicted from eating the flesh of male deer or male elk, in consequence of having their great medicine, which is a large shell, enveloped in the prepared skin of those animals. The chief of this band is the Big Elk, Ongpatungah; and it is more powerful and numerous in individuals than either of the others. The shell, which is regarded as an object of great sanctity and superstitious reverence, by the whole nation, has been transmitted from the ancestry of this band, and its origin is unknown. A skin lodge or temple is appropriated for its preservation, in which a person constantly resides, charged with the care of it, and appointed its guard. It is placed upon a stand, and is never suffered to touch the earth. It is concealed from the sight by several envelops, which are composed of strands of the proper skins, plaited and joined together in the form of a mat. The whole constitutes a parcel of considerable size, from which various articles are suspended, such as tobacco and roots of certain plants. No person dares to open all the coverings of this sacred deposit, in order to expose the shell to view. {48} Tradition informs them, that curiosity induced three different persons to examine the mysterious shell, who were immediately punished for their profanation, by instant and total loss of sight. The last of these offenders, whose name is Ish-ka-tappe, is still living. It was ten years since that he attempted to unveil the sacred shell, but, like his predecessors, he was visited by blindness, which still continues, and is attributed by the Indians, as well as by himself, to his committing of the forbidden act. This shell is taken with the band to all the national hunts, and is transported by means of a hoppas on the back of a man.