The writer is inclined to think that there is some truth in what Gahige has said, though he cannot accept all of his statement. Gahige gives one pipe to the Hañga gens; Two Crows intimated that his gens was the virtual keeper of a pipe. But Anba-hebe's story shows that it was not a real pipe, but the firebrand for lighting the pipes. In like manner, [T]e-[p]a-it`ajĭ has not a real pipe, but the buffalo skull, which is considered as a pipe. Hence, it may be that the men who are called "keepers of the pipes" in the [K]anze, Man¢iñka-gaxe, [T]a-[p]a, [T]e-sĭnde, and Ictasanda gentes never had real pipes but certain objects which are held sacred, and have some connection with the two pipes kept by the Iñke-sabě.
AnBA-HEBE'S ACCOUNT OF THE TRADITION OF THE PIPES.
§ 16. The following is the tradition of the sacred pipes, according to Anba-hebe, the aged historian of the Omahas:
The old men made seven pipes and carried them around the tribal circle. They first reached Wejincte, who sat there as a male elk, and was frightful to behold, so the old men did not give him a pipe. Passing on to the Iñke-sabě, they gave the first pipe to the head of that gens. Next they came to Hañga, to whom they handed a firebrand, saying, "Do thou keep the firebrand," i. e., "You are to thrust it into the pipe-bowls." Therefore it is the duty of Hañga to light the pipes for the chiefs (sic). When they reached the Bear people they feared them because they sat there with the sacred bag of black bear-skin, so they did not give them a pipe. The Blackbird people received no pipe because they sat with the sacred bag of bird-skins and feathers. And the old men feared the Turtle people, who had made a big turtle on the ground, so they passed them by. But when they saw the Eagle people they gave them a pipe because they did not fear them, and the buffalo was good. (Others say that the Eagle people had started off in anger when they found themselves slighted, but the old men pursued them, and on overtaking them they handed them a bladder filled with tobacco, and also a buffalo skull, saying, "Keep this skull as a sacred thing." This appeased them, and they rejoined the tribe.) Next the old men saw the [K]anze, part of whom were good, and part were bad. To the good ones they gave a pipe. The Man¢iñka-gaxe people were the next gens. They, too, were divided, half being bad. These bad ones had some stones at the front of their lodge, and they colored these stones, as well as their hair, orange-red. They wore plumes (hinqpe) in their hair (and a branch of cedar wrapped around their heads.—La Flèche), and were awful to behold. So the old men passed on to the good ones, to whom they gave the fourth pipe. Then they reached the [T]e-sĭnde, half of whom made sacred a buffalo, and are known as those who eat not the lowest rib. Half of these were good, and they received the fifth pipe. All of the [T]a-[p]a (Anba-hebe's own gens!) were good, and they obtained the sixth pipe. The Iñg¢e-jide took one whole side of a buffalo, and stuck it up, leaving the red body but partially buried in the ground, after making a tent of the skin. They who carried the pipes around were afraid of them, so they did not give them one. Last of all they came to the Ictasanda. These people were disobedient, destitute of food, and averse to staying long in one place. As the men who had the pipes wished to stop this, they gave the seventh pipe to the fourth subgens of the Ictasanda, and since then the members of this gens have behaved themselves.
J. La Flèche and Two Crows say that "Wejincte loved his waqube, the miʞasi, or coyote, and so he did not wish a pipe" which pertained to peace. "Hañga does not light the pipes for the chiefs", that is, he does not always light the pipes.
§ 17. The true division of labor appears to be as follows: Hañga was the source of the sacred pipes, and has a right to all, as that gens had the first authority. Hañga is therefore called "I¢ig¢an´qti aké," as he does what he pleases with the pipes. Hañga told Íñke-sabě to carry the pipes around the tribal circle; so that is why the seven old men did so. And as Hañga directed it to be done, Iñke-sabě is called "A¢in´ aké," The Keeper. Ictasanda fills the pipes. When the Ictasanda man who attends to this duty does not come to the council the pipes cannot be smoked, as no one else can fill them. This man, who knows the ritual, sends all the others out of the lodge, as they must not hear the ancient words. He utters some words when he cleans out the pipe-bowl, others when he fills the pipe, etc. He does not always require the same amount of time to perform this duty. Then all return to the lodge. Hañga, or rather a member of that gens, lights the pipes, except at the time of the greasing of the sacred pole, when he, not Ictasanda, fills the pipes, and some one else lights them for him. (See § 152.) These three gentes, Hañga, Iñke-sabě, and Ictasanda, are the only rulers among the keepers of the sacred pipes. The other keepers are inferior; though said to be keepers of sacred pipes, the pipes are not manifest.
These seven niniba waqube are peace pipes, but the niniba waqube of the Wejincte is the war pipe.
§ 18. The two sacred pipes kept by Iñke-sabě are used on various ceremonial occasions. When the chiefs assemble and wish to make a decision for the regulation of tribal affairs, Ictasanda fills both pipes and lays them down before the two head chiefs. Then the Iñke-sabě keeper takes one and the [T]e-[p]a it`ajĭ keeper the other. Iñke-sabě precedes, starting from the head chief sitting on the right and passing around half of the circle till he reaches an old man seated opposite the head chief. This old man (one of the Hañga wag¢a) and the head chief are the only ones who smoke the pipe; those sitting between them do not smoke it when Iñke-sabě goes around. When the old man has finished smoking Iñke-sabě takes the pipe again and continues around the circle to the starting-point, but he gives it to each man to smoke. When he reaches the head chief on the left he gives it to him, and after receiving it from him he returns it to the place on the ground before the head chiefs.
When Iñke-sabě reaches the old man referred to [T]e-[p]a-it`ajĭ starts from the head chiefs with the other pipe, which he hands to each one, including those sitting between the second head chief and the old man. [T]e-[p]a-it`ajĭ always keeps behind Iñke-sabě just half the circumference of the circle, and when he receives the pipe from the head chief on the left he returns it to its place beside the other. Then, after the smoking is over, Ictasanda takes the pipes, overturns them to empty out the ashes, and cleans the bowls by thrusting in a stick. (See §§ 111, 130, 296, etc.)
Fig. 13.—Places of the chiefs, etc., in the tribal assembly.
A.—The first head chief, on the left. B.—The second head chief, on the right. C.—The two Hañga wag¢a, one being the old man whom Iñke-sabě causes to smoke the pipe. D.—The place where the two pipes are laid. The chiefs sit around in a circle. E.—The giver of the feast.
In smoking they blew the smoke upwards, saying, "Here, Wakanda, is the smoke." This was done because they say that Wakanda gave them the pipes, and He rules over them.
§ 19. Frank La Flèche told the following:
The sacred pipes are not shown to the common people. When my father was about to be installed a head chief, Mahin-zi, whose duty it was to fill the pipes, let one of them fall to the ground, violating a law, and so preventing the continuation of the ceremony. So my father was not fully initiated. When the later fall was partly gone Mahin-zi died.
Wacuce, my father-in-law, was the Iñke-sabě keeper of the pipes. When the Otos visited the Omahas (in the summer of 1878), the chiefs wished the pipes to be taken out of the coverings, so they ordered Wacuce to undo the bag. This was unlawful, as the ritual prescribed certain words to be said by the chiefs to the keeper of the pipes previous to the opening of the bag. But none