Great changes have occurred among the Kansa since they have come in
contact with the white race; but when Say visited them in the early part
of the present century they still observed their aboriginal marriage laws.
No Kansa could take a wife from a gens on his side of the tribal circle,
nor could he marry any kinswoman, however remote the relationship might
be. There are certain gentes that exchange personal names (jaje kik’übe
au), as among the Osage. Civil and military distinctions were based on
bravery and generosity. Say informs us that the Kansa had been at peace
with the Osage since 1806; that they had intermarried freely with them, so
that "in stature, features, and customs they are more and more closely
approaching that people." He states also that the head chief of the Kansa
was Gahinge Wadayiñga, Saucy Chief (which he renders "Fool Chief"), and
that the ten or twelve underchiefs did not seem to have the respect of the
people.
Unmarried females labored in the fields, served their parents, carried
wood and water, and cooked. When the eldest daughter married she
controlled the lodge, her mother, and all the sisters; the latter were
always the wives of the same man. Presents were exchanged when a youth
took his first wife. On the death of the husband the widow scarified
herself, rubbed her person with clay, and became careless about her dress
for a year. Then the eldest brother of the deceased married her without
any ceremony, regarding her children as his own. When the deceased left no
brother (real or potential) the widow was free to select her next husband.
Fellowhood (as in cases of Damon and Pythias, David and Jonathan) often
continues through life.
The Kansa had two kinds of criers or heralds: 1, the wadji’panyin or
village crier; 2, the ie’kiye’(Omaha and Ponka i’ĕki’¢ĕ. In 1882, Sansile
(a woman) was hereditary wadji’panyin of the Kansa, having succeeded her
father, Pezihi, the last male crier. At the time of an issue (about 1882)
Sansile’s son-in-law died, so she, being a mourner, could not act as
crier; hence her office devolved on K’axe of the Taqtci subgens. In that
year one of the Ta yatcajĭ subgens (of the Taqtci or Deer gens) was iekiye
number 1. Iekiye number 2 belonged to the Tadje or Kanze (Wind) gens.
THE OSAGE
In the Osage nation there are three primary divisions, which are tribes in
the original acceptation of that term. These are known as the Tsiɔu utse
pe¢ŭn*d*a, the Seven Tsiɔu fireplaces, Hañʞa utsse pe¢ŭ*d*a, the Seven
Hañʞa fireplaces, and Waɔaɔe utse pe¢ŭ*d*a, the Seven Osage fireplaces.
Each "fireplace" is a gens, so that there are twenty-one gentes in the
Osage nation. The Seven Hañʞa fireplaces were the last to join the nation,
according to the tradition of the Tsiɔu wactaʞe people. When this
occurred, the seven Hañʞa gentes were reckoned as five, and the seven
Osage gentes as two, in order to have not more than seven gentes on the
right side of the tribal circle.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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