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Oto and Ponca Indians. Left, Oto, painted by Carl Bodmer at Pilcher’s Trading Post, 
May 12, 1834. Right, Ponca (Chief Sude-gaxe or Smoke-maker), painted by Carl Bodmer 
at Pilcher’s Trading Post, May 11, 1833. 


SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 
BULLETIN 195 


THE PONCA TRIBE 
By JAMES H. HOWARD 


In collaboration with 
Peter Le Cxarre, tribal historian 


and other members of the tribe 


U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 
WASHINGTON : 1965 


A ee ee ee 
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office 
Washington, D.C., 20402 - Price $2. 25 (cloth) 


EAN TEOOn 
SON, 
fl NOVI - a 
5 3 


NY 


Se ar 


LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL 


SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 
Bureau or AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY, 
Washington, D.C., December 31, 1963. 


Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith a manuscript entitled 
“The Ponca Tribe,” by James H. Howard, and to recommend that 
it be published as a bulletin of the Bureau of American Ethnology. 

Very respectfully yours, 
Frank H. H. Roeerrs, Jr., 
Director. 


Dr. Lronarp CARMICHAEL, 
Secretary, Smithsonian Institution. 


is Pe 
= 7 st p 7 ahs 


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CONTENTS 


PAGE 

LETRAS P OE st Ee 8 oe sO 2 a Lee eS Bee ae EA tes VII 
INonthernyPoncaintormamts ie] ee eee ee eee eee eee IX 
SOU JOGA TNR oo ee eee soe oan Xe 
PhonetiCiKe y= a2 es ke oo ee Oya eee iy a Be ole ee ae A XI 
UAETO GWG TI OMe yes =e Sa ee A ay ey hp OS hel Die al aya ee ad co 1 
 TAEATIEOT ae iSO a ea ang, A es eRe re ee rere eed FA 10 
iPoncarrtustory, by Peter he Claire: = 28-2525 2 ae 16 
EMcemiunevlony=Wnivess 222252 52. bie ek ee ee 23 
new roncap Lrailiof- Meats? =. seh. sol Bond Pee os ae ae ae 30 
BT COTO etree ere eee a eas a ED all a ee ee 39 
Diatermameulturerand housing. 6. = 22 ly Se ak lee el yee ee 51 
DWresssandsadormment 25 ee S25 2222 nee ae ee pee ee 61 
feannin ceanGeart sss se eta Sas a lar ed ey Pe pe 70 
DG IEOEC ARIZA ON Ost co LPs 2 9 J 2 en ee a a_i 81 
Religion, dances and ceremonies, and games-_---_-_-_-------_---_-_--- 99 
SpOnbcIanG PaMmess= 252502 a ee a ke eee | eee 125 
WTRERTICR DE ACE = APS Si ae. SP cas tek Se Ss La ote yw a 130 
AIR M Cay, Ce mem ae er apt oe oe es a ene ere Pees et A NY Seg ae 141 
Northern Ponca-Southern Ponca: differential acculturation._____-_-_--- 156 
BReTeLEIEROMGICCU Mie Bogs ee ket Bagh) bl 5 RA ey 8 ey Ee ee 165 
JE GIOR es SE BE See One foe DORE Fs SNE Brea Ta ONS Sh eek ee EES 173 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


PLATES 


(All plates except frontispiece follow p. 172) 


Frontispiece. Oto and Ponca Indians. 


DNNNNPEPHR HEHE RE eH 
BONE SHODARMUPRWNEHESOHMDAAMR WD 


a a 


. Shoo-de-ga-cha (The Smoke), chief of the Ponca tribe. 
. Mong-shong-sha, wife of Great Chief. 

. Hee-lah-dee, wife of The Smoke. 

. Hongs-kay-dee, son of The Smoke. 


“Punka Indians encamped on the banks of the Missouri.” 
Poncea-Dakota battle as drawn by To-tay-go-nai. 


. Group of Ponca men with their agent. 


Big Snake and Antoine. 
Four Ponca chiefs. 


. Standing-bear. 

. Ponca delegation to Washington, 1877. 

. Shu’-de’ga’xe and Mo*-chw’hi"’xte. 

. Xi-tha’-ca-be and Te-zhe’-ba-te. 

. Two types of Ponca burials. 

. We’-ga-ca-pi and Mi’-xa-to"-ga. 

. Part of the 1906 Southern Ponca delegation. 
. Ponea ceremonials. 

. Scenes in the Ponca country. 

. Housing and settlements of the Northern Ponea. 
. Northern Ponca types. 

. Peter LeClaire, the Ponea historian. 

. Items of Northern Ponea material culture. 

. Southern Ponea scenes. 

. Southern Ponca types. 


TEXT FIGURES 


MAP 


- Authors conception of Poncasterritoryse 


VI 


PREFACE 


The Ponca tribe of American Indians has been in contact with 
White civilization for more than 150 years, yet no comprehensive 
ethnography of the tribe has ever been written. Although there is 
much material on the Ponca in the literature, it is scattered and uneven 
in quality. Many of the tribal institutions have been neglected en- 
tirely, and much of the material seems overgeneralized. It is even 
difficult to assess the cultural position of the Ponca. Thus, some eth- 
nographers have stressed the Plains affiliations of the tribe, citing such 
features as the Sun dance, tribal bison hunt, and use of the skin tipi. 
Yet many complexes of Eastern Woodland derivation are present in 
Ponca culture as well; for example, the Medicine Lodge ceremony and 
organization, the stylized-floral decorative art tradition, and their 
well-developed horticulture. Like other tribes of the Missouri, the 
Ponca lie somewhere between High Plains and Woodlands in their 
cultural orientation, and some of the more typical Plains traits in their 
cultural inventory are known to be recent additions. A study of which 
Woodland Indian traits were retained by the Ponca in their movement 
out of the Southeast and into their historic location and which Plains 
traits were adopted in their new situation thus provides us with inter- 
esting data on human ecology. 

It was with this problem in mind that my original Ponca research 
was initiated, and one of the primary purposes of this monograph is 
to present a more complete delineation of Ponca culture, under one 
cover, than has hitherto been done. To accomplish this, the existing 
literature has been closely examined. The results of this study were 
supplemented and checked by ethnographic fieldwork—2 months 
among the Northern Ponca of Nebraska and South Dakota in 1949 
and 214 months with the Southern band in Oklahoma in 1954, plus 
several shorter visits of a week or a few days to both groups on subse- 
quent occasions. An attempt was made to trace the Ponca from their 
position as a village tribe on the Missouri to modern reservation and 
urban groups in Nebraska, South Dakota, and Oklahoma. 

The reconstruction of Ponca culture of the precontact period, or even 
of the early historic era before the tribe had adopted much of the 
European pattern, is quite difficult. The Ponca were visited by White 
traders in the 18th century and acquired horses and a variety of trade 
goods well before we begin to get any extensive descriptions of their 
way of life. Furthermore, for the Ponca, we lack the precontact 
archeological sites which provide an “aboriginal baseline” for some 
other groups. 

VII 


VIII BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195] 


“Aboriginal Ponca culture,” then, as used in this work, must of 
necessity be a construction. It consists of descriptions of Ponca cul- 
ture of the 18th and 19th centuries from the published literature and 
documentary sources, plus 20th-century “memory culture” accounts 
of Ponca informants, with all recognizably European or White ele- 
ments removed from consideration. Now, though this sort of treat- 
ment is admittedly risky, and traditional ethnographies constructed 
in this manner have received considerable criticism in recent years, 
there is, in my opinion, some justification for this approach. In the 
present instance it provides the only method of achieving a reasonably 
complete and well-rounded view of a culture which would otherwise 
remain a mere hodgepodge of disparate (though possibly well-dated) 
fragments. The criticism that this “free floating” Ponca culture does 
not accurately reflect any specific instant in time must be acknowl- 
edged, however, as valid. But until some sort of time machine is 
invented permitting us to revisit the past, we shall have to content 
ourself with such devices. It might also be noted that although all 
cultures are continually changing, the rate of change may vary from 
fast to slow. American Indian cultures of the precontact and even 
early historic periods were often not changing so rapidly that the 
concept “traditional culture” is entirely invalid. 

Where it is possible to accurately trace change, of course, this has 
been done. The fieldwork among the two bands of the tribe, which 
were one until 1879, revealed that important differences had grown 
up in the relatively short period since their separation. On the whole, 
it was learned, the Southern Ponca have offered more resistance to the 
forces of White acculturation. Yet in certain respects, surprisingly, 
it was the Northern Ponca who were the more conservative. Out of 
this interesting discovery the second objective of this study developed: 
to show what differences exist between the two bands and to suggest 
factors that might be responsible for these differences. 

In this connection the Southern Ponca participation in Oklahoma 
Pan-Indianism was examined. This interesting phenomenon, which 
seems to represent a sort of generalized intertribal “Indian” culture, 
takes many of its components from the older Prairie-Plains culture 
which was, to a great extent, shared by the Ponca. Other elements in 
Pan-Indianism derive from the cultures of the Eastern Woodlands and 
the Southwest, while yet others appear to be peculiar to Pan-Indian- 
ism and to have no roots in the Indian past. The third purpose of 
this study, then, is to trace the development of Pan-Indianism in 
Oklahoma, with particular reference to the Ponca. An attempt has 
been made to determine why some older traits were retained, why 
others were abandoned, and why certain new traits were adopted, and 
to show how these factors have contributed to the existing differences 
between Northern and Southern Ponca culture. 


PREFACE Ix 


Since much of the information in this monograph is based on the 
testimony of Ponca informants, a brief sketch of some of the principal 
contributors may be valuable in evaluating their respective 
information. 

NORTHERN PONCA INFORMANTS 


Peter Le Claire (PLC) is of mixed French-Canadian and Ponca 
descent (pl.21). He lives inasmall apartment in Fairfax, S. Dak., at 
the present time (1962), though he was born near Niobrara, Nebr. He 
is 79 years of age but still quite active. PLC is recognized by both the 
Northern and Southern Ponca as the tribal historian, and often in- 
quiries to other informants brought the response “You’d better ask 
Pete.” PLC is one of the very few Northern Poncas who still own 
dancing costumes and participate in Indian dances. He is well liked 
by all who know him, Indian or White. A short autobiographical 
sketch of PLC, with an introduction by the present writer, appeared 
in 1961 (Le Claire, 1961). 

Joseph Le Roy (JLB) is of mixed French-Canadian, Santee Dakota, 
and Ponca descent (pl. 20, a). He is 70 years of age (1962). His 
father was a Northern Ponca chief of the second rank. JLR now lives 
in Ponca City, Okla., but at the time of my fieldwork he resided in 
Niobrara, Nebr. Though his material is on the whole quite reliable, 
it sometimes shows what I believe to be Santee Dakota influence. For 
example, JLR gave me a rather lengthy account of Windigo cannibal- 
ism which he attributed to the Ponca, but which is more likely Santee. 

Otto B. Knudsen (OK) was the last chief among the Northern 
Ponca, having been created a chief of the second rank at the last chief- 
making ceremony held in the north (pl. 20,¢). His father was a Dane 
and hismothera Ponca. Because he learned most of his “Indian ways” 
from his mother, much of the material he supplied relates to women’s 
activities, such as horticulture and the preservation of food. OK occa- 
sionally used feminine forms of speech when speaking Bégiha. He 
always laughed and corrected himself when such a slip occurred. He 
was 75 years old at the time of his death in 1954. 

Edward Buffalo-chief or Buffalo-chip (IKBC) was a fullblood 
Northern Ponca. He lived on a farm near Niobrara, Nebr. He came 
from a long line of Ponca chiefs and was himself a Peyote chief or 
“roadman.” EBC was a cripple and inclined to be slightly misan- 
thropic. He was much interested in the old Ponca religion and cere- 
monies, but frequently made gloomy comments to the effect “It is all 
gone now.” He was not particularly talkative, and such information 
as was secured from him was usually the confirmation of data given 
by other informants. He did, however, contribute valuable original 
material on the Northern Ponca peyote religion. He died in 1950 at 
the age of 80. 


x BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195] 


SOUTHERN PONCA INFORMANTS 


Mrs. Virginia Headman (VHM), nee Big-soldier, was the only 
Southern Ponca informant interviewed who was old enough at the 
time of the Ponca Removal to remember much of the old tribal life 
in Nebraska and South Dakota. She was 15 years old when the 
Ponca were brought to Baxter Springs, Kans., in 1877. Although 
hardly able to move about in 1954, her mind remained clear and her 
sense of humor keen. She was able to describe the tribal hunts along 
the Elkhorn and Keya Paha Rivers, and she vividly recalled a visit 
paid to a Pawnee earth-lodge village on the Platte when she was very 
small. 

Leslie Red-leaf (LRL) was the last remaining chief (of the second 
rank) among the Southern Ponca. Blind and feeble, he still retained, 
in 1954, a clear memory of the old ways, and walked with the proud 
carriage of an oldtime Ponca chief. Dressed in his otterskin cap and 
red and blue broadcloth blanket he presented an imposing figure at 
various powwows in the Ponca City area. He was approximately 
89 years old at the time of his death in 1955. 

Louis MacDonald (LMD) was 2 years old when the Ponca tribe 
was moved south. As a boy he listened carefully to the words of the 
old men. A Carlisle graduate, he spent much of his life working for 
his tribe in Washington. He was, in 1954, one of the two remaining 
“soldiers” or Buffalo-police among the Southern Ponca. He was 
also prominent in Peyote affairs and was an informant on this sub- 
ject for La Barre (1938, p.3). He was 83 years of age at the time of 
his death in 1958. 

Obie Yellow-bull, or Little-standing-buffalo (OYB), is particularly 
well versed in tribal mythology and custom, In 1954 he was still able 
to make and play the Indian flute, and was the last member of his 
tribe to do so (pl. 24, c). At present (1962) he is 79 years old, both 
blind and deaf. Though OYB wasa willing informant, he often spoke 
so rapidly that it was not possible to secure a complete running trans- 
lation of his remarks from PLC, who served as my interpreter. 

Albert Makes-cry (AMC) was a particularly valuable informant 
because he was able to relate the tales he had heard from older South- 
ern Ponca to landmarks in Nebraska and South Dakota, where he had 
visited for long periods as a boy. A deeply religious man, “Uncle 
Albert” is often called upon to lead the singing at church services 
and to pray for the group at tribal gatherings. He is 70 years old. 

Walter Blue-back (WBB) or Black-eagle (his Sun dance name) 
was the Xube of the short biographical sketch of that title by Whit- 
man (1939). WBB was the only Ponca youth of his generation to 
take part in the Sun dance and other old Ponca rituals. At one time 
he was a practicing Bear shaman. He later abandoned the practice 
in favor of the Peyote religion, in which he became a leader. Though 


PREFACE XI 


still an active peyotist in 1954, he preferred to take a less active role. 
He died in 1955 at the age of 66. 

The initials of the above-named informants following a sentence 
or paragraph in the text indicate that the information in the respective 
sentence or paragraph was supplied by one of them. Full names are 
used for informants who supplied lesser amounts of data. Quota- 


tions are not verbatim, but are paraphrases expanded from “short- 
hand” field notes. 


PHONETIC KEY 


There are almost as many different ways of transcribing Pégiha, 
the language spoken by the Ponca, Omaha, Osage, Kansa, and 
Quapaw, as there are authors who have worked with the tribes 
speaking the language. I believe that it is asking a great deal to 
require the reader of this monograph to learn a new alphabet in order 
to pronounce the native words herein. It is certainly asking too 
much to expect him, in addition, to work his way through each of the 
systems employed by others who have written on the Ponca and 
Omaha. Therefore, although it is a departure from the usual 
scholarly procedure, all Pégiha words in this study—even those in 
quotations—have been placed in a single uniform system. To 
insure complete accuracy, each word or phrase was read to Peter Le 
Claire and at least one other Ponca informant. The informants 
then pronounced it back and it was transcribed. The symbols 
employed and their values are as follows: 

Vowels: 
i High, front, close, unrounded (as ee in American English sheep) 
High, front, open, unrounded (as 7 in American English in) 
Mid, front, close, unrounded (as A in American English April) 
Mid, front, open, unrounded (as e in American English eztra) 
Low, front, open, unrounded (as a in American English mama) 
Mid, central, close, unrounded (as e in American English the) 
High, back, close, rounded (as 00 in American English toot) 

o Mid, back, close, rounded (as o in American English open) 

i, f, «, a, 9, u, and o also have nasalized forms, as i, lp €, 4% 9, U, and 9. 

When 7 and uw are phonemically consonants they are written y and w. 

The symbol - adds length to the preceding vowel. 

Consonants: 

Stops: 
p Bilabial, unaspirated, voiceless 
b_ Bilabial, unaspirated, voiced 
t Alveolar, unaspirated, voiceless 
d_ Alveolar, unaspirated, voiced 
th Alveolar, aspirated, voiceless 
t§ Alveo-palatal, affricated, voiceless (as ch in American English 
church) 

k  Velar, unaspirated, voiceless 
g Velar, unaspirated, voiced 

Glottal, unaspirated, voiceless 


Be O @ @ eae 


XII BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195] 


Fricatives: 

a Interdental, flat, voiced (the sound of th in American English the) 
Alveolar, grooved, voiceless 
Alveolar, grooved, voiced 
Alveo-palatal, grooved, voiceless (as sh in American English she) 
Alveo-palatal, grooved, voiced (as z in American English azure) 
Velar, flat, voiceless (as ch in the German hoch) 
Velar, flat voiced 
Glottal, flat, voiceless (as h in American English hat) 
Frictionless: 

m Bilabial, nasal, voiced 

n_ Alveolar, nasal, voiced 

The accents are indicated as follows: 

’ Primary 
Secondary 
With the exception of the symbols 9, ’, and g, all of the above-listed symbols are 

those of the ‘“‘Michigan”’ system (Pike, 1947, pp. 5, 7). 


Da oN ON D 


a 


THE PONCA TRIBE 


By James H. Howarp 


INTRODUCTION 


In the past four decades the data of archeology, ethnology, and 
ethnohistory have begun to provide us with at least the main outlines 
of what was undoubtedly one of the most highly developed North 
American Indian civilizations. This culture, which clearly shows 
its derivation from the high cultures of Middle America, has been 
termed “Middle Mississippi” by modern archeologists.1 In tech- 
nological advancement, social organization, and art it ranks just below 
the civilizations of the Aztec, Toltec, and Maya. 

Middle Mississippi towns were usually built on the fertile flood- 
plains of rivers. Each town was built around a great central plaza 
or “square ground” where important ceremonials were held. Nearby 
were huge pyramidal mounds with temples and chiefs’ houses on their 
flattened summits. These mounds, the largest of which are as large 
or larger than the great pyramids of Egypt, were built up of earth 
and clay. In some instances the mound exteriors were faced with a 
smooth covering of clay analogous to the stone or plaster shells which 
covered Mexican pyramids. A wide ramp or stairway of earth or 
logs led to the summit of each mound. Also near the “square ground” 
was the “hothouse,” a large, sometimes earth-covered lodge where 
councils were held. 

Clustered around the square ground, mounds, and hothouse were 
the dwellings of the ordinary folk. These houses were generally 
rectangular in shape, with walls of wattle and daub construction and 
roofs of poles and thatch. The chiefs’ houses and temples were simi- 
lar but often boasted elaborately carved interior timbers and roof 
combs. Around the town there was frequently a palisade of upright 
posts supported by earthen embankments for protection against 
enemies. 

No less impressive than their architectural works was the art of 
the Middle Mississippi people. Their pottery—buff, gray, or black in 


1This description of Middle Mississippi culture was largely abstracted from ‘Indians 
before Columbus” (Martin, Quimby, and Collier, 1947, pp. 353-366). 


i 


2 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 


[Bull. 195 
N. DAKOTA = 
uw 
° 
c 
= 
iy @Pierre 
T EMOIN ee SANTEE 
DAKOTA 
DAKOTA .... YANKTON 
S. DAKOTA e ue ne TA 
P-O-ny mr —oNeA HOUSE 


iy Niobrara: 


eee 


OMAHA 
~ PAWNEE 
@)Omaha 
NEBRASKA oTo 
@ Lincoln 
|1OWA 
,) 
Baxter Springs 
Ws 
OK 
a Ne Ponca City 
LEGEND 


—FX Ponca Trail of Tears’ 


“é “Territory utilized by Ponca prior 
“sc? to reservation era 


A Trading Post 


Map 1.—Author’s conception of Ponca territory. 


color—has been called the best in aboriginal North America. Some 
ceremonial vessels were made in the shape of animals, fish, and even 
human heads. Pots were decorated by polishing, incising, modeling, 
punctating, engraving, and painting. 

Shellwork also was of a high order. Shell gorgets with engraved 
or cut and engraved figures remind one immediately of the elaborate 
ceremonial art of ancient Mexico. Gorgets with representations of 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 3 


feathered serpents, eagle warriors, and athletes playing the hoop and 
javelin game are characteristic. In some parts of the Middle Missis- 
sippi territory pear-shaped gorgets in the form of a human face with 
strange “weeping” eyes have been found. 

The Middle Mississippi people were acquainted with copper and 
worked it into a variety of tools and ornaments. One excellent ex- 
ample of the coppersmith’s art is an ornamental plate showing a 
dancing eagle warrior carrying a human trophy head in one hand 
and a mace in the other. 

From stone the Middle Mississippi people made magnificent mono- 
lithic axes and maces that are masterpieces of primitive workmanship. 
Woodcarving, weaving, and featherwork also were of a high order, 
judging by the few examples that have survived. 

Politically the Middle Mississippi Indians were advanced beyond 
the level of their neighbors to the north and west. The principal 
political unit seems to have been a city-state of the type found in 
ancient Mesopotamia and represented in the New World by the Maya. 
One large village culturally and politically dominated surrounding 
satellite villages. We know little of the political structure other than 
that there must have been some means of organizing cooperative labor 
on a large scale to effect the construction of the great temple mounds 
and fortifications. Perhaps a theocracy, with the principal chief and 
his priests acting as representatives of the gods, prevailed. 

The construction of the great earthen pyramids and fortifications 
and to a lesser extent the elaborate works of art indicate a surplus 
economy which freed considerable time for these activities. Hence we 
are not surprised to learn that bottom-land agriculture was the 
principal economic base of Middle Mississippi civilization. Corn, 
squash, beans, gourds, and perhaps other crops were raised. This 
vegetal fare was supplemented by hunting, fishing, and the gathering 
of wild foods. 

Middle Mississippi culture represents the most intensive Indian 
occupancy of Eastern North America and the highest cultural achieve- 
ment north of Mexico. Nowhere was there a civilization which de- 
veloped so rapidly and expanded so greatly in a few short centuries. 
From its center in the Southeast, Middle Mississippi influences radi- 
ated west and north into the Plains, and north into the Northeastern 
Woodlands. 

Although a great deal has been learned about this civilization from 
the excavation of its sites, its genesis remains a mystery. Middle 
American influences are clearly discernible in the truncated pyramidal 
mounds, art motifs, weapons, and pottery styles. Yet, strangely 
enough, no Middle American trade pieces have ever been found in a 
Middle Mississippian site. Nor have archeologists found the neat 
string of connecting sites, either through the islands of the Caribbean 


4 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


or via the land route of the Southwest and northern Mexico, which 
would show how these exotic ideas reached the Southeast. It appears, 
rather, that certain basic Middle American ideas, once they were im- 
planted among the Indians of the Southeast, developed there without 
additional stimulus. 

Mysterious in its origins, the decline of this advanced culture is also 
imperfectly understood. Although De Soto and a few other very 
early explorers viewed Middle Mississippi culture before the great 
fortress towns and ceremonial centers had been abandoned, this culture 
seems to have passed its peak before the arrival of the White man. 
The coming of European explorers, traders, and colonists and the 
population displacement, tribal warfare, and disease which resulted 
merely hastened the fall of this once flourishing civilization. 

No single tribe or linguistic group can be credited with Middle 
Mississippi culture. It was rather the product of many different tribes 
and linguistic groups. Among the historic tribes which were, at the 
time of their discovery, participants in this culture were the Cherokee, 
Chickasaw, Choctaw, and the numerous tribes of the Creek Confeder- 
acy. It was no mere accident that their descendants became known to 
the Whites as the “Five Civilized Tribes.” They were carrying on, in 
their tribal life, many features derived from Middle Mississippi cul- 
ture. Furthermore, their own relative advancement made it easier for 
them to adopt features of the newly introduced European civilization. 

Other participants in the Middle Mississippi culture were the Cad- 
doan tribes of the Central and Southern Plains and certain groups 
speaking languages of the Siouan linguistic stock. Apparently these 
Siouan-speaking groups, migrating out of the Southeast and receiving 
new cultural stimuli during their movements, carried Middle Missis- 
sipp! ideas into the Prairie region. 

Among these Siouan speakers were groups which became known in 
historic times as the Mandan tribe. Famous for their fortified earth- 
lodge villages, intensive horticulture, and spectacular ceremonies di- 
rected by a priestly hierarchy, the members of this tribe became known 
as the “gentlemanly Mandan” to traders and explorers on the Missouri. 
They introduced their semisedentary way of life to many other groups 
in the Northern Plains, including the Hidatsa, and in late historic 
times, one division of the Dakota or Sioux. 

Farther south, in the Central Plains, were tribes of the Pégiha and 
Chiwere divisions of the Siouan language family. The Pégiha-speak- 
ing tribes were the Ponca, Omaha, Osage, Kansa, and Quapaw, and 
the Chiwere groups were the Iowa, Oto, and Missouri. Like the 
Mandan, these “Southern Siouans” brought with them to the Plains 
certain advanced ideas derived from the Middle Mississippi centers in 
the Southeast, such as an agricultural way of life, a social and religious 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 5 


organization of a relatively complex nature, and, in the case of the 
Ponca, the custom of building fortified towns. 

Neither the Mandan nor the Southern Siouans carried the highest 
form of the great southeastern culture into the Plains but rather a 
muted, simplified form. Nevertheless, throughout the cultures of all 
these tribes one can clearly see the impress of contact with the Middle 
Mississippi way of life. 

It is with one of these Southern Siouan tribes, the Ponca, that this 
monograph is concerned. By the time they were contacted by White 
explorers, traders, and missionaries, the Ponca had become in most 
respects a typical Prairie tribe. Yet there remained many elements 
in their culture, the most notable being their custom of building bas- 
tioned earthen forts, which demonstrate their Middle Mississippi herit- 
age. One who fails to take account of this Southeastern lettmotif in 
Ponca culture cannot, in my opinion, fully understand or appreciate it. 

Without further ado, then, let us meet the Ponca. 

The Ponca refer to themselves as Pénka, and they were known by 
this name to the Omaha, Osage, Kansa, Quapaw, Iowa, Oto, and Mis- 
souri tribes. Many American Indian tribal names have a meaning 
apart from their mere tribal designation. The name “Omaha” for 
example, means “Upstream people.” If such a secondary meaning 
ever existed for the name “Ponca,” it was lost long ago. Even the 
oldest members of the tribe do not know just why the tribe is called 
Ponca. 

One fact, however, is certain; the name is not of foreign origin. It 
occurs as a clan or subclan name among three of the other four 
Pégiha-speaking tribes—the Osage, Kansa, and Quapaw. The fact 
that the Omaha tribe lacks a “Ponca” clan may have significance be- 
cause of the tradition that the Ponca were a clan of the Omaha before 
the separation of the two tribes (Fletcher and La Flesche, 1911, p. 41). 

As a result of the tragic Removal of 1877, the Ponca tribe is now 
divided into two bands, one in Nebraska and adjacent parts of South 
Dakota and the other in Oklahoma. These bands are generally known 
as the Northern and Southern Ponca. The native term for Northern 
Ponca is Osni-Ponka, which means “Cold Ponca” and refers to the 
relative coldness of their country as contrasted with Oklahoma where 
the Southern Ponca are settled. By the same token the Southern 
Ponca are called Masté-Ponka, “Warm Ponca.” 

Concerning the term Pégtha, which is the name applied to the lin- 
guistic group consisting of the Omaha, Ponca, Osage, Kansa, and 
Quapaw, James O. Dorsey (1885 b, p. 919) states: “When an Omaha 
was challenged in the dark, if in his own territory, he usually replied, 
‘TamaPeégiha.” Somight a Ponka reply under similar circumstances, 
when at home.” I have heard this term used in speeches by Ponca and 

718-071—65—2 


6 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


Omaha on numerous occasions and its use was confirmed by my in- 
formants. The term means “The people of this group.” 

According to Dave Little-cook, a Southern Ponca, certain Southern 
Plains tribes refer to the Ponca as Pd-masé, or ‘Head-cutters.’ 
Little-cook knew no reason for the use of this term. The anthropolo- 
gist Alanson Skinner (1915 c, p. 797) states, however: “When an 
enemy was killed, the Ponca scalped him, then cut off his head and 
threw it away. The sign for Ponca in the sign language indicates this 
custom.” Apparently the Ponca, together with the Omaha and Osage, 
retained the old Middle Mississippian custom of removing the entire 
head from a slaughtered enemy. A common motif in Middle Missis- 
sippi art is a dancing warrior carrying such a trophy head. 

The Pawnee names for the Ponca were hit and Dihit, while the 
Caddo term was 7'séaxosokus (Dorsey and Thomas, 1910, p. 279). 
James O. Dorsey lists the Winnebago name as Adnka in his vocabu- 
lary, compiled in 1896 (ibid., p. 279). In his “Omaha Sociology,” he 
writes that from their custom of sometimes pitching their tipis in three 
concentric circles, the Ponca were sometimes called Oydte-yammni or 
the ‘three nations’ by the Dakota (1884 a, p. 219). 

Before the 1877 Removal split the tribe into Northern and Southern 
Ponca, there were two important bands or village groups among the 
Ponca in Nebraska. The first of these was the Wafzrdde or “Gray- 
blanket” band. This band maintained its winter village in the vicinity 
of the present Northern Ponca Community Building, 2 miles west and 
3 miles south of Niobrara, Nebr. The name “Gray-blanket” derived 
from the fact that this group was once issued white blankets by the 
Government. Worn in the dust of the prairies these blankets soon, 
apparently, took on a grayish cast. 

The second band was the Zubdé or ‘Fish-smell’ village group, who 
camped about 2 miles east of the present town of Verdel, Nebr. Their 
name is said to refer to a year when dead fish, left behind by thawing 
ice in the nearby river, created a stench in the village that was remark- 
able even to the strong-stomached Ponca of that era. 

The dialect spoken by the Ponca is one of four in the Pégiha lan- 
guage (Dorsey, 1885 b, pp. 919-920). The Ponca and Omaha dialects 
are the same except for a few words of modern origin, such as those for 
“cat” and “schoolhouse.” ‘The other three dialects in the language are 
Kansa, Osage, and Quapaw. The Pégiha language is a member of the 
widespread Siouan linguistic family. This language takes its name 
from the well-known Dakota or “Sioux” tribe. The fact that a tribe 
speaks a “Siouan” language, however, should not be taken to mean 
that they were politically allied with the Dakota. Asa matter of fact 
most of the other members of the Siouan language family were bitter 
enemies of the Sioux tribe. 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE | 


At the present time only older Ponca use their native tongue in 
ordinary conversation. The younger people of both bands custom- 
arily speak English. They may understand some Pégiha, but when 
addressed in this language by an older person they will reply in 
English. An informal census in 1961 revealed only 10 individuals 
under the age of 25 who could conduct a lengthy conversation in 
Dégiha. One cannot help regretting the extinction of this language, 
which will probably occur (in regard to the Ponca) in two or three 
generations. It is soft, resonant, yet capable of expressing dramatic 
action and deep emotion. 

The Southern Ponca, as a result of their years in Oklahoma, now 
speak English with a slight Southern accent, and this has affected 
their pronunciation of Pégiha as well. This fact their Northern kins- 
men find quite amusing. Yet the Northern Ponca, too, have changed. 
Members of this band, when speaking their native tongue, have the 
habit of interjecting an occasional Santee or Teton Dakota word, the 
result of their long contact with these groups in Nebraska and South 
Dakota. Even PLC, the tribal historian, does this occasionally. 
When asked the Ponca name for the women’s menstrual hut, he first 
gave the Dakota /snd-t% instead of the Pégiha term Okg-ati. 

According to older members of the tribe, the Ponca formerly hunted 
and ranged over most of the area now known as the Central Great 
Plains. The Black Hills of South Dakota they knew well, and some- 
times even reached the Rockies in their search for game, scalps, and 
the adventure of seeing new territory. Their main seat, however, and 
the area where most of their permanent villages and forts were built, 
was what is now Knox County, in northeastern Nebraska. ‘This was 
the heart of the Ponca domain in former times and is still the home 
of most of the Northern Ponca. Ponca folktales and accounts of great 
battles in the past almost invariably find their setting in this area. 

Geographers and anthropologists agree that environment has an 
important conditioning effect upon the way of life of a region’s inhab- 
itants. What, then, was the Ponca country like? The climate of this 
Ponca “heartland” is of the general continental type. Summers are 
long and warm, and well suited to the raising of crops. The spring 
is usually cool, with considerable rainy weather, and the autumns are 
long and pleasant, with only occasionally rainy spells. Indeed, the 
Ponca preferred the fall of the year to both spring and summer. 

The mean rainfall is 24.1 inches. About 77 percent of this occurs 
during the principal part of the growing season, from April to Sep- 
tember, a very fortunate circumstance for the agricultural Ponca. In 
the summer most of the rainfall occurs as heavy thundershowers, but 
torrential rains are rare. Severe droughts are almost unknown dur- 
ing May and June, but in the latter part of July and through August 


8 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


the rainfall varies considerably and short dry spells may occur. The 
annual amount of snowfall varies from a few inches to several feet, 
with a mean of 30.6. 

The Ponca country is part of a broad, nearly level plain which slopes 
gently downward toward the south and east (pl. 18). However, the 
Missouri River is so deeply entrenched along the northern edge of Knox 
County that much of the drainage locally is northward to that stream. 
About 90 percent of the land is upland and the remainder is alluvial. 
The land surfaces range from gently rolling to extremely rough and 
broken. Most of the upland area has been rather severely eroded, and 
this area includes a wide variety of wind- and water-formed physio- 
graphic features. When viewed from the crest of one of the Missouri 
bluffs, the landscape of the Ponca “heartland” is most inspiring. Tall, 
rounded, hills slope downward to rich green bottom lands. Away to 
the north stretches the mighty Missouri, outlined by its white chalk 
banks, the burial ground of unnumbered generations of Ponca. 

Ponca villages, like the Middle Mississippi towns of the South- 
east, were almost always located on river or creek terraces, prefer- 
ably at a fork where a tributary entered a larger stream. ‘The gardens 
were on nearby bottom lands which could be easily cultivated with 
a bison scapula hoe. The soils of the area, though not equally pro- 
ductive, are as a whole well suited to agriculture. The nearby hills 
and gullies provided both game and wild roots and berries. 

Deposits of metal are significantly lacking in this area, but clay 
and sand suitable for ceramics are abundant at many places along 
the Missouri and its tributaries. Sandstone, used by the Ponca to 
polish wooden articles, is widely exposed along the Missouri bluffs. 

The principal mammals in the area at the present time are the 
Virginia deer, coyote, beaver, raccoon, badger, muskrat, prairie dog, 
weasel, gopher, and field mouse. Formerly bison, antelope, and 
wapiti were found. The principal birds are the pinnated grouse, 
Canada goose, redhead, pintail, teal, and mallard duck, coot, rail, 
pelican, heron, golden eagle, bald eagle, and several varieties of 
hawks and owls, together with the other small birds of the general 
Nebraska area. 

The fish which occur most commonly in rivers and streams of the 
Ponca country are the yellow and blue catfish, channel catfish, red 
horse, buffalo, carp, sunfish, and crappie. Of these, all are native 
except the carp. Both snapping turtles and painted turtles are found. 
Snakes most common in the area are the bull snake and garter snake, 
although an occasional rattlesnake is encountered. 

The Ponca country is in the prairie region of the United States. 
In the virgin areas throughout the uplands and terraces, the pre- 
dominant grasses are big bluestem, little bluestem, and slender wheat- 
grass. On the more sandy soils needlegrass predominates in most 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 9 


places. The bottoms support a great variety of moisture-loving 
grasses, except in the more poorly drained situations, where rushes 
and sedges grow. Native trees, including elm, oak, cottonwood, ash, 
hackberry, boxelder, and willow, occupy narrow strips adjacent to 
the stream channels in all the larger valleys, and walnut was formerly 
quite common as well. Trees are especially numerous on many of 
the lower slopes of bluffs bordering the Missouri River bottom lands. 

The Ponca territory is a pleasant land, and the many tourists who 
annually visit Niobrara State Park, a small portion of the old Ponca 
domain which has been set aside as a recreation center, can readily 
appreciate the sorrow and bitterness of the Ponca when the Federal 
Government announced that the tribe must leave their homeland 
forever. 

The Ponca were never, apparently, a very large tribe. Population 
figures vary greatly within a short span of time, probably because of 
poor estimates on the part of early observers. Nevertheless, a rough 
idea of Ponca population through the years can be gained from the 
various sources. 

Will and Hyde write: “The traditions state that when they reached 
the Niobrara the Ponkas numbered three thousand people and en- 
camped in three large concentric circles” (1917, p. 39). Mooney 
(1928, p. 7) gives 800 as the probable size of the tribe in 1788. The 
earliest historical estimate known to me is contained in a letter 
written by Esteban Rodriguez Miré, Governor General of Lou- 
isiana, to Antonio Renzel, Commandant of the Interior Provinces of 
Louisiana, in 1785. Miro states that the Ponca then had “not more 
than eighty warriors” (Nasatir, 1952, vol. 1, p. 126). Pierre Tabeau 
says that in 1804 they still had 80 men bearing arms, “but an invasion 
of the Bois Brules has since destroyed more than half of them” 
(Tabeau, 1939, p. 100). The “Bois Brules” mentioned by Tabeau 
were undoubtedly members of the Brulé subband of the Teton Dakota. 
Lewis and Clark estimated only 200 total population for the Ponca 
that same year, and this figure appears on Clark’s map (Lewis, 
1904-5). 

Our next estimate comes from the explorer John Bradbury (1904, 
vol. 5, p. 96), writing in 1819 but probably referring to about a decade 
earlier. He states: “They now number about seven hundred.” Ed- 
win James (1905, p. 152), who accompanied S. H. Long’s expedition 
of 1819-20, gives their number as 200. In 1832 Prince Maximilian 
of Wied, the famous Missouri explorer, visited the Ponca. He writes: 
“According to Dr. Morse’s report, they numbered, in 1822, 1,750 in all, 
at present the total amount of their warriors is estimated at about 
300” (Wied-Neuweid, 1906, vol. 22, p. 284). Gen. Henry Atkinson 
(1922, p. 10) in a letter written to Colonel Hamilton in 1825, lists the 


10 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


Ponca as having 180 warriors. Dorsey and Thomas (1910, pt. 2, p. 
278) give 600 as the number in 1829 and 800 in 1842. 

In his diary the Rev. Moses Merrill (1892, p. 170) estimates their 
number as being from 800 to 1,000 in 1834. Seth K. Humphrey (1906, 
p. 47) notes: “In 1869 their number is given [as] 768.” In 1874 the 
Government census, quoted by Fletcher and La Flesche (197, p. 51), 
lists their number as 733. In 1880 Dorsey and Thomas (1910, p. 279) 
give the number of Southern Ponca as 600 and Northern Ponca as 225, 
while in 1906 they list 570 for the Southern Ponca and 263 for the 
Northern band. 

The census of 1910 gave 875 in all, including 619 in Oklahoma and 
193 in Nebraska. The Report of the U.S. Indian Office for 1923 was 
1,381. The census of 1930 returned 939. In 19387 the Indian Office 
gave 825 in Oklahoma and 397 in Nebraska. At the present time 
figures are approximately 1,000 for the Southern Ponca and 350 for 
the Northern Ponca, though the latter group is now so scattered as 
to make enumeration difficult. 


ORIGINS 


At the present time, archeology, “the handmaiden of history,” can 
tell us little concerning the entrance of the Ponca into their historic 
territory. We can, however, spell out in a rough way the penetration 
of Middle Mississippi culture into the Prairie region, in which the 
ancestors of the Ponca and Omaha were undoubtedly involved. Per- 
haps the best scheme is that advanced by the archeologist James B. 
Griffin. He suggests that some of the later sites of the Mill Creek 
Aspect in South Dakota may represent the Ponca and Omaha, and 
that the Middle Mississippian influences which appear in the Plains 
ca. A.D. 1200-1300 are partly dueto the movement of égiha-speaking 
tribes into the area: 

As a working hypothesis I have proposed elsewhere that the Mississippi Pat- 
tern influences in the Plains were the results of the movements of specific cul- 
tural units from the Mississippi Valley. The first of these is strongly asso- 
ciated, culturally, with sites in the Cahokia region. They moved from there into 
the Kansas City area .... Apparently this actual movement of people modified 
the eastern section of the Upper Republican giving rise to the Nebraska Aspect. 
Possibly a slightly earlier or concurrent movement from the Aztalan area to the 
west took place, producing first, the Cambria Focus in south-central Minnesota. 
Then it moved into western Iowa to become the Mill Creek Aspect. The later 
Mill Creek sites in South Dakota acquired Upper Republican and some Woodland 
traits. These sites were, one might postulate, occupied by the proto-historic 
Ponca and Omaha. [Griffin, 1946, p. 89.] 

Many archeological sites of unknown affiliation in Nebraska and 
South Dakota, particularly in the Niobrara area, are claimed by the 
Ponca as former villages of their people. In 1936 and 1937 the Univer- 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 11 


sity of Nebraska sponsored summer field parties in northeastern Ne- 
braska in an effort to delineate the culture of the Ponca as it appears 
in archeological remains. By doing so, it was thought their claims 
could be disproved or verified. 

One of the prime objectives of this work was the excavation of the 
famous Ponca Fort site, 25K -X1, which is located near the mouth of 
Ponca Creek in Knox County, Nebr. This site, famous in Ponca tribal 
lore, was considered the most logical point from which to begin. It 
was definitely known to be Ponca by reason of its having been men- 
tioned by a number of early explorers. Therefore, by excavating it 
and determining what Ponca pottery and other artifacts were like, 
it was believed that other sites in the area, by comparison, could be 
identified as Ponca or the remains of some other group or groups. 
Unfortunately, however, the work at 25K X1 has thus far raised more 
questions about Ponca archeology than it has answered. 

The Ponca Fort site may be characterized as the remains of a forti- 
fied earth-lodge village. It is located in sec. 29, T. 33 N., R. 7 W., 
Knox County, Nebr. It is roughly 8 miles northwest of the town of 
Niobrara and 1 mile east of Verdel. The site is on the south side of 
the Missouri, and Ponca Creek, a tributary of the Missouri, is 2,000 feet 
north of the site, emptying into the Missouri a mile and a half to the 
east. The fort was well situated from a defensive point of view, being 
located on a prominence, one of the bluffs of the Missouri, some 50 or 
60 feet above the floor of the valley of Ponca Creek. 

The fort has an oval defensive ditch with an interior earthen em- 
bankment. This embankment supported, at the time the fort was 
occupied, a post palisade. The long axis of the ditch or moat is 
oriented east and west. The fort covers an area of 3 acres, and meas- 
ures 380 feet east and west and 320 feet north and south. On at least 
one side of the fortification, protuberances or bastions were built from 
which the village inhabitants could rake attacking forces with a mur- 
derous crossfire. These bastions, still visible in an aerial photograph 
of the site (Wood, 1959, pl. 1), may have functioned primarily to 
protect the entrance to the fort which, according to J. O. Dorsey’s 
map (1884 a, fig. 30, orientation corrected by Wood, 1959, map 1), 
was at the northwest end of the village. 

Between 1953 and 1955 Raymond Wood, then a graduate student 
at the University of Nebraska, made an analysis of the material recov- 
ered from the Ponca Fort as well as from other purported Ponca sites 
in the area excavated by the Nebraska field parties in the thirties. 
Recently Wood has published on the Ponca Fort site (1959; 1960). 
He notes that the stockade surrounding the village was composed of 
posts that were quite widely spaced. Perhaps, in order to provide 
more adequate defense, logs or branches were interwoven between 
these uprights (Wood, 1960, p. 26). 


12 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


Owing to repeated cultivation, no remains which could definitely 
be termed earth lodges were discovered inside the ditch, although 
numerous post molds were recovered in the 30 excavation units of 
the 1936 and 1937 fieldwork. Nevertheless, all traditional and his- 
toric accounts of the fort indicate the presence of earth lodges, and 
the Dorsey map (1884 a, fig. 30) indicates four lodges within the en- 
closure, the depressions of which may have been visible in the 1880’s. 
Outside the fortification ditch, in natural hummocks or mounds, the 
inhabitants of the fort buried their dead. The crania from these 
mound burials show a roundheaded, broad-faced, narrow-nosed physi- 
cal type in no way different from the present-day Ponca. 

The Ponca Fort, or N as it is termed in Pégiha, seems to have 
been the last of its type built by the Ponca, though at least one other 
is mentioned in the traditional history of the tribe. In my opinion 
the construction of earthen forts of this sort is almost certainly a 
culture complex which the Ponca derived from their Middle Missis- 
sippi forebears in the Southeast or which diffused to them from this 
area. 

Wood has identified three components at the site, one of which is 
prehistoric and two of which date from the early historic period. 
The prehistoric component is identified as belonging to the rather 
widespread Aksarben Aspect, which is thought by many Plains 
archeologists to represent the ancestors of the Pawnee, Arikara, and 
perhaps other groups and is dated A.D. 1000-1500. ‘The second or 
“B” component yielded pottery of the type known as Stanley ware. 
Stanley ware has been found at several sites in South Dakota and is 
attributed to the Arikara Indians of the latter part of the 18th cen- 
tury. Component B has been identified, nevertheless, as representing 
the Ponca occupation of the site. 

Aside from the pottery, Component B contained such native arti- 
facts as grooved stone mauls, mealing slabs and mullers, shaft 
smoothers, grooved abraders, bowshaves, discoidal hammerstones, 
whetstones, cobble hammerstones, stone anvils, flint projectile points 
and scrapers, bone knife handles, a bone tube, fleshers, shaft wrenches, 
scapula hoes, an ulna pick, catlinite pipes and disks, fragments of 
twined matting, and a strip of bark ina roll. These artifacts, though 
valuable in indicating the general cultural orientation of the inhabi- 
tants of the site, are unfortunately not distinctive enough to specifi- 
cally identify them, or to connect 25K-X1 with other possible Ponca 
sites. 

Numerous European trade objects were also recovered, including 
iron hoes, a hatchet, metal arrowpoints, coils of lead wire, button 
weights, pin brooches, and scraps of cloth. With one of the burials 
a conch shell gorget and a hair pipe were recovered. Finds of corn 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 13 


and beans indicate that the Ponca of this era were gardeners or 
farmers. 

A very curious find from the site is a fragment of a catlinite ban- 
nerstone. ‘These objects are usually regarded as weights or counter- 
balances used in connection with the atlatl or spear thrower, a very 
ancient American Indian weapon but one retained until the his- 
toric period by some Southeastern groups. Could this object from 
the Ponca Fort site represent a ceremonial retention of an old Middle 
Mississippi weapon by the Ponca? Certainly the bow and arrow 
was the principal weapon of war and the hunt at this period, and 
the find of a gun part indicates that the villagers were beginning 
to acquire a few firearms. 

From the large amount of European trade goods present, Wood 
suggests that the occupation of the site by the Ponca occurred be- 
tween 1790 and 1800, when the Ponca were acquiring huge quantities 
of goods through trade and the pillage of boats ascending the Mis- 
souril. In the last analysis, then, the Ponca Fort site not only tells 
us little about Ponca archeology but also presents us with the problem 
of accounting for the presence of Arikara pottery at a documented 
Ponca site. Wood suggests that this may indicate that some of the 
Ponca had taken Arikara women for wives. As unlikely as this ex- 
planation appears at first blush, it may have considerable merit, for 
the total amount of pottery recovered was small. Finds of kettle han- 
dles and brass kettle patches indicate that most of the women at the 
site, even at this date, were using metal vessels for cooking and carry- 
ing water. Furthermore, Peter Le Claire, the Ponca historian, states 
(letter of February 23, 1962) that the earliest Ponca traditions tell 
of friendly contacts and joint bison hunts with the “Sand Pawnee” or 
Arikara. Apparently these friendly contacts resulted in some inter- 
marriage. Perhaps the Arikara wives, coming from a tribe farther 
upriver and hence a bit more removed from the influences of White 
civilization, continued to practice the ceramic arts at a time when 
they had been abandoned by their Ponca sisters-in-law. 

Other sites which may represent the prehistoric and early historic 
Ponca are those of the Redbird Focus, recently described by Dr. 
Wood (MS., 1956). Here again, however, difficulties are encountered. 
All of the pottery occurring in sites of this focus is markedly different 
from that at the Ponca Fort site. These ceramics suggest that the 
Redbird Focus is related to both the Lower Loup Focus of the Central 
Plains, which is thought to represent the Pawnee of late prehistoric 
and early historic times, and the La Roche Focus of the Middle Mis- 
souri area, which seems to represent another Caddoan-speaking group, 
the Arikara. 

We must say, then, that at the present time the prehistoric archeo- 
logical remains of the Ponca tribe remain to be identified and that 


14 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY {Bull. 195 


the archeology of north-central Nebraska is still too imperfectly under- 
stood to tell us much of the entry and occupation of the area by the 
Ponca. It is hoped that future research will clarify the relationships 
of the Ponca to other groups in the area and provide us with a more 
detailed account of their prehistory. 

Since we lack archeological evidence in the form of a neat string 
of sites stretching back in time and space to the ancestral homeland 
of the Ponca, we must rely upon other sorts of data in reconstructing 
the tribe’s past. One line of evidence is afforded by the tribal migra- 
tion legends. Passed down from one generation to the next by word 
of mouth, such legends are of course subject to considerable distortion. 
Nevertheless they constitute one of our best sources for the reconstruc- 
tion of Ponea history. 

There are many Ponca and Omaha legends in the anthropological 
literature. Most of these agree in their main points, namely, that the 
Ponca, Omaha, Kansa, Osage, and Quapaw were once a single tribe 
in the Southeast, and that during the migration north and west the 
group split up, the Ponca and Omaha being the last to separate (Dor- 
sey, 1884 a, pp. 211-213; Riggs, 1893, p. 190; McGee, 1897, p. 191; 
Anonymous, 1907, pp. 653-656 ; Dorsey and Thomas, 1910, pp. 278-279 ; 
Swanton, 1910, pp. 156-158; Fletcher and La Flesche, 1911, pp. 38-39 ; 
Miner, 1911, pp. xvii-xiii; Skinner, 1915 ¢c, p. 779; La Flesche, 1917, 
pp. 460-462; Hyde, 1934 b, pp. 23-26; Strong, 1935, pp. 16-17; Wedel, 
1936, p. 3). Many Southern Ponca, Omaha, and Osage interviewed in 
1954 confirmed this tradition. Although the accounts agree in placing 
the ancestral home of the égiha tribes in the Southeast, they are 
vague as to the path followed when moving westward. 

One traditional account from the Omaha tribe, cited by Fletcher 
and La Flesche (1911, pp. 72-81), states that after their separation 
from the Quapaw, the Omaha (and Ponca) followed the Des Moines 
River to its headwaters and then wandered to the northeast. The 
two tribes finally settled in a village on the Big Sioux River and 
lived there until a disastrous battle with the Dakota took place. They 
thereupon abandoned this village and turned southward, where they 
encountered the ancestors of the Arikara tribe, who then occupied the 
historic Omaha territory in northeastern Nebraska. At first they 
warred with the Arikara, but later a peace was concluded. During this 
peaceful interlude the Omaha and Ponca learned to build Plains-type 
earth lodges from the Arikara. The separation of the Omaha and 
Ponca supposedly took place shortly after this. 

The Rev. James O. Dorsey, for many years a missionary among the 
Ponca and Omaha, gives a slightly more detailed account of the Dé- 
giha migrations, combining native traditions with his own specula- 
tions. He says that the Omaha, Ponca, Osage, and other cognate 
tribes traveled down the Ohio River to its mouth from their original 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 15 


homeland in the Southeast. When they arrived at the Mississippi 
some went upriver, hence the name Umdhqa (Omaha), which means 
‘Upstream,’ while the rest went downriver, and so earned the name 
Ugdxpe (Quapaw), meaning ‘Downstream.’ The former group con- 
tained the Omaha, Ponca, Osage, and Kansa. The latter group be- 
came the Quapaw. 

The tribes which went upriver ranged for a time in the present 
Osage, Gasconade, and adjacent counties in Missouri. Here they 
were joined by a Chiwere Siouan-speaking group, the Iowa. At the 
mouth of the Osage River another separation took place, the Osage 
and Kansa leaving the main group. The Omaha, Ponca, and Iowa 
proceeded, by degrees, through Missouri, Iowa, and Minnesota to the 
pipestone quarries near the present city of Pipestone, Minn. From 
here they journeyed to the Big Sioux River, where they built a fort 
anda village. Game abounded in this locality. 

The neighboring Dakota, however, made war on the three tribes and 
so they went west and southwest to a lake near the head of Chouteau 
Creek, now known as Lake Andes (?) in South Dakota. Here they 
cut the sacred pole, an important religious object, and assigned each 
clan and subclan its peculiar customs and duties. After leaving this 
lake they traveled up the Missouri River to the mouth of the White 
River, where they crossed over to the west bank. The Ponca then 
went on to the Black Hills while the Omaha and Iowa stayed in the 
vicinity. 

Later the Ponca rejoined the others and the three tribes turned 
downstream. When they reached the vicinity of the present town 
of Niobrara, Nebr., the Ponca stopped. The Omaha removed to a place 
near Covington, Nebr. The Iowa passed the Omaha and later made a 
village near Florence, Nebr. (Dorsey, 1884 a, pp. 211-213.) 

It is not possible to determine the assumed period of these different 
movements from either Dorsey’s account or that of Fletcher and La 
Flesche. The former (1884 a, pp. 218-222) believed, however, that 
the Ponca separated from the Omaha around 1390, and that all migra- 
tions prior to the separation of the Iowa, Omaha, and Ponca occurred 
prior to 1673, and that the split between the Quapaw and the four 
other tribes took place before 1540. Fletcher and La Flesche (1911) 
imply that the Omaha-Ponca separation was late, but are not specific. 
W. J. McGee (1897, p. 191) believed that the separation took place 
ca. 1650. 

Unpublished data accumulated by John L. Champe leads him to date 
the joint Omaha-Ponca occupancy of the village on the Big Sioux 
River, north of present-day Sioux City, Iowa, from 1700-1702, and the 
split of the two tribes at the mouth of the White River about 1715. 
Later the Ponca returned to the mouth of the White and, according to 
Champe (cited by Wood, 1959, p. 10), the Omaha moved to Bow Creek, 


16 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


near the present-day Wynot, Nebr., about 1735. This was the location 
of the Omaha “Bad Village,” and it may have been here that the 
Ponca made their final break with the Omaha. 

To the various traditional histories cited above we add another be- 
low, prepared by Peter Le Claire (PLC) several yearsago. He gave it 
to me in 1949. This interesting document contains, in addition to the 
oral historical traditions of the tribe, a great deal of material on the 
customs, morals, and attitudes of the Ponca of his own and earlier 
generations. Although we will “get ahead of our story” with some of 
the later historical material included, it is thought best to present 
PLC’s “Ponca History” as a unit at this point as an example of the 
traditional history of the tribe in its most recent form. 

PLC secured much of his material from a man named Méz¢hadé 
(Mi-jin-ha-the in PLC’s transcription from the Bégiha) or John Bull, 
a Southern Ponca chief (pl. 16). Mazqhadé died very shortly after 
imparting this information. PLO, in describing Mqzqhade, said that 
he was a “good old man,” an expert on tribal history and customs, and 
that he had participated in the Sun dance. 

PLC has elaborated upon M@zqhade’s material to some extent, in- 
jecting other stories and traditions with which he is familiar. The 
latter part of the history, for example, incorporates a great deal from 
published accounts of the Ponca Removal. The text in its present form 
was taken from a typewritten account prepared under PLC’s direction 
in 1947. He had deposited this for safekeeping with a banker in 
Niobrara, Nebr., fearing that death might prevent his being able to 
pass it on. The text has been unaltered except for a few corrections 
made by PLC at a later date and the elimination of typographical 
errors. It was deemed best to leave native terms in PLC’s own form 
of transcription. 


PONCA HISTORY 


By PETER LE CLAIRE 
(a Ponca Indian) 


August 26, 1947 


December 25th, 1928. A Xmas doings of the Poncas at the agency dance hall 
at Ponea City, Oklahoma when I visited Mi-jin-ha-the at his tent in the evening 
before the dance, this is what he said to me. “There is something that I want 
to tell you about the old Ponea history. At the present time there are some of 
them Poncas are older than I am that are living, but I was raised by two of my 
grandfathers and this is what they told me and I want you to know it, as we are 
living a different life now. No more long hair, no more old ways. You can 
write it on a tablet and try to get something out of it by having it published.” * 
He told me this three times and I caught all of it; he died suddenly, shortly after. 


2 Apparently the older man thought that there would be a greater chance of the informa- 
tion being preserved if he promised PLC monetary gain. 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 17 


The Poncas were in a big (Hu-tho-gah)* camp and where they were were people 
of light complexion and these people abused the Poncas and they wanted to 
get away from them. The chiefs gathered in their tent and prayed and they 
wanted someone to talk to God, and there was a stranger came in, a chief they 
didn’t know, who sat in the door.* They wanted this man to go and talk to God. 
There was a mountain nearby and they told him to go up there and talk to God. 
He went up there and stayed four days and four nights and on the fourth night 
God talked to him in his sleep. “You go back and tell them to cross this and 
do not look back when you are crossing. Don’t take anything, only your dogs.” 

He woke up and started home, he was so weak that he just barely made the 
camp. They wet his lips with water and fed him little by little until he was 
able to talk. He told all he had heard and they moved. They crossed this water 
and they reached the end, there was all kinds of fruits and they were in a 
wonderful land. 

They came on each side of the Ohio (Oh-hah-they) River and when they got to 
the Mississippi River they were on both sides of the river camping and one of 
the little chiefs* from the side sent a word that he wanted war, but the head 
chief refused and this was repeated four times and the head chief said, ““Tomor- 
row morning we shall have war.’ Seven’ of the chiefs in their tents heard a 
voice from heaven telling them, “Wake up, wake up. Put cold water on the 
children’s eyes so they can open their eyes. There isa man coming. He is light 
complected and sweating and looking down.’ He is going to eat from the 
ground. As you go west (It-tah-xa-tah) there is plenty to eat and try every- 
thing, as you go, there are animals, in the water there is something to eat, there 
are birds, there are fruit trees with ripe berries.” 

They came and lived in Pipestone, Minnesota. While they were living there 
they found the pipe stone after a hard rain in a deep buffalo trail. They saw 
the red stone and the head chief was called and he told them to dig it and get 
it out as God has given us a pipe. The pipe was made there and the stem was 
made in Ponca, Nebraska. There is a creek they called Ash Creek across the 
river from Ponca. When they were in Pipestone they started marking their 
trail on the big boulders. This was done by the Medicine Men. It was a 
two-toned picture, part of the picture is already on the wall and it is finished 
and only a few Poncas can see it, make out what it is.° We will come to some 
more of these pictures later. Pa-dah-gah, he was the chief that kept the Sacred 
Pipe, he was the head chief and handed down to sons and grandsons for 
thousands of years until by some error, it fell into white mans hands.” 


8The parentheses here, and throughout the History, are PLC’s. He indicates, using his 
own syllabary, that “Hu-tho-gah” is the native term for a camp circle. 

4It is a common custom among Plains Indians for a stranger to sit near the door, 
which is considered a place of little honor. In sitting here he indicates humbleness. 

5 “Hour” is the most sacred number among the Ponea, and among Plains tribes in general. 

6 There were two classes of chiefs among the Ponca. The chiefs of the second rank, 
or “‘little’’ chiefs, were thought not to possess the judgment or wisdom of the “big’’ chiefs. 
This is probably the reason that a little chief is represented as the one trying to instigate 
a war. 

7 “Seven” is also a sacred number among the Ponca, and the Plains tribes in general. 
It seems to rank below “four” in importance, however. 

8 This description probably reflects White religious teachings. Pictures of the Cruci- 
fixion are favorite wall decorations in Ponca homes. 

® Eating from the ground is a sign of extreme humbleness among the Ponca, according 
to PLC. 

10This statement refers to the utilization of natural fissures in the boulders to save 
effort in carving the petroglyphs. 

1 This should read “. . . and (the sacred pipe was) handed down... .” The state- 
ment “. . . fell into White man’s hands. . .’’ refers to the misappropriation of a Ponca 
clan pipe by an anthropologist in the 1930’s. PLC thought that this was the tribal pipe 
when he wrote his history. 


18 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


‘They moved to another place where the little town of St. Helena is and from 
St. Helena, Nebraska, to Santee, Nebraska where the old agency is now. On 
the Chalk rock walls near Springfield, S.D. is one more of the drawings of the 
Medicine Men. 

From these villages, they would go on Wah-ni-sa (Buffalo hunt) up the Mis- 
souri River, way in the Rocky Mountains. They say where they step over the 
Nu-sho-day (Missouri River) they would follow the Rocky Mountains to Pikes 
Peak and they would come back to Nebraska and they would follow on the 
rivers back to Wah-ta where Fremont, Nebraska is. From Santee to Niobrara 
River,” here they saw a Pa-snu-tah * dead (an Elephant) and they also saw 
a prehistoric animal they called (Wah-kon-da-gee). 

This animal was of long body, had forked feet, yellow hair, about 8 feet high, 
and about 40 feet long. They saw this animal go into its hole northwest of 
Verdel, Nebraska. This place they called (Way-kon-da-gi-mi-shon-da).“ At 
the coldest days of ‘the winter it would go into the hole. ‘They found Niobrara 
River to be ideal place as they found everything they wanted to eat there, in 
the water, under the ground. They found wild beans and potatoes and fruits 
of all kinds. 

There are old villages up the Niobrara River. There is one southwest of the 
Twin Buttes where the fork of the two rivers is (Ke-ah-pa-ha) and the Nio- 
brara. The Twin Buttes were the places for the medicine men to perform. 
There is a cave in the east one there is where they saw a prehistoric animal, 
the Pah-snu-tah.” 

Near Verdel, Nebraska, there is a dirt fort (Na-za)* where a battle took 
place 600 years or better.“ The tribe they called Pa-du-kah™ They were 
from the south. They fought these Pa-du-kah four times and the last one they 
took a little boy as prisoner from the Poncas. 

Very few of them went ‘home. It is said that this boy prisoner came home, 
he was a good hundred years old. He said he came back to die and wished to 
be buried where his forefathers were buried at Ma-Ah-zee. This means “Chalk- 
rock-Bank” where the burying ground is, he told his family in the South, sons 
and grand-children, and five of them have come back to die and they were all 
hundred years old. The last one, Gish-ta-wah-gu died early part of 1900. He 
was so old that he was childish. He would ery for his mama and papa. 

In the Big Horn mountains in Wyoming is the best trail marks there is 
made by the Poncas. It is a circle in the shape of 'a wagon wheel, rocks laid 
forming: the shape. It represents a sun dance circle. All the colors that goes 
with the sun dance is found, the Black, red and white. Black represents weep- 
ing, and White is their prayers and the answer. 

West of this circle is an arrow laid with rocks pointing directly toward it. 

In the mountains the dwarfs is found and dreaded as it leads’ them away at 
nights and last until morning. ‘Mong-thu-jah-the-gah” is what they called 
them. 


2 This should read “(While traveling) from Santee to (the) Niobrara River...” 

13 PLC identified this animal as a “hairy elephant.” 

14 ““Way-kon-da-gi-mi-shon-da”’ may be translated ‘‘the lair of Wakddagi.” 

145 According to PLC this “hairy elephant” was alive. 

16 Ndza is the Omaha and Ponca name for this fort. Whether or not the term is generic 
for all such fortifications was not learned. 

17This should read “. . . took place 600 years (ago) or better.” 

18The Pa-du-kah were identified as Comanche by PLC, JLR, OYB, and VHM. LMD 
identified them as Shoshone. Recent ethnohistorical and archeological evidence indicates 
that previous to the 19th century the term ‘‘Padouca’”’ was used in reference to the Lipan 
or Plains Apache. Later the term was transferred to the Comanche who had taken over 
much of the Lipan territory (Champe, 1949; Secoy, 1957). 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 19 


The Ponea camp is called Hu-thu-gah, it is round the entrance in the east. 
There are seven bands in the Hu-thu-gah or camp. Each of these bands has 
duties in the camp. From the entrance left to right are the Wah-jah-ta. Their 
duty is to watch the entrance, they see who goes out, anyone going out and gets 
lost, they track them as they are expert trackers. 

The next band are Ni-kah-pah-schna. Their duty is they know all about 
the human head and how it should be dressed. 

The third band are Te-xa-da. This band when the camp is getting short of 
meats they would get their bows and arrows out and make believe they are 
shooting animals saying “‘I’ll shoot this fat one.” 

The band in Center west are the Wah-sha-ba. The head is in this band. 
He gives out orders. He prays daily.”® 

The band next to them are the mi-ki-Medicine.” They know all about 
medicines. 

The sixth band are Nu-xa-ice.* They know everything about water and ice. 

The seventh band are called He-sah-da. The rain makers they know all 
about the heavens and the clouds. 

In the center of the Hu-thu-gah or camp, all the chiefs have a tent in which 
they meet and pray. When the buffalo is found they meet with the Buffalo 
Police and plan the attack, sometimes they plan so perfect that not one of them 
gets away, some of the sharpshooters or fast shooters kill high as seven™ 
buffaloes out of a herd that is surrounded. Most of these men that kill seven 
buffaloes give all their kill to the needy ones such as the old chiefs and orphans. 

If the buffalo herd is far from the camp they would move the camp closer 
without disturbing the herd, when they are moving closer the Sacred Pipe is 
taken in the lead. When the herd is killed, they see that all of the camp is 
supplied equally, first the oldest are taken care of. They get the most tenderest 
meat. 

The Buffalo Police are real strict if anyone disturbs the Buffalo herd before 
the attack, he is whipped good and hard. The police also keep the camp in order. 

The commandments are few in the tribe. 


1. Have one God. 

2. Do not kill one another. 

. Do not steal from one another. 

. Be kind to one another. 

. Do not talk about each other. 

. Do not be stingy. 

. Have respect for the Sacred Pipe. 


1m OUR Co 


They have the Sun-dance in mid-summer when the corn is in silk. The dance 
lasts four days and four nights without drink, sleep, and without food, a real 
sacrifice. The dancers are in the shape of a wheel or representing the four 
winds they would swing every so often. The next branch of the sun dance is 
the Wah-Wan Pipe dance,” any one in the tribe that is needy makes a little 
bag of tobacco and hands it to anyone that has plenty and have things to spare 
and if this man accepts this bag of tobacco the dance is given, a pipe and gourd 


19 Note that the Ponca chief retained much of the character of a Southeastern (i.e., Middle 
Mississippi) priest-king in being both the political and religious head of the tribe. 


20 . . the mi-ki-Medicine,” should read “‘. . . the Mi-ki (or) Medicine.’’ Makd, Medicine, 
is the Ponca name for this clan. ‘ 

21 As in the preceding instance, “. . . Nu-xa-ice”’ is the native term plus its English 
equivalent. This should read ‘. . . Nu-xa (or) Ice.” Nztxe is the Ponca and Omaha term 
for ice. 


22 Note the recurrence of the sacred number “seven.” 
2 This should read “. . . the Wah-Wan [or] Pipe Dance .. .” 


20 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


is used. The gourd has a raitle, little stones inside and it keeps time of the 
drum and the pipe on the left hand.“ While the dance is on, it is passed on 
to anyone that wanted to dance with it and help give things to the needy ones. 

When the Hu-thu-gah camp is moving the fire is kept alive in their travel. A 
dry oak with bark on is used, inside of the bark where the worms has eaten it 
leaves a powdered trail. This powder is lighted, the bark over it where the 
breeze keeps it alive until the next stop is reached. They use rotted grass and 
powdered ash wood that is rotted. The fire is made by blowing on it. 

To start a new fire, the stem of a soap weed is used, fine sand, rotten powdered 
ash wood, and rotted dry blue stem grass, this is put on a flat rock, they rub 
with the big end on the rock where the powdered stuff is with a cupped hand 
over it until the flame is started and fire is made. 

The arts of pottery and arrowhead making are lost. It is said they are very 
few of them that can make them. They say it was a gift of God to make them and 
they passed on with the secret. There is a butte east of Pikes Peak where they 
make supplies of it,” and left there for the next trip. The Ponca is very strict 
with the history. Anyone making a mistake is corrected by groups of old men. 

There is a place between the Black Hills and the Rocky Mountains where the 
tribe split in two. They were passing sinew around the camp and some of them 
were left out as the sinew didn’t go around the camp and this caused them” to 
get sore and they *” sided in with them until they were equally divided and the sore 
bunch pulled for the North and this bunch are found in Canada.” Days and days 
passed. Finally they got four of the best trackers on their trail and the trail 
went straight north. It means no turning,” and they came back and told what 
it means. This place is so far back that the oldest men cannot remember the 
exact spot.” 

In one of their trips to Pikes Peak one man stayed and farmed by the name 
of Tah-ha-wah-ti. He stayed there, raised corn, and stored it until they came 
again. This place is known as Tah-hah-wah-ti-hah-ah. It means “where the 
man farmed.” This place is also too far back,” and the exact place is forgotten. 
It is said that this place is between the Black Hills and the Rockies. 

The wind cave™ in the Black Hills was found by the Poneas. It is called the 
hill that sucks in or the hill that swallows in. Pah-hah-wah-tha-hu-ni.* 

How squaw corn was found. The camp was between two creeks. To the 
mouth of these creeks there came seven buffaloes and disappeared at the mouth. 
They were quickly surrounded and closed in on them, but there is no buffaloes 
to be found, but there were seven buffalo manures and they were tiny little 
plants on them.** The head chief was called to see them and he came and saw 


24The feathered wand or “pipe”? was swayed rhythmically back and forth. 

2% “Tt” refers to flint, which was used in the manufacture of projectile points, knives, 
and other artifacts. 

26 ““Them’’ refers to the Ponca who did not receive any sinew. 

27 For ‘“‘they”’ read “‘others.’’ 

28 The alleged existence of a group of Dégiha speakers in Canada has never been verified. 
The belief that such a group exists, however, is still quite prevalent among both Omaha 
and Ponca. 

2 In other words the malcontents had not relented. 

30 This should read “. . . place is so far back [in time] that the... .” 

31 Again, read ‘.. . . too far back [in time], and the. . .” 

2This is the present Wind Cave, a National Park in Custer County, S. Dak. The 
“sucking” phenomenon results from the difference in temperature of the air inside and 
outside of the cave mouth. The Teton Dakota have a similar name for the cave. 

83 Pahé-watdhoni is the Ponca name for the cave. 

34 Note the recurrence of the sacred number ‘‘seven,’’ also the association of bison with 
corn, important in Ponea and Omaha philosophy. ‘The Yanktonai Dakota have a similar 
legend, in which corn sprouts from milk which drips from the udder of a supernatural 
buffalo cow. 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 21 


them, he said let them grow and get ripe as God has given us some kind of fruit, 
we will move camp and when they are ripened we will come back. When they 
came back there stood the stalks and still they didn’t know what they were. 
There was a man in the camp they called Mi-sah, this means “Smarty” or blow- 
hard. He husked one of the ears and started a fire, he roasted it and ate some 
of it and said it is good. We call it Wah-tan-zee. The head chief said pick it 
all and pass it around camp, we will plant it in the Spring. There were four 
colors of it, red, white, blue, and yellow. After they started to plant it the 
Police were asked to watch it. No one is allowed to go near it, even the owners 
are kept away, until it is ripe and ready to be prepared for winter use. 

The best dance is called Hay-thu-schka, known as the war dance; it is said 
that any one that is not well and feeling bad and anyone that is mourning, the 
sound of the drum will revive them and make them happy. 

Long time ago before there were any kind of cut beads and bells there was 
another man they called Mi-sah (Smarty or blowhard) as he is known made 
remarks that he is going to have shiny beads, bells, and nice blankets on some 
day and all the girls will admire him while he is dancing. This dance ends up 
in prayers. 

While the Ponca were living in their village near the town of Niobrara, there 
came wagons drawn by oxen they called them Monmona.” They were real 
friendly people. They camped near the little channel on the west side of it,” 
and stayed one year 1846 and one day chief Wah-gah-sah-pi told them of a good 
place out west part of his hunting ground, he told them that they might find a 
place that will suit them. 

In the Spring of 1847 they moved on their way out west. All of the old people 
hold this meeting of the Mormons as a sacred thing, even of the present day. 
The younger ones feel the same.” When the Great Sioux Treaty of 1868 was 
made at Fort Laramie by some blunder that no one has ever been able to explain, 
the whole Ponca reservation which has been guaranteed to the tribe over and over 
again in repeated treaties with the National Government was given to their 
deadly enemies the Brule and Ogalala Sioux. Soon their enemies understood 
that the Ponca Territory had been given them by this treaty, their raids became 
more fierce and frequent. The seven years that followed this treaty were years 
when the Poncas were obliged to work their gardens and cornfields as did the 
Pilgrims in New England or the early settlers of Kentucky with hoe in one hand 
and rifles in the other. In 1876 Congress passed an act providing for the 
removal of the Poncas to Indian Territory in Oklahoma without their consent. 

In the Spring of 1877 the Poncas were busy putting away their crops, many 
put in their corn and were engaged in gardening. A force of soldiers arrived 
and orders were sent out for all the Indians to prepare to move at once to Indian 
Territory but they were taken to Baxter Springs, Kansas where there was 
nothing but rocks and the Poncas didn’t like the place at all. There were heart- 
breaking scenes in the little tribe. The Niobrara and Ponca had been their home 
for so long they knew no other. The graves of a dozen generations were there. 
The little fields were to be left. There were tears in the teepees and hot words 
in the councils. The cooler heads prevented an outbreak and so the long march 
to the South began. Arriving at their new home, the warm moist climate, so 
different from the dry bracing air of their Nebraska home, brought on sickness. 
Out of seven hundred and ten, one hundred and fifty-eight died the first year. 


% The term “Monmona’”’ is the Ponca pronunciation of the English name ‘‘Mormon.” 

36 “Tt”? refers to the Gray-blanket village, which was located approximately 2 miles west 
and 3 miles south of the present Niobrara, Nebr. 

37 From this point on, PLC seems to have borrowed heavily from some historical account 
of the Ponca Removal. 


718-071—65——_3 


22 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


Homesickness worst of all diseases in misery that it carries was in every 
lodge. In the midwinter of such a scene of wretchedness, Chief Standing 
Bear’s oldest son died and the boy wanted to be buried in Nebraska and the 
chief with a little band slipped away from the reservation and turned their 
faces to the North. Seven of the party were very sick when they started. 
They were 10 weeks on the road and arrived, ragged and nearly starved at the 
Omaha Agency which was part of the Ponea territory in March. Their presence 
there was reported to Washington by the Agent and on request of the Secre- 
tary of Interior Carl Shiery, the commanding officer at Omaha, General Crook, 
was ordered to arrest them and return them under military guard to Indian 
Territory. When the party was brought to Omaha, March 26, 1879, the news 
of their misfortunes became known and in their behalf was brought one of 
the most important law suits to determine the status of Indians ever tried. 
Friends of the prisoners induced John L. Webster and A. J. Poppleton to volun- 
teer their services in their behalf. This was the case of Standing Bear, versus 
George Crook, Brigadier General of the United States Army and asked that 
a writ of habeas corpus be issued to restore them to the liberty of which they 
had been unjustly deprived. 

The case was ordered by Webster and Poppleton for the Poncas and the 
U.S. District Attorney Lamberton for the Government. The great issue raised 
was whether Indians were citizens and as such entitled to the protection of 
the constitution and laws of the U.S. Judge Dundy did not decide this question 
in his opinion, but held that an Indian was a person within the meaning 
of the law and had therefore the right to habeas corpus; that in addition an 
Indian had the right to serve his tribal relations and that Standing Bear and 
party having done this could not be imprisoned without trial and were entitled 
to their liberty. Standing Bear and his band remained in Nebraska. 


All the chiefs that signed the treaties are as follows: 


1817 


Handsome Man 
Rough Buffalohorn 
Ho we na 

Pa da gah xa 

Gah he ga 

Smoke Maker 
Little Chief 
Aquotha bee 


Interpreters: 


Solomon 
Joe La Flesh 


1825 
Smoke Way buc kee han 
Ish ca da bee Ma han the gah no knife 
The um ba bee Mi jin ha the 
Wah the he Ma cho shiga na pa bee 
Na ji hah tanga Black cros 
Wabh sho shah Gah be gah 
Nu gah they Na he tapee 
Wa gee muza Ne na pa shee 
Iude cow se One that knows 


E pe Tha Gah 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 23 


1858 Treaty 


Wah gah sah pi 
Gish tah wah gu 
Was Kon mi the 
Ashna nika gah hi 


PETER LE CLAIRE 
Niobrara, Nebraska 


In addition to archeology and traditional history, there are other 
lines of evidence which shed light on the Ponca past. Some interest- 
ing botanical evidence bearing upon the relationship of the Ponca 
to the Omaha is presented by Will and Hyde (1917, p. 296): “As 
might be supposed from their close relationship and intimacy in early 
times, the Ponkas and Omahas have the same varieties of corn today. 
Each tribe, however, preserves some varieties which the other appears 
to have lost.” 

The close connection between the Ponca and other Southern Siouan 
groups is evident to the trained observer even at the present time, 
and has been mentioned repeatedly in print. Fletcher and La Flesche, 
for example, write: “The five cognate tribes [Omaha, Ponca, Osage, 
Kansa, and Quapaw], of which the Omaha is one, bear a strong resem- 
blance to one another, not only in language but in tribal organization 
and religious rites” (1911, p. 35). Some ceremonies and dances still 
performed today are claimed jointly by all of the Pégiha groups, 
the most notable being the well-known Hediska or “War dance.” 
Indeed, the separation of the Omaha and Ponca was recent enough 
that at least one artifact predating the separation is still in existence. 
This is the famous “sacred pole” of which J. O. Dorsey writes: “The 
Wardége, Za-wdeube, or sacred pole, is very old, having been cut 
more than two hundred years ago, before the separation of the Omahas, 
Ponkas, and Iowas” (1884 a, p. 234). Two of my own informants, 
LMD and OYB, knew of the sacred pole and mentioned that it had 
once been revered by both the Omaha and the Ponca. This intertribal 
relic now rests in the Peabody Museum, Harvard University. Its 
origin and functions are discussed at length by Fletcher and La Flesche 
in “The Omaha Tribe” (1911, pp. 217-269). 


ENTER THE LONG-KNIVES 


Some American Indian tribes, such as the Pawnee, Osage, and 
Dakota, owing to their great numbers or warlike reputation, became 
known to the Europeans long before explorers and traders had ac- 
tually reached their territory. This was not true of the Ponca. From 
the fact that they are not noted on the earliest maps nor mentioned, by 
report, in the earliest explorers’ chronicles relating to the Missouri 
country, we may reasonably assume that the Ponca tribe was neither 


24 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY (Bull. 195 


especially large nor hostile. Even long after their “discovery,” in fact, 
references to the group are scattered and infrequent. 

The earliest European reference to a group that may be identified 
with the Ponca is on a map. This map, attributed to the famous 
French cartographer Guillaume De L’Isle, has a draft copy dated 
May 1718. Itshowsa tribe called the “Maha,” very likely the Omaha, 
living near the “Aiaouez” (Iowa) north of the Missouri on the “R. du 
Rocher,” probably the Big Sioux River. Far above, east of the Mis- 
souri, is another group, identified as “Les Mahas, Nation errante” 
[i.e., “Wandering Omahas”’]. This last group is very likely the Ponca, 
which if true is the earliest mention of the tribe. The 1718 De L’Isle 
is considered a good “mother map” and has had many imitations. 

The 1722 De L’Isle map shows “Les Maha” north of the Missouri in 
the vicinity of the present Sioux City, Iowa, but does not mention any 
group that might be identified with the Ponca. The 1744 Bellin map 
mentions neither the Omaha nor the Ponca. The 1755 Mitchell map, 
however, which seems to be largely a copy of the 1718 De L’Isle, shows 
the “Maha” and “Ajoues” on a river which seems to correspond to the 
Big Sioux or Vermillion. Again, as on the 1718 De L’Isle, we find 
another group of “Mahas” further identified as “Wandering Indians,” 
upriver. It is possible that these earliest maps fail to mention the 
Ponca by name because they were then still a part of the Omaha tribe, 
or that because of the near identity of their dialect with that of the 
Omaha they were assumed to be a part of that tribe. 

A widely reproduced map, the 1757 Du Pratz, shows neither the 
Ponca nor Omaha. An unsigned French map of 1786, however, en- 
titled “Carte du Mississippi et ses embranchemens” (sic), shows the 
Ponca, identified by name, above the “Maha.” Their village is placed 
on the Missouri, between Ponca Creek and the Niobrara. The map of 
Gen. George H. V. Collot (published in 1826 but referring to 1796) 
shows the Ponca just north of Ponca Creek on the Missouri. The 
Sellard-Perrin du Lac map of 1802 (which would appear to be a 
plagiarization of a Makay and Evans map) also shows the Ponca in 
this location. 

The earliest mention of the Ponca tribe, other than on the 1718 De 
L’Isle map cited above, is in an unsigned letter, probably by Esteban 
Rodriguez Miro, the Governor General of Louisiana, to Antonio Ren- 
zel, who bore the title “Commandant of the Interior Provinces of 
Louisiana.” In this letter, dated December 12, 1785, Miro writes (as 
recorded by Nasatir, 1952, vol. 1, p. 126) : 

The Poncas have a village on the small river below the River-that-Runs [Nio- 
brara]. Nevertheless they are nomadic, naturally ferocious and cruel, kill with- 
out mercy those whom they meet on the road, although if they find themselves 
inferior in strength, they make friends of them, and, in a word, although they 


are not more than eighty warriors, they only keep friendship with those whom 
necessity obliges to treat as friends. 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 25 


The information contained in this letter was undoubtedly taken 
from the reports of Indians of other tribes, probably enemies of the 
Ponca, who lived closer to the settlements. The village mentioned was 
probably on Bazile Creek, as this is the first stream of any size below 
the mouth of the Niobrara. 

The first European to actually visit the Ponca, or at any rate the 
first to leave a written record of his visit, was the trader Jean Baptiste 
Monier, known as “Juan Munie” in the Spanish accounts. Though 
of French descent, Monier, like most of the other traders on the Mis- 
sourl, was a Spanish national. Monier visited and traded with the 
Ponca in 1789, and in 1793 we find him petitioning for the right to 
exclusive trade rights with the Ponca by reason of “having discovered 
and pacified the tribe” (ibid., pp. 194-195). However, in 1794 another 
trader, Jacques Clamorgan, complained of Monier’s monopoly: “This 
new enterprise was ... a violation of the usual trade which had 
formerly been made with the two nations [Omaha and Ponca] which 
are really one nation, since the Poncas are nothing but Mahas who have 
left the tribe.” Clamorgan, who later purchased Monier’s “monopoly” 
to the Ponca trade, locates the Ponca “on the bank of the Missouri, 
about thirty leagues above the village of the Maha nation” (ibid., 
p. 206). 

Thus, as early as the last decade of the 18th century the Ponca were 
receiving European trade goods in very large amounts. The attrac- 
tion of the rich Missouri Valley Indian trade soon drew others into the 
area, and in the years 1794-95 another French trader, Jean Baptiste 
Trudeau, established a post called “Ponca House.” This post served 
not only the Ponca, as the name would indicate, but also the Omaha and 
Dakota. The site of Trudeau’s “Ponca House” has never been located, 
but it is said to have been several miles up the Missouri from the 
mouth of Ponca Creek. Trudeau wrote (as recorded by Nasatir, 1952, 
vol. 2, 490): “The Ponca nation has its habitation placed at two 
leagues higher than the Niobrara’s mouth. Their huts are built on a 
hill at the edge of a great plain about a league from the Missouri.” 

Trudeau was optimistic about prospects for the trade in the area, 
noting that, “The Buffalo, the deer, and beaver are common in this 
place.” While Trudeau was trading out of Ponca House, another 
Frenchman, Solomon Petit, was also wintering in the vicinity, as well 
as employees of Jean Monier (ibid., vol. 1, pp. 88-89). In spite of the 
competition, Trudeau managed to obtain some furs from the Dakota, 
Omaha, and Ponca. 

The Ponca were quick to apprehend the value of a middleman’s 
position in the trade, and in 1795 they began the practice of stopping 
and raiding trading craft as they passed up the Missouri. Some of 
these stolen goods the Ponca then traded to the tribes farther upriver. 
This piracy was perhaps motivated not only by greed but also by a 


26 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


fear that the upriver tribes, such as the Arikara and Dakota, would 
acquire guns which would later be turned on the Ponca. The traders, 
of course, were anxious to deal directly with the upriver groups, since 
the farther one got from the settlements the less common trade items 
became, and the greater the number of furs that could be secured for 
them. This Indian piracy, which was practiced by both the Omaha 
and Ponca, as well as the various Dakota bands on the Missouri, delayed 
for a considerable period the development of trade on the Upper 
Missouri, not to mention the considerable financial loss to the com- 
panies involved. For example, Zenon Trudeau, Lieutenant Governor 
of Spanish Illinois and Commandant at St. Louis, reported that one 
trading expedition moving up the Missouri was pillaged by the Ponca, 
the loss involving a sum of 7,000 pesos (ibid., p. 874). 

The Ponca were also, of course, securing many trade items through 
legitimate channels, sometimes from British posts to the northeast. 
Materials traded to the Ponca at this period, or stolen by them, 
probably included guns, powder and ball, gunflints, wormscrews, large 
and small knives, awls, hatchets, pickaxes, hammers, kettles, medals, 
flags, tobacco, combs, vermillion, cloth, and blankets, as all of these 
items are mentioned by J. B. Trudeau as items he carried with him 
as stock in trade (ibid., pp. 259-294). Wood (1959, p. 15) reports 
that of these items guns, hatchets, cooking kettles, and cloth were 
represented from burials and other features of the Ponca Fort, which 
was occupied by the Ponca at this time. 

Less welcome “gifts” from the Wa: ge or White man were the vari- 
ous European diseases, to which the Ponca and other tribes of the 
area had little resistance. In the winter of 1800-1801, for example, 
a disastrous smallpox epidemic struck all of the tribes on the Missouri. 
Hardest hit were the Omaha and Dakota, the Ponca being affected to 
a lesser degree. So weakened by the disease were the Omaha that, 
although they set out on their customary fall and winter bison hunt, 
they were not able to hunt effectively, and starvation threatened the 
lives of the survivors. It was at this point that the Omaha acciden- 
tally encountered the Ponca, also engaged in their autumn hunt. 

The Ponca “tribal memory” or traditional history clearly pictures 
this meeting—the initial shouts of friendly recognition which quickly 
fade as the Omaha draw nearer and the Ponca perceive the faces and 
bodies of the Omaha still covered with the hideous pustules and scurf 
left by the dread disease. Fearing another outbreak of the disease, 
the Ponca warned their Omaha kinsmen to come no closer. So 
desperate for food were the Omaha, however, that with their last 
strength they launched an attack en the Ponca, driving them from 
their camp and stores of dried meat. Fearing the disease more than 
their human antagonists, the Ponca offered little resistance. 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE Pag 


Thus, by the time Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, on their 
epic journey of exploration, reached the Ponca, the tribe was quite 
familiar with Europeans—with their prized trade goods and their 
diseases. In their characteristic style and spelling, the explorers 
noted, on September 4, 1804, that there was a “Poncaries Village 
situated in a handsom Plain on the lower side of this Creek [Ponca 
Creek] about two miles from the Missouri” (Lewis, 1904-5, vol. 1, 
p. 140). Onthe Wm. Clark map of 1815 the “Poncarars, 200 souls” are 
shown a short distance above the mouth of Ponca Creek. Another 
explorer, H. M. Brackenridge (1904, p. 94), found their village there 
in 1811 and the Atkinson-O’Fallon party found them at the same 
place in 1825. 

From this time on, the Ponca village was a regular stopping place 
for boats ascending and descending the Missouri, and the tribe was 
visited by most of the “greats” who traveled the river—military men, 
explorers, traders, and also artists and ethnographers such as George 
Catlin and Prince Maximilian of Wied. Relations between the Ponca 
tribe and the United States began in 1817, when the Government 
entered into a treaty of “perpetual peace and friendship” with them. 
This was followed in 1826 by another treaty, in which the Federal 
Government agreed to receive the Ponca “into their friendship and 
under their protection.” Present-day Ponca are proud of the fact 
that they have never taken up arms against the United States of 
America. 

The accounts of early 19th-century visitors to the Ponca, though 
customarily filled with the routine and trivia of everyday affairs, 
sometimes permit us an interesting glimpse of the life of the tribe. 
In 1824, for example, Peter Wilson, acting on behalf of Maj. Ben- 
jamin O’Fallon, visited a small group of Ponca at the mouth of the 
Niobrara. Wilson noted: “The cries and lamentations made by them 
while approaching convinced me that some sad disaster, or misfortune 
had happened.” ‘The cause of their distress was soon learned. A 
party of 80 Ponca, who were returning from a friendly visit to the 
Oglala subband of Teton Dakota, had been surprised and attacked by 
a large party of “Saones” (members of the Brulé subband of the 
Teton). Of the 30, only 12 escaped. Numbered among the dead 
were all of the Ponca chiefs, including the famous Smoke-maker 
(Stide-gaxe), the first Ponca chief of that name (frontis.; pls. 1 and 
12,a). Theson of Smoke-maker approached Wilson with tears in his 
eyes, bearing the chief’s medal which had been given to his father by 
the Government. Wilson, after doing what he could to console the 
young man, appointed him chief of the tribe in his father’s stead (pl. 
1). (Report of Wilson to O’Fallon, 1824, National Archives, St. Louis 
Superintendency.) 


28 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


Details of the fur trade with the Ponca are revealed in a letter from 
John Dougherty, agent to the Ponca, to Lewis Cass, Secretary of War. 
Dougherty states that goods were traded to the Ponca from a post of 
the American Fur Company located at the mouth of the Little Mis- 
sourl. Specific items mentioned are powder, ball, blankets, strouds, 
calicoes, axes, hoes, tobacco, beads, and vermillion. It was the custom 
at this time (1830’s) for a trader to establish “temporary” posts in 
the Indian villages, which might be some miles from the main post. 
When with the Ponca, the trader generally established himself in the 
earth lodge of a friendly chief, whose rank discouraged the pilfering 
of the trader’s goods. It was not uncommon for the traders at these 
“temporary” posts to accompany the tribe on the tribal bison hunts. 

The larger fur posts were staffed by 30 men each. These men 
loaded and unloaded the boats, some of them being delegated to take 
out goods to the temporary stations and bring back the furs. Regu- 
lar cornfields and vegetable gardens surrounded the larger posts. 
The best months for fur trading were January, February, and March. 
After the spring trading season the furs were brought downriver 
in flatboats or barges, reaching St. Louis in the latter part of May or 
the first part of June. Even at this early date, Dougherty notes, the 
return of furs was diminishing as far north as the Ponca country, 
and he comments forebodingly that all of the tribes south of there 
must soon learn to “farm or perish” (letter of Dougherty to Cass, 
Nov. 19, 1831). 

At this period the Ponca were allies of the Yankton and Teton 
Dakota, for in 1833 Dougherty reports that the Ponca were spending 
little time on the Missouri following the buffalo on the “Plains of the 
Eau-qui-cour [Niobrara] river. They are friendly with the Sioux 
and join them in war, against the Pawnees” (letter of Dougherty to 
Wm. Clark, Nov. 12, 1834). One suspects that for the Ponca this 
alliance was merely a means of self-preservation. Being a small 
group, they were afraid to stop warring on the Pawnee so long as the 
Dakota were still at war, since their country lay between the two 
tribes. The Pawnee, of course, often retaliated on the Ponca, and 
in 1835 Joshua Pilcher reported that “Two or three Ponca families 
farming at the mouth of the Niobrara had their horses stolen by the 
Pawnee” (Report of Pilcher, Oct. 5, 1835). Pilcher notes that the 
Ponca at that time inhabited the “country near L’eau-qui-court to its 
source in the Black Hills.” 

That same year Dougherty and Pilcher jointly recommended that 
the Ponca be attached to the Sioux Subagency. Their letter states 
that the tribe numbered between 75 and 100 men at that date, and goes 
on to note that the Ponca “formerly raised corn at the mouth of 
L’eau-qui-court but depredations of the Sioux forced them to join the 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 29 


Sioux as bison hunters” (Report of Pilcher and Dougherty, Aug. 
27, 1935). 

At times the Ponca were even forced by their Dakota overlords to 
join the latter tribe in raids on the Omaha, close linguistic and 
cultural relatives of the Ponca. Thus Thos. H. Harvey, writing to 
Wm. Medill, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, notes: 

The Omahas are a poor dispirited people. They have for some years been 
living about eighty miles above Council Bluffs near the Missouri River. Owing 
to the frequent attacks of the Sioux and Poncas they have for several years 
made but little corn, and have consequently been exceedingly poor and desti- 
tute. [Letter of Harvey to Medill, Sept. 5, 1846.] 

In this incessant raiding by the Dakota we see a pattern which 
was to become well-established in the latter half of the 19th century. 
The semisedentary village tribes, attached to their earth-lodge villages 
and cornfields, were no match for the well-mounted and well-armed 
Dakota, who always knew both the exact strength and the precise 
location of their victims. Young Dakota warriors, eager for war 
honors, would snipe at the settlements of the village tribes from a 
safe distance, or try to pick off isolated hunters or farmers. When 
pursuit was organized by their victims, they simply retreated to the 
Plains, where their pursuers feared to follow them because of the 
danger of ambush. 

All of the village tribes were exposed to this harassment: Pawnee, 
Omaha, Ponca, Arikara, Mandan, and Hidatsa. These raids on the 
Ponca began shortly before midcentury and continued unabated un- 
til the time of the Ponca Removal in 1877. In his autobiography, 
Luther Standing Bear, a Teton Dakota chief, tells of his participa- 
tion, as a small boy, in one of the last of such raids. Like most of the 
raids the Teton launched against the Ponca, this raid was motivated 
only by a “dislike” of the Ponca. However, all but two members of 
this particular raiding party were turned back before they reached 
the Ponca country by an aged Dakota chief bearing a peace pipe 
(Standing Bear, 1928, pp. 75-77). 

In the autumn of 1846 a small group of Mormon settlers arrived 
in the Ponca country. This band of immigrants had been invited 
to the Niobrara villages by a group of Ponca who had found them 
camped near the Pawnee village at Genoa, Nebr. The Mormons had 
with them a small cannon, and it may have been the thought of how 
useful this item would be against the Dakota that prompted the Ponca 
invitation. The Mormons, called “Monmona” by the Ponca, were 
given some provisions to tide them over and assigned a camping spot 
near the “Gray blanket” village. In 1908 an impressive granite shaft 
was erected at this site. 


30 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


The Mormons apparently got on famously with the Ponca, for their 
stay is recalled in the fondest manner in the tribal traditions. With 
the arrival of spring, however, the Mormons decided to move on to 
join their bretheren in the west. The Ponca chief Wégasdpi or ‘Whip’ 
(pl. 9), indicated the best route for the group to follow on the journey 
(Fry, 1922). 

In 1855 a large-scale conflict took place between the Ponca and their 
old enemies, the Pawnee. Both tribes were on their tribal hunts, and 
the encounter was purely accidental. The Ponca were divided into 
two groups based on village affiliation, the “Gray blanket” group 
forming one and the H%bdo or ‘Fish smellers’ the other. The Hiubéo 
band was the first to sight the Pawnee, and promptly gave chase. 
Arriving at the Pawnee hunting camp the Ponca surrounded it and, 
raising a great war whoop, charged. To their amazement, however, 
they found that the Pawnee had somehow managed to steal away 
without being seen. The “Fish smellers” therefore contented them- 
selves with looting the deserted camp, appropriating for their own 
use the packs of dried meat, moccasins, leggings, and rawhide lariats 
left behind by the stealthy Caddoans. Then, careful to post guards 
over their horse herds, the Huibéo village group continued their bison 
hunting. 

Meanwhile the “Gray blanket” village group encountered the fleeing 
Pawnee, and after a hot running fight, killed them toa man. Feeling 
against the Pawnee was high at this time because the year before a 
haughty Pawnee chief had forced his Ponca guest, a man who was 
seeking the return of some stolen horses, to eat two large pots of 
beans served in urine. This flouting of the customary laws of Indian 
hospitality infuriated the Ponca more than the fact that the Pawnee 
chief had demanded a gift of gunpowder in exchange for the stolen 
animals, Therefore, on the occasion of the slaughter of the Pawnee 
hunters, Chief Smoke-maker’s newborn son was carried to the battle- 
field by an old woman and caused to put his feet on two of the Pawnee 
corpses, whereupon he was given the honorific title “Trod-on-two” 
(cf. J. O. Dorsey, 1890, pp. 377-3883). 


THE PONCA “TRAIL OF TEARS” 


The tribal bison hunt of 1855 was to be the last successful one con- 
ducted by the Ponca. From this time forward, although the tribe 
attempted to go out semiannually in the traditional manner, their 
attempts to secure provender in this manner were invariably frus- 
trated by prowling Teton war parties. Cut off from the buffalo plains 
and fearful of leaving their villages even to farm outlying fields, the 
Ponca were often on the point of starvation. To add to their woes, 
White settlers had for some time been percolating into the Ponca 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 31 


country, and the valuable bottom-land fields were fast being taken up 
by these squatters. In the winter of 1857-58 feeling was running so 
high in regard to their miserable situation that the Ponca destroyed 
the Niobrara sawmill and stole various items from the storehouse in 
protest against Government neglect. 

Bowing to the inevitable, the chiefs of the Ponca tribe, on March 12, 
1858, signed a treaty with the U.S. Government (Royce, 1899, p. 818). 
By the terms of this treaty the Ponca ceded to the Federal Government 
all lands which they owned or claimed except a tract bounded as fol- 
lows: “Beginning at a point on the Niobrara river and running due N. 
so as to intersect the Ponca river 25 miles from its mouth; thence from 
said point of intersection up said river 20 miles; thence due S. to the 
Niobrara river; thence down said river to the place of beginning.” 
In consideration of this cession, the Federal Government promised 
to protect the tribe in the possession of the remainder of their domain 
(the reservation as defined above) as their permanent home and to 
secure them in their persons and property. By a subsequent treaty in 
1865, at the solicitation of the United States, the Ponca ceded an 
additional 30,000 acres of their reserved land (ibid., p. 836). In con- 
sideration for this cession and “by way of rewarding them for their 
constant fidelity to the government and citizens thereof, and with a 
view of returning to the said tribe of Ponca Indians their old burying- 
grounds, and cornfields,” the Government in turn ceded certain lands 
back to the tribe. The lands thus held constituted a reservation of 
96,000 acres (U.S. Congress, 1868, vol. 14, pp. 675-677). 

In 1859 the Ponca attempted to make their customary spring and 
summer hunt, but encountered a combined party of Brulé, Oglala, 
and Cheyenne at the headwaters of the Elkhorn River. The Dakota- 
Cheyenne combination attacked the Ponca hunting camp, killing 
Heavy Cloud, the third chief of the tribe, another chief named 
“Podara,” and 13 others. Three Ponca children were captured and 
carried off into slavery. The Dakota informed the Ponca that the 
reason for their attack was that the Ponca had sold their lands and 
made a treaty with the Whites (Letter of I. S. Gregory to Commis- 
sioner Greenwood, Aug. 27, 1859, National Archives, Ponca Agency). 

Upon the return of the hunting party Chief Wégasapi (pl. 9) 
angrily confronted Agent Gregory. Denouncing the Government for 
rewarding its enemies, the Sioux, while neglecting the Ponca, he dis- 
played bloody arrows from the battle of the Elkhorn, and threatened 
to goto war. “I shall be a woman no longer, but go on the warpath 
with my tribe as I used to before my Great Father talked soft to me 
and tied my hands! It is better to die like warriors—like men—not 
wait until the Sioux come here to kill us” (ibid.). 


32 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


The following spring Agent Gregory, in a rather weak move to 
placate the Ponca, requested that a part of the Ponca annuity be 
used to purchase a small fieldpiece for purposes of self-defense. He 
also asked for “large and small flags for the chiefs and soldiers” 
and a “chief’s dress” for the head chief. Again that year the Ponca 
were driven from their hunt with great loss of horses and provisions. 
That fall Agent Gregory, in an endeavor to halt Dakota depreda- 
tions on the Ponca, traveled to the Sioux country and counciled with 
the Brulé. Arrogantly, the Brulé promised to leave the Ponca alone 
the following season, as they expected “to be fully employed carrying 
on hostilities against the Omahas and Pawnees.” 

In 1861 Agent Gregory was replaced by J. B. Hoffman. As one 
of his first projects, Hoffman organized a constabulary recruited 
from among the warriors of the Ponca tribe. This group, which 
numbered 50, were outfitted in blue coats and gray trousers. In order 
to secure better protection the tribe’s supplies were stored in a ware- 
house near the agency office. The following year a manual labor 
school was established on the Ponca Reserve, the first of its kind in that 
part of the country. 

The agent’s reports from this period reveal the progressive ac- 
culturation of the tribe since they had first been exposed to 
European trade items. In 1863, for example, the Ponca chiefs and 
headmen complained about the type of goods they were sent. No 
ammunition had been received for their rifles, no snaths with the 
scythes, and no thread with the dry goods. Agent Hoffman also 
reports that “half axes and squaw hatchets,” once much desired by 
the Ponca, were by that date a comparatively worthless article. Fish- 
hooks and lines also were of no value to them. Likewise the small 
round trade mirrors, once treasured as items of dance regalia, were 
no longer valued; after they had been distributed they could be 
found lying around the agency warehouse where they had been pur- 
posely dropped, and were picked up only by children to play with. 

Poor as the situation of the Ponca was at this time, it was soon 
to get worse. In 1868 a United States commission sent to negotiate 
with the Dakota, through an inexplicable and almost criminal blun- 
der, ceded to the Teton Dakota a tract of land which included all 
of the Ponca land, ceded and unceded. Now the Teton war parties 
had a perfect excuse for their raids on the Ponca—the Ponca were 
trespassers on Teton territory! The Federal Government made no 
effort whatever to correct this fantastic error or to protect the Ponca 
against their enemies as promised in the treaty of 1858, though they 
were frequently called upon to do so. 

This lamentable condition of affairs was to continue for 8 years 
without correction or redress, the Government seeming to consent to 
the sacrifice of the rights and peace of a tribe that had never made 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 33 


war upon it and had never broken faith. During this period, in 
fact, the Government was supplying the Teton warriors with heavy- 
caliber rifles of the latest make, ostensibly for bison hunting. 

Finally, in 1876, conditions had become so bad that Washington 
was forced to take cognizance of the situation. That year a provi- 
sion was inserted in the Indian appropriation bill authorizing the 
Secretary of the Interior to use the sum of $25,000 for the removal 
of the Ponca to the Indian Territory if they consented to go. Though 
there had been some talk of removal in the Ponca councils, this action 
came as a surprise to the tribe. Eight chiefs were selected to accom- 
pany an agent of the Indian Bureau to the Indian Territory to select 
a new reservation there. However, the chiefs who went with the 
official, after examining various proposed areas, refused to select a 
site and begged to be allowed to go back. Being refused, they left 
the official and, in winter, with but a few dollars and one blanket 
each, started home, walking the 500-odd miles in 40 days. 

Though the Ponca and their White friends, such as the Rev. J. O. 
Dorsey, repeatedly and forcefully appealed to the Secretary of the 
Interior and the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, representing that 
they did not consent to be removed, but, on the contrary, were bitterly 
opposed to leaving their homes, their appeals were disregarded. 
Since they refused to go of their own free will an order was issued 
on April 12, 1877, to force their removal, using Army troops if neces- 
sary. KE. A. Howard, of Hillsdale, Mich., was appointed agent for 
the removal. 

On April 28, 1877, Howard arrived at Columbus, Nebr., where he 
expected to meet Agent Lawrence with the assembled tribesmen. He 
found Lawrence with only 170 Ponca, the remainder having resisted 
removal, stating that they would rather die in defense of their homes 
than abandon their country and live in the “hot country” to the 
south. On April 30 E. C. Kemble, United States Indian Inspector, 
arrived and assumed control, arranging to conduct the first group 
of 170 Ponca to the Indian Territory. He ordered Agent Howard to 
visit the Niobrara Reservation and remove the remainder. Howard, 
after repeated councils, by his tact and kind treatment finally per- 
suaded the recalcitrants that resistance would be useless and they 
prepared for the journey. Escorted by a detachment of 25 United 
States troops under Major Walker, the second group took their depar- 
ture on May 16. 

Their removal was a ghastly and miserable experience, recalled by 
present-day tribesmen as the Ponca “Trail of Tears.” From start 
to finish the party was dogged by bad weather and calamity. At the 
beginning they had a terrible time crossing the flooded Niobrara 
River, the Ponca rescuing some of their soldier “guards” who were 
swept from their horses by the treacherous stream. Heavy rains 


34 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


fell nearly every day, and sickness added to the hardship of the march. 
After crossing the river it was not until May 21 that they were or- 
ganized and got under way, one child having died during the delay 
incamp. On the 28d, in the midst of heavy rains, another child died, 
and they delayed the next day to give it burial. The roads were ex- 
tremely bad, and much time was required to rebuild bridges which 
had been swept away and to repair the roads, deep in mud, through 
which they toiled. 

The Ponca crossed Nebraska by way of Neligh, Columbus, Seward, 
and Beatrice. When they arrived at Columbus, Major Walker and 
the 25 troops under him, who had come along as guards to prevent 
escape, left the expedition and returned to Dakota. Every few days 
someone died of disease or exposure. On June 5, near the village of 
Milford, Prairie Flower, the daughter of Chief Standing Bear, died 
of consumption. She was given a Christian burial in the village 
cemetery by the townspeople. So overwhelmed was Chief Standing 
Bear by the kindness of the ladies of Milford in arranging the burial 
service that he stated to those around him at the grave that he wished 
to give up his Indian ways and become a Christian (pl. 10). 

Later, on the day of the funeral, the camp was devastated by a 
tornado that carried away wagon boxes, camp gear, and even some of 
the people through the air as much as 300 yards. Several were 
seriously injured and one child was killed. After they broke camp 
the next day and proceeded on their way, another child died. Re- 
membering the kindness of the citizens of Milford, the tiny coffin was 
sent back to be interred in the grave with Prairie Flower. 

On June 16 the party reached Marysville, Kans. Their route 
through that State then led to Manhattan, Council Grove, Emporia, 
Iola, Columbus, and Baxter Springs. Deaths continued along the 
way, and two old women died in the camp near Council Grove. They, 
too, were given Christian burial, which was now becoming popular with 
the Ponca. Not far from Marysville four families, homesick and dis- 
couraged, dropped out of the line of march and turned back to Ne- 
braska. As soon as they were missed, however, Agent Howard rode 
back to find them, and by the use of patience and diplomacy, suc- 
ceeded in inducing them to return and rejoin the expedition. 

It was not until July 9 that the party passed through Baxter 
Springs and crossed the line into the Indian Territory on the lands 
of the Quapaw tribe. After nearly 2 months the march ended in the 
same sort of weather in which it had begun. Agent Howard wrote: 
“Just after passing Baxter Springs and between that place and the 
reservation, a terrible thunder storm struck us. The wind blew a 
heavy gale and the rain fell in torrents, so that it was impossible to 
see more than four or five rods distant, thoroughly drenching every 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 35 


person and every article in the train” (National Archives, Ponca 
Agency). 

The other band of Ponca that preceded those brought by Howard 
were all quartered in tents they had brought with them, no other 
provision having been made by the Government for their accommoda- 
tion. Agent Howard was shocked at the lack of preparation for 
the comfort of his charges, by now broken down by sickness and 
the hardships of the journey. Discouraged, homesick, and hopeless, 
the Ponca found themselves on the lands of strangers, in the middle 
of a hot summer, with no crops nor prospects for any. 

The Ponca thus placed in the Indian Territory numbered 681 
persons, embracing 197 heads of families. Thirty-six had remained 
in the north with their Omaha kinsmen. The tribe had hardly estab- 
lished their tent city on the Quapaw Reservation when whisky 
smugglers from Baxter Springs, directly across the line in Kansas, 
began the surreptitious sale of liquor to them. Attempts by Agent 
Howard to prosecute these men were ineffectual. 

The Ponca, unhappy and dissatisfied with their surroundings, asked 
for a more congenial home. Accordingly, some of the leading men 
of the tribe, with an Indian Inspector, made an examination of other 
locations. The one finally selected was on the west bank of the 
Arkansas River, covering both sides of the Salt Fork, in what is 
now north-central Oklahoma. This land, of which a reservation of 
101,894 acres was afterward set apart for them, was a part of the 
country obtained from the Cherokee in the treaty of 1866. About 
May 1 a large party of dissatisfied Ponca left the Quapaw country 
for the location on the Salt Fork without consulting the agent and 
without assistance from him. They remained at their new home, 
without sufficient food and medical attention, and, as a result, a num- 
ber of deaths occurred. Meanwhile, preparations were made by their 
agent for the removal of those remaining at the Quapaw Agency; 
finally the large amount of freight, consisting of personal effects, 
supphes, agricultural implements, and camp equipage, was loaded 
for the journey. There was also a large number of aged, decrepit, 
and sick Ponca, who were carried in the wagons. 

The Ponca departed from the Quapaw Agency on July 21, 1878, 
and arrived at their new home, 185 miles distant, 8 days later. In 
spite of the great heat, which varied from 95 to 100 degrees every 
day, no further lives were lost on this last trip; but the people, oxen, 
horses, and mules, arrived exhausted from the hardships of the 
journey. 

The new agency was located in the bend of the Salt Fork River 
about 2 miles above its confluence with the Arkansas. On the new 
reservation the Ponca first lived in tipis in one large village, but the 


36 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


agent at once began a movement to scatter them over the reservation, 
in order to prevent the spread of contagious diseases and to speed the 
beginning of agricultural work. He soon induced the so-called “half- 
breed band” to remove to the mouth of Chikaskia Creek, 8 miles from 
the agency. Having been on the move through the summers of 1877 
and 1878, the Ponca had been unable to cultivate the soil for 2 years. 
Also in 1878 they suffered greatly from malaria, or “chills and fever” 
as it was then termed. As the Ponca had come from their northern 
home where such ills were little known, the disease was peculiarly 
fatal to them, and many died of it after they reached the Indian 
Territory. In fact, since the tribe left Nebraska one-third had died, 
and nearly all of the survivors were sick or disabled. Talk around 
the campfires was continually of the “old home” in the north. 

Finally, the death of Chief Standing Bear’s eldest son set in motion 
events which were to bring a measure of justice, and worldwide fame, 
to the chief and his tribe. Unwilling to bury his child in the strange 
country, Standing Bear gathered a few members of his tribe, and 
started for Md-az?, the Ponca burial ground in the north. Sixty- 
six, In all, the tribesmen set out on foot for Nebraska, following an 
old wagon drawn by two wornout horses. In the wagon was the 
body of Standing Bear’s son. 

When Secretary of the Interior Carl Schurz was notified of Stand- 
ing Bear’s “escape” he caused a telegram to be sent to Gen. George 
Crook, ordering him to arrest the runaways and return them to Indian 
Territory. In the meantime Iron Eyes, chief of the Omaha, met the 
Ponca and offered them food and asylum on his reservation. General 
Crook, however, pursuant to his orders, took the Indians into custody. 
On their way south the party camped near the city of Omaha. Their 
story was made known to the citizenry, and soon Omaha was seething 
with indignation at this latest evidence of the Government’s cruelty. 
Sympathetic residents of the community, with the approval of Gen- 
eral Crook, employed local legal talent to apply for a writ of habeas 
corpus in the Federal court in Omaha. The United States denied 
the prisoners’ right to sue out a writ, on the grounds that “an Indian 
is not a person within the meaning of the law.” 

The trial aroused intense interest, and the courtroom was crowded 
with White sympathizers of the Ponca, who were spellbound by an 
eloquent speech by Standing Bear in his own defense. A newspaper 
reporter who was present wrote: 

There was silence in the court as the chief sat down. Tears ran down the 
judge’s face. General Crook leaned forward and covered his face with his 
hands. Some of the ladies sobbed. All at once that audience by common im- 
pulse rose to its feet and such a shout went up as was never heard in a Nebraska 


court room. No one heard Judge Dundy say ‘Court is adjourned.’ There 
was a rush to Standing Bear. The first to reach him was General Crook. 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE Siri 


I was second. The ladies flocked toward him and for an hour Standing Bear 
held a reception. [Ioreman, 1946, p. 253.] 

A few days later Judge Dundy filed his famous decision, a landmark 
in American jurisprudence, holding that an Indian is a person the 
same as a White man and similarly entitled to the protection of the 
Constitution. 

Standing Bear and his followers were set free, and with his old 
wagon and the body of his dead child, he continued to the tribal burial 
grounds on the Missouri bluffs, where he buried his son with tribal 
honors. 

By the summer of 1879, 26 more persons had died and 16 births had 
been recorded. The population of the Ponca in the Indian Territory 
now stood at only 530. However, those who had remained in the 
south were regaining some of their courage and fortitude. Under the 
direction of the agent, 70 houses were built for their homes; the logs 
were cut, hewn, and laid in place by the Ponca, who were paid for 
their labor. Cattle, horses, wagons, and harness were purchased for 
them, and 350 acres of sod were broken, which they planted in corn 
and vegetables. A day school was established and attended by 50 
Ponca children. By 1880 the condition of the tribe had improved 
so that the birth rate slightly exceeded the death rate. From July 1, 
1877, to December 31, 1880, there had been 129 births and 117 deaths, 
not including those who had prematurely moved to the Salt Fork. 
During the year 1880, 70 families had moved into log or frame houses, 
furnished with bedsteads and other furniture made by the agency 
carpenters (Foreman, 1946, pp. 253-254). 

Meanwhile the complaints of the Ponca and their White friends 
in the East, of the abominable and unwarranted treatment of the 
tribe by the Government, had reached the proportions of a national 
scandal. The Ponca had a particularly vigorous champion in Thomas 
H. Tibbles, a former Indian agent and newspaperman. Touring the 
country with Chief Standing Bear and an Omaha Indian girl named 
Suzette (“Bright Eyes”) La Flesche, he advertised the plight of the 
Ponca and also won the maiden’s hand in marriage. The press of 
the country devoted much space to the Ponca, who had now become 
a cause celebre. 

A committee of the U.S. Senate, after a full investigation of the 
subject, on May 31, 1880, reported their conclusions to that body. 
Both the majority and the minority of the committee agreed that: 
“a great wrong had been done the Ponca Indians.” As a further 
result of the agitation, President Hayes, on December 18, 1880, ap- 
pointed Generals George Crook and Nelson A. Miles, William Stick- 
ney of Washington, and Walter Allen of Boston as a commission to 
hold a conference with the Ponca and ascertain the facts relating to 

718-071—65___4 


38 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


their enforced removal from their home to the Indian Territory and 
inquire into their present condition. 

The committee took testimony at the Ponca Agency in the Indian 
Territory and then proceeded to Niobrara, Nebr., where they heard the 
testimony of Standing Bear and his followers. The commission 
made its report to the President on January 25, 1881, showing the 
incredible ineptitude, indifference, and mismanagement that had made 
the experience of the Ponca needlessly disastrous and cruel. 

As a result of the inquiry, an appropriation was made by Congress 
on March 8, 1881, of the sum of $165,000 to indemnify the tribe for 
losses sustained in consequence of the removal and for other purposes 
intended to ameliorate, make restitution, and promote their welfare. 
Under the adjustments provided by this act, the 5387 Ponca then in 
the Indian Territory began to reconcile themselves to their new lot 
and settle down in the new reservation. A large brick industrial 
boarding school began operations on January 1, 1883, attended by 65 
children. Others, equally desirious to enroll, were prevented by lack 
of room. 

On the Niobrara Reservation, 170 Ponca under Standing Bear were 
living and cultivating the soil; raismg corn, wheat, and potatoes. 
Formerly known as the “Poncas of Dakota,” they became in 1882 the 
“Poncas of Nebraska” when the boundary line between the States 
was established on the 43d parallel. In September 1908, Chief 
Standing Bear died and was buried with his fathers. By his suffer- 
ings and courage he was instrumental in putting an end to enforced 
Indian removals in the United States. 

It was only after the final arrangements had been made subsequent 
to the Removal that the Ponca tribe was permanently divided into 
“Northern” and “Southern” bands. The Southern Ponca, probably 
owing to their greater numbers and a lesser degree of White inter- 
marriage, seem to have had through the years more resistance to the 
forces of White acculturation. In spite of the early “liquidation” 
policies of the Indian Bureau they have been able to preserve some 
of their tribal life up to the present day. Sun dances were performed 
by them for many years, and even today the Heduska dance is a going 
concern. 

The Northern Ponca, however, a small island of Indian culture 
in a sea of Whites, quickly began to assume their conquerors’ ways. 
They were too few to stage the Sun dance, and even relatively minor 
ceremonies such as the H¢he-watsi tattooing required the services of 
Southern Ponca bundle owners. By the turn of the century most of 
the old Ponca religious ceremonies had disappeared in the north, and 
the last Northern Ponca Hediska dance took place in the 1930’s. On 
April 16, 1962, Senator Church, at the direction of the Northern 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 39 


Ponca tribal council, introduced a bill calling for a division of the 
tribal assets and the termination of the Federal trust relationship 
to the Northern Ponca band. Complete assimilation into the major 
culture seems to be the goal of the majority of the tribal members in 
the north. Such is not yet true of the Southern Ponca, where “In- 
dian ways” are still highly valued by many, and participation in the 
Peyote rite and Indian powwows continues to be important to a large 
proportion of the members of the band. 


ECONOMY 


As was true with most of the Missouri Valley tribes, the economic 
base of the Ponca rested upon a combination of hunting, fishing, 
gathering, and horticulture. Hunting, being the most exciting of 
these activities, was accorded the highest prestige in Ponca culture. 
The principal animal hunted by the Ponca was the bison, although 
elk, deer, and pronghorn antelope were also taken whenever the op- 
portunity occurred. Smaller animals, such as rabbits and beaver, 
were hunted only when larger game was not available. Two kinds 
of hunting were recognized by the Ponca and their kinsmen, the 
Omaha. One termed dbayé referred to hunting by small groups of 
men without their families. The other, ¢*é-wne or gaw dn, referred to 
the tribal hunts when the entire group, with its belongings, moved in 
pursuit of the bison (Dorsey, 1884 a, p. 283). 

There were two of these tribal hunts each year, one in the late 
spring or early summer, the other in the fall. The first of these 
began in late June or early July, the other in October or November. 
Their length depended upon the success of the hunt. Both were 
surrounded by ceremonial observations which were designed to obtain 
supernatural favor. PLC emphasized repeatedly in our interviews 
that: “The buffalo hunt was sacred to the Ponca because they de- 
pended upon the buffalo for their winter store of dried meat.” Some 
idea of the tremendous importance of the bison to the people may be 
gained from Ponca ceremonies, nearly all of which have some bison 
symbolism. 

Skinner (1915 ¢, p. 795) writes: “Every year when the squaw corn 
was about a foot high, the chiefs of the Ponca got together and coun- 
seled concerning the buffalo hunt. Two men were selected to be 
leaders, who took charge of everything. They picked the day that 
the village was to move, and they selected the camping ground.” 
PLC, however, insisted that there was only one hunt leader, or 
Nudda-hoga, saying: “When the time came for the buffalo hunt the 
chiefs would appoint the leader. He was selected from among the 
bravest warriors. He had to have a good head and not to do things 


40 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


rashly or else the whole tribe would suffer.” PLC’s statement is 
probably the correct one, as it is consistent with the Omaha, Oto, and 
Iowa custom of naming only one leader for the hunt. 

“Soldiers” or Buffalo-police also were appointed to assist the hunt 
leader in regulating the hunt. Skinner states that these men were 
appointed by the head chief of the tribe but PLC stated that they 
were chosen by the hunt leader himself. Among the Ponca the Buf- 
falo-police were chosen from the bravest warriors of one of the mili- 
tary fraternities, but not the whole organization, as was true of the 
Teton Dakota. 

The movement of the tribe on the communal hunt was a gala affair. 
At the head of the procession came the sacred tribal pipe in its bundle, 
carried on a beautiful but gentle horse, and tended by its priest or 
keeper, who rode alongside on another mount. Behind the pipe and 
pipe keeper rode the hunt leader, bearing his badge of office. This was 
a crooked staff wrapped with swanskin, ornamented with eagle feath- 
ers at the end and along the side and with a bunch of crow feathers at 
the tip (cf. Fletcher and La Flesche, 1911, p. 155). 

A short distance behind came the hunters, riding their second best 
mounts and each leading his best “buffalo runner,” which would be 
mounted when the herd was sighted and the time came to charge. 
Behind them, in turn, came the women and children with the camp 
equipage loaded on packhorses and dogs. Scouts preceded the entire 
party by several miles, searching out the best herds. These scouts 
reported each evening to the hunt leader. 

Each night the Hiduga or camp circle was set up, the various clans 
camping in their traditional assigned areas. In the center of the circle 
was a special tent for the tribal pipe and its keeper and nearby the 
hunt leader’s tent, which also served as the headquarters for the 
Buffalo-police and scouts. When the scouts located a suitable herd, 
the tribal chiefs of the first and second rank assembled with the hunt 
leader and Buffalo-police in this council lodge to pray for success. 
Each night, while in the buffalo country, a guard of Buffalo-police was 
posted at the edges of the camp to prevent any hunters from sneaking 
out to hunt ahead of the main body and thus endangering the public 
welfare by frightening away the herds. Such overzealous hunters, if 
caught, faced the possibility of being whipped by the Buffalo-police 
and having their tipi cover cut to shreds and their tipi poles broken. 

The surround was the most common hunting procedure for the 
tribal hunt. Utilizing hummocks, ravines, and other natural features, 
the ranks of hunters would approach as near the herd as possible, en- 
deavoring to encircle it. Then, on a signal from the hunt leader, all 
would charge and try to get the herd to milling. Occasionally a small 
herd would be driven over a bluff or, on the fall hunt, onto the ice 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 41 


of a river, where the slippery hooves of the bison would cause them 
to fall. Small parties of hunters could not employ these techniques 
for lack of sufficient personnel. They would instead “run” the bison, 
that is, charge in and shoot as many animals as possible before the 
herd escaped through flight. 

Cows and young buffaloes were the ones most sought after, as their 
meat was tender and their hides were soft. Some bulls also were 
killed, however, as their thick neck hide was needed for the manufac- 
ture of shields and moccasin soles. PLC stated that although other 
tribes used animal disguises, such as wolf hides, in stalking the buffalo 
and other game, he had never heard of the Ponca doing so. 

Like buffalo, elk and deer were sometimes hunted by driving them 
onto the ice in winter so that they would lose their footing and could 
be more easily killed. LMD and AMC told stories of winter bear 
hunts in the Black Hills region. AMC stated that Ponca hunters 
often painted the area around their eyes black when on a winter hunt 
to avoid snow blindness. When traveling in the Rockies, the Ponca 
hunted Rocky Mountain sheep. 

PLC, OK, and AMC all mentioned hunting beaver and muskrat with 
dogs. A group of men and dogs would move along a stream, the men 
wading, looking for beaver and muskrat dens. When one was located 
the dogs would dig the animal out and the hunters would club it to 
death. Raccoons were hunted with dogs as well. PLC mentioned 
another type of hunting, in which dogs circled the game and caused 
it to keep doubling back by leaving their scent, which it would refuse 
to cross. Finally the circle would be small enough so that the animal 
would be within range of the hunter’s arrow or bullet.** 

Fowling does not seem to have been an important Ponca activity, 
though birds were hunted to some extent. According to PLC, birds 
were usually stalked by individual hunters. The area now forming 
the northern end of Niobrara State Park, near Niobrara, Nebr., 
was known as a good place to shoot ducks and geese (JLR). The late 
Northern Ponea Chief White-shirt once told JLR that he had brought 
down 100 birds with a single shot of his musket from a stand at the 
end of this island. JLR considered this somewhat of a sportsman’s 
exaggeration, but admitted that the hunting was “awfully good” along 
the Missouri in the old days. 

The main birds taken in the past were geese, ducks, and pinnated 
grouse. At the present time the Northern Ponca hunt ducks and geese 
as formerly, but the Chinese ringneck pheasant has now replaced the 
grouse as the principal upland game bird. Eagles, hawks, owls, crows, 


% J find my credulity is strained a bit at this point. PLC insists that such a procedure 
was followed, however. 


42 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


and pheasants are still hunted for their feathers, and hunting for 
feathers was probably important in the past as well. 

Eagle feathers were particularly valued. Eagles were formerly 
secured by either of two methods. The first resembles the ceremonial 
eagle trapping of tribes farther up the Missouri, but apparently lacked 
the lengthy ritual observances of such groups as the Mandan, Hidatsa, 
and Yanktonai Dakota. Pits about 4 feet deep were dug on a high 
bluff, of a diameter sufficient to hold two men. These were carefully 
camouflaged with screens of woven branches covered with turf and 
leaves. A small hole was left in the center of the screen. A freshly 
killed rabbit was impaled on a stick and placed over this hole, so 
that the end of the stick would be moved by the men in the pit. They 
would move the rabbit about, making it appear that the rabbit was 
wounded. The eagle, flying overhead, would see what appeared to be 
a wounded rabbit and descend upon it. Once he had taken a grip on 
the decoy one of the men would reach up through the hole, grab the 
eagle’s feet and pull it down into the pit, where the other man would 
club it to death (PLC). 

The other method was to watch an eagle gorge itself on carrion, 
then quickly run over to where it sat and club it to death. According 
to PLO, the birds were often so heavy that they would topple over in 
their clumsy attempts to fly. When firearms became available to the 
Ponca both of these methods were abandoned. The Ponca con- 
tinued to observe, however, the custom of leaving an eagle’s carcass 
untouched for 4 days before plucking the feathers, lest they acquire 
“eagle sickness.” 

Trapping for furs does not seem to have been very important to the 
Ponca prior to the last quarter of the 18th century, as we find little 
mention of it in tribal traditions. However, when the European 
traders became established in the Ponca country, trapping became 
important, for then the Ponca could exchange furs for trade items. 
Beaver, muskrat, and raccoon were the important fur bearers in the 
Ponca region. The present term for 25 cents inPégiha, Mikdhidawa, 
means ‘coonskin,’ and is a survival from the days when a coonskin 
had this value in trade (JLB). 

Trapping parties were of necessity small. One obscene Ponca story 
tells of two men and a woman making up such a party and another tells 
of a party of four men going on a trapping expedition during a time 
of famine (JLR). Traps were used in the manner taught by the 
Europeans, though some practices were elaborated by the Ponca them- 
selves. Gilmore (1919, p. 89) mentions, for example, that traps were 
washed in a decoction of chokecherry bark boiled in water to remove 
the scent of previous catches, Trapping is still practiced to a small 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 43 


extent by some Northern Ponca. PLC (1961, p. 18) mentions learning 
to trap asa boy. 

Concerning Ponca fishing practices, J. O. Dorsey writes: 

Both Ponkas and Omahas have been accustomed to fish as follows in the 
Missouri River: A man would fasten some bait to a hook at the end of a line, 
which he threw out into the stream, after securing the other end to a stake next 
the shore; but he took care to conceal the place by not allowing the top of the 
stick to appear above the surface of the water. Warly the next morning he would 
go to examine his line, and if he went soon enough he was apt to find he had 
caughtafish.... [1884a,p.301.] 

PLC described a somewhat similar method of fishing, but in this 
instance the fisherman remains on the bank. He throws out his baited 
line, but leaves a coil of loose line at his feet. When this begins to 
uncoil he knows he has a fish. 

According to PLC, fish were once so abundant that they could be 
caught with the hands. Barbed spears were also extensively employed 
to take fish but: “Now there are too few fish to make this way of fish- 
ing any use” (PLC). According to PLC, bird claws were commonly 
used for hooks and lines were made of rawhide. Dorsey (1884 a, p. 
301), however, says that the lines were of horsehair. After a success- 
ful fishing trip, the Ponca angler distributed a part of his catch 
among the old people in the camp, just as a hunter distributed meat 
after killing a deer, elk, or bison. 

Turtles were, and still are, speared by the Ponca, Today a pitch- 
fork is commonly used for this purpose. PLC was engaged in turtle 
spearing in Ponca Creek when I first visited him in 1949, 

In addition to wild game and fish, an amazing number of wild 
plant foods were collected and used by the Ponca. As the tribe moved 
from place to place following the bison, the women, equipped with 
long digging sticks, kept a sharp watch for edible plants with which 
to supplement and vary the diet. M. R. Gilmore (1919) provides us 
the best listing and description of these. They included wildrice, 
wild onions, Indian-potatoes, wild sweetpeas, water chinquapin, and 
of course ¢ipsina or ‘prairie turnip,’ the pomme blanche of the 
French. Milkweed sprouts, clusters, and the young fruit were valued 
as additions to the daily fare. The fruits of the blackhaw were 
eaten, but not gathered in quantity. Wild flaxseeds were used in 
soups. Morel was much esteemed and arrowleaf also was eaten on 
occasion, Even such unlikely items as corn smut and puffballs were 
used as foods when in a fresh state. James (1905, vol. 15, p. 171) 
mentions that the roots and nuts of Velumbium were eaten by the 
Ponca. J. O. Dorsey (1884 a, p. 808) says that calamus roots were 
eaten as a food, but I am inclined to believe that they were restricted 
to medicinal use. 


44 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


Although the Ponca raised beans in their gardens, they also utilized 
stores of wild beans that had been collected by rodents and stored by 
the animals in their burrows (OK). These beans were called “mouse- 
beans” by the Ponca, and are very likely the same as the “ground- 
beans” noted by Gilmore (1919, pp. 95-96). 

Various fruits and berries native to the area were, of course, 
gathered as well. These included crabapples, wild strawberries, wild 
raspberries, juneberries, wild plums, sand cherries, chokecherries, 
wild grapes, buffaloberries, groundcherries, and elderberries. 

Sugar was made from the sap of the maple, hickory, and boxelder 
trees. Wild honey also was used to sweeten things. A favorite dessert 
of the Ponca was wild honey mixed with nuts. Hickory nuts, black 
walnuts, hazelnuts, and hackberries were all used by the Ponca. 
Acorns were pounded into flour after they had been leached with a 
solution of basswood ashes to remove their bitter taste (Gilmore, 1919, 
De (0). 

Beverages, also, were made with various wild plants. PLC men- 
tioned a beverage made from a plant “about 3 feet tall” called wdde- 
makq, and Gilmore mentions several other wild-plant beverages used 
by the Ponca, Elderberry blossoms were dipped into hot water to 
make one type, and redroot or “Indian tea” was used in another. 
Other beverages were made of wild verbena, wild mint, and wild 
anise. 

Salt was obtained from the salt flats 3 miles west of the present 
Lincoln, Nebr. The present Omaha and Ponca name for Lincoln, 
Niskide-towagda or ‘Salt town,’ refers to this. The salt was dug 
out in chunks with wooden spades, dried out on racks of wooden slabs, 
and then packed in parfleches for transport. Women did all of this 
work (PLC). 

A few of the older people of both Ponca bands still make use of 
wild foods to some extent, though nowhere near the number of plants 
listed by Gilmore is utilized. A supply of ¢ipsina bulbs, for use in 
soups, was noted in PLC’s home in 1954. Bunches of other herbs, 
for use in soups and beverages, were seen drying on the porches of 
Southern Ponca homes. The Southern Ponca are probably more con- 
servative in this respect than their northern kinsmen. 

Like the other tribes of the Missouri, the Ponca raised extensive 
gardens, in some instances large enough to be termed “farms.” Maize, 
beans, squash, pumpkins, gourds, and tobacco were the principal crops. 

Corn was planted soon after the frost had left the ground. It was 
planted in a ritual manner that recalls the Ponca corn origin legend 
(see PLC’s “History,” pp. 20-21) and demonstrates the interrelation of 
corn and the bison in the Ponca scheme of things: “First a sod was 
removed from the ground to form a mdgdagé or corn hill. Then the 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE A5 


planter made a ‘buffalo track’ (1.e., a small depression) with his hand 
and dropped a few seeds into this. Then the hill was covered and 
smoothed” (PLC). PLC demonstrated the making of this “buffalo 
track” by making a fist with his right hand, but with the first and 
second fingers extended and bent at the first joint. Pressing his fist 
into the soft earth, he made a depression which very much resembled 
a bison’s hoofprint. 

Apparently, as was true throughout Eastern North America, most 
of the gardening was done by the women of the tribe. At least one 
story, however, tells of a man raising corn (cf. PLC’s “History,” p. 20). 
Will and Hyde (1917, p. 110) note that: “The women usually gave the 
patches two hoeings before the tribe started on the [summer] hunt, 
but sometimes, when the season was late, the corn was hoed only 
once.” The corn was harvested in October, both the men and the 
women taking part in this activity. It was then dried on scaffolds and 
shelled as needed. PLC made an old-style Ponca corn sheller as an 
exhibit for an Indian Fair, and later gave it to me (pl. 22,e). Itisa 
tapering wooden pin with a sharp point and a notch for the thumb. 
He stated that the point was run between the rows of kernels on the cob. 

Beans, squashes, pumpkins, and, at least in the 19th century, a type 
of watermelon were important to the Ponca economy as well. Squash 
was planted in hills in the same manner as corn, and apparently inter- 
planted with it. Detailed information on the planting of other vege- 
tables could not be secured. The Ponca watermelons, according to 
JLR, were small, round, and full of shiny black seeds. He considered 
them to be aboriginal; but this seems unlikely, though the Ponca may 
have acquired them before Whites actually reached the Ponca country. 
These melons are described and pictured by Gilmore (1919, p. 120). 

Fletcher and La Flesche (1911, p. 45) write that: “There were no 
ceremonies in the Ponca tribe relative to the planting and care of 
maize.” Yet Skinner (1915 c, p. 789) states: “The object of the 
[Sun] dance . . . was to obtain rain for the crops.” My informants 
PLC and WBB confirmed Skinner’s statement. WBB mentioned that 
in later years the Ghost dance was performed for a similar reason. 

At the present time the Ponca still raise their former crops, but 
the techniques and seeds used are those of the White man. Garden 
vegetables introduced by the Whites have been used by the Ponca for 
at least a century. Gourds for use in making Peyote rattles are 
raised by some Southern Ponca. Andrew Snake, a Southern Ponca 
gourd raiser, once told me that: “You've got to tend ’em like a baby— 
pour a little milk on ’em now and then.” He also described how the 
growing gourds should be moved from time to time to keep them from 
being lopsided. 


46 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


Corn was preserved for winter use by either boiling and drying it or 
parching it. Beans and squash also were dried, as were most wild 
roots, fruits, and berries. OK mentioned that turnips were preserved 
by first boiling them, then skinning them and splitting them in two. 
Meat was cut into thin strips, then smoked and dried over a cedar 
fire. This treatment not only preserved the meat but gave it a 
special flavor as well. Both meat and corn were pounded in a wooden 
mortar with a stone pestle. The corn thus prepared was made into 
corncakes which were apparently like the “corn balls” of the Mandan 
and Hidatsa. Pemmican or dagddube was the Ponca “emergency 
ration,” carried by hunters and warriors. Bones were boiled until 
the “bone grease” or marrow fat rose to the surface. This was 
skimmed off, mixed with pounded meat and dried berries, and stored in 
sections of gut. 

Ponca cookery was quite elementary if judged by European stand- 
ards. Usually the meat was merely cut into pieces about the size of 
a man’s hand and dropped into the kettle (PLC). Wabdsna, or 
“roast,” was made by cutting meat into pieces about 3 inches square 
and broiling it over an open fire on a green stick. Fish were also 
cooked in this manner. Dani, the special soup served at the Heduska 
dance, was made of large pieces of meat boiled with squash, corn, and 
tipsina. 

Fried bread or wmdsnesné, still a popular dish at the present time, 
represents the first use to which the White man’s flour was put by the 
Ponca. It is made of ordinary bread dough which is cut into pieces 
about 3 inches square, slit down the middle, and fried in hot grease. 
Occasionally the Ponca make “meat pie” by wrapping the fried bread 
dough around a piece of precooked meat before frying it. However, 
this is considered to be an Osage dish. In recent years the Ponca 
have learned many of the recipes of the Whites, and delicious cakes, 
pies, and other specialties are prepared for special occasions. The 
daily fare, however, remains quite simple in most families. 

Formerly there were but two regular meals a day, one at noon and 
one in the evening about dusk (PLC, EBC). The entire family was 
present at these times. Ifa person became hungry at any other time 
he merely nibbled on a piece of dried meat. Nowadays there are 
usually three meals: breakfast, dinner (always the noon meal), and 
supper. 

Usually there is little ceremony at meals, though many families 
begin each meal with a prayer in the native language. If a guest is 
present he is often asked to return thanks for the group. Formerly 
bison-horn spoons and hunting knives were the only eating utensils, 
but now plates, cups, table knives, forks, and spoons of White manu- 
facture are in universal use. At a Teton Dakota dance near St. 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 47 


Charles, S. Dak., PLC was observed eating a large piece of meat which 
he held on a wooden stick. He commented that this was the “old 
Indian way” employed before the Ponca had plates. 

Usually the meal is served at the table, but at ceremonies, especially 
where many are present, people sit on the ground or floor picnic 
style. It is the usual form for the ceremonial dinner that follows a 
Peyote meeting or a funeral. The present-day Ponca, like other tribes 
of the Midwest, have the custom of deprecating the food they offer 
their guests. Thus, a visitor, invited in for “coffee,” is usually offered 
a full meal with dessert. Then, after this sumptuous repast, his host 
may comment “We don’t have much, we’re just Indians.” 

The smoking of tobacco served as both a ceremonial act and as a 
form of indulgence to the Ponca. The tobacco originally cultivated 
by the Ponca was probably Nicotiana quadrivalis Pursh. (Gilmore, 
1919, pp. 1138-114.) It is no longer grown by either band of the 
tribe. Three types of additive or kinnikinnick which were mixed 
with the true tobacco were mentioned by PLC and OK. One of 
these was the inner bark of the red dogwood (Cornus amomum). 
Informants of Gilmore (1919, pp. 107-108) also mentioned three 
types, two of which were identified as red dogwood and redbrush 
(C. stolonifera). J. O. Dorsey (1884 a, pp. 309-310) mentions red 
willow as most common, with sumac leaves being used occasionally 
and arrowwood (probably C. asperifolia Michx.) only rarely. A 
small amount of kinnikinnick is still made by the Northern Ponca. 
Until recently the Teton Dakota paid regular visits to the Niobrara 
Reservation to trade for it. I bought a large sack of it from OK 
in 1949. He carefully instructed me to mix it with chopped “Horse- 
shoe Plug” chewing tobacco before smoking it. Later, at the Omaha 
Indian powwow at Macy, Nebr., Mrs. James Poor-horse, a Southern 
Ponca woman, asked for some of this, and was elated when I gave her 
some “because it smokes so good, and is hard to get in our country.” 

Cigarettes are commonly smoked for pleasure by the Ponca of both 
sexes at the present time in place of the pipes formerly used. In 
the Peyote ceremony the cigarettes used in the ritual are equated 
with the calumet used in the older Ponca rites, and prayers are offered 
with them in the same way. The former method of praying with the 
pipe is described by J. O. Dorsey (1894, p. 875): “Abiside, . . . is 
a word which refers to an old Omaha and Ponka custom, ie., that 
of blowing the smoke downward to the ground while praying. 
The Omaha and Ponka used to hold the pipe in six directions while 
smoking: toward the four winds, the ground, and the upper 
world.” Though accurate so far as it goes, Dorsey’s statement 
fails to note that in addition to the four cardinal points, zenith, and 
nadir, the pipe is puffed a seventh time without moving it. This 


48 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


final smoking represents the locus of the individual who is praying, 
and completes the ritual number, seven. 

Peyote (Lophophora williamsi), a spineless cactus plant contain- 
ing narcotic alkaloids, is consumed by members of the “Native Ameri- 
can Church” or Peyote religion at their ceremonies. It is usually 
eaten in the form of dried “buttons” cut from that portion of the 
cactus which grows above the ground. Occasionally several of the 
buttons are boiled in water to make “peyote tea.” ‘This is the form 
in which peyote is taken by people who are ill. From 1 to 50 buttons 
are consumed by a member in one night. Sometimes auditory and 
visual hallucinations are produced by the peyote. These “visions” 
are cherished experiences which older Ponca love to recount and 
interpret in terms of religious symbolism. Occasionally, however, the 
first experience with peyote is so frightening as to dissuade the user 
from further experimentation. PLC, for example, experienced such 
vivid visual hallucinations at the first meeting he attended that he has 
never returned. He stated, “The people’s faces got long, then real 
short and wide—just like those mirrors they have at carnivals.” 

Before the introduction of the horse, the dog was the only domes- 
ticated animal known to the Ponca. At that time the dog was cer- 
tainly the Ponca man’s best friend. It guarded his camp; pulled 
his travois and carried his packs on the march; aided him in the 
hunt; and even provided hair which could be used, together with 
bison wool, to make finger-woven sashes, turbans, and garters. When 
other meat was not available or a special feast called for it, the faith- 
ful animal might be called upon to make the supreme sacrifice and 
to furnish the principal ingredient for dog soup. 

JLR and AMC described a special breed of dog, now extinct, which 
was used to carry packs and pull the travois. This dog was large, 
with pointed ears. JLR said that of the “modern dogs” it most 
nearly resembled the Great Dane in appearance. It never barked, 
but whined when strangers approached. LMD and WBB both men- 
tioned a time when the Ponca were traveling in the Rocky Moun- 
tains and found it necessary to make crude moccasins for the travois 
dogs’ feet because of the rocky terrain. 

A type of dog said to be of an aboriginal strain used as hunting 
dogs is now found on many Ponca farms. This dog resembles a 
small collie. It is black on its back and on the top of its head and 
neck, and tan below. Just above the eyes it has two tan spots, from 
which it gets its name, /std-duba or “Four-eyes.” <A similar breed, 
also named “Four-eyes” is common to several other tribes, including 
the Omaha, Mandan, Hidatsa, and Yanktonai Dakota; hence the dog 
may well be an ancient and widespread aboriginal breed. 

AMC mentioned a third type of dog which he said was raised chiefly 
for its hair and flesh. Of the “modern” breeds it most closely resem- 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 49 


bled the English Shepherd. It was fattened for the pot by being fed 
camp garbage. 

Occasionally coyote pups were raised as pets. Crows were also 
tamed according to PLC. JLR told a story in which a Heyéka bird, 
identified as a “kind of hawk,” the pet of a Ponca family, saved their 
lives when they were attacked by enemies. This type of bird was 
named after the Dakota-inspired clown cult of the Ponca, as the bird’s 
appearance was similar to that of the clowns. 

By the early 19th century the Ponca had acquired horses, mules, 
and donkeys from the Whites but not, apparently, cows, sheep, goats, 
or swine. James (1909, vol. 15, pp. 78-79) writes that “horses, mules, 
asses, and dogs” were the only domesticated animals possessed by the 
Missouri tribes at the time he was writing (1819-20). Fletcher and 
La Flesche (1911, pp. 77-80) cite Ponca traditions that horses were 
originally obtained from the Padouca, whom they identify as Co- 
manche. Several of my informants confirmed this, though LMD 
stated that the Pddoka or Padouca were Shoshone rather than Co- 
manche. PLC insisted, however, that the Ponca had obtained their 
first horses from the Teton Dakota when the tribes met at a spot east 
of the Black Hills in what is now South Dakota. 

Horses were highly valued by the Ponca. They were herded near 
the village by boys of the tribe. At night a man sometimes picketed 
his best stock, his war and hunting ponies, near his lodge. In summer 
they grazed daily on the rich prairie grass and in winter they were 
kept in the river-bottom timber where they could browse on willow 
and cottonwood boughs and rushes. The Ponca horseherds were main- 
tained through natural increase, by stealing or buying stock from 
neighboring tribes, and, rarely, by introducing horses captured from 
wild herds. Usually wild horses were avoided, as they were generally 
“jugheads” or deformed or stunted in some fashion. Horses were 
broken to riding by having a small boy mount them in about 3 feet of 
water. The muddy footing and the water made bucking more dif- 
ficult and even if the boy was bucked off he would not be hurt. Some- 
times, if a horse was unusually wild, it was weakened beforehand 
by being starved (PLC). 

Mules were valued equally with horses for use in the bison hunt 
and as “parade” animals. One Ponca story tells of a man whose 
horses were shot with arrows by jealous neighbors just before a bison 
hunt, but who managed to kill his quota of bison though he was 
mounted on a mule. 

Ponca saddles were of the high “Spanish” type. The frame was 
of cut and steamed elk antler sewn in rawhide. Occasionally elm- 
wood frames were used (Gilmore, 1919, p. 75). Stirrups were of bent 
wood sewn in rawhide, and saddles were padded with a piece of 


50 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


bison hide or a blanket. Rawhide or braided bison-hair halters were 
used which passed around the nose and jaw of the animal and had two 
reins attached. To allow the hunter more freedom of movement 
on the bison hunt, saddles were not used. The same type of saddle 
was used by both sexes. On ceremonial occasions horses were painted ; 
feathers were fastened to manes, forelocks, and tails; and fancy hang- 
ings, martingales, and croupers were displayed. In describing the 
decoration of a horse given away at a Northern Ponca puberty cere- 
mony, PLC and OK mentioned that quillwork bands were fastened 
just above the fetlocks. 

A man usually reserved his best stock for war and the chase, using 
the poorer animals to pull the travois and to carry the women and 
children. The travois or dbawaj was made of two tipi poles which 
were tied together so that they crossed at the horse’s withers. Be- 
tween the free ends a sort of sling was arranged, and on this the 
household goods were packed. The hooplike platform with laced- 
rawhide filling used by other Plains tribes was apparently not used 
by the Ponca. 

At the present time the horse has lost most of its former importance 
to the Ponca, though its fame lives on in Hedusha dance songs and 
in the old stories of war and hunting. The few horses retained in the 
period of my fieldwork were draft stock used in farmwork. 

The annual cycle of the Ponca at the time they were first contacted 
by Europeans reveals an alternating pattern of wandering in search of 
the bison interspersed with periods of sedentary, horticultural, village 
life. Crops were planted in the spring, hoed once or twice, and then 
the entire tribe departed for the summer hunt. They returned in 
time to harvest the crops in the fall, and then shortly afterward 
left on the fall or winter hunt. Returning to the permanent villages 
before winter closed in, they remained there until the following 
spring, hunting and trapping in the surrounding area. Most war- 
fare took place during the summer months, although raids for horses 
were occasionally organized in the winter so that falling snow would 
obscure the tracks of the raiding party and their stolen horses. 

The Sun dance, the major tribal ceremonial, was most commonly 
held in June. It took place at a spot near the permanent villages, 
shortly before the communal bison hunt. Late spring and summer 
was also the season for the various bundle rituals and warrior society 
initiations. 

At the present time the Southern Ponca hold their ceremonial 
shinney games in the spring and their annual “Ponca powwow” in 
late August. Peyote ceremonies, hand games, and church services 
are held at any time throughout the year. Usually special Peyote 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 51 


meetings, hand games, and other festivities mark Easter, Memorial 
Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day. 


MATERIAL CULTURE AND HOUSING 


Ponca material culture shows both the Woodland heritage of the 
tribe and its later Prairie-Plains orientation. Thus the artifact in- 
ventory of the 19th-century Ponca includes not only most of the items 
common to the “classic” High Plains groups but also most of those 
common to the Central Algonquians as well. The material culture 
of the tribe was therefore rich and varied. 

Ponca woodworking could not be termed highly developed, though 
many useful articles were made of wood. These included Woodland- 
type corn mortars, the smaller perfume and medicine mortars, bows, 
arrows, spears, war clubs, and quirt handles. The last mentioned, 
particularly, were often beautifully carved and ornamented. Articles 
were roughed out with an ax or knife, then finished by rubbing with 
sandstone, scoria, or the scouring-rush, all of which served the Ponca 
woodcarver in the same way as sandpaper does the contemporary 
craftsman. 

Woodworking in the Indian style has all but disappeared among 
the Northern Ponca, though PLC still makes fine carved Indian canes, 
and in 1961 he made me an excellent carving of /ndddingé, the Ponca 
wood sprite. Among the Southern Ponca the Peyote religion has 
prompted a revival of woodcarving, and the wooden boxes in which 
the feathers, gourds, drumsticks, and other ritual objects are kept are 
sometimes decorated with fine geometric and realistic designs in bas- 
relief. The staffs and drumsticks also are beautifully worked. Often 
white Indian paint is rubbed over the finished carving on these ob- 
jects to bring out the design. Well-carved cradleboards of the com- 
mon Central Algonquian and Southern Siouan type were made until 
about 1915. Dance mirrors and batons also were beautifully done, 
sometimes with lead or pewter inlay work. One common type of 
dance mirror featured a horse’s head as the mirror handle. 

Until about 1900 collapsible “lazy-backs” or backrests, for use in 
the tipi, were made of willow rods threaded on sinew. These were 
kept rigid with chokecherry braces when in use. The bracing rods 
were unpeeled and were decorated with geometric designs cut into 
the bark. When not in use such backrests could be rolled up for 
storage or transport. 

The inner bark of the Tilia americana, as well as nettle and elm 
bark fiber, was used for making cordage and ropes (Gilmore, 1919, 
pp. 102, 77, 76). Basketry was moderately developed, and Gilmore 


52 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


notes that “Sandbar willow stems were peeled and used in basketry 
by the Omaha and Ponca” (ibid., p. 73). Bulrush stems were used to 
weave mats, which were used as seats and floor coverings in the per- 
manent dwellings. Smaller mats were used as wrappings for sacred 
bundles. A fragment of such matting was recovered at the Ponca 
Fort site. 

Though definite information is lacking, it is almost certain that the 
Ponca manufactured finger-woven sashes, turbans, and knee bands 
in the finger-weaving technique. An old photograph in the Cross- 
Cultural Survey files at the Laboratory of Anthropology of the 
University of Nebraska shows two Ponca men wearing finger-woven 
turbans. Photographs labeled “Ponca” in the Morrow collection at 
the South Dakota Museum, University of South Dakota, also show such 
turbans worn by Ponca men. At the present time Ponca “straight 
dancers” generally purchase their finger-woven sashes and knee bands 
from the Osage, who still produce them. 

Beautifully tanned skin garments, the skins colored in various 
ways, were formerly characteristic of the Ponca. PLC described the 
Ponca tanning process as follows: 

To tan hides the Ponca spread the green hide out on the ground and stake 
it down. Pieces of meat and fat still sticking to the hide are scraped off with 
an elk horn tool. After this the hide is dried and turned over, and the hair 
is scraped from it. You stop here for moccasin soles, parfléche, and other 
heavy pieces. 

If they want buckskin, bone grease (marruw) is rubbed into the hide. Then 
a sandstone or pumice stone is rubbed over the hide to make it soft and of an 
even thickness. A pit is then dug the same size as the hide and a fire is built 
in it. The hide is then smoked over the pit. This is said to make the skin 
waterproof. If they want a robe, the fur is left on the hide. 

Various shades of yellow, tan, and brown buckskin were produced 
by using different sorts of twigs in the smoking process. Sometimes 
the buckskin was actually dyed. Maximilian (1906, vol. 22, p. 285), 
on his famous trip up the Missouri in 1832-34, noted a Ponca man 
“with a pair of shoes, made of elk leather, which were dyed black 
with the juice of a white walnut.” The dyeing process noted by 
Maximilian may be akin to that described by Gilmore (1919, p. 101), 
who notes that soft maple twigs, grease, and a type of iron bearing 
clay were used in preparing a black dye used in coloring skins. Black 
moccasins are still made occasionally by the Southern Ponca, the only 
North American Indian tribe to make them. However, they now ob- 
tain black leather commercially. 

The Ponca formerly made hoes of bison scapulae, and such hoes 
were recovered at the Ponca Fort site (Wood, 1960, pp. 57-58). 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 53 


Adzlike tanning tools were made of elk antler, and fleshers were 
made of the cannon bone of the bison. Arrowshaft wrenches were 
made of bison ribs. Bone spreaders for the roach headdress were 
made of bison scapulae. ‘The plume holders used in connection with 
these were usually made of dog leg bones. Large spoons, called 
thé-he, were made of bison horn which had been boiled, then cut and 
bent into shape. Some of these spoons hold almost a quart of liquid. 

A type of neck disk favored by dancers was made from the smooth 
surface of marine shells, which were rounded and polished. PLC 
still makes these for use in dancing costumes, and he gave me one made 
of abalone shell in 1949, The usual material, however, is pink conch 
shell. 

War club heads, mauls, and chokecherry pounders were made by 
pecking grooves in cobbles of the right size and shape. Arrowpoints, 
lance heads, and knives were made of flint quarried approximately 
2 miles south of the present Butte, Nebr. Another Ponca quarry, 
located “east of Pike’s Peak” is mentioned by PLC in his “History” 
(p. 20). Leonard Smith mentioned a type of blue stone that was 
called Mohi-du (Blue-knife) by the Ponca because they so often used 
it for making knives and other flint implements, but he did not know 
the location of the quarry. PLC states in his “History” (p. 20) that 
the ability to make arrowheads was a “gift of God.” This remark 
would indicate that the techniques involved in making chipped-stone 
tools had been in the hands of specialists before they disappeared 
completely. 

According to my informants, the Ponca once made pottery of good 
quality. Native pottery, however, like stone tools, quickly dis- 
appeared in the face of the White man’s iron kettle and porcelain 
dishes. James (1905, vol. 14, p. 75), writing in the early 19th century, 
states: “The original earthenware pots are now rarely used by the 
nations on the lower part of the Missouri ... .” Yet this was only 31 
years after Monier had “discovered” the Ponca! The accuracy of 
James’ statement is borne out by the findings at the Ponca Fort site, 
where very little pottery was discovered; and what was found is 
apparently not Ponca in origin. 

Leonard Smith contributed the following, rather fantastic account 
of pottery manufacture, which is presented to show how quickly a 
once common technological process may be forgotten : 

Ponca pottery was made from Wasé-dwu or blue clay, which was gathered along 
the Missouri. The pot was built up in a hole, which was the same shape as the 
pot. When it was shaped bluestem grass was put on top and a mat and water 
were put in the hole with the pot. The hole was then covered with a clay lid. 
It was then covered with dirt and a fire was built on top to harden the pot. 


718—071—65—_5 


54 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


The actual process was probably somewhat as follows: The vessel 
was built up by either molding or coiling, then finished with a paddle 
in one hand, to slap the outside of the pot, while the other hand, inside, 
served as an “anvil.” After the vessel was shaped it was decorated 
and allowed to dry until it was in a “leather” state. It was next 
covered with bison dung or wood, which was then fired to harden the 
pot. 

The Ponca method of making fire by friction was described by PLC. 
First a piece of soft stone was found, selected usually with a small 
depression on one face. Some rotten ashwood was placed in this 
depression and just outside it. Then the fire maker took the stem 
of a yucca or soapweed plant and twirled it in the depression in the 
stone until enough heat had been generated to make the rotten wood 
smoulder. The fire maker then blew on this smouldering punk until 
he had a coal or spark large enough to ignite his dry-grass tinder. 

A similar method, but one employing sand and dry bluestem grass, 
is mentioned by PLC in his “History” (p. 20). Gilmore (1919, p. 76), 
mentions the use of weathered slippery or red elm bark for catching 
the spark in fire making. 

Since making a fire by friction in this manner was quite difficult, 
the fire was kept burning whenever possible. A method of keeping 
a fire while the tribe was moving was described by PLC, and is 
mentioned in his “History” (p. 20). A piece of rotten wood 
with “worm tracks” under the bark was obtained. The powder in 
these borings was ignited and the bark covering replaced. The 
smouldering powder acted as a slow match, and the fire could be kept 
for many hours. 

The Ponca possessed little that could be termed machinery. The 
use of the lever was known, however, and levers were used to move 
heavy logs and stones. To carry large stones, such as those upon 
which petroglyphs were made, a large bison hide was used. The 
stone was rolled on the bison hide, then several young men would 
grab the edges of the hide and carry it (PLC). 

The bow and arrow was the principal weapon of the Ponca in 
aboriginal times. According to PLC, Ponca bows were customarily 
made of seasoned ash and some of them measured 6 feet in length. 
This seems rather long to me, however, as I have never seen an Amer- 
ican Indian bow longer than 4 feet. In addition to ash, Osage-orange 
or “bois d’arc” was also prized as a bow wood when it could be ob- 
tained from the tribes to the south (Gilmore, 1919, p. 76). Ponca 
bows were rounded on the outer surface and flat on the inner one. The 
top of the bow was pointed, perhaps so that it could be used as a crude 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 55 


spear in anemergency. The bottom was cut off straight. There was 
a slightly greater bend above the grip than below it. Bows were 
always unstrung when not in use (Dorsey, 1890, p. 47). 

OK once watched Birdhead, the Northern Ponca chief, make a 
bowstring by lapping pieces of wet sinew and rolling them together 
on an old tabletop. When the sinew had dried “it would never come 
apart” (OK). A generation earlier, a Ponca would have probably 
used his thigh to roll the sinew. 

Ponca arrows were slightly thicker at the butt so that they could 
be held more easily (PLC). Since the Ponca used the primary arrow 
release, pinching the arrow between the thumb and first finger, this 
was virtually essential. Gilmore (1919, pp. 108-109) states that 
arrows were made of rough dogwood or Juneberry shoots. PLC 
mentioned ash as the principal arrow wood, 

Each man made his own arrowshafts, which carried his individual 
markings, but the arrowheads were made by specialists who traded 
them to the others (PLC). Ponca arrows were trifeathered. PLC 
stated that beveled stone points were used, but this information seems 
suspect, for PLC bases it on points which he has picked up at archeo- 
logical sites. Points and feathers were bound to the arrowshaft with 
finely split sinew. Fletcher and La Flesche (1911, p. 42) mention 
clan markings on arrows in addition to the individual markings. 

At the present time the bow and arrow is found only as a child’s 
toy, and archery tackle has probably not been used in hunting for at 
least 50 years. It is interesting to note, however, that in the Peyote 
rite the staff of the leader is essentially an unstrung bow (in some 
cases complete with grip and nocks). It is referred to by peyotists 
as the “bow,” while the drumstick is termed the “arrow.” George 
Phillips, an Omaha peyotist, said that this was because of the great 
importance of the bow and arrow in obtaining food. 

Spears were undoubtedly used as weapons by the Ponca at some time 
in the past, but after the introduction of firearms they functioned 
mainly as standards or symbols of warrior societies (Skinner, 1915 c, 
p- 786). Likewise rawhide shields were formerly used for defense 
(PLC). These were made of the thick neck hide of a bison bull. 
Both the shield and its soft buckskin cover were usually decorated with 
painted designs connected with the user’s “medicine.” One of these 
shields was still preserved by a Southern Ponca family in 1954, a 
family heirloom used as a wall decoration. 

Wooden war clubs of the “rifle-stock” or “rabbit-leg” type were 
popular among the Ponca. Prince Maximilian was given such a club 
by a Ponca on his visit to the tribe (1906 a, p. 285). Clubs of this sort 


56 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


are a part of the Southeastern Woodland heritage of the Ponca. 
Stone-headed war clubs are said to have been borrowed from the Da- 
kota in the 19th century (PLC, JLR). 

Like other aspects of their material culture, the housing of the 
Ponca clearly reflects their mixed Woodland-Prairie-Plains orienta- 
tion. Four different types of dwelling were in use among the Ponca 
at the time of White contact. The first was the Mgt, or round 
earth lodge; the second was the diudipu, which resembled the hemi- 
spherical bark wigwam of the Central Algonquians but was more often 
covered with hides instead of bark; the third was the ditidipu-snéde, an 
elongated lodge of the dividépu type; and the fourth was the tukedj, 
or tipi. 

PLC described the construction of the Ponca earth lodge as follows: 

There were four main posts in the center. They were as much as a foot thick. 
They had crotches in the top, and other poles were laid in these crotches. Then 
poles were leaned on these center poles all the way around. There was also 
a series of outer posts but there was no set number for these. The poles that 
were laid on the center poles also rested on these outside posts. When the 
framework had been built brush and a kind of red prairie grass were piled on. 
No wicker work was used in these houses. When this stuff had been piled on 
the whole thing was covered with dirt. 

The description is a rather good account of the building of a stand- 
ard Prairie Indian earth lodge, although PLC has neglected to men- 
tion the stringers connecting the outer ring of posts and the covered 
entryway, both of which were almost certainly present. Gilmore 
(1919, p. 75) notes that the posts used in the building of earth lodges 
were generally of elmwood. He also mentions that sloughgrass and 
“red hay” or Andropogon furcatus were used as thatching to sup- 
port the earth covering that completed the lodge (ibid., pp. 66, 68). 
The latter is undoubtedly the “redgrass” mentioned by PLC. Ac- 
cording to Skinner, the Southern Ponca were building earth lodges 
as late as 1880 (1915 ¢, p. 779). 

Earth lodges were not built in the tribal circle arrangement, but 
rather according to individual fancy and convenience (Bushnell, 1922, 
p. 84; confirmed by PLC). The Ponca lacked any sacred rites in con- 
nection with the construction of the earth lodge. According to Bush- 
nell (ibid.), earth lodges were built by the women, but PLC stated 
that the men aided in the heavy work of bringing in and setting up 
the heavy posts. PLC stated that earth lodges were always built 
facing the east in order to catch the morning sun. 

The earth lodge persisted among the Southern Ponca as a ceremo- 
nial structure for several years after it had ceased to be used as a dwell- 
ing. The octagonal wooden dancehall, which was used for ceremonies 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 57 


by the Ponca and other Midwestern tribes until only a few years ago— 
and which still persists among the Omaha, Osage, and Plains- 
Ojibwa—seems to be a derivative of the earth lodge ceremonial struc- 
ture. One of these dance houses stood on the Southern Ponca pow- 
wow grounds, near White Eagle, Okla., until about 1920. 

PLC described the construction of the ditidipu and the diidipu- 
snéde as follows: 


The ditidipu was made by taking long green poles, sticking them into the 
ground, and bending them over and tying them at the top. Other poles or vines 
were tied around (horizontally) to make the framework. The whole thing was 
then covered with hides. The ditidipu-snéde was made in the same way but 
was as much as forty feet long one way. 


In 1949 I observed a Northern Ponca family, as well as_ several 
Omaha and Winnebago families, camping in lodges of these types, 
covered with canvas, at the Omaha Indian powwow at Macy, Nebr. 
PLC had a miniature ditidipu lodge, covered with old burlap sacking, 
at his home near Wewela, 8. Dak., in 1951. It was used as a doghouse. 
PLC mentioned that these lodges, like tipis, were sometimes arranged 
in the tribal camping circle according to clan. 

The fourth type of Ponca dwelling was the tipi. This was of the 
3-pole foundation type, with from 12 to 20 poles used in all. The 
cover, usually of tanned bison hide, formed a rough half circle when 
spread on the ground. It had two projecting flaps, at the upper 
ends of which were sewn sockets to receive the two setting poles. 
This allowed the flaps to be moved in relation to the wind in order 
to regulate the draft of the center fire. (Skinner, 1915 c, p. 779; 
also PLC, JLR, OK, WBB, and OYB.) 

The tipi was staked down with wooden stakes and the front laced 
together with slender wooden pins. In stormy weather a rope might 
be wound around the tipi to hold the cover in place (OK). The 
covers were often painted with clan and personal insignia. Tipis 
were pitched in the tribal circle arrangement on certain occasions, 
such as the bison hunt and the Sun dance encampments. 

At the present time, the tipi is still used as a “powwow” dwelling 
by a dozen or so Southern Ponca families. It is also the “temple” 
in which the Peyote ceremony is held. Because of this the tipi has 
become, in the eyes of many of its members, a symbol of the Peyote 
religion. Asa symbol it is frequently carved or painted on the boxes 
in which peyote regalia is kept, and it is represented in silver peyote 
jewelry. The adoption of the tipi as a special symbol by the peyotists 
is resented by some nonadherents. In 1954 I noticed a fine white tipi 
pitched on the grounds where a smal] Protestant church was holding 


58 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


a camp meeting. It was not used as a dwelling and did not figure 
in the church service in any way, but served as a symbol that this 
church, like the Peyote religion, was for Indians and not merely a 
“White man’s church.” 

Some Southern Ponca families use wall tents as summer and emer- 
gency dwellings. Their method of setting up a wall tent, however, 
differs from that employed by most White campers and clearly iden- 
tifies the occupants as Indians. Instead of the small stakes provided 
with the tent they stabilize it with four heavy wooden posts and two 
2-by-4 crosspieces, two posts and a crosspiece on either “long” side 
of the tent. The tent ropes at the sides are tied to this crosspiece, 
which is lashed or nailed to the posts at either end. 

There was generally little furniture in a Ponca dwelling. A fire 
for both cooking and warmth was built in the center. Pole beds, 
of the type used by the Mandan and other earth-lodge building 
tribes may have been used by the Ponca in the earth lodge and the 
ditidipu-snéde, but were not mentioned by my informants. Corn 
mortars, of elmwood, were sometimes set in the earthen floor of the 
lodge. 

The bed in a tipi or a ditidipu was merely one or more bison robes 
or blankets (PLC). Clothing and other gear were sometimes hung 
from a rope strung around inside of the tipi framework (OK). Wil- 
low rod “lazybacks” or backrests, in pairs, were generally reserved 
for the man of the house and his guests, and stood opposite the door 
of the lodge. 

The Ponca homes which I visited were much like those of neigh- 
boring Whites, but were generally furnished much more simply, pre- 
senting a rather “bare” appearance in many instances. A few chairs, 
a table, a stove, and a woodbox were often the only furnishings. Pic- 
tures, when present, were usually of relatives or of religious subjects. 
Several snapshots placed together in a large frame was a common 
arrangement. Older persons sometimes hang their valuables from 
pegs in the wall to keep them out of the reach of children. The staff 
and “toolkit” of a Northern Ponca Peyote leader (EKBC) were ob- 
served hanging from the wall in this manner. Extra clothing is 
customarily kept in large trunks. 

Details concerning the cleaning and repair of the earth lodge, 
diudipu, ditdipu-snéde, and tipi could not be secured at this late date. 
Present-day Ponca dwellings are scrubbed and mopped quite regu- 
larly, but the frequency, of course, depends upon the particular family. 
Likewise, the yards of some homes visited were littered with garbage 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 59 


and trash while others were neat and orderly. Autumn is generally 
the season for repairing roofs and chinking cracks in the walls (PLC). 

Cache pits were sometimes dug in or near the earth lodges. When 
dug inside they were usually south of the fireplace. If more than 
one was dug the second was placed to the west of the central fireplace, 
and if a third was dug it was to the north. In other words, as one 
entered the door, the cache pits followed a clockwise progression 
around the inside. Ponca cache pits were dug straight down for 
about 2 feet, then widened into a sphere, about 5 feet in total depth 
(PLC). 

Menstrual huts are mentioned by J. O. Dorsey and Lowie (Dorsey, 
1884 a, p. 247; Lowie, 1917, pp. 92-93), and were also noted by OK, 
JLR, PLC, and WBB. These were apart from the rest of the camp. 
Sweat lodges, built like the diidipu but smaller, were used in the puri- 
fication rites connected with certain ceremonies and with curing 
(PLC). A few Southern Ponca still take sweat baths, but the prac- 
tice has completely disappeared in the north. 

The earth lodge was the preferred structure for large gatherings 
among the Ponca. Bushnell (1922, p. 84), quoting Dorsey, writes: 
“Earth lodges were generally used for large gatherings such as feasts, 
councils, or dances.” Among the Omaha the outdoor dancing ring 
where their annual powwow is held is still regarded as a symbolic 
earth lodge. If the Ponca ever had such a custom, they have long 
since abandoned it. At the present time the Southern Ponca hold 
their council meetings in the “Old Agency” building in White Eagle, 
Okla. In summer their dances are held outside, but in winter they 
use a large frame building near the “Old Agency” building. 

The Northern Ponca hold council meetings, and until recent years 
had Rabbit dances, in the Ponca Self-help Community Building 
which was built with Government funds and Indian Work Projects 
Administration labor in the 1930’s. This is located approximately 2 
miles west and 3 miles south of Niobrara, Nebr. When PLC showed 
me the building in 1949 he commented that it had been intended for 
both “White” and Indian dances, and indicated where the Hediska 
drum should stand, in the center of the ballroom floor. At that time 
the drum was still kept in a small room in the rear of the building. 
Southern Ponca visiting their Northern kinsmen would often ask to 
see the drum, which was in the keeping of Nancy Birdhead Knudsen. 
In 1954 the drum was removed to the Knudsen home at the insistence 
of the caretaker of the Self-help Building, who believed all 
Indian customs were “nonprogressive” and therefore undesirable. 


60 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


Skinner (1920, p. 308) states that the ceremonies of the Ponca 
Medicine lodge (the equivalent of the Ojibwa A/idéwiwin and the 
Omaha Pebble society) were held in a “long lodge roofed with tent- 
covers and brush” in the summer. This lodge was merely an extra 
long ditidipu-snéde. JLR, however, stated that when his brother was 
“doctored” by the members of the Northern Ponca Medicine lodge 
group, the rites were held in a frame dwelling. This was confirmed 
by PLC, who further commented that this house had later become 
“haunted” by mysterious lights. 

The Ponca Sun dance arbor was merely a semicircular screen of 
boughs the main purpose of which was to somewhat protect the 
dancers from the sun and wind. G. A. Dorsey (1905, p. 76), in his 
classic description of this famous Ponca ceremony, writes that on the 
third day of the dance: 

The Dog Soldiers went to the timber for additional boughs to complete the 
arbor forming the lodge. When these were in place women fastened four 
canvas tipis to the sides of the arbor and attached the free ends to the lodge 
poles, thus forming a better protection for the dancers from the burning rays 
of the sun. 

Dorsey contrasts the simplicity of the Ponca Sun dance lodge with 
the more substantial Cheyenne or Arapaho structure. 

The Ponca earth-lodge village was usually a mere aggregate of 
dwellings in no fixed order. The size of a village varied with the 
time and the place. James (1905, vol. 17, p. 152), writing in the 
early part of the 19th century, states: “The Puncahs have their 
residence in a small village of dirt lodges, about one hundred and 
eighty miles above Omawhaw creek .... Their number is about 
200 souls.” Half a century later the tribe was living in three villages: 
“The village at the United States agency contained [in 1874] 89 
families and 377 persons. The village called Hubddo ... had 46 
families and 144 persons. ‘Point’ village had 82 families and 248 
persons” (Fletcher and La Flesche, 1911, p. 51). The “Point” vil- 
lage mentioned by these authors is very likely the “Gray-blanket” 
settlement of my informants. 

At the present time the Hubdo and Gray-blanket village areas are 
still recognized localities to the Northern Ponca, but neither could be 
termed a settlement. Most Northern Ponca live on farms in the 
Niobrara area or in the towns of Niobrara, Verdel, and Norfolk, 
Nebr. Most Southern Ponca live in and around Ponca City or the 
community of White Eagle, in Oklahoma. The latter, the site of the 
old Southern Ponca Agency, has a population of about 100, and is the 
only completely Ponca settlement in existence today. 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 61 
DRESS AND ADORNMENT 


In the early 19th century the Ponca man’s clothing consisted of 
moccasins, leggings, breechcloth, and belt in the summer season. In 
winter a buckskin shirt, a fur cap, a robe or blanket, and perhaps a 
pair of mittens were added. A woman wore high-topped moccasins, 
knee-length leggings, a deer or elkskin dress, and a wide belt. Both 
sexes wore a buffalo robe or blanket as a kind of ‘‘overcoat’’ in winter 
and as an item of fancy dress at other times of the year. Children’s 
clothing was cut on the same pattern as that of the adults. 

For special occasions, such as feasts and ceremonies, special clothing 
was worn. Men wore otterskin bandoliers and porcupine and deer- 
hair roach headdresses, as well as other headdresses of fur. In the 
latter half of the 19th century breastplates of bone “hair pipes”? were 
worn by both sexes, the pipes arranged horizontally in the man’s 
ornament and vertically in the woman’s. Women sometimes wore 
long beaded or quilled pendants hanging from their hair in back. 

An early type of Ponca woman’s dress, reflecting the Woodland 

affiliations of the tribe, is mentioned by Skinner (1915 ¢, p. 784), who 
writes: 
. . . At one time the two-piece, open skirt, woman’s garment of Central Algonkin 
type was used, together with soft-soled moccasins. For many years these have 
been worn only by women who have been tattooed [i.e., women whose fathers or 
husbands had been admitted to the aristocratic Night-dance society, and who 
had been tattooed with its markings]. The ordinary females use the typical one- 
piece Plains garment. 


The early “Woodland” type Ponca woman’s costume was probably 
identical with that still worn as dance costume by conservative Mesk- 
wali, Potawatomi, and Winnebago women. So far as I know, we 
have no good patterns or illustrations of the later ‘‘one-piece Plains 
garment” mentioned by Skinner, though it presumably resembled 
the Teton Dakota woman’s dress. 

An early account of Ponca male attire is given by Maximilian 
(1906, vol. 17, p. 98), who records his impressions of a chief’s costume. 
“Schudegacheh’s dress was remarkably handsome. His shirt was of 
beautiful otterskin, with a red cloth collar. He wore a cap of otter- 
skin, and a tobacco pouch of the same material. This dress was ex- 
tremely becoming to this fine man.’”’ A very different impression of 
Ponca dress and appearance is given by the explorer Brackenridge 
(1904, pp. 93-94): “The greater part of the men were naked; the 
women were filthy and disgusting.”’ 


62 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


PLC recalled, from when he was a small boy, an old man who “dressed 
up” in the ancient style. This patriarch wore a wreath of sage about 
his head. His hair hung loose and fell to his shoulders. He wore a 
bandolier of twisted sage stems, a breechcloth, and moccasins. His 
body was painted in various designs and he carried a bow and a few 
arrows in his hands. 

Although soft-soled moccasins were worn by the Ponca in the early 
19th century, they were abandoned in favor of hard-soled footgear 
sometime before 1850. The typical Ponca moccasin for the past 
century is of the two-piece High Plains type with hard parfleche soles 
and soft buckskin uppers. PLC’s dance moccasins are of this type, 
completely free of any decoration. 

Beaded or quilled tobacco bags and eagle-wing fans were carried by 
men as items of dress on important occasions. In the 1830’s Ponca 
men carried their weapons with them at all times (Maximilian, 1906, 
vol. 22, p.293). Members of the Medicine Lodge society, when arrayed 
for the ceremonies of this organization, carried ornamented bags which 
were made of the skin of some small animal, such as mink or otter 
(Skinner, 1920, p. 307). 

The ornament known as the “crow belt,”’ the roach headdress, and 
war honor feathers were worn only by warriors who had earned the 
right to them according to both Skinner (1915 ¢, p. 794) and Fletcher 
and La Flesche (1911, p. 440). PLC stated, however, that during his 
lifetime dancers in the Heduiska dance used any sort of feather orna- 
ment that suited their fancy. 

A generation ago a type of costume called the “straight dance outfit” 
was favored by most Ponca men for use in Indian dances (fig. 1). This 
particular assemblage of costume pieces has remained de rigueur 
among the more conservative Osage, but is now worn by only a small 
minority of Ponca male dancers. Typically, a “straight” outfit 
consists of the following pieces. On the head the dancer wears a 
porcupine and deer-hair roach headdress, with bone spreader and 
plume holder. A single eagle tail feather stands erect in this headdress 
at the front. In addition to the roach most dancers wear two plumes 
falling over the eyes in front, or slightly to the side of the head, and 
two buckskin thongs with small pieces of silver crimped around the 
thong at regular intervals, suspended from a beaded or German- 
silver disk. The straight dancer also wears a brightly colored silk 
head scarf, rolled to form a narrow band and knotted over the 
forehead. 

On the upper body the straight dancer wears a “‘choker’’ necklace, 
with a large shell disk in front, about the neck. His shirt is a loose- 
fitting, wide-sleeved style derived from those worn by Whites in the 
early 19th century. These are usually of a solid color, with a con- 
trasting ribbon trim. This shirt is belted with a wide, loom-beaded 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 63 


Ficure 1.—Ponca “straight” dancer, front and back views. 


belt with a stiff-leather backing. The dancer also wears German- 
silver armbands, a silk neckerchief with a German-silver slide, and 
two ornamental bandoliers. The bandoliers are usually made up of 
alternating silver beads and bone “hair pipes,” though an occasional 
mescal-bean bandolier is seen. Attached to these bandoliers in back, 
so as to fall over either shoulder, are perfume bundles tied in silk 


64 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


handkerchiefs. Usually these handkerchiefs, the neckerchief, and 
the headband, are all of the same material and of a color that con- 
trasts with the shirt, though sometimes the headband is an ordinary 
white handkerchief. 

Tied at the dancer’s neck, so as to fall down his back and stream 
out behind him when he dances, is a long otterskin dance tail, orna- 
mented with beaded disks and eagle feathers. The thongs used to tie 
this ornament about the neck are concealed by the dancer’s necker- 
chief. The Ponca claim to have introduced this otterskin tail into 
the Oklahoma area, and OYB said that formerly the otterskin was 
twisted and sewn round, like a rope. Those tails used at present, 
however, are flat. 

On the lower part of his body the straight dancer wears leggings, a 
breechcloth, and a narrow “‘breechcloth tail.”’ All of these are of dark- 
blue broadcloth, ornamented with matching ribbonwork designs at 
the outer edges. A straight dancer customarily wears his leggings 
backward because he wears knee bands and sleighbells at the knee, 
and if his leggings were worn in the usual manner the ribbonwork 
edging would be folded at the back of his leg and thus not show to the 
best advantage. At his waist the straight dancer wears a finger- 
woven yarn sash, the long ends hanging down on the left side. This 
is usually worn under the shirt and belt. Matching yarn knee bands 
are worn under the sleighbells at the knee, their long fringes hanging 
loose on the outside of the leg. Moccasins complete this part of the 
costume. Ponca straight dancers traditionally wear their shirt tucked 
inside the breechcloth, while the dancers of other tribes usually wear 
theirs hanging loose outside. Occasionally a few Ponca straight 
dancers omit the shirt and wear instead a blue broadcloth vest deco- 
rated with stylized floral beaded designs. As “props” straight 
dancers usually carry an eagle tail fan in the left hand and an orna- 
mented baton in the right. Sometimes, however, a dance mirror in 
a wooden frame is substituted for this baton. 

Another style of costume, the ‘‘feathers’’ outfit, is now preferred by 
all but a very few male Ponca dancers. This costume features a 
spectacular roach headdress, sometimes made of downy feathers, a 
“‘U-shaped” shoulder bustle, and a back bustle to match (fig. 2). This 
last ornament is derived from the “‘crow belt” of an earlier era. The 
breechcloth worn with the feathers costume is usually ornamented 
with beadwork in stylized floral and zoomorphic (generally horse) 
designs. The remainder of the beadwork worn with this costume, 
however, is generally in loom-beaded geometric designs. This con- 
sists of a beaded headband, choker necklace, armbands, gauntlets, 
“‘suspenders,”’ and belt. Large knee bells, angora ankle bands, and 
moccasins complete this costume. As ‘‘props” the ‘‘feathers” dancer 
usually carries a set of peyote feathers and a straight wooden whistle. 


Howard] 


THE PONCA TRIBE 


65 


5 \ 
* Shs 
ages 

LeeOPO Tere 

Era ae ee 
. =y Plt > BN Tae 


% iN 
a7 ras 3° ne a erie ‘ we i 


Ficure 2.—Southern Ponca “fancy” dancer, front and back views. 


This whistle is sounded at the beginning of each Hediska dance 


episode to encourage the other dancers. 
usually worn by the young, active, “fancy” 


The ‘feathers’ 


outfit is 
dancers, while the man 


wearing the “straight” costume, though he may dance vigorously, 


always moves in a more restrained manner. 


From about 1860 to 1930, eagle feather war bonnets were worn by 
Ponca men on state occasions, but these are no longer in vogue. 
They were apparently made and worn by any adult male who chose to 


66 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


do so, although both JLR and OK associated them with the chiefly 
class. PLC is the only Ponca dancer at the present time who custom- 
arily wears a war bonnet. The otterskin hat, rather than the war 
bonnet, was the Ponca “‘chief’s’”’ headdress, while a similar headdress 
of fox fur marked the experienced warrior. 

The more traditional woman’s dancing costume of the present day 
(fig. 3, right) is probably derived from the Central Algonquian woman’s 
dress noted by Skinner (1915 ¢, p. 784). It consists of a long skirt, 
preferably of blue broadcloth, with bands of ribbonwork just above the 
hem. On her upper body the woman wears a loose silk blouse. Some- 
times this has a large rectangular ‘“‘middy” collar in the back. Both 
skirt and blouse were formerly decorated with many small German- 
silver brooches. This woman’s costume style seems to be the feminine 
equivalent of the male ‘‘straight” outfit. It was formerly traditional 
among the Omaha as well. 

In place of this traditional dress many Southern Ponca women, 
particularly younger women and teenage girls, prefer a white buckskin 
dress of Kiowa, Comanche, or Cheyenne cut (pl. 24, a, 6). This 
item of apparel corresponds to the male “feathers” outfit. With 
it the contemporary Ponca girl wears a beaded coronet or “Princess 
crown” of Pan-Indian origin. 

According to PLC, a chief’s daughter could wear an eagle feather 
erect at the back of the head, though others denied this and said it 
was a recent addition to the woman’s costume introduced by the 
wives and daughters of Poncas who served in the First World War. 
A chief wore a downy eagle plume erect in a socket at the back of his 
otterskin hat (LRL, Ed Primeaux). This custom has been continued 
up into the present era by the Peyote leader, who is called the “Road 
chief.”’ 

Although for most dances, ceremonies, and public events both men 
and women turned out in their finest attire, some rites called for special 
costuming. Writing of the dress of Ponca Sun dancers, George A. 
Dorsey (1905, pp. 82-83) comments: 

All dancers at all times wore their hair loose, and were naked, except for a 
loose, white skirt, over which hung in front the loose end of a red or blue loin-cloth. 
None of them at any time wore moccasins. Besides the paint which the dancers 
of each group wore in common, the members of each group wore or carried dis- 
tinctive objects of a special nature. . . . Each dancer carried in one hand a 
bunch of sage, and all wore wrist and ankle bands of cotton, which are symbolic of 
clouds. 

A special item of Sun dance attire which appears in one old photo- 
graph of the Ponca ceremony is a necklace of fur with a rawhide 
representation of a sunflower laced to the front. This showed 
that the Sun dancer, like the floral depiction he wore, followed the Sun 
with his gaze during the day. This costume piece is also known to 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 67 


Ficure 3.—Left, Southern Ponca peyote “roadman”; right, Ponca girl wearing cloth 
costume, showing the “middy” collar. 


68 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


the Teton Dakota. Also characteristic of the Ponca Sun dancer were 
bandoliers made of fringes of red horsehair. Another type of Sun 
dance bandolier, according to Parrish Williams, was made of the hair 
from the tail of the bison in a “‘square braid” technique. 

Each of the men’s warrior societies also seems to have had its 
characteristic costume and style of painting. These are described 
later in this work. 

Individual members of the Peyote cult in the Southern band 
usually wear dark shirts, neckties of red and blue broadcloth with 
symbolic tiepins of silver, and red and blue broadcloth or white 
sheeting blankets. Women members wear silk dresses and fringed 
shawls, and sometimes symbolic beaded or silver combs, brooches, 
and earrings. 

Many rings, brooches, and bracelets were worn by members of 
the Iskdiyuha warrior society, according to Skinner (1915 ¢, p. 786). 
These ornaments were generally popular among the Ponca in the 19th 
century. Rings and bracelets continue to be popular with Ponca 
women and girls, and most Ponca men wear at least one finger ring. 

Hair style apparently varied with the individual as well as the 
period, for Maximilian (1906, vol. 24, p. 97) writes that the Ponca 
he encountered “ . . . had their hair cut short in the nape of the 
neck and across the forehead.” The ‘‘young Ponca Indian” which 
Bodmer painted at Fort Pierre, however, has his hair dressed in two 
braids (Johnson, 1955, Leaf. No. 10). Perhaps the braids style was 
an imitation of the contemporary Dakota men’s hair style. Old 
photographs in the files of the Laboratory of Anthropology, University 
of Nebraska, and in the Morrow Collection, South Dakota Museum, 
University of South Dakota, show Ponca men with their hair bobbed. 
PLC and Ed Primeaux remember both braids and short hair during 
their lifetimes. When the hair was worn in braids these were some- 
times wrapped in otterskin (PLC, Ed Primeaux). The few old men 
who still wear their hair in braids at the present time usually wrap 
the braids in red or green yarn. 

The Ponca man usually wore a small lock of hair called the dsku 
on the crown of the head. This was not intended as a “‘scalplock”’ or 
challenge to the enemy as some have contended, but was merely kept 
as a convenient device for attaching the roach headdress, silver chains, 
brooches, and other hair ornaments. According to Ed Primeaux 
(pl. 24, d), it was the custom of Ponca peyotists, in the period 
1902-30, to wear a downy eagle plume, dyed red, attached to the 
dsku, as well as a silver button with two pendant buckskin strings, 
ornamented with silver and ending in two beaded tassels. This 
same headdress was sometimes worn, in connection with the roach 
headdress, by “‘straight’”’ dancers. 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE, 69 


Fletcher and La Flesche describe symbolic haircuts for boys repre- 
senting the various Ponca clans (1911, pp. 42-46). PLC, OK, and 
JLR stated that this had not been the custom during their lifetimes. 

According to PLC and Dave Little-cook, all hairdressing was 
done by members of the Nikapdgna clan. WUairbrushes were made 
of needlegrass awns tied in bundles (Gilmore, 1919, pp. 42-46). 
PLC still knows how to make these hairbrushes. Monarda fistulosa 
var. was used in a compound for dressing the hair (Gilmore, 1919, 
p. 111). 

At the present time all of the Northern Ponca men cut their hair 
short in the style of the major ‘‘ White” culture and dress in the same 
style as their White neighbors. Most of the Southern Ponca men do 
so as well, though in 1954 there were still three or four old men who 
wore moccasins and dressed their hair in braids. Younger women 
and girls in both bands follow current White styles in hairdress and 
clothing. Some of the older women in the Southern band, however, 
wear their hair parted in the middle and fastened in a bun at the 
back of the head, and they wear an ‘Indian style’ dress. This 
consists of a loose blouse, worn outside the skirt, and a skirt of some 
dark material worn with many heavy petticoats. 

Face and body painting were practiced by Ponca men in the 19th 
century, and male dancers still paint their faces. The common face- 
paint design for a straight dancer is a red line extending back from 
the corner of each eye for about 2 inches. Certain kinds of clay and 
plant juices supplied the coloring for this paint in aboriginal times, 
and buffalo fat formed the base. In 1954, PLC and I attempted to 
locate an old Ponca paint mine said to be in the bluffs just west of 
Niobrara State Park. Although some rather good yellow clay was 
found, the principal vein, which PLC remembered visiting as a boy, 
could not be located. 

Yucca root was used as soap by the Ponca, particularly for washing 
the hair (Gilmore, 1919, p. 71; also PLC). Pieces of the root were 
chopped fine, a small amount of water was added, and the mixture 
was rubbed into suds between the palms. 

PLC mentioned four plants used as perfumes by the Ponca, pref- 
erably in combination: Pézj-bdaska or ‘flat leaves,” Cogswellia 
daucifolia; PéA-inibdq-wazide, rose petals; Inidbdaq-kide or “blue 
perfume,” perhaps Jhalictrum purpurascens; and Makd-inibda-kide- 
sdbe or “‘black medicine perfume,” Aquilegia canadensis L. or wild 
columbine. Gilmore (1919, p. 115) mentions that Galium triflorum 
Michx. was used as a perfume by the Ponca. Sweetgrass was used 
as a perfume and fumigant as well. Braids of it were sometimes 
worn around the neck, under the clothing. 

Perfumes were pounded and mixed in small mortars made of 
elmwood (ibid., 1919, p. 75). Usually they were dampened to 

718-071—65_—6 


70 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


increase their effect. PLC stated that formerly dancers in the 
Hediiska chewed dried perfumes while dancing and spit quantities 
of it onto their bodies and costumes from to time, disguising the act 
of spitting by the motions of the dance. Even at the present time 
the use of Indian perfume has not completely disappeared. We have 
noted that small perfume packets are tied to the bandoliers that are 
a part of the straight dance type of Hediska costume, and some older 
men wear perfume bundles with their everyday dress. Because 
of its connection with “love medicine,” the use of perfume of the 
Indian type makes the user the butt of much joking. At present, 
Ponca women and girls use commercial perfumes and cosmetics 
exclusively. 

Ponca men formerly plucked their very light facial hair with clam 
shell or metal tweezers. In 1954 I observed an old man shaving 
in this manner while he was listening to a speech at a Peyote con- 
ference. He used a 2-inch section of door spring for tweezers. Most 
Ponca men now use razors, but they do not often use shaving soap. 

Occasionally in the past, a Ponca man might sport a short beard 
of the ‘‘Uncle Sam” type. Photographs of Standing Bear, the 
Ponca chief, and Antoine, a Ponca mixblood chief, in the Morrow 
collection, South Dakota Museum, University of South Dakota, show 
this style (pl. 8, ¢). 

LEARNING AND ART 


A Ponca camp or village was kept informed of the orders of the 
chiefs and the reports of scouting parties by an old man called the 
Eyapaha, or crier. This man rode about the camp announcing 
the news in a loud voice. According to PLC some of these camp 
criers could be heard at a distance of more than a mile. Such criers 
are mentioned by both J. O. Dorsey (1884 a, p. 270; 1884 b,.p. 156) 
and Alanson Skinner (1915 c, p. 798). Today the “announcer,”’ 
or master of ceremonies, is still an important person at the annual 
Southern Ponca powwow, held each year in the latter part of August. 
Now, however, a public address system replaces the stentorian voice 
of tradition. 

In communicating with tribes of alien speech, the 19th-century 
Ponca employed the Plains Indian sign language, but it is now al- 
most completely forgotten. English las taken its place as an inter- 
tribal lingua franca. The sign for ‘Ponca’ in the sign language 
was demonstrated by Dave Little-cook, who drew his first finger 
across his throat with a cutting motion. This means ‘‘Headcutters,” 
which, Little-cook stated, was the name certain Plains tribes applied 
to the Ponca. 

Both Little-cook and PLC denied that the ‘Language of the blan- 
ket,’ illustrated and described by Fletcher and La Flesche (1911, 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 71 


pls. 52 and 53, fig. 82), was used by the Ponca in aboriginal times. 
Dorsey (1884 a, pp. 262-263), however, describes one of the signs— 
that used for anger or embarrassment: ‘‘When he saw that his mother- 
in-law was seated there, he turned around very quickly, threw his 
blanket over his head, and went into another part of the house.” 

A gesture of affection which may have been introduced by the 
Dakota is also described by the Rev. J. O. Dorsey (ibid., pp. 269-270), 
who writes: 

When the chief, Standing Grizzly Bear, met Peter Primeau, . . . and Sahieda 
at Niobrara in January, 1881, he embraced them, and seemed to be very deeply 
affected. La Fléche and Two Crows did not know about this custom, which 
may have been borrowed by the Ponkas from the Dakotas. 

The Ponca claim to have made certain petroglyphs which are 
found in Nebraska and South Dakota. According to PLC and JLR, 
these served as trail markers, historical monuments, and places of 
prayer. PLC mentions these petroglyphs ‘in his “History” (p. 17). 
JLR mentioned that certain men had ‘‘art visions,’’ and as a result 
of these dreams made the rock pictures. Natural fissures in the 
rocks were utilized by the artists to complete their designs. Gen- 
erally the main part of the design was made by pecking away at 
the boulders, which are often glacial erratics, with a hard river pebble, 
so that a shallow groove is produced. 

WBB had an “art vision” in this tradition when camping near a 
sacred Pawnee spring, and made a drawing there: 

I wanted to draw something, but I didn’t know what to draw. All night 
I dreamt, all night long. I dreamt I went there and drew something. I went 
over next morning and drew what I had dreamt. I put my right foot next to the 
spring and drew. I drew the air. [Footnote in text: Black Eagle’s symbol 
for air was a cross with lines radiating out bisecting each angle.] I saw it and 
I drew it. That spring was ztbe [sacred]. [Whitman, 1939, p. 190.] 

The discovery of this well-defined Ponca tradition regarding 
their production of some of the petroglyphs in the Central Plains 
is rather interesting, as archeologists have long suspected a connection 
between these rock carvings and the expansion of Siouan-speaking 
eroups into the Prairie region. 

JLR stated that one of the chiefs of the second rank was designated 
as the tribal historian, and kept a ‘“‘winter count” or calendrical record 
of the tribal history on a tanned bison hide. Each year a single im- 
portant or unusual event was chosen and a pictograph of this event 
was painted upon the hide. This was apparently similar to the winter 
counts of the Dakota, Kiowa, Mandan, and Blackfoot. PLC con- 
firmed this fact, and remembered hearing that one of the years re- 
corded on the Ponca count was that of the great meteoric shower 
(1833-34). This year, known as the “winter the stars fell,” appears 
on all Plains Indian winter counts known tome. PLC also mentioned 


2 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


that the tribal history was kept fresh in the people’s minds by being 
retold at gatherings, which were held at regular intervals. Mistakes 
were corrected by older men. 

Messages were conveyed by several different means. Lewis and 
Clark speak of setting the prairie afire to attract the attention of 
Indians on the Missouri, “this being the useal [sic] Signal’? (Lewis 
1904, vol. 1, p. 11). The use of this method of communication by 
the Ponca was confirmed by PLC and OK. 

A heliograph signaling device consisted of a trade mirror set in a 
carved wooden frame. According to PLC the Ponca used sheets of 
mica for these heliograph mirrors before the days of the trade mirror. 
Later these mirrors became a favorite article of Hediska dance para- 
phernalia. They also appear in old photographs as a part of the 
paraphernalia of Ponca Sun dancers (see pl. 17, a). 

Messages to other tribes were carried by ambassadors who were safe 
from molestation. They transmitted the message verbally if they 
knew enough of the alien tribe’s language. Otherwise the sign lan- 
guage was used (JLR). 

Ponca numeration is based on the decimal system. The Ponca 
numerical terms are as follows: 


Numeral Ponca term Meaning of Ponca term 
As ee Boe” ADLG KES pis Ack? eS eee Ee eh one 
ee a TUT TU TD Ce ee ne ee Sn two 
Se ae ADO ea nr Besta ae Ge NS eR three 
pe ae ee DUbG Sak Bees See Sera ees 2 A four 
5), Bo pe eee ee SOLGS Oe Mey TO RS IP Et ee Sea ee five 
Gee ee 10h 1] me AOR Ae ye ae eee los ae ae srt six 
(ad TE ae meagbalek 22 ee AS eee seven 
Sie e ee PC AOEI SHAMS Sea oh) ye ee Sa eight 
Oe ee BObaL Ae gue hile te. Seem pete nine 
NO ue od SS GCDYE 2s he ae a ieee es oe ten 
1b aad ie he QUEL 2S SE er ct ere Mere RE se add one (to ten) 
|p tas Mca SG DENOTE Ds oe aan ee ee ne two sixes 
ASA Rete Qgal-aaveie sO ee eee aes add three 
ib: gee Re eae GGG dibs 2 ea Se AYO 2 em Steet add four 
j 59 eee 2 QGGl-SOUG see ele ee nea ee add five 
1G ae a2. S Get - SONG 6 eye een pees A gees ae add six 
1 WY (eS cape gta Pea fe ae 012) UL ge ay en add seven 
Ie ee ee GGG PCGCUGL =o ae ee eee add eight 
Gea aga soka tsetse Sees, ee RE add nine 
PAV RNs apnea GRCDGMAMI Pace se f= She Mee eh fee two tens 
Dileweet ve od géébq-nampa gidi wiaktsi__----------- two tens plus one 
22 Ree eee géébq-nampa gidi nampa__----------- two tens plus two 
(The numerals proceed in this fashion to 30.) 
Oz gests eae GGCDC-AG SURES 2 ee ee ee es three tens 
(31, 32, etc. are formed by adding terms, as with 21, 22, above.) 
AOU RGR ees gaéba-diba. eet Ss hy esas four tens 
5Oe sae geebg-sdtG.. 22/52 eet eS five tens 
OOgze eae GEC0G- SO pes a. noc es As ee Be oe six tens 


COREE Joes gatva-nedquee <2 es ee ees seven tens 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 73 


Numeral Ponca term Meaning of Ponca term 
ROG 222 5 gGaeng-neddbeats ee eight tens 
Cees eee GACDG- SO Meet anes Pa a a te: nine tens 
1010 eet GAEL CNUs eR a circle of tens 
(101, 102, etc. are formed by adding, as with 21, 22.) 
ZOO eek gdébq-hjwi-nampa_------------------ two circles of tens 
(300, 400, etc. are formed in a like manner.) 
100022222 ONGC UT Ae A CORE D2 6S Eo ee ele a one box 


The term for one thousand is derived from the fact that the money 
which the Ponca received for treaty payments came in boxes which 
contained $1,000 each. Numerals above 1,000 were not secured. 
PLC stated that they were so rarely used that he did not know them. 
They could, however, be formed by combinations of the terms above, 
as kokéwi-nampa, 2,000. The numerals given by my informants 
correspond quite closely with those given by Riggs (1893, pp. xxiii- 
REX). 

“Four,” “seven,” and “twelve” were the numbers sacred to the 
Ponca, decreasing in importance in the order listed. PLC stated: 
“We use four alot. Four is most important. I think we use it the 
most. Nearly everything we do is in fours. We use seven quite a 
bit too. There are seven sticks in the chief’s fire.’ J. O. Dorsey 
(1890, p. 397) mentions ‘‘seven”’ as well: ‘‘Seven is the sacred number 
in the Omaha and Ponka gentile system, and is the number of the 
original gentes of the Dakota.” 

Some Ponca have told me that ‘four’ is important because there 
are four winds or directions (PLC, WBB). “Seven” comprises these 
four directions plus zenith, nadir, and the locus of the individual, and 
is thus symbolic of his place in the cosmos. ‘“T'welve’”’ is said to be 
symbolic of the number of feathers in the tail of the war eagle. There 
has been some syncretism in this area on the part of Ponca peyotists. 
WEBB stated that “seven” was important because ‘‘there are seven 
days in the week, the first being Sunday, the Lord’s day.”” The same 
informant identified ‘‘twelve” with the Twelve Apostles. 

Twelve moons or months were recognized by the Ponca. They 
were named after customary occurrences of the seasons. Apparently 
these terms went out of use many years ago, as only one informant, 
Leonard Smith, could supply the full set of names. They were as 
follows: 


ICE 


Month Ponca name Translation of Ponca name 
January_____.- IVIG= SG amt sete sale cat Snow thaws. 
February ----_- Miga-tkyagdegdi-ke-mi____- Moon when the ducks come back 
and hide. 
; or 
Wazigoma-wacke-mi_____ __ Water stands in ponds moon. 
Mirch 91-05: .2- VE VACU RUT: (Ge Sis SS ae a Sore-eyes (because of snow glare). 


Aprile. Lk ING ost ee Rains. 


74 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY (Bull. 195 


Month Ponca name Translation of Ponca name 

ip Sars oP tae IMé-pahqgas 22255 = sate oe Summer begins. 

eens te se ee Ma3sté-pahagq-_---------- Hot weather begins. 

ily soos oe oe Mé-oskask@ 22222 s2 ss 2es2e Middle of summer. 

August22- 222 22 Waddpipize_-___________- Corn is in silk. 

September-_---- Ana Rita ee Moon when the elk bellow. 

October~-_-_---- Tdde-masqde-u-2t_-------- They store food in caches. 

November----- OsnTPORGG6 sane ee Beginning of cold weather. 

December - - - -- Mé.-de-ohqge-sniade-aké___. Beginning of cold weather 
with snow. 


Of the terms listed above, those for March and May were also 
known to PLC and OK; those for March, May, and July to AMC; 
and the term for May to Ed Primeaux. OK gave variant terms for 
January and February, the first being a recent term which was used 
only by the Northern Ponca. January was Mi-nuze-datéde, ‘The 
moon when (even) kerosene freezes,’ and February Mi-ma-ndska, 
‘Moon when the snow melts.’ AMC called December Ma-de-oskqska, 
‘Middle of winter.’ Ed Primeaux called January Ddzte-ma-ndga, 
‘Deer paw the snow (in search of food).’ 

The Ponca divided the year into four seasons, according to PLC. 
The names of these were: 


Season Ponca name Translation of Ponca name 
Spring: soJes.e ee Mé-nahaga =~ 32 re2 Beginning of summer. 
Summerss5 2522 52-— IVTELOTEN gee ee nee Summer. 

J ED Rh sear hala Saget fA 15 gle ica cB When leaves fall. 
Waintervossa sews IMG sde. eee SE eee Snow. 


The use of these terms was confirmed by AMC. Note that the 
term for spring is the same as that for the month of May. 

Correlations between the growth of plants and the habits of the 
bison were noted. AMC mentioned an old Ponca saying: “When 
the shoestringweed is in bloom, the buffalo mate.’”’ Stages in the 
growth of plants also governed the activities of the tribe. Skinner 
writes that the buffalo hunt took place ‘‘when the squaw corn was 
about a foot high” (1915c, p. 795). Ed Primeaux, a former partici- 
pant in the Sun dance, said that this ceremony was held when the 
corn was in silk. 

According to PLC the Ponca used the position of the sun and 
stars as a rough measurement of time. Adam Le Claire told me 
that the Peyote “fire chief” still keeps track of the time during a 
ceremony by noting the position of the stars. He keeps the “road 
chief” or leader informed, and this official regulates the ceremony 
accordingly. 

Dorsey (1885 a, pp. 105-108) mentions that the Ponca of his day 
believed that the sun ‘‘went traveling across the sky each day.” 
My informants did not know of this belief. Dorsey (ibid.) also 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 75 


mentions that the Ponca believed that if the ‘person in the moon” 
appeared to a youth in a dream, this caused the youth to become a 
homosexual. PLC and OK did not know of this belief. 

Concerning the solar eclipse, PLC remarked: ‘The old Poncas 
thought that when an eclipse came the sun was dead. They called 
an eclipse Mi-t’e, which means ‘dead sun.’ Today we know that 
the sun never dies. It is just the moon coming between the sun 
and the earth.” 

AMC supplied the following: 


The old time Poncas paid a lot of attention to the stars, and bad names for 
many of the constellations. The Ponca Hiiduga or camping circle was based 
upon the circles of stars in the sky. The Milky Way we call Wakd-oZqge, or 
‘the holy path.”’ Its movement was used for reckoning time. The North 
star is called Mikd-8kqdzi, or ‘‘the star that doesn’t move.” It was used by hunt- 
ers and travelers to find their way. The old time Poncas watched the moon 
too. In its last quarter the moon was called Mi-t’e or ‘‘dead moon.” We look 
for signs of storm at that time. 


J. O. Dorsey (1894, p. 379) writes: ‘That the Omaha and Ponka 
regarded the stars as Wakandas [gods or spirits] seems probable from 
the existence of Nikze [a name referring to an ancestor] names and 
the personal mystery decorations.” 

A Ponca thunder god called Jgdq is mentioned by Dorsey (1885 a, 
p. 105), but he goes on to say ‘“They have no theories about the 
origin of earthquakes, rain, snow, or hail . . . .”’ I, too, was unable 
to secure from Ponca informants many explanations of meteorological 
phenomena which seemed to be of an aboriginal type. G. A. Dorsey 
(1905, p. 69), however, in writing of the Ponca Sun dance pole, states: 
“In the fork of the pole is the nest of the Thunder bird, sometimes 
spoken of by the Ponca as an eagle, sometimes as a brant or loon. 
This bird produces rain, thunder, and lightning.’”? George Phillips, 
an Omaha, said that the members of his tribe call the nighthawk 
(Chordeiles minor subsp.) ‘‘Thunderbird” and believe that when 
they hear its cry a storm is near. They believe that the bird lives 
underwater in a spring about 1 mile north of Macy, Nebr. Phillips 
remarked: ‘‘We have seen them fly in there.” 

PLC said that the members of the Niize clan “‘knew all about water 
and ice.” He mentions this in his “History” (p. 19) as well. The 
Hisada clan are noted as ‘‘rainmakers’’ in the same source. He 
described the rainmaking ceremony of this clan as follows: ‘“They 
make rains by rolling up bunches of redgrass, like is used in building 
earth lodges, and making a fire and burning some. Then some more 
is dampened, and thisis put on top. This forms a gas and it explodes. 
This brings rain. It never fails. All of this is done with prayers.” 
Fletcher and La Flesche (1911, p. 47), who mention the Hisada as a 
subclan of the ‘“‘Wathabe,” state that this group had charge of the 


76 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


rites relating to thunder, but do not mention the interesting bit of 
imitative magic given above, nor that the group were rainmakers. 

Gilmore (1919, p. 132) records a Ponca belief that where pilotweed 
abounds, lightning is very prevalent. The dried root was sometimes 
burned during electric storms to avert lightning stroke. 

Certain Ponca shamans were believed to have the power to control 
the elements. PLC recalled an occasion when Chief Standing-bear 
by praying outside of his tent averted a storm which threatened to 
stop a dance. 

The Ponca had an intimate knowledge of the geography of the 
Central Great Plains region, as they hunted and traveled over a large 
part of it. The various topographical phenomena were noted and used 
as landmarks. PLC in his “History” (p. 20) mentions Wind 
Cave, in the Black Hills of South Dakota, calling it Pahé-waddahoni, 
the hill that sucksin. The name derives from the fact that air inside 
the cave is usually of a different temperature from that outside, 
causing quite a noticeable draft at the cave entrance. The Dakota 
call the cave by a similar name. 

The four directions are spoken of as the “four life-giving winds” 
by the Ponca. Directional symbolism is found in nearly all Ponca 
ceremonies. In some Ponca Peyote rituals an eagle-bone whistle 
is blown toward each of the four directions by the leader shortly after 
midnight. 

The extensive knowledge which the Ponca possessed concerning 
the plants found in their territory is shown in part by Gilmore in his 
“Uses of Plants by the Indians of the Missouri River Region” (1919). 
This has been cited in many places in the present work. According 
to OK, PLC, WBB, and Joseph Rush, the Makd, or Medicine clan 
specialized in herb medicines. This is noted by PLC in his “History” 
(p. 19). Fletcher and La Flesche (1911, pp. 41-47) list taboos for 
various Ponca clans and subclans. Several of these relate to plants. 
An idea of the Ponca concept of what happened to a person who viola- 
ted such a taboo may be gained from PLC’s comment that “Poison 
ivy was taboo to all of the clans.” 

Most Ponca education was informal. Girls learned from their 
mother and other female relatives and friends. Boys learned from 
their father and male relatives and friends. Occasionally some wise 
old man would gather a group of boys together and instruct them. 
Such a man was called a wog¢ze. Wogdze has become the word for 
“school”’ nowadays, being one word which is used by the Ponca but 
not by the Omaha. At the present time most Ponca attend school 
through the eighth grade. A few continue through high school and 
college. Many older Southern Poncas have attended Carlisle. At 
the present time higher education is often pursued at Haskell Insti- 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE T1 


tute, Lawrence, Kans., and Chilocco Agricultura] School, Chilocco, 
Okla. 

J. O. Dorsey (1885 a, pp. 105-108) describes several of the principal 
mythologic beings of the Ponca. Most of these were known to my 
informants as well. 

Inddédige, Dorsey writes, was a monster in human shape, with long 
hair. He hooted like an owl. VHM and PLC described the creature 
in much the same manner. VHM told of the creature attacking a 
eroup of hunters who were roasting a wild turkey. It was tall, with 
long hair, had bunches of grass tied to its upper arms and just below 
the knees, and carried a club. Its eyes were “pulled together” and 
continually watering. PLC showed me the place, in the hills west of 
Niobrara, Nebr., where Jndddige was seen by the Ponca of his father’s 
generation (pl. 18, 0). 

In all respects except size (i.e., forest habitat, long hair, owllike cry 
and characteristics, and club) this being is analogous to the Little- 
tree-dweller of the Dakota and the similar owllike forest men of the 
Ojibwa, Menomini, Potawatomi, Ottawa, Sauk, and Iowa. Unlike 
them, however, he never bestowed power upon individuals. Ponca 
mothers kept their children indoors in the evening by telling them 
that Indédige was about. 

Dorsey (1894, pp. 386-387) mentions another creature, a water 
monster known as Wak¢dagi: ‘These creatures have very long bodies, 
with horns on their heads.’”’ PLC gives a more detailed description 
in his “History” (p. 18), and he pointed out the place, approxi- 
mately 3 miles east of Monowi, Nebr., where this creature was seen 
for the last time by the Ponca after it had crawled out of the Missouri 
(see pl. 18, d). PLC, reconciling tribal tradition with science, thinks 
Wakddagi was a prehistoric monster which somehow survived into 
historic times. In my own opinion the Ponca Wakéddagi is clearly 
analogous to the “underwater panther” of the tribes of the Eastern 
United States. 

Perhaps related is Gisnd, which was described by JLR as like a 
leech or bloodsucker, but of such tremendous size that it was forced 
to lie “in a horseshoe shape” in the lake, which was its lair. This 
lake, near the present Monowi, Nebr., is reported never to freeze, 
even during the coldest winters. JLR mentioned that his brother 
had been magically “shot” by the Gisnd, and through this acquired 
membership in the Ponca Medicine lodge society. This recalls Ojibwa 
and Dakota tales of persons being given power by the underwater 
panther. 

Magéddézadige (Mong-thu-jah-the-gah in PLC’s syllabary) or dwarfs 
were said to live in the mountains. They are described by PLC 
in his “History” (p. 18). They led persons astray at night, but their 


78 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


power was dissipated by the rays of the morning sun. These may be 
the same as the creatures described by J. O. Dorsey (1885 a, p. 106) 
as follows: ‘“‘There is a race of beings, having large heads and long 
hair, dwelling in solitary places, to which they entice unwary victims.”’ 

Fletcher and La Flesche (1911, p. 194) mention that “the Nida was 
a mythical creature, in one conception a sort of elf that crept in and 
out of the earth.”” These authors state that the term Nida was also 
applied to the bones of large extinct animals, and that it is still applied 
to the elephant (ibid.). PLC, however, in his “History” (p. 18) 
and in an interview, gives (and gave) the term Pdsnuta (pa-snu-tah) 
for both the bones of extinct elephants and for the hairy mammoth 
allegedly seen by the Ponca near Butte, Nebr. He mentioned that 
this term was now used for circus elephants. Tales of “hairy ele- 
phants” are common in many Midwestern tribes, and I have per- 
sonally secured them from Omaha, Ponca, Dakota, and Winnebago 
informants. 

Dédzxte-wau or Deer-woman was mentioned by PLC, OK, WBB, 
and several younger informants. This personage is occasionally 
seen by the Ponca even at the present time. OK described her as 
follows: 

Say a young man is traveling alone at night. He sees a pretty girl and she 
makes him fall in love with her [by enchantment]. This girl is really the Deer- 
woman, and if he gives in, he will become a hermaphrodite [OK pronounced this 
‘“morphadite,’’ and was probably using it, in the manner of local Whites, for 


homosexual]. Young men are warned that if they see this girl, they musn’t 
give in to her, or something will happen to them. 


J. O. Dorsey (1885 a, p. 107) in his discussion of Ponca mythologic 
beings, mentions the Deer-woman as well. He says, however, that 
men who had intercourse with her died rather than that they became 
homosexuals. At the 1961 Ponca powwow it was reported that Deer- 
woman appeared among the dancers at a ‘49’ dance one night. 
A child noticed the deer feet beneath her skirts and screamed in 
fright, and a near-panic ensued. Though the young informant who 
reported this to me laughed at the whole affair, there seemed to be 
an undercurrent of nervousness about it. 

Concerning the “Trickster” figure, J. O. Dorsey (1890, p. 11) 
writes: ‘“AMakdiger or Makdige, the name of the mythical hero of the 
Ponkas and Omahas, answering to the Iowa and Oto Mistsine.”’ 
This is undoubtedly the same as Jstfnike, mentioned by Skinner 
(1915 c, p. 779) and by my own informants (PLC, JLR, OK, AMC, 
WBB). Now called “Monkey” in English by both Ponca and Omaha, 
this creature is the central figure in a cycle of humorous tales. Alter- 
nating between good deeds and malevolent acts, he seems to repre- 
sent the good and bad sides of man’s character. Several of the Omaha 
and Ponca tales concerning Istjnike have a wide distribution in North 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 79 


America, such as the one which tells of his catching his paw between 
two tree branches which have been rubbing together and producing 
a squeaking noise, and in this way losing his roasted meat to a band 
of wolves. 

Ghosts are still feared by the Ponca. Sometimes they cry; at other 
times they whistle. When traveling alone at night, present-day 
Ponca are terrified if they happen to hear a whistling noise. 

Fletcher and La Flesche (1911, p. 49) record a Ponca myth 
in which Wakdda gives the people a bow, a dog, and a grain of corn. 
They planted the corn ‘‘and when it grew they found it good to eat 
and they continued to plant it.” This myth was unknown to my 
informants, and differs considerably from the legend found in PLC’s 
“History” (pp. 20-21), which was also given by JLR. 

The same authors (1911, pp. 47-48) record a myth in which the 
Ponca receive the feathers for the Wd-wa pipes. The same myth 
also tells how the clan pipes were made and distributed. 

Decoration was formerly applied to nearly every article used by 
the Ponca. ‘Tipis, clothing, and household utensils were all taste- 
fully ornamented. On clothing the decoration, in the 18th century, 
was usually done with paint or with dyed and flattened porcupine 
quills. Gradually, in the 19th century, beadwork replaced the paint 
and quillwork in clothing decoration. Such decorative art was usually 
done by women. 

Apparently the type of design was determined by the object to 
be decorated. Whitman (1937, p. xiii) mentions that all Ponca bead- 
work was geometric, but this statement is clearly in error. Most 
of the beaded designs on the breechcloths of the Sun dancers figured 
by G. A. Dorsey are stylized floral motifs (1905, pls. xv, xvi, xvii, 
XVill, XIX, XX1, XXIV, XXVi1, xxvii, and xxx). In present-day dancing 
costumes, both geometric and floral designs are used, with a few real- 
istic motifs as well. In present-day “fancy dance’ costumes, both 
geometric and floral designs are used, with a few zoomorphic motifs 
as well. The man’s beaded breechcloth is usually done in a combi- 
nation of floral and zoomorphic (usually horse) motifs. Moccasins, 
headbands, and ‘suspenders’ most commonly have geometric de- 
signs. Gauntlets, armbands, and belts employ either floral or geo- 
metric patterns. The use of both floral and geometric designs holds 
true not only for the Ponca and other “Prairie” tribes, but for many 
“High Plains” tribes. The oft-reiterated statement that ‘Plains 
Indians always use geometric designs, Woodland Indians always 
use floral designs” is a standardized error in North American ethnology 
long in need of correction. 

Some decorative art of the Ponca was highly symbolic in nature. 
Fletcher and La Flesche (1911, p. 45) write: ‘“The people of the 
Makg subdivision painted their tents with black and yellow bands.” 


80 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


They (ibid., p. 43) also mention that a subdivision of the Pizxida clan 
symbolically painted the ‘‘pipes” used in the Wd-wqrite. Little dec- 
orative art was observed among the Northern Ponca. The Southern 
Ponca, however, still make fine beadwork, and especially good work 
is done on Peyote ‘feathers,’ gourd handles, and staffs. Curiously 
enough, Peyote beadwork is done by men. However, the beadwork 
used on dancing costumes is still made by the women, as is traditional. 

Representative artwork was usually done by men. Realistic 
designs of horses, bison, and dancing men were painted on tipi covers, 
shields, and robes. If, as often happened, a woman wished to use a 
representative design in her beadwork, she would ask a male relative 
to sketch it for her, then follow his sketch in her beading. 

At least one Southern Ponca, Andrew Snake, was still doing 
silverwork in the old Woodland-Plains tradition in 1954. His 
principal customers were Osage “‘straight’’ dancers, for whom he 
produced armbands and neckerchief slides. He also informed me 
that he made an occasional “wedding bridle’ for an Osage. 

PLC mentioned that formerly children sculptured clay figures 
of horses, bison, dogs, birds, and humans, using clay from a slough 
located 2 miles west and 2 miles south of Niobrara, Nebr. Clay 
figures of this type have appeared in archeological contexts in Ne- 
braska, one site being the Yutan site, 25SD1, which is identified 
with the historic Oto-Missouri. In these clay figures, as in the 
petroglyphs mentioned earlier, “visions”? seem to have inspired the 
individual artist. Thus, one Ponca boy is said to have made a 
perfect model of an airplane many years before aircraft had been 
invented. This occurrence is still remembered and thought of as 
zuibe (supernatural) by some elderly Ponca. 

Music was an art in which the Ponca excelled, and it is still a vital 
part of Southern Ponca culture. Ponca singers are in great demand 
at powwows throughout Oklahoma, and at least three Ponca men 
support themselves almost entirely by “following the powwow 
circuit” as singers. The musical instruments used by the Ponca 
aboriginally were drums of various sorts; gourd, rawhide, and deer-hoof 
rattles; eagle-bone and cedar whistles; and cedar flutes. 

The drum was used principally in connection with the voice, to 
accompany dances and ceremonies. Rattles also were used in this 
manner, especially in sacred rituals. Whistles of eagle bone were 
used in the Sun dance, and, according to PLC, in the Hediska as 
well, although cedar whistles were usually employed in the latter. 
Nowadays an eagle-bone whistle is used in the Peyote ceremony. 
The Indian flute was used in courting. It was the only Ponca instru- 
ment that was not connected with some dance or ceremony and was 
used solo. OYB was the last Ponca flute-maker and player among the 
Ponca. By 1954 he had ceased to play his instrument, though 2 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 81 


years earlier I was privileged to hear the wonderful quavering tones 
of his instrument at a twilight concert. 

The human voice was the Ponca musical instrument par excellence. 
Songs accompanied nearly every activity. There were songs to 
accompany various dances and ceremonies, such as the Sun dance, 
Wa-wa, and Hediska; medicine songs which were thought to bear 
supernatural power and could call the spirits to heal the sick; vigorous 
Moccasin game and Hand game songs which were used to distract 
the players on the opposing team; love songs, some of which imitated 
the bell-like quavers of the courting flute, and mock love songs in 
which young men imitated lovesick girls. There were also lullabies 
which mothers sang to quiet their children and put them to sleep. 

Fletcher (1900, pp. 90-91) writes that songs were sung by warriors 
as they left for battle, and Fletcher and La Flesche (1911, p. 442) 
mention that Wétowd, or “brave heart’? songs were sung by the 
women of the tribe to aid their absent warriors. One of J. O. Dorsey’s 
Ponca informants told him (1890, p. 371): ‘“My father went on the 
war path and he sang all the time. He was always singing as he 
walked. When he was a young man, he was always singing when he 
lay down at night.’? According to PLC, women formerly sang 
mourning songs or Ndgde-waqyuia when a relative died. 

At the present time four classes of songs are still in use among the 
Southern Ponca: (1) dance songs, including those for the Hediska, 
Round, ‘49”, and other dances; (2) Hand game songs; (8) 
Peyote songs; and (4) church (White style) songs. The Northern 
Ponea are still very musical, but, with the single exception of PLC 
they have abandoned their native music and sing popular White 
songs instead. 


SOCIAL ORGANIZATION 


James O. Dorsey (1897, p. 213) calls the tribal organization, as 
existing among the Central Siouan tribes, a ‘‘kinship state” and points 
out that ‘the governmental functions are performed by men whose offices 
are determined by kinship... .” By this, Dorsey means that in 
aboriginal Ponca society the high status positions were almost entirely 
of the “ascribed” type, and not open to free competition among the 
tribal members. Instead, one’s position in Ponca society depended 
upon his position in the family, his family’s position in the clan, and 
his clan’s position in the tribe. Certain clans outranked certain others 
socially, and had special rights and prerogatives not possessed by 
others. Marriage and the mutual rights and duties of the members 
of each clan were strictly governed by one’s position in the system. 
In this respect the Ponca and other Central Siouan groups contrast 
strongly with their egalitarian neighbors to the north, the Dakota. 


82 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


Eggan (1937, p. 93) classifies the Ponca kinship system as being of 
the “lineage’’ type and of the Omaha subtype. This system is gener- 
ally found in groups which possess strong patrilineal clans like those of 
the Ponca. The chart (fig. 4) shows the Ponca kinship system from 
the viewpoint of the male EGO. It will be noted that in this system 
generation differences are ignored at certain points. The father’s 
sister’s children, for example, are classed with sororal nephews and 
nieces, and the mother’s brother’s children with maternal uncles and 
aunts. Hence, as EGO, I may have an “uncle”? who has just been 
born and at the same time a “grandchild” my own age or older. 

White has discussed this overriding of the generation principle in 
his article entitled ‘“A Problem in Kinship Terminology” (1939, pp. 
566-573). He demonstrates that in kinship systems of the Omaha 
and Crow types the principle of clan affiliation has become stronger 
than the principle of generation difference. Hence, since my mother’s 
brother and all of his descendants in the male line belong to a different 
clan from my own, the members of which I owe a customary respect, 
thay are equated in the kinship system. Likewise, I am called “uncle’’ 
by my father’s sister’s children, and I call them niece and nephew in 
return. 

The primary terms used by the Ponca are as follows: 


Term Near English equivalent 
Ttdidyorth ee. teeta d thy, Father 
Inahqi ee. saan soo ty Seed = oe Mother 
Wake 2 eee eee eee Grandmother 
Watigg= hee seen ome Grandfather 
Wicige st. cee ae eee Son 
Weeege: 2s 2 ee See Daughter 
Wittizpa:=3 2 eee Grandchild (either sex) 
Woride stoke. ame eee Elder brother (male speaking) 
Witinwtas = ee eee es Elder brother (female speaking) 
Writge Sate sed ee Elder sister (male speaking) 
Waster ssgr 8 lsash sus AA Elder sister (female speaking) 
Wastigdeess at > a Sauce! Younger brother 
Withtssen ea oa see eee Younger sister 
Wintgt=a 3 en soe Sees Uncle 
VEAL See oe ee Aunt 
Wag skal oe sce Nephew (male speaking) 
OT) i Se ce ee a ee Rl 2 Nephew (female speaking) 
Wize. sno ea ete Niece (male speaking) 
Weiucage. xsta Bs. eee Niece (female speaking) 
Wetdhge 2. oe Soe ee Brother-in-law (male speaking) 
Wastes oe ee eee eee Brother-in-law (female speaking) 
Wehdqa 22 sie ee Dee ees Sister-in-law (male speaking) 
Wasikass canon ie ahs ie Sister-in-law (female speaking) 
Whiddes- 42 ese teehee Son-in-law 


Watling seo ee Aes ee Daughter-in-law 


= 1. 


Uncle | Aunt Father | Mother Father | Mother Mother | Father Uncle | Aunt 
Nephew Niece Brother Sister E. Bro. Y. Bro. EGO E.Sis. ¥. Sis. Brother Sister Uncle Mother 
n Daughter Nephew iec Son Daughter Son Daughter Nephew Niece Son Daughter Nephew Niece Uncle Mother Brother Sister 


Posesalasasarade 


Gch. Gch. Gch. Gch. Gch. Gch. Gch. Gch. Gch. Gch. Gch. Gch. Gch. Gch. Gch. Gch. Gch. Gch. Gch. Gch. Gch. Gch. Gch. Gch. Gch. Gch. Geh. Gch. Gch. Gch. Gch. Gch. Gch. Geh. Gch. Gch. Un. Mo. Bro. Sis Son Da. Neph. Niece 


65 (Face p. 82) 


FicurE 4.—Ponca kinship system, Ego male. 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 83 


The prefix wi- signifies ‘my,’ i.e., Winégi, ‘my uncle.’ In direct 
address this is omitted, i.e., Wibdaha négi, ‘Thank you, uncle.’ 

At the present time the aboriginal kinship system is used only by 
older Ponca. Younger people, though they may know the terms, 
cannot apply them correctly, and use the Western European (Eskimo 
type) kinship system even when speaking their own tongue. 

PLC stated that in aboriginal times a man, his wife, and their 
children occupied a dwelling, with perhaps the man’s parents as well, 
if they were still alive. This is still largely true for the present-day 
Ponca. A large earth lodge might be occupied by two or three 
brothers and their families. A statement in a folktale recorded by 
Dorsey (1890, p. 91) indicates the presence, formerly, of communal 
clan bachelor quarters: ‘‘. . . Each of these married men had a skin 
tent of his own, but unmarried ones dwelt in communal lodges of 
their respective gentes [clans].”’ None of my informants had heard 
of this custom, which probably represents an ancient Southeastern 
Woodland pattern already abandoned by the Ponca in historic times. 

The Ponca man “wore the pants’ in his family. Dorsey (1897, 
p. 213) writes: ‘“Among the Dakota, as among the Pégiha and other 
groups, the man is the head of the family” [italics my own]. The 
woman was the property of the husband, and should a man be dissat- 
isfied with his wife he might “give her away” at the next Hediska 
dance. A woman given away to the young men of the tribe in this 
manner had no recourse except to return to her parents’ lodge (Skinner, 
1915 c, pp. 784-785). 

Apparently there was no hard and fast residence rule in the tribe. 
According to PLC newly married couples might go to live with either 
the groom’s or the bride’s parents, or set up a house of their own, 
depending upon personal choice and economic circumstances. Judg- 
ing from the patrilineal kinship system, however, one suspects that 
residence was predominantly patrilocal in the past. It remains so 
today when economic circumstances do not permit a couple to estab- 
lish their own household. 

Adoption was commonly practiced to continue a family line. 
PLC remarked: “Sometimes, when the only son in a family died, 
the family would adopt some other child to take his place. This 
adopted son would be treated just like the little boy who had died.” 

Among the Ponca, husband-wife relationships were usually relaxed 
and easy. Now and then, however, it became necessary for the 
relatives of the bride to interfere. Dorsey (1884, p. 262) comments 
on this situation as follows: 

Among the Pégiha, if the husband is kind, the mother-in-law never interferes. 


But when the husband is unkind the wife takes herself back, saying to him, ‘‘I 
have had you for my husband long enough; depart.’”’ Sometimes the father or 


84 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


elder brother of the woman says to the husband “‘You have made her suffer; you 
shall not have her for a wife any longer.’’? This they do when he has beaten her 
several times, or has been cruel in other ways. 

As mentioned earlier, the henpecked husband could divorce his 
wife by “giving her away”’ to the young men of the tribe at a Hediiska 
dance. 

Husband-wife relationships which I observed, with but few excep- 
tions, appeared to be very close, and often small signs of affection were 
exchanged by the two when they thought themselves unobserved. 
Nevertheless, quarrels do occasionally occur. The humorous term 
“coffee nerves,” derived from comic-strip advertisements of the 1930’s, 
is used to describe a man and wife who have been quarreling. When 
parents separated, the children were sometimes taken by the wife’s 
mother, sometimes by the husband’s (Dorsey, 1884 a, p. 262). 

Very often, ceremonial obligations were undertaken jointly by a 
man and his wife. Skinner writes that a man and his wife usually 
joined the Medicine Lodge society at the same time (1920, pp. 306- 
307). This old Pégiha pattern has now been transferred to the Peyote 
rite. Thus, a Southern Ponca, upon learning that I had ‘eaten 
peyote” (i.e., was a member of the Peyote religion), immediately 
inquired if my wife also belonged, and was surprised when I informed 
him that she did not. 

Relationships between parents and children of the same sex were 
very close. J. O. Dorsey (1890, p. 291) records, in the folktale ‘“‘The 
Bear Girl,” the following illustrative instance: “Her mother combed 
her hair for her, although she was grown. This was customary.” 
At the present time when a Ponca girl decides that she wishes to dance 
in local powwows, she asks her mother to help her make a dance dress. 

Whitman (1939, p. 187) describes the father-son relationship of 
Black-eagle and his father as quite restrained, but this was apparently 
a special case, for those father-son relationships which I observed, and 
which informants described to me, were very close. Most of the 
stories told me by JLR, PLC, and AMC had been learned from their 
fathers. Both sons and daughters were customarily disciplined by 
reprimand rather than by physical means. 

The Ponca, like other Central Siouan tribes, honored the eldest 
child in the family above the rest. Whitman (1939, p. 182, note 14) 
writes: “Among the Ponca the Beloved Child was usually the oldest, 
either male or female. Such children were not scolded; they were 
given the best of everything.” This child, if a boy, was the one who 
inherited the sacred bundles and ceremonial responsibilities of the 
father, and hence was given preferential treatment. That the special 
treatment of the Beloved Child was not considered quite fair by the 
younger siblings is indicated by WBB’s statement, recorded by Whit- 
man (ibid., p. 182): ‘He always scolded me, and never my older 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 85 


brother.”” Though the custom of honoring the eldest child was said 
by PLC and JLR to have lapsed, I noted that it was generally the 
eldest son who acquired the father’s peyote “fireplace” (i.e., the right 
to conduct the ceremony) among the Southern Ponca. 

A brother and his sister were allowed to play together until they 
were about 10 years old. At this time they separated and assumed 
the attitude of extreme respect and avoidance which they were to 
maintain toward each other for the remainder of their lives. They 
no longer played together and did not even speak to one another in 
public. If a brother wished to tell his younger sister to come home 
with him when they were visiting at someone else’s home, he would 
ask a third person to relay the message. Jf no one was present whom 
he could ask to do this, he would announce in a loud voice “I am going 
home now.” His sister, if she knew what was best for her, would 
take the hint and follow him. 

At the present time this relationship has been relaxed, and I often 
observed brothers and sisters teasing one another, in the manner of 
Whites. Brother-brother and sister-sister relationships were, and 
still are, very close. ‘The older brother or sister is frequently charged 
with the care of the younger one by the parents. 

Concerning the relationship of grandparent and grandchild Whitman 
(1937, p. 47) notes: “The relationship between grandparents and 
grandchild is, among the Oto and the Ponca, a cherishing one.” It 
was generally the grandfather who made a Ponca boy his first bow 
and arrows, and the grandmother who beaded his first dancing cos- 
tume. Grandparents, also, could take the time to teach the children 
the tribal games and tell them the folktales which the parents, 
busy gaining a livelihood, did not have time to do. 

A relationship of a different type pertained between an uncle 
(mother’s brother) and his nephew, and an aunt (father’s sister) and 
her niece. Such relationships were of the “joking type.” This 
behavior applied not only to the mother’s brother-sister’s son and 
father’s sister-brother’s daughter but also, at least to some degree, to 
all other relationships where the kinship terms “‘uncle’” and ‘‘nephew”’ 
or ‘aunt’ and “niece” were used. The most obscene and cruel 
jokes were played upon a nephew by his uncle. It was considered 
bad form for the nephew to become offended, even if the uncle put a 
cocklebur under the boy’s saddle blanket and thus caused him to be 
bucked off his pony. In return the nephew could appropriate any 
article belonging to his uncle without asking. Teasing of nieces by 
“aunts” was usually not so cruel. An “aunt” might chide her 
“niece” about boy friends or something of the sort (Skinner, 1915 ¢, 
p. 800; also PLC, JLR, and WBB). Whitman (1939, p. 183) records 
WBB’s having received ‘‘squaw medicine” and sober advice from his 
mother’s brother, showing that this relationship had a serious side as 

718-071—65—__7 


86 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


well. The important consideration, however, is that this was a sort 
of thing which the boy’s father, or his father’s brother, would not 
have done. 

Skinner (1915 ¢, p. 800) describes the brother-in-law/sister-in-law 
relationship as a joking one as well. This was confirmed by my 
informants. 

J. O. Dorsey (1884 a, pp. 262-263), Skinner (1915 c, p. 800), and 
Lowie (1917, p. 91) all record the familiar mother-in-law taboo for 
the Ponca. It was mentioned by nearly all of my informants as well. 
Briefly, a man avoided his mother-in-law when it was at all possible, 
and she avoided him. The avoidance was phrased in terms of extreme 
mutual respect. The custom has now lapsed, but one Southern 
Ponca commented: “I still feel uncomfortable when my wife’s old 
lady is around.” <A similar taboo obtained between a wife and her 
father-in-law. 

Dorsey (1884 a, pp. 252-253) speaks of Nikie kinship, or kinship 
based upon a common mythical ancestor. Thus, the members of a 
Ponca clan and those in an Omaha clan with a similar name called 
each other by kinship terms because of their Nikie relationship. 

Kinship terms, such as “grandfather”? were used on ceremonial 
occasions to show respect to those officiating. Whitman (1939, p. 
189) mentions that WBB had to use kinship terms in addressing the 
holy men in charge of the rites when he was undergoing a religious 
ordeal in the sweat lodge. At the present time Ponca peyotists 
customarily refer to one another as “brother” and “sister.” This 
practice may have been borrowed from White churches, and is 
apparently universal in peyote-using tribes. Likewise, a Ponca peyo- 
tist always refers to his wife as ‘my companion” rather than “my 
wife.” 

There are several lists of Ponca clans in the literature, some of 
which differ quite widely from one another. In some instances the 
differences are so great as to present an impression of a rather transi- 
tory clan system in the tribe. I am inclined to believe, however, 
that this was not true. Many of the apparent differences result from 
different English interpretations of the Pégiha name. Others are 
seen to be the result of one author’s calling a clan a subclan and vice 
versa. Interpretations of clan names might very well have changed 
through the years. The meanings assigned words have certainly 
changed elsewhere in the language. Likewise, the transformation of 
a subclan into a clan might reasonably have occurred with the extinc- 
tion of other subclans in recent times. Therefore, since the differences 
shown may actually represent changes through time, and since no one 
source may be regarded as authoritative, several are presented below. 
The schemes are in chronological order, based upon the date of 
collection, beginning with Lewis H. Morgan and ending with the list 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 87 


secured from PLC, OK, JLR, LMD, OYB, AMC, and David 
Little-cook. 

Dorsey and Thomas (1910, p. 279) quote Morgan’s list of Ponca 
clans, giving Joseph La Flesche’s interpretations in parentheses: 


. Wasdbe ‘grizzly bear’ (properly black bear) 
. Dizida, ‘many people’ 

. Nikapdgna, ‘elk’ 

Makd, ‘skunk’; (Makd, ‘medicine’) 

. Wasdbe, ‘buffalo’ 

. Wazdze, ‘snake’ 

. Niixe, ‘medicine’; (Nize, ‘ice’) 

Wéaga, ‘ice’; (Wdga, ‘jerked meat’) 

In his own list, J. O. Dorsey (1891 b, pp. 331-332) gives several sub- 
clans, and divides the clans into phratries and moieties as well. Since 
Dorsey is the only author to mention phratries and moieties for the 
Ponca, and since my own informants vehemently denied any such 
arrangement, Dorsey’s system should, I believe, be viewed with 
suspicion. Dorsey shows, in much of his work, a decided tendency 
to blend material from all of the Siouan-speaking tribes with which 
he was acquainted, such as the Ponca, Omaha, Osage, Winnebago, 
and Dakota. This may explain the disconformity between his scheme 
and the schemes presented by others. Dorsey (1891 b, p. 331) writes: 


ONOaARwWNH 


The Ponka tribal circle was divided equally between the T%jZu and Wazdze 
half-tribes. To the former half-tribe belong two phratries of two gentes each, 
te., Nos. 1 to 4, and to the latter two similar phratries, including gentes 5 to 8. 

T%téu half-tribe.—Thunder or Fire Phratry: Gens 1. Hisada, Thunder people, 
Subgentes not gained. Gens 2. Wasdbe-hitazi, Touch not the Skin of a Black 
bear. 

T8izu half-tribe.—Wind-makers, or War phratry: Gens 3 Pizida, Wildcat. In 
two subgentes: 1. Sjde-dgde, Wears Tails or Locks of Hair; Mdgde-itai, Touches 
no Charcoal and Wasét#itaz:, Touches no Verdigris. 2. Wamé-itazi, Touches no 
Blood. Gens 4. Nikapasna, ‘Bald Human Head’, Elk people. In at least three 
subgentes: 1. T*e-sde-ita3i, Touches no Buffalo Tails. 2. T%e-déze-daidzi, Eats 
no Buffalo Tongues. 3. Tdzxte-Ki-qpa-datazi, Eats no Deer or Elk. 

Wazdze half-tribe.—Earth phratry: Gens 5. Makd, Medicine, a buffalo gens, 
also called T%e-%jde-ita2i, Touch no Buffalo Tails. In two subgentes: 1. P¢ékazt, 
Real Ponkas, Keepers of a Sacred Pipe. 2. Pd¢ka-xiide, Gray Ponkas. Gens 
6. Waddbe, Dark Buffalo. In two subgentes: 1. Te-sjde, Buffalo Tail, T*e-déze- 
datazi, Eat no Buffalo Tongues, and T%e-2jga-datazi, Eat no very young Buffalo 
Calves. 2. Te-pd-itazi, Touch no Buffalo Heads. 

Wazéze half-tribe.—Water Phratry (?): Gens 7. Wazdze, Osage. In two sub- 
gentes at present: 1. Wazdze sdbe, Dark Osage, Keepers of a Sacred Pipe, or 
Wasétu-itazi, Does not Touch Verdigris, or Ndgde-itd22, Does not Touch Charcoal. 
2. Wazaze-cude, Gray Osage, or Wesd-wetdzi, Do not Touch Snakes. 3. Necta, 
an Owl subgens, is now extinct. Gens 8. Nrixe, Reddish-yellow Buffalo (miscalled 
Niixe, ice). Subgentes uncertain; but there are four taboo names; T'*e-pd-itazi, 
Does not Touch a Buffalo Head; T*e-%,ga-itazi, Does not Touch the Yellow 
Hide of a Buffalo Calf; and T*e-déze-datazi, Does not Eat Buffalo Tongues. 


88 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


8 - 


7 
4 ve 
Wazaze Tsizu 


half -tribe : half -tribe 


4 
Fletcher and La Flesche (1911, pp. 41-42) write as follows: 


There are seven gentes in the Ponca tribe, namely: Waddbe, Dixida, Nikapasna, 
Pokazti, Wasdbe, Wazdze, and Nuxe. These camped in the order indicated in the 
diagram . . ., beginning on the southern side of the eastern entrance of the tribal 
circle, to which the Ponca give the name hiduga, the word used by the Omaha also 
to designate their tribal circle. 

1. Waddbe, Black Bear. Subgentes: (a) Waddbe (b) Hidada (stretched, referring 
to the stretch of the legs in running); . . . 2. Dizida, Meaning lost. Subgentes: 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 89 


(a) Dizida; . . . (b) [gdddj-dnédeweti ([gdddidnede, puma; weti, to dwellin); ... 
3. Nikapdsna, A man’s skull. Subgentes (a) T*éhatd-itazi (t"a, deer, ha, skin, 
iQ, possess, itdzi, do not touch) ... (b) Thédydeitdzi (the, buffalo, djde, tail, 
itazi, do not touch);... 4. Pdékazti: Real or original Ponca Subgentes: 
(a) Pékazti; (6) Méké (mystery or medicine). 5. WaSdbe, a dark object, 
as seen against the horizon;... 6. WazdZe, an old term. Subgentes: 
(a) Wazdze (real Wazdze); name said to refer to the snake after shedding 
circle, old skin and again in full power. (b) Wa2zdzexrude (gray Wazdze); refers 
to the grayish appearance of the snake’s cast off skin; ... 7.Nvixe, Ice; . .. 


Alanson Skinner (1915 c, p. 799) collected the following list of Ponca 
clans: 

. Dizida (Do not touch blood) 

. Wazdze (Osage) 

Maké (Medicine) 

Niuzxe (Ice) 

. Nikapasna (?) 

. Hisada (Straight legs) 

. Wasdbe (Black Bear) 

He could learn of no subclans. 

The list of clans which I secured, together with some of the clan 
duties and taboos, is as follows: There were seven clans, not counting 
the Wd-ge-Ziga (Sons of White men clan). Starting with the clan at 
your left, as you entered the camp circle from the east, and proceeding 
clockwise around the circle, they were as follows: 


NOapwne 


1. Wazdéze (Snake or Osage). This clan guarded the entrance to the hiduga. 
They were reputed to be expert trackers. If a party left the village and did not 
return within a reasonable length of time, trackers from this clan were dispatched 
to search for them. Touching snakes was taboo to members of this clan. Ac- 
cording to OYB the clan was divided into two subclans (a) Wadzdzert) (real 
Wazdze) and (b) Wadzdzexiide (gray Wazdze). 


N 


90 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


2. Nikapdsna (A skull or a bald head). Members of this clan were reputed to 
know “all about the human head,” and as possessors of this knowledge were the 
tribal barbers and hairdressers. ‘They also cured headaches. It was taboo for 
members of this clan to touch buckskin. 

3. Pizida (Blood). This clan performed imitative magic when the tribe was 
unsuccessful in finding game. They pointed their arrows and pretended to shoot 
some animal, saying at the same time “‘I’ll shoot this fat one!” The Dizida clan 
also officiated at the ceremony of installation of chiefs. It was taboo for members 
of this clan to touch either human blood or mice. 

4. Wasdébe (Meaning not known to my informants). The principal chief of the 
tribe was always selected from this clan. Members were forbidden to touch the 
head of any animal, since they were of the “‘head’’ (i.e., chiefly) clan. 

5. Maké (Medicine). This clan was reputed to contain the best herbalists in 
the tribe. 

6. Nuze (Ice). Members of this clan ‘‘knew all about water and ice’? (PLC). 
PLC told how the Northern Ponea chief White-shirt, a member of this clan, was 
able to cross Ponca Creek on thin ice because of his special clan knowledge of the 
properties of water and ice. 

7. Hisada (The stretching of a bird’s leg when running). PLC called this clan 
the most important because its members were the tribal rainmakers. The rain- 
making ceremony of this clan is described on page 75. 

8. Wé-ge-Ziga (White men’s sons). This eighth clan was added to the list by 
LMD, who stated that he was a member of it and that it had been founded 
to accommodate the sons of White traders who took Ponca wives. Like the other 
Ponca clans, it was exogamous, although it had no clan rites or prerogatives. 
One of its taboos was the same as a taboo of the Pizrida clan, not to touch mice. 
If a member of either of these clans touched a mouse his hair would turn gray. 
This clan may very possibly be the Waga clan of Morgan (see p. 87). 

OYB recounted an interesting legend to explain why the Wazdéze 
clan is divided into two subdivisions. According to this legend the 
members of the clan were once conducting a tattooing ceremony. The 
hereditary chief of the clan, who was conducting the rite, had finished 
tattooing half of the members when an eagle flew out of the sky and, 
in spite of a fusillade of arrows, entered the lodge and blinded the 
chief by scratching his eyes out. The ceremony was thereupon dis- 
continued. ‘The members of the clan who had been tattooed before 
this event thenceforth called themselves Wa2dZezti (real or ““complete’’ 
Wazdéze) while those who had not been tattooed called themselves 
Wadzdézexide (Gray Wazdze). This story is very interesting in that 
one meaning of the term Wazdéze is apparently “‘snake.’”? The powers 
of the air, symbolized by the thunderbird and eagle, continually wage 
war with the powers of evil, symbolized by the underwater panther 
and snake, in the mythologies of many North American Indian tribes. 
OYB said that formerly all of the Ponca clans had been divided into 
two or more subclans, but that these had been lost through time. 
PLC, until he heard this tale from OYB, had never heard of Ponca 
clans being subdivided. 

Additional clan taboos, privileges, and duties, too numerous to in- 
clude here, are found in the works of Dorsey (1894, pp. 381-382, 391, 
411-412; 1897, pp. 214, 228-229); Fletcher (1896, p. 478); Fletcher 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 91 


and La Flesche (1911, pp. 42-48) ; Skinner (1915 c, p. 799) ; and Whitman 
(1937, p. 13). Special haircuts were given to small Ponca boys to 
show their clan affiliation. These are pictured by Fletcher and La 
Flesche (1911, pp. 42-46). Each clan likewise had a stock of names, 
both male and female, which belonged to it. Some of these alluded to 
animals important to the clan. 

Clan exogamy was mentioned by all informants questioned on the 
subject. It still pertains to a degree, though breaches of the rule are 
apparently viewed with more leniency today than in the past. Even 
in aboriginal times intraclan liaisons took place. OK commented: 
“In the old days a man never married a girl from his own band 


(clan).... Outside of marrying a girl, though, it was a different 
story. We have a saying in our tribe ‘We are related only from the 
waist up.’ ”’ 


Localization of clans in the permanent villages is suggested by 
Fletcher and La Flesche (1911, p. 51), describing the Ponca tribe as of 
1874: ‘There were eight chiefs, each of whom had his ‘band.’ These 
bands were probably composed of persons from the gens or subgens to 
which the chief belonged.” Such clan localization was not known to 
any of my informants, though they did state that each clan had a 
hereditary chief. There is certainly no clan localization among the 
Ponca at present, but it is said to occur among the Omaha. 

Ponca government was of the very weak type which has sometimes 
been termed “‘tribal.”’ Decisions were made by a council of chiefs, 
and enforced by a group called the ‘Buffalo-police” (because their 
period of greatest activity came during the tribal hunts). The chiefs 
attempted to act, at all times, in complete accordance with public 
opinion. Lengthy councils were held in which the head chief 
attempted to ‘feel out’ each of the other leaders before proposing 
a course of action. Complete, or nearly complete, unanimity was 
necessary before any action would be taken. A chief who attempted 
to initiate a program without nearly unanimous backing, though he 
might not be challenged in the council, soon found himself without 
support. 

White traders and explorers, accustomed to the hierarchical struc- 
ture and ‘chain of command” of Western European government, 
found the Indian procedures hard to understand. Military men, in 
particular, were disgusted. James (1905 a, vol. 14, p. 313), writing 
of the Missouri tribes in general, states: ‘The Indian form of govern- 
ment is not sufficiently powerful to restrain the young warriors from 
the commission of many excesses and outrages, which continually 
involve the nations in protracted wars... .” 

Even the Indians themselves realized that the usual lengthy 
deliberations were not appropriate during the tribal hunt. Here, 
decisions must be made and carried out swiftly, lest the entire tribe 


92 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


starve. Therefore, an almost dictatorial authority was temporarily 
invested in a single man for the duration of the hunt. This man, 
called the Nudd-hdga, which might be translated ‘honored captain,’ 
was in complete charge during his term of office. He could inflict 
severe punishments, even banishment from the tribe, upon persons 
who defied his rulings and thus imperiled the general welfare. Once 
the tribe had returned to its permanent villages, however, he became 
just an “ordinary citizen” again. 

There were two principal classes of chiefs among the Ponca, the 
“big”? chiefs, or chiefs of the first rank, and the ‘‘ittle”’ chiefs, or 
chiefs of the second rank. Persons selected for chieftainship in 
either of these groups were generally renowned warriors and states- 
men, as well as members of “chiefly” clans. ‘Big’ chiefs were 
generally older men who had served as “‘little”’ chiefs for a number 
of years and who, almost invariably, were the descendants of previous 
chiefs of the first rank in the male line. 

The head chief of the tribe was the ranking chief of the “big” 
chief group. He was always of the Wasdbe clan, the leading clan of 
the tribe. As custodian of the sacred tribal pipe he possessed re- 
ligious as well as political authority, a situation strongly reminiscent 
of the priest-chiefs of the Southeast. He functioned as the chairman 
at council meetings, and installed all newly created chiefs. 

Chiefs of the first and second ranks guided the tribe in peace and 
defensive warfare. They were also the religious leaders of the tribe. 
They convened in a special lodge pitched in the center of the hiduga 
to council and pray for the welfare of the people. According to PLC, 
LMD, LRL, AMC, David Little-cook, and David Eagle, there were 
seven chiefs of the first rank and seven of the second. Whitman 
(1937, p. 17) also gives seven as the number of Ponca chiefs. JLR 
and EBC, however, firmly denied this and insisted that the number 
in each group was 12. Fletcher and La Flesche (1911, p. 51) 
mention eight Ponca chiefs as of 1874, but it is not clear whether they 
mean tribal or clan chiefs. Each chief carried a pipe and a pipe bag 
as a symbol of his rank and wore, on ceremonial occasions, an otter- 
skin cap with a downy eagle plume erect in a socket at the back. 

A third class of chiefs, apparently corresponding somewhat to the 
“pine tree” chiefs of the Iroquois, was mentioned by JLR. These 
men were called Jt%zZpa (literally “grandchildren’’). They were suc- 
cessful warriors who had demonstrated that they were “not just 
interested in themselves, but in the tribe as a whole.” 

Not included in the above scheme were the clan chiefs. Each of 
the seven Ponca clans had a hereditary chief whose authority ex- 
tended only to members of his own clan. A chief of the first, second, 
or third rank, however, might also be a clan chief. 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 93 


A meeting of the “council of seven,” that is, the “big chiefs,” was 
sufficient to decide upon most matters. For more important business 
the “little chiefs” were called in as well. For really important affairs 
the ItizZpa and warriors were also admitted. JLR stated that the 
chiefs of the first rank often left minor matters to the “little chiefs.” 
He also mentioned that many, if not all, of the chiefs of the first two 
ranks were assigned a special duty. One of the chiefs of the second 
rank, for example, was the tribal historian, and kept the tribal winter 
count or calendrical history. 

Chiefs were expected to be circumspect in their behavior and to 
hold themselves above the passions of the ordinary people. They 
must not seek wealth, lest they be termed stingy. Neither must they 
invite reprisal by leading or even accompanying private war parties. 
Dorsey (1897, p. 214) writes: “. . . among both the Omaha and the 
Ponka the chiefs, being the civil and religious leaders of the people, 
can not serve as captains, or even as members, of an ordinary war 
party, though they may fight when the whole tribe engages in war.” 

Succession was apparently governed by both personal leadership 
qualities and by “noble descent.” PLC said that: “Any man could 
become a chief if he was brave and generous. Usually, though, the 
son of a chief took his father’s place when the old man died. If a 
chief was unworthy someone else took his place. He was put out.” 
A man not from a chiefly line, of course, had a considerably harder 
time becoming a chief. Thus Skinner (1915 c, p. 783; author’s italics) 
writes: “It was necessary for a person not an hereditary chief who was 
socially ambitious, and hoped for a chieftaincy, to join most if not 
all of the societies, preferably as a leader, and thus become known. 
He must feast them and lavish gifts on every one.” 

Theoretically, however, any man could aspire to all but the head 
chief’s position, which always remained in the Wasdbe clan. Unfor- 
tunately, we have no data to indicate how frequently men not of the 
high-ranking clans achieved high position in the tribe. According to 
PLC even women were not barred, and he recalled having heard of 
a great woman chief who led the tribe in the distant past. ‘She was 
made a chief because of her great supernatural power. She was a 
medicine woman and could do many good things.” 

Chiefs were installed in a solemn ceremony presided over by the 
head chief and conducted by the Pizida clan. OK recalled the last 
chief-making ceremony of the Northern Ponca, in which he was 
created a chief of the second rank, as follows: 


I remember the last time old man Birdhead made chiefs. I was made a chief 
that day, and I guess I am the only one left alive who was made a chief that 
time. The ceremony was held in a tipi. We all entered and went around to the 
left [in a clockwise direction] and took our seats. Then Birdhead, who owned the 
pipe and was head chief, made a speech. He told us that when we were chiefs 


94. BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


we should always do good, and help the others in the tribe. Then the pipe was 
started around from the door, which was to the east, going around to the left. 
Each man took three puffs and then passed the pipe on to his neighbors. Prayers 
were interspersed with the smoking of the pipe. When the pipe got clear around 
to the door it was passed back around the way it had come. It was never passed 
over the doorway. 

The head chief is the man who owns the pipe, and he is the only one who can 
make chiefs. He keeps the pipe wrapped up all the time except when it is taken 
out to be smoked. No man is a chief until he has smoked the sacred pipe. The 
right to the head chieftainship descends from father to son, and the pipe is passed 
along this way. 


OK’s account of the chief-making rite agrees quite well with that 
given by Dorsey (1884 a, pp. 359-360), but is much simpler. In 
OK’s time the Ponca “tribal” pipe, together with the tribal chieftain- 
ship, had been removed to Oklahoma. Birdhead, the chief referred 
to in the account, was the last chief of the first rank in the Northern 
band, and as such, ranked as head chief of the Northern Ponca 
(pl. 21, d). The pipe he used was a clan pipe, which, by virtue of 
its being the only one in the north, had come to be regarded as the 
tribal pipe. The Ponca tribal pipe, as I learned in 1954, is still kept 
by Mrs. Grace Warrior, who lives near Ponca City, Okla. 

In the southern band the last first rank chief was Horse-chief-eagle. 
His eldest son, David Eagle, would be the present chief if the former 
political system had survived. OK, as he indicates, was the last 
“little chief” in the northern band. Leslie Red-leaf, who died in 1955, 
was the last second-rank chief in the south. At the present time chiefs 
no longer govern the Ponca. In both bands a tribal council, whose 
members are elected by popular ballot, decides upon questions relating 
to the tribe. For several years Perry Le Claire, of Ponca City, has 
ably served as chairman of the Southern Ponca tribal council. 

The tribal Buffalo-police or Thé-wandse were the executors of the 
wishes of the chiefs. Each chief apparently had one or two of these 
policemen at his beck and call the year around. For special occasions, 
however, such as the tribal bison hunts or the Sun dance, additional 
police were recruited. Skinner (1915 c, pp. 794-795) writes: ‘‘As 
police .. . for any occasion the chief would appoint the bravest 
warriors of some society, but not the whole organization. For another 
occasion he would take men from another society.’”’ The duties of 
the tribal police on the bison hunt are described by PLC in 
his ‘“‘History” (p. 19) and by Skinner (1915 c, pp. 796-797). In 
1954 LMD and Charles Gives-water were the only Buffalo-police 
left in the Ponca tribe. 

Being a chief or policeman in a small, highly interrelated tribe such 
as the Ponca was not easy, for right or wrong, the actions of these 
men were liable to earn them the ill will of not only the persons 
directly involved, but the clansmen of all those persons as well. No 
wonder, then, that chiefs hesitated to punish unruly young warriors. 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 95 


Provinse, a student of Plains Indian government, has commented 
upon the subject as follows: 


Characteristic of Plains justice is the order-preserving nature of police activity 
as opposed to the idea of punishment for the sake of social vengeance. This is 
more clearly brought out by the attitude of the society toward the offender after 
punishment has been inflicted upon him. Conformity, not revenge was sought, 
and immediately after a promise to conform was secured from the delin- 
quent steps were taken to reincorporate him into the society. [Provinse, 1937, 
p. 350.] 

Provinse’s remarks here concern the Plains tribes in general, but 
are particularly relevant to the Ponca. My informants stated that 
often after the Buffalo-police had whipped a man for violating the rule 
against individual hunting during the tribal bison hunt, they would 
give him gifts so that “his heart would not be bad.” After all, on the 
next hunt this offender, or one of his clansmen, might be a policeman. 
That the notion of “reincorporating” the offender into society still 
survives to a remarkable extent among present-day Ponca, I learned 
from several chance remarks of my informants. 

Provinse (1937, pp. 352-355) also notes the powerful force of 
public opinion toward social conformity among the Plains tribes. 
This, I would venture to state, is largely true of all tribal groups. 
To be spurned by one’s tribesmen was a dreadful experience for the 
Ponca man or woman. Accounts of the public ridicule of leaders of 
unsuccessful war parties and the subsequent degradation of these men 
were secured from PLC, JLR, and OK. 

Religious sanctions likewise acted as a powerful deterrent to 
legal acts. Ponca beliefs regarding a murderer, recorded by 
Dorsey (1894, p. 420), include: “. . . he can never satisfy his hunger, 
though he eat much food;....” JLR knew of this belief as well. 
OK cited the case of an Omaha Indian who, when given the wand or 
“pipe” to dance with in the Wad-wa ceremony, held it carelessly to 
show his disrespect for the proceedings, and was later killed by 
lightning. 

As mentioned earlier, infractions of the customary tribal law were 
punished by the Buffalo-police. Provinse (1937, p. 351) summarizes 
this police function as follows: “. . . this wasinvoked most frequently 
and rigorously for thefollowing purposes: (1) to regulate the communal 
hunt; (2) to regulate ceremonies; (3) to settle disputes, punish offend- 
ers, and preserve order in camp; and (4) to regulate war parties and 
restrain such at inopportune times.” Though writing of the Plains 
tribes in general, Provinse’s remarks need no qualification in their 
application to the Ponca. 

When murder was committed, retaliation was left to the relatives 
of the murdered individual (Dorsey, 1897, p. 226). Fletcher and 
La Flesche (1911, p. 216) record the case of a Ponca who accidentally 
killed another man. His punishment was entrusted to the father of 


96 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


the deceased, who decreed that the offender be banished from the 
tribe for a period of 4 years. In connection with this tale these 
writers (ibid.) record the belief that the spirit of a murdered man 
would come back and spoil hunting parties by scaring off game. 
JLR mentioned this as well, and told of one such instance in which 
the murderer, desperate because the ghost had scared away all the 
game for several days, finally shot the specter with his rifle and was 
thereafter freed of it. This instance illustrates quite well the impor- 
tance of supernatural sanctions in Ponca law. 

The punishment of an adulterer was left to the injured husband. 
Skinner (1915 c, pp. 800-801) notes that: “A Ponca might kill, scalp, 
or cut the hair off a man whom he caught holding clandestine inter- 
course with his wife. A wife could kill another woman with whom 
her husband eloped. A husband could cut off the nose and ears 
of an unfaithful wife. Blood vengeance could not be exacted for these 
crimes.” 

At the present time the Northern and Southern Ponca are governed 
by the laws of the States in which they reside: Nebraska and South 
Dakota, the home of the Northern Ponca; Oklahoma, the home of the 
Southern band. In both areas I heard praise of the Ponca as ‘‘decent, 
law-abiding citizens” by local Whites, a rather rare situation for a 
minority group. There are, of course, a few delinquents, and one 
Southern Ponca family has been given the sobriquet ‘‘the James boys” 
by other tribesmen because of their reputation for petty thievery. 
The most common jail offense for members of either group is being 
“drunk and disorderly.” 

Concerning property among the Ponca, PLC commented: 

All of the property of the Poncas belonged to either families, individuals, or 
the tribe as a whole. Our community building belongs to the tribe as a whole. 
Individual property would be things like a man’s gun, or his clothes. People 
would have to ask him if they wanted to use his stuff. The tent or house belonged 
to the family. If a member of the family left he lost his rights to the house. 
If a man left his wife, she kept the tipi. If she leaves him and runs off with 
another man, he keeps it. 

Anyone who stole property from someone else was whipped by the Buffalo-police. 

When a person died, some of his property would be given away to friends and 
relatives, but not all of it. Most of it would be kept by the husband or wife. 

This last statement of PLC is at variance with Dorsey (1894, p. 374), 
who indicates that the Ponca practiced the complete “Give-away” at 
death. Perhaps PLC’s statement reflects the usage of a later period 
in Ponca history, that of PLC’s own lifetime. 

According to PLC, ownership of the land rested with the tribe, and 
crops were worked and shared communally. JLR, however, stated 
that when the Mormon immigrants entered the Ponca country the tribe 
as a whole gave them the use of certain lands which were reserved by a 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 97 


clan then absent. When this clan returned, the Mormon pioneers 
were forced to vacate. This procedure seems to indicate that although 
the land was owned by the tribe, the rights of usufruct were distributed 
according to clan, and that certain clans, with the passage of time, had 
become identified with specific areas. 

Property in movables was often identified by both clan and individ- 
ual markings. Fletcher and La Flesche (1911, p. 42) write: “It was 
a custom in the Ponca tribe for each gens to have its peculiar manner 
of marking arrows, so there should be no dispute in hunting as to the 
gens to which a fatal arrow belonged. This mark, however, did not 
exclude or interfere with a man’s private mark.” 

Certain incorporeal property was also “‘cowned’’ by the clan and the 
individual. Each clan possessed, in addition to its clan ceremonies 
and traditional prerogatives, several personal names which often 
referred to the clan animals or clan taboos. These names were, 
in effect, ‘loaned’ to individual clan members for their lifetime, but 
remained the “property” of the clan. When the holder of a certain 
clan name died, his name reverted to the clan “name pool,” and could 
then be assigned to a newborn infant, not necessarily of the deceased 
man’s family. The clan names thus became, in a sense, titles. It 
was usually possible to tell the clan affiliation of a Ponca by the name 
he bore, though the custom of ‘trading names’ with other tribes, 
such as the Omaha and Dakota, provided a certain number of names 
which had no clan reference. 

The esoteric knowledge of shamans and members of the various 
secret societies was also their personal property. If the owner wished 
to sell this information he might do so, though the price was usually 
high. Skinner (1920, p. 307) writes that members of the Ponca 
Medicine Lodge might pass on their knowledge, by purchase, to their 
eldest son or nearest relative. Otherwise these persons must purchase 
their memberships from the four leaders of the society at a much 
higher cost. The songs of these secret societies were also regarded 
as personal possessions of the members, and must be paid for should 
one desire to learn them. If a person learned such a song by simply 
overhearing it, and then proceeded to sing it himself without paying 
for it, he would be inviting bad luck. 

At the present time many individual peyotists have their own per- 
sonal songs, but these are free for anyone who wishes to learn them. 
The song may be referred to, however, as ‘‘so-and-so’s song’’ if the 
composer who ‘‘made’’ the song isremembered. Songs of the Heduska 
society are considered tribal property at present, and a young Ponca 
complained to the writer that the Kiowa were “great song thieves’”’ 
because they have appropriated many Ponca songs and use them 
at their own gatherings. The same complaint was made of the 


98 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


Winnebago. The Ponca also have “individual” Hediska songs. When 
such a song is sung at a powwow, the man so honored, and his family, 
“oive-away’’ to the singers and honored guests. 

It was interesting to me to learn that the older Ponca have a strong 
interest in ethics. The following code of ethics was secured from 
PLC, and a slightly different one is found in his ‘‘History” (p. 19). 


The Poncas have only seven little rules to follow. These are: 
. Have one God. 

. Respect the sacred pipe. 

. Be good to one another. 

. Do not talk about one another. 

. Be good to the old people. 

. Do not steal. 

. Do not kill. 


STOOP WDE 


To what extent this code of ethics reflects missionary teachings we 
cannot say. The rules certainly demonstrate the high value which 
the Ponca placed upon intragroup loyalty and cooperation. PLC 
also provided the following set of rules relating to the behavior of 
clan chiefs, and presumably applicable to the tribal chiefs of the 
first and second ranks as well: 

1. Be good to the old. 

2. Be good to orphans. 

38. Be good to the needy. 
This system clearly shows the function of the chief as a “provider” 
for his clan particularly, as in the case of orphans, of those not pro- 
vided with close relatives willing to attend to their needs. 

Ponca informants during the past 100 years have consistently com- 
bined ethics with religion. Since there was apparently little connec- 
tion between religion and morality in many American Indian tribes, 
the Ponca are a bit unusual in this respect. Again, however, it is 
possible that much of this is due to missionary influences during the 
19th century, though the Ponca deny this is true. At any rate 
Skinner (1920, p. 307) notes that: ‘‘The candidates [for the Pebble 
Medicine Lodge society] were instructed how to do things, and to live 
good lives.” Likewise, Whitman (1939, pp. 190-191) tells of WBB’s 
uncle lecturing him on the fact that if he leads a dissolute life he will 
later repent it: ‘‘What you have done is going to come back on you 
one by one. That is the time you are going to cry.” I secured the same 
information from WBB 15 years later. Whatever the sources, it is 
clear that during the past century Ponca ideas of ethics and morality 
closely approximated those of the major culture. 

OK stated that the women who were tattooed by the Night-dance 
society were supposed to be models of virtue and kindness thereafter, 
but that in later years they did not live up to this rule and were ‘‘too 
proud.” Most of them, therefore, “came to a bad end, one way or 
another.” 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 99 


RELIGION, DANCES AND CEREMONIES, AND GAMES 


An excellent summary of the basic religious attitudes of the Ponca 
was provided by PLC, who, when questioned on the subject, replied 
as follows: 

The Ponca religion is quite a simple one. We believe in only one God, and 
that is Wakdnda. He triesto help usallofthe time. We have asaying ‘‘Wakdnda- 
qdadi bdogé gaze.’”’ This means ‘God our father has made everything.’ A Ponca 
knows this and remembers it all of the time. 

The Poncas give thanks to God in their different ceremonies and religious 
worships. In the Sun dance, the Wd-wq, the Heduska, the Peyote church, or in 
the Christian church, it is all the same God that we pray to and thank. 

Wakénda-pézi is the same as the Devil to the Poncas. He is the bad god, and 
seeks to lead men into evil ways. There are other spirits or demons, but there 
is only one real God. 

After we die, we go to heaven. This is Md¢gatd in Ponca, and a man may say, 
just before he dies “‘I am going under the ground but I will be above you.” This 
means that he believes that he will go to heaven. 

The chiefs were the main religious leaders among the Poncas in former days. 
They did the praying for the tribe. 


PLC’s statement, recorded in 1949, echoes information collected 
by J. O. Dorsey (1894, p. 366) half a century earlier. Dorsey 
writes: ‘In the Pégiha, the language spoken by the Ponca and 
Omaha, Wakdnda means ‘the mysterious’ or ‘powerful one,’ and it is 
applied in several senses. It is now used to denote the God of mono- 
theism. Some of the old people say that their ancestors always 
believed in a supreme Wakdnda or Mysterious Power.”’ In the same 
work Dorsey mentions Wakdnda-péz, and says that the term was 
used for Satan after the Ponca had learned of him from the Whites 
Gibids) Dp." 371). 

The Ponca conception of the supernatural might best be described 
as animatistic. Places, objects, and persons were considered xiibe or 
supernaturally powerful in various degrees. Whitman (1939, p. 180) 
writes: ‘“Xvibe is the Ponca term for supernatural power. Anything 
animate or inanimate which is thought to possess supernatural power 
is said to be rtibe, and any man or woman who is thought to be able 
to control this supernatural power is said to be a rtibe.”’ 

Usually a Ponca boy secured his first xiibe on the vision quest, which 
took place at the age of puberty. With his face darkened with charcoal 
so that all would recognize his holy errand, he would go to some 
isolated hilltop to fast and pray for 4 days and nights, visited only by 
some older man who brought him a little broth and water after dark. 
If he were arduous and a bit lucky besides, the spirit of some bird or 
animal would appear to him and grant him power. Later, if he were 
both devout and lucky he might acquire more xibe by fasting and 
praying, either in a vision quest or publicly in the Sun dance. ube 
could also be bought and sold in the form of medicine packets. 


100 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


The vision quest is no longer practiced and there has been a gradual 
erosion of belief in xzibe during the past 50 years. There are still many 
stories concerning it, however. PLC stated that when he was small 
he avoided the house of Shaky, a famous Northern Ponca shaman, 
because of this man’s ztibe, and in his autobiography (1961, p. 18) he 
mentions his fear of the power of an old Dakota medicine woman who 
was xzibe from a mole. 

Formerly this zrtéibe or medicine power was stored in medicine 
packets and sacred bundles. Medicine packets were generally in- 
dividually owned and contained some small object or group of objects 
relating to the owner’s vision, such as feathers from a bird, the skin 
or claws of an animal, or the powdered roots of plants. Bundles were 
usually larger in size, and made up of several such medicines, larger 
bird or animal skins, and the musical instruments and regalia used 
at the feast when the bundle was opened. Bundles were usually the 
property of a clan, a society, or even, as with the tribal pipe, of the 
tribe as a whole. There were, however, bundles which were in- 
dividually owned. 

Several types of bundles were used by the Ponca. Some related to 
war. These generally contained birdskins to which scalps were 
attached. They were carried by the leader of the war party, to be 
opened when the group was about to attack the enemy. Others 
related to hunting. Still others were used in curing the sick, and 
contained many herb simples. Some of the bundles of the Medicine 
Lodge society were employed to work black magic against the enemies 
of the owners. Formerly, sacred bundles were opened at least once a 
year, their contents ceremonially displayed and fumigated in cedar 
smoke, and their wrappings repaired or replaced. Such a bundle 
ceremony is described in Whitman’s ‘“‘Xvbe’’ (1939, pp. 180-181). 

Bundles were usually hung in a safe place at the back of the tipi or 
earth lodge during the winter. In summer they were hung outside 
at least part of the time if the weather was good, but were removed 
indoors if it began to rain. When the tribe was on the move each 
bundle was transported on a separate horse, ridden by a young boy 
who had never had intercourse with a woman. The boy’s job was to 
see that the bundle never touched the ground. 

At the present time most of the old Ponca bundles are either in 
large eastern museums or have been buried with their keepers. How- 
ever, there is still at least one bundle among the Southern Ponca. 
It is kept by Parrish Williams, who inherited it, as the eldest son in 
the family, from his father. Parrish, like most present-day Ponca, 
has an exaggerated dread of bundles. He has never opened the 
bundle, for fear of its power, and was loath to discuss it with me. 
John Williams, a younger son, was more cooperative, and commented 
that the bundle had been used in both hunting and war. After each 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 101 


successful employment of it, according to Williams, another piece 
was added to its contents. For example, after a successful hunt a 
buffalo tail might be added; after a war party, a scalp. He also be- 
lieved that mescal beans were a part of the bundle’s contents. The 
significance of these beans to the Ponca is discussed later in this 
chapter (pp. 121-124). 

The Williams bundle, when I saw it in 1954, was kept on a specially 
constructed shelfin the Parrish Williams residence. It measured 
approximately 2 feet in length by 1 foot in thickness and was wrapped 
in a tanned animal hide secured with thick hide thongs. Several 
large gourd rattles tied to the outside undoubtedly provided rhythmic 
accompaniment to the ritual songs which were sung when the bundle 
was opened. 

There are no longer any sacred bundles among the Northern Ponca. 
OK, JLR, and PLC all mentioned, however, that the late chief 
Whiteshirt kept a “pelican” (skin and head) which he used to ‘‘doctor’’ 
people. From the description of its use, it is evident that this was a 
personal doctoring bundle. OK, who was “doctored” with this 
bundle, described the ritual as follows: 

Once I asked old man Whiteshirt to come over and sing for me. I gave him 
something to eat and after we had finished he went to work. He had one of those 
big gourds and he shook it while he sang. After he sang a while he took up his 
pelican and began to hit me with the beak in different places on the body. It 
hurt! I hadn’t figured on this. I just wanted to hear him sing. 

PLC mentioned that Whiteshirt often wore a warbonnet made of 
pelican feathers to show his source of power (probably made of the 
wing feathers of the same bird as his “‘bundle”’). He is shown wearing 
this bonnet in plate 21,d. George Phillips, an Omaha Indian, recalled 
that Whiteshirt used to bring his “pelican” to Peyote meetings when 
he was visiting on the Omaha reservation. When he sang he held the 
bird upside down, holding the tail feathers extended like Peyote 
“feathers.” The Omaha peyotists were highly amused at this, 
partly because ‘‘medicine ways” (i.e., the Medicine Lodge and the 
animal cults) are not supposed to be mixed with the Peyote religion 
among the Omaha and Ponca, and partly because the pelican’s tail 
was ridiculously short in comparison with the tails of other birds more 
commonly used for peyote ‘‘feathers.” 

PLC described another medicine bundle, used by the late Northern 
Ponca chief Broken-jaw. It consisted of a muskrat skin and a short, 
flat-ended, wooden paddle. In his curing rite Broken-jaw would first 
hold the muskrat skin, nose forward, to different parts of the patient’s 
body. When he came to the part of the body where the malignancy 
rested, the muskrat skin would begin to quiver. Having completed 
his diagnosis, Broken-jaw would lay the skin aside, take up his paddle, 
and jab the patient with it in the area indicated. This would, ap- 

718-071—65——8 


102 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY Bull. 195 


parently, dislodge the foreign matter, which would pass out of the patient’s 
body through the bowels and effect the cure. One hopes that none of 
Broken-jaw’s patients was afflicted with appendicitis! In 1956 PLC 
made a copy of Broken-jaw’s bundle and presented it to the Nebraska 
State Historical Society Museum in Lincoln. 

The tribal pipe of the Ponca is considered the most powerful 
bundle. It is kept, at present, by Mrs. Grace Warrior (nee Standing- 
buffalo), a Southern Ponca. Ordinarily it is kept in a special room, 
reserved for this purpose, in the Warrior home. Because of the zrtibe 
inherent in the bundle, this room is said to be continually foggy or 
hazy (Clyde Warrior). The pipe is, or at any rate should be, hung 
above the door of a special tipi during the annual Southern Ponca 
powwow, held in late August. Clan pipes, likewise, were held sacred, 
and Birdhead’s clan pipe, which functioned for many years as the 
“tribal” pipe of the Northern Ponca, was treated with the utmost 
respect by PLC when he opened the bundle containing it for the 
University of Nebraska State Museum in 1951. Marvellously 
enough, just as PLC untied the wrappings of the bundle, there was 
a loud peal of thunder, although the day had been clear until that 
moment! 

While on the subject of bundles, one should note in passing that while 
bundles and their attendant ceremonies are largely a thing of the past 
to present-day Ponca, the carved and painted boxes which contain 
the articles used in the Peyote rite are treated much as bundles were 
in the past. Likewise the ‘feathers’ used in the rite are endowed 
with greater or lesser amounts of waxtbe or ‘‘power.”’ Among the 
most powerful feathers are the scissortail flycatcher, ‘“‘waterbird”’ 
(Anhinga anhinga), eagle, and flicker. Pheasant feathers, though 
attractive, have less power. The feathers of the owl are usually 
avoided, as their use marks the owner as a shaman. 

Much of Ponca religion centered about various dances and cere- 
monies. The importance of such activity in Prairie and Plains 
Indian life has, in my opinion, been greatly underestimated by Ameri- 
can anthropologists. This is probably due to the fact that both have 
become relatively unimportant in contemporary American culture. 
Thus, many ethnographers, while going into great detail concerning 
the political, social, legal, and economic systems of a particular group, 
gloss over the ceremonial life of the people in a few paragraphs. Yet 
ceremonial activity and dancing occupied most of a Plains Indian’s 
spare time. Probably a third or more of a 19th-century Ponca’s year 
was taken up preparing for or participating in such activity, and even 
today such activity looms large for many adult Southern Ponca. 

In his Ponca ‘‘History” (pp. 19-21), PLC describes what are, to him, 
the three major Ponca ceremonials. These are the Sun dance, Wd-wq 
or Pipe dance, and Hediska or ‘‘War’’ dance. 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 103 


Concerning the Sun dance, George A. Dorsey states: ‘‘The name 
the Poncas give to the Sun Dance ceremony is Sun-Seeing dance; 
that is, the sun is a witness to the dance.” This is from his mono- 
eraph, “The Ponca Sun Dance,” undoubtedly the most complete 
description of the rites (1905, p. 69). Readers interested in the many 
facets of this elaborate ceremony are directed to this work, a step-by- 
step account of one of the last Southern Ponca performances. 

In his “History” (p. 19) PLC briefly characterizes the dance as 
follows: 

They have the Sun dance in midsummer when the corn is in silk. The dance 
lasts four days and four nights without drink, sleep, and without food, a real 


sacrifice. The dancers are in the shape of a wheel or representing the four winds 
they would swing every so often. 


In an interview PLC commented further: 


The dancers are attached to the pole at the center with rawhide ropes, which 
are threaded through a gash in their breast. They swing on these ropes every 
now and then, trying to break the flesh. When they break the flesh they are 
finished dancing. 

The Sun dance is the biggest and most sacred ceremony of the Ponca. The 
Poncas used to have it when they were camped together as one tribe. Later, 
when the tribe split up, the Southern band still kept up the Sun dance. Some 
of the Northern Poncas would go down for it, because we are all one tribe. 


Choreographically the Sun dance is quite simple. Dancers merely 
danced in place with a toe-heel step, gazing at the ‘‘thunderbird’s 
nest,’’ a bunch of boughs tied in the crotch of the center pole, and 
piping on eagle-bone whistles all the while. Occasionally a group 
of dancers, under the direction of their personal priest, would slowly 
dance toward the center pole a few feet and then retreat, maintaining 
a rough rank or line while doing so. Dancers equipped with “offering 
objects” such as sage wrapped hoops (emblematic of the universe) or 
cloth banners would hold them aloft, extended toward the “‘thunder- 
bird’s nest.”” These features of the dance are well illustrated in the 
plates which accompany Dorsey’s monograph (1905); also in the old 
print of the dance reproduced in the present volume (pl. 17, a). 

G. A. Dorsey obtained the following symbolic interpretation of the 
dance from Chief White-eagle (pl. 11), a longtime Sun dance priest: 

The lodge itself is typical of the circle of tipis overhead. The centre-pole seems 
to be symbolic of a man, an enemy, conceived of as naked, that the Great Medicine 
may see him. It is also conceived of as firewood, being of willow, which is said 
to be hard to kill and of a clean nature. In the fork of the pole is the nest of the 
Thunder-Bird, sometimes spoken of by the Ponca as an eagle, sometimes as a 
brant or loon. This bird produces rain, thunder, and lightning. The altar seems 
to be symbolic of a fireplace; it is also spoken of as the sun, which in turn is 
spoken of as the chief. According to Ponca mythology, in the beginning of 
creation was the sun or fireplace, and at that time it contained the four colors 
which are found in the four tipis of preparation. Next came the buffalo bull 
bearing a pipe, offering himself to the people. The bull came from the interior 


104 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


of the earth and brought the people the paints of the lodge. Thus the exceed- 
ingly simple altar may be said to consist of the fireplace, or sun, the buffalo, and 
finally of the sage, which is symbolic of the people. [Dorsey, 1905, pp. 87-88.] 

This interpretation of Sun dance symbolism, though it reveals many 
important Ponca concepts, fails to assign any overall symbolism to 
the rites. Nor could any of my informants do this, even those who 
had taken part in the dance. The true symbolism of the dance, it 
seems, has been lost by the Ponca and must be sought among other 
tribes which practiced the rites. Perhaps the most logical of the 
many interpretations of the Prairie-Plains Sun dance is that offered 
by the Assiniboin, Plains-Ojibwa, and Plains-Cree, Northern Plains 
groups whose performance of the dance is very similar to that of the 
Ponca. Their Sun dance is performed to call the thunderbird to 
bring rain for growing crops and to provide grass for the buffalo (or 
today, cattle). To induce this rainmaker to stop and ‘“‘rest’’ in their 
territory a ‘‘nest’”’ is provided for him in the fork of the Sun dance 
pole. The dancers are dressed to represent baby thunderbirds (i.e, 
naked and without plumage) and their piping on eagle-bone whistles 
imitates the constant chirping of nestlings. 

There is much to be said for this interpretation. In addition to 
explaining the symbolism of the thunderbird’s nest, the dancer’s 
‘naked’? costume, and the whistle blowing, it also accounts for the 
use of willow (a tree which grows near, and is associated with, water) 
for the center pole and the performers’ abstention from food and drink 
during the ceremony (i.e., they are waiting for the “‘mother’’ thunder- 
bird to come and feed them). Perhaps the Ponca once held similar 
beliefs which have been lost through the passage of time, or, more 
likely, the Ponca adopted the form of the ceremony, without the 
underlying symbolism, from some other tribe, possibly the Dakota. 
In this connection it should be noted that the Omaha never performed 
the dance. 

A recent Southern Ponca interpretation of the dance’s meaning, 
interesting as an example of religious syncretism, was offered by WBB: 

In the Sun dance the dancers imitate Our Lord when he was crucified. They 
dress in the same way he dressed, with just a wrapping around the waist. Instead 
of the crown of thorns we have wreaths of sage, because we are Indians. We 
pierce our bodies just like He was pierced when they nailed Him to the cross. 
The horsehair collars we sometimes wear [necklaces and bandoliers made of long 
red horsehair fringes] represent the blood flowing from the wounds in Our Lord’s 
body. 

G. A. Dorsey (1905, p. 88), in comparing the Ponca Sun dance with 
that of the Cheyenne and Arapaho, notes a few points of difference. 
In general, these hold true for other Plains tribes as well. He men- 
tions that unlike the Cheyenne and Arapaho performances, the Ponca 
Sun dance was an annual affair, not dependent upon the vow or 
pledge of an individual. Neither did the dancers vow to dance or do 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 105 


so because they belonged to a certain warrior society. Instead, they 
were individually asked to participate by the priests. 

The Ponca Wd-wq or Pipe dance is a version of the widespread 
Calumet ceremony. In his ‘‘History’” (p. 19), PLC refers to it as 
“the next branch of the Sun dance.” This does not indicate that 
there is any actual connection between the two ceremonies in PLC’s 
mind, but merely that he would place it second in importance among 
the Ponca ceremonials. 

In this dance the performer carries a beautiful feathered wand, 
fashioned like the stem of a calumet and called, in fact, a “pipe.” 
This wand is carried in the left hand and a large gourd rattle, in the 
right. Waving the wand back and forth and shaking the gourd, he 
imitates the flight of the eagle. Whitman’s description of the Ponca 
Wad-wa in “The Oto” has been termed the best in existence (1937, 
pp. 121-125). PLC in his “History” (pp. 19-20) gives the salient 
features: 

Anyone in the tribe that is needy makes a little bag of tobacco and hands it to 
anyone that has plenty to spare and if this man accepts this bag of tobacco the 
dance is given. A pipe and gourd is used. The gourd has a rattle, little stones 
inside it keeps time with the drum and the pipe on the left. While the dance is 
on, it is passed to anyone that wanted to dance with it and help give things away 
to the needy ones. 

PLC’s statement that only one pipe was used differs from the 
accounts of Whitman (1937, p. 282) and Skinner (1915, p. 789), 
both of whom note that two pipes were employed. James O. Dorsey 
(1884 a, p. 282), however, who observed the dance many years before 
these authors, says that the Ponca employed only one pipe. To 
further complicate matters, all of my Northern Ponca informants 
stated that only one pipe was used, whereas all of those in the south 
insisted that a minimum of two, and occasionally four, were employed. 

The Wd-wq was extremely sacred, and involved the ceremonial 
“capture,” adoption, and return of a person called the hdga or “honored 
one” by a ceremonial grandfather. This héga, the child of the man 
who had accepted the gift of tobacco and who was to be honored in 
the ceremony, was usually a gil, though occasionally a boy. At 
one period in Ponca history the ceremony was used to cement peace 
treaties with enemy tribes. A member of an alien tribe, usually a 
chief or other influential person, was honored by the adoption of his 
child in the ceremony, and thereafter, at least in theory, labored to 
keep his people on terms of amity with the Ponca. 

The ceremony also functioned, as PLC indicates and as Whitman 
notes in his account of the rite, as a means of redistributing wealth, 
both intratribally and intertribally. Most often the Ponca used the 
ceremony to secure horses from tribes which had an abundance when 
they were understocked, especially from the Teton Dakota. 


106 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


Because the recipient of the pipe was always obliged to give the 
donor a large number of valuable gifts, certain unscrupulous persons, 
in the early reservation period, used the Pipe dance to live by the 
industry of others. Although in theory a man might refuse the gift 
of tobacco, most were in fact too proud to do so, even when they 
knew the donor was a rascal and they were too poor to accept. This 
fact was cited by EBC as one reason for the decline of the ceremony. 
It has not been performed since the 1890’s in the Niobrara area. It 
persisted until about 1920 in Oklahoma. Though certain Southern 
Ponca talk of reviving the Wd-wq as a powwow attraction, it is un- 
likely that this will take place, as the fear of ‘“‘doing something wrong” 
and thus incurring supernatural punishment is still strong among the 
older men, the only ones capable of reviving the ritual. 

A very interesting fact not noted by the various writers who have 
discussed the Ponca Wéd-wg is that the drum used to accompany the 
dance was a hollow-log water drum, of the type used by the Ojibwa 
and other Central Algonquian tribes in their Medicine Lodge rites. 
Parrish Williams, who mentioned this to me, stated that this type of 
drum was not used by the Ponca in any other dance or ceremony. 
Their use of the drum in this dance indicates either a considerable 
antiquity for the Ponca ceremony or that it was a more recent 
borrowing from some tribe in the Eastern Woodland area. 

The last of the three Ponca dances which PLC considers most 
important is the Heditska or “War” dance. In his “History” (p. 21) 
he writes: “The best dance is called Hay-thu-schka, known as the 
war dance; it is said that anyone that is not well and feeling bad and 
anyone that is mourning, the sound of the drum will revive them and 
make them happy.” Skinner (1915 c¢, pp. 784-785), in his discussion 
of Ponca societies, gives an excellent description of the dance. 

This dance, which was at one time merely one of several ‘‘owned”’ 
by Ponca warrior societies, was apparently borrowed from the Pawnee 
at an early date. It has now been a part of Ponca culture for so 
long, however, that they consider it their own, and even have an 
origin legend which explains its introduction. Skinner (ibid., p. 
784) writes: “According to Charlie Collins, this society originated 
among the Ponca, and was founded by a woman who dreamed she 
went to another world where she saw Indians dancing.” My own 
informant, Sylvester Warrior, was quite indignant when I suggested 
that the Ponca had borrowed the dance from some other tribe, 
saying: “There are too many songs in the dance which tell of Ponca 
being blessed by Wakdnda.” 

As mentioned above, the Hediska was originally a warrior’s dancing 
society. Like other societies of this type, it had a roster of officers, 
including a drumkeeper, eight dance leaders, and two whip men who 
started each dance episode and who whipped reluctant dancers across 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 107 


the legs to make them get up and perform. The characteristic orna- 
ments of the dance were the porcupine and deer-hair roach headdress 
and the “crow belt” or feather dance bustle. The latter was emblem- 
atic of a battlefield, and its use was restricted to certain officers of 
the society who were distinguished warriors. Both of these ornaments 
were ritually fumigated during the ceremony by holding them over a 
cedar needle smudge. 

About 1880, with the decline of intertribal warfare, the Hediska 
society began to take on areligious flavor. Instead of the war speeches 
and coup countings of the earlier dance there were long prayers for 
the benefit of the group by designated officials. Gift giving, rather 
than war honors, was the basis of admission. It was also about this 
time that women were admitted as dancers. Students of American 
ethnology will recognize this form of the dance as that which diffused 
from the Dakota tribe to the Central Algonquian groups as the ‘(Dream 
dance” or ‘Drum religion.” The Hediéska persisted in this form, in 
both Oklahoma and Nebraska, until about 1925, and is still retained 
by the Osage, who seem to have secured some of their ritual from the 
Ponca, as their ceremonial War dance or ‘“‘Man’s dance.’ 

Today the Ponca dance has entered a third phase, which might 
be termed ‘‘Pan-Indian.” Most of the religious elements (except 
for song texts) have been lost, and the dance is, for most participants 
and observers, merely a “big time.” It is no longer the property of 
any organized group. Instead, any and all dancers are welcome, 
including visitors from other tribes. Gift giving, except for one 
afternoon performance, has been eliminated because it ‘slows down 
the program.” The larger powwows feature specialty acts by visiting 
dance teams and a contest in which the prettiest Indian girl is crowned 
“powwow princess.” There are also ‘‘championship’ War dance 
contests for men. Costumes have become quite baroque, and the 
symbolism of the roach and crow belt have been forgotten. 

Choreographically speaking, the Hediéska consists of individual 
dancers performing any steps they choose while circling the drum. 
The traditional progression around the drum was clockwise, but 
the Southern Ponca, as observed in 1952, 1954, 1959, and 1961 moved 
in a counterclockwise direction. PLC and older Southern Ponca 
attributed this change to the influence of Southeastern tribes, such 
as the Creek and Cherokee, whose dances progress in a counter- 
clockwise direction. Many of the Ponca Hediska songs refer to the 
exploits of Ponca heroes in the wars with the Dakota. A few have 
been borrowed from other tribes and some are slightly reworked 
versions of songs formerly used by other Ponca warrior societies, 
now obsolete. 


108 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


Beginning in 1958 there was an attempt to revive the old Hediska 
organization among the Ponca, and several performances of the dance 
in the old form have been held. Active in this revival were Sylvester 
Warrior and Clyde Warrior. 

The annual Southern Ponca powwow, which features the Hediska 
in its secular form, is held each year during the last week of August. 
It is one of the principal ‘‘Indian” events in Oklahoma, and draws 
large crowds. As many as three or four hundred dancers, representing 
a score of tribes, take part. Among the Northern Ponca the Hediska 
has not been performed since about 1935. PLC, however, still owns 
a dancing costume and participates in the dances of other tribes on 
occasion.** 

Skinner (1915 c, p. 785) mentions a variant of the Hediska called the 
Sd Hediska or “Sioux Hediska.” It differed from the ordinary 
dance in that the performers shaved their foreheads and the sides 
of their heads and let their hair hang loose. This seems to represent 
a Ponca borrowing of the Dakota version of their own dance, for the 
Dakota admit that they learned the dance from the Omaha and 
Ponca (whom the Dakota regard as a single tribe, and call Omaha). 
The Dakota of Pine Ridge and Rosebud Reservations still term the 
more formal version of their dance Omaha watsipi or ‘Omaha dance.’ 
The Sdé Hediska is no longer performed by the Ponca as such, but 
one suspects that a great deal of the present ‘fancy dancing”’ style 
stems from this source. 

OK and PLC both mentioned a dance called Ohgdize or ‘Reach-in- 
the-boiling-kettle.’ This dance is known to the Dakota and certain 
other Prairie-Plains tribes as the “kettle dance.” Dancers circle 
a pot of cooked dog meat four times, then, on a certain musical cue, 
the leader dips into the pot with his bare hand and arm and seizes a 
piece of meat. Usually this is a dog’s head. PLC said that this 
dance was originally a part of the full Hediska performance, but later 
evolved into a separate dance. ‘The dance is still performed by the 
Teton Dakota and the Winnebago. 

Another dance which was once a part of the Hediska was described 
by PLC. It was called Nuddde-watsigaxe or ‘“Going-to-war-dance.” 


First the dancers are all seated facing east. When the music begins they get up 
and dance forward with low, sneaky steps. After the first part of the song they 
go back to where they were. When the second part of the song begins they go 
forward again, then they go back once more. This is repeated a third time. 
Each time they go a little further ahead and straighten up a little more. The 
fourth time they break into a wild War dance, which is like the HediSka. This 
last time the dancers move any which way, just as they please. This dance is a 
lot of fun. The Sioux still dance it now and then. 


38a Since the above was written, PLO and the author, with the help of Omaha, Winnebago, and Dakota 
singers and dancers, staged two Heduska dances at the Northern Ponca Community Building (1963 and 
1964). It seems unlikely that the dance will continue, however, as the Northern Ponca plan to sell the 
Community Building once they have been “terminated.” 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 109 


I have seen this dance performed on two occasions, once by the 
Teton Dakota at the Oglala Fair, Oglala, S. Dak., where it was called 
the ‘“Sneak-up” dance, in 1960, and once by the Meskwaki at the 
Meskwaki powwow, near Tama, Iowa, in 1956. The announcer at 
the Meskwaki powwow called it the ‘“Meskwaki dance.”’ 

The widespread Ghost dance did not reach the Ponca until about 
1900, according to LMD. It came to them from the Pawnee, who had 
learned it from some tribe farther west.**> Among the Ponca there was 
only one leader, who was a powerful xiibe or shaman. He was assisted 
by two “prophets.’”’ Among the Ponca the dance was performed in 
order that the living might gain contact with deceased relatives and 
friends. Men and women danced in large circles, facing inward, their 
hands joined, in order that the ‘‘power”’ of the dance might pass freely 
from one to the other. The step was a simple step-drag to the left. 
The dance lasted 4 days. The first 3 days the group danced from noon 
until midnight, the last day from sunrise of that day until sunrise of 
the following day. 

The leader and the two prophets danced inside the great circle, 
facing the dancers and watching for persons who were about to visit 
the spirits (i.e., collapse into a cataleptic trance). When the leader 
noticed such a person he would dance before him (or her) and project 
“electricity”? into him by means of a small mirror which he carried 
in his hand. The person would then fall, and, according to the Ghost 
dance belief, his spirit would leave his body and travel to the spirit 
world where departed relatives and friends lived in a land of plenty. 
When his spirit returned to his body, which was still lying in the dance 
ring, he would tell the other dancers, through the leader and the two 
prophets, what he had seen and heard in the other world. 

In connection with the Ghost dance a special form of the Hand 
game, known as the Ghost dance Hand game, was often played. The 
Pawnee form of the Ghost dance and its associated Hand game have 
been ably discussed by Lesser (1933) in his ‘“The Pawnee Ghost Dance 
Hand Game.” Since the Ponca practices were apparently borrowed 
from the Pawnee and remained virtually identical with those of that 
tribe, readers interested in a more complete description than that 
offered here are referred to this fine work. 

The Ghost dance and Ghost dance Hand game never reached the 
Northern Ponca. Among the Southern Ponca the dance lasted until 
1914-15. During the period of my fieldwork in 1954 the crow feather 
ornaments used in it were still preserved, according to WBB, by Mrs. 
Napoleon Buffalo-head, the daughter of one of the principals. The 
Ghost dance Hand game, which entirely superseded the older Ponca 
Moccasin and Hand games, is still played several times a year by the 
Southern Ponca. 


38b James Mooney (1896, p. 159) states that “the Ghost dance was brought to the Pawnee, Ponca, Oto, 
Missouri, Kansa, Iowa, Osage, and other tribes in central Oklahoma by delegates from the Arapaho and 
Cheyenne in the west.”’ 


110 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


In connection with the present-day Ghost dance Hand game a 
dance, known simply as the ‘Gourd dance,” is performed. Two 
persons, male or female, dance at a time, carrying large gourd rattles 
in the right hand. Choreographically the dance is much like the 
Hediiska, except that the dancers shake their gourds in time with 
the drum. This dance, according to LMD, was borrowed from the 
Pawnee at the same time as the Ghost dance Hand game. He 
mentioned, however, that the Ponca had previously possessed a 
Gourd dance of their own. This probably refers to the dance of the 
“Make-no-flight” society, mentioned below. 

Another Ponca “Ghost dance,” apparently a predecessor of that 
described above but not connected with it im any way, is described 
by James O. Dorsey (1884 a, p. 353). He writes: ‘“Wandze-1ddedéma 
are those who have supernatural communications with ghosts... . 
The dancers made their bodies gray, and called themselves ghosts.” 

The Ponca had many warriors’ dancing societies besides the Hediiska. 
Since most of these are described at some length by both Dorsey 
(1884 a) and Skinner (1915 c) they will be treated quite briefly here. 
Each had its characteristic costume, songs, customs, and roster of 
officers. These warrior society dances, like the dances in present- 
day Western European society, were introduced, enjoyed a period 
of great popularity, and then were abandoned. Perhaps only two 
or three would be active at one time. There was apparently a rough 
sort of age grading in the societies, but it was not as clearly defined 
as in other Prairie-Plains groups. The Tokdla dancing group was 
apparently made up of the youngest warriors, the Hediska and 
Make-no-flight of slightly older, seasoned men, the Mawddani of 
middle-aged and older veterans, and the Iskd-iyiha of old men and 
chiefs who had retired from military affairs. 

The Tokdla warriors’ society or dance was described by Big-goose, 
one of Skinner’s informants, as being, along with the Sun dance, 
Hediska, and Not-afraid-to-die, one of the oldest Ponca dances 
(1915 c, p. 783). Dorsey (1884 a, p. 354), however, states that it was 
borrowed from the Dakota. Since the name means “kit fox’? in 
Dakota and is meaningless in Pégiha, it would appear that Dorsey 
is correct. 

Dorsey is the authority for the statement that the Tokdla was 
composed of young warriors originally (1884 a, pp. 354-355). This 
croup had a traditional rivalry with the Mawddani or “Mandan” 
warriors’ society which sometimes resulted in wife stealing of the 
type so well known among the Crow (Skinner, 1915 c, p. 788). In 
later years the society disappeared, and its dance became a mere 
burlesque. PLC remembered it only as a “silly dance” performed 
to work up enthusiasm for the Hediska. Choreographically it was 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 111 


much like the Round dance described below (pp.114-115). No animal 
mime was involved. The dance is no longer performed by the Ponca. 
It is still seen, but rarely, among the Yanktonai and Teton Dakota. 

A dance called the Mikasi or ‘Coyote dance’ was also remembered 
by PLC. He stated that only men participated and that Give-away 
songs were sung in connection with it (i.e., songs in which the dancers 
give away gifts, asin the Wd-wq). It became obsolete about 1900. I 
strongly suspect that this dance is the Pégiha parallel of the Tokdila, 
the Tokdla having been merely a fashionable form of the dance which 
was adopted from the Dakota. Its choreography was identical with 
that of the preceding dance. 

Both Riggs (1898, p. xxxii) and Dorsey (1884 a, p. 352) describe 
a warriors’ dancing society called the ‘‘Make-no-flight.” Dorsey 
(ibid.) writes: ‘‘. . . dancers hold gourd rattles, and each one carries 
many arrows on his back as well as in his arms. The members vow 
not to flee from a foe. They blacken themselves all over with 
charcoal.” This is apparently the same dance which Skinner (1915 
c, pp. 785-786) mentions as the ‘‘Not-afraid-to-die.”’ He describes 
the society’s dance: “‘. . . All [the dancers] stood in a row and danced 
up and down, remaining ‘stationary.’”’ 

I could learn nothing of this dance from my informants. The 
names of the society and their use of war bonnets with split horns at 
the sides, mentioned by Skinner (ibid., p. 785) suggest that this dance 
was a Ponca parallel of the Dakota No-flight and Strong-heart war- 
riors’ dancing societies, which were virtually identical with one 
another. The choreography suggests the Kiowa and Kiowa-Apache 
Blackfoot dance and the Plains-Ojibwa ‘One-legged” dance. The 
members of the Ponca Make-no-flight society, together with the 
members of the Hediska group, seem to have been the military elite 
of the tribe, the “shock troops” in every battle. 

The Mawddan, according to Dorsey (1884 a, pp. 354-355), was 
a warriors’ society made up of ‘none but aged men and those in the 
prime of life...” This society performed a bravery dance, which 
functioned as a sort of “military funeral” over the bodies of warriors 
who had been slain by the enemy. Each body was placed in a sitting 
posture in the dance lodge, as if alive, with a deer-hoof rattle fastened 
to one arm. The dance was apparently identical with the Hediska 
in its choreography. 

Skinner (1915 ¢, p. 786) describes yet another warriors’ dancing 
society called Iskd-iyiha. This name means ‘White-owners’ in 
Dakota, and indicates the origin of the dance. He gives Pdduze as 
another name of the society. Dorsey (1884 a, p. 355) gives Gaxéxe 
as still another synonym. ‘This society was noted for the richness 
of its costumes, which were covered with many silver brooches. 


1 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


PLC remembered the Jskd-iyutha only as the ‘‘White-horse-dance.” 
He described it as a lively dance much like the Hediska, and stated 
that many gifts were given away at its performances. 

In 1949 I saw this dance performed by a group of Teton Dakota 
at Trenton, Nebr. It resembled the Omaha dance (the Dakota ver- 
sion of the Hedtska) so closely as to be indistinguishable from it, 
were it not for the lyrics of its songs. Among the Dakota, in the 
early reservation period, the members of this society all rode white 
horses, hence the name of the group. The Ponca name Pdduze is 
merely the Pégiha equivalent of the Dakota Iskd-yuha, meaning 
‘White-owners.’ Leonard Smith explained that the other Ponca name 
for the dance, Gaxéxe, referred to the noise made by the clashing 
metal ornaments and mescal bean bandoliers and bracelets worn by 
the dancers. Whitman (1939, pp. 186-187) gives a similar explana- 
tion. The group was made up of chiefs and older, respected warriors. 

PLC described two other dances which seem to be of the warriors’ 
dancing society type. The first of these is the ‘‘Big-belly” dance, 
in which buffalo bulls were imitated. According to PLC only older 
men, perhaps chiefs, participated. The dancers marked time in 
place during the first part of the song, then, on a musical cue, one man, 
a different person each time, would charge to the center of the lodge 
and pretend to hook something with his head, as if he were a bison 
hooking something with his horns. He would then give a present to 
someone in the audience and the dance would continue. 

I observed this dance, performed by Teton Dakota, at the Milk- 
camp Community Hall, near St. Charles, S. Dak., in November, 
1950. PLC participated with the Teton dancers on this occasion, 
wearing a buffalo headdress. In both the Ponca and Dakota tribes 
the dance is, in my opinion, a survival of the “Big-belly” or “Bulls” 
warrior society. This society was present in many Prairie and Plains 
tribes, and was composed of chiefs and old men. According to one 
informant, the Jskd-iyuha and the Big-belly societies were the same, 
the one society performing two different dances. The name ‘“Big- 
belly” attached to this society refers to the corpulency common to 
Plains Indian men of this age group. 

The second of the previously unrecorded dances of the warriors’ 
dancing society type described by PLC is the [kistazi or ‘Not-ashamed’ 
dance. The name referred to the fact that the participants were not 
ashamed to be seen taking part in an Indian dance. Only young men 
danced. They wore fancy broadcloth blankets as their distinguishing 
costume. As the song began they arose from their seats around the 
dancehall and danced to the center of the floor, in the Hediska style 
but with shorter steps and subdued head and body movements. 

PLC stated that this dance or society was originated by the young 
Ponca woodcutters who supplied fuel for the Missouri River steam- 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 113 


boats. He considered it a strictly Northern Ponca dance, but in 
1954 it was learned that the Southern Ponca also performed the dance 
at one time. It is now obsolete in both groups. 

The Ponca chiefs formerly had a dance called fgaztge-waa. The 
dance was described by PLC as slow and dignified in character, in 
keeping with the high rank of the participants. On a certain musical 
cue the dancers all took four steps forward. Then they danced in 
place for a short time until, on cue, they took another four steps for- 
ward. The dance proceeded in this manner for the duration of the 
song. 

The Haqhé-wats, or ‘Night dance,’ the Omaha version of which is 
described by Fletcher and La Flesche (1911, pp. 493-509), was a 
prestige society. Men donated large sums of money and gave away 
large amounts of goods for the privilege of joining the group. This 
entitled them to have their daughters tattooed with the insignia of 
the society. The Night dance persisted until the 1930’s among the 
Southern Ponca, and in 1954 I observed several Southern Ponca 
women who bore the characteristic blue spot of the society on their 
foreheads. 

The Ponca women, like the men, had their dancing societies. The 
Nud¢ was the woman’s equivalent of the Hediska. Skinner (1915c, 
p. 790) states that its name was taken from the warpath songs com- 
posed by the braves, with which the women accompanied their dances. 
Its choreography is not known to me, though I suspect it was like the 
Soldier and Round dances. 

Skinner (ibid., pp. 790-791) also describes a woman’s dancing 
society called Maziskqapi or the ‘Medal dance.’ The members of the 
society wore chiefs’ medals around their necks. 

Riggs (1893, p. xxvii) writes that: ‘“The scalp dance is a dance for the 
women among the Ponca and Omaha, who call it Wi-watst.”? Accord- 
ing to Skinner (1915 ¢, p. 791) the dance was performed the day after 
the return of a war party. The women who danced bore the scalps, 
tied to short sticks. The Wi-wats was also described by PLC: 
“Women form a big circle facing the center and move around the drum 
to the left.” This dance was probably ancestral to both the Soldier 
dance and the Round dance, to be described below. 

Dorsey (1884 a, p. 355) mentions two other women’s dancing 
societies, the Pa-ddtq and the €at’ana. Neither was known to my 
informants. As with the men’s societies, new groups were continually 
being formed and older ones passing out of existence. In a slightly 
modified form, this process has continued up to the present day. 
Following World War II several such women’s groups were formed, 
each distinguished by its characteristic blanket or shawl with the 
group’s name (i.e., ““Ponca War Mothers’’) appliqued upon it. Usu- 
ally the function of these groups is to honor the returning veterans of 


114 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


the tribe. At powwows the members of such a group, attired in identi- 
cal blankets, often lead off in the Soldier or Round dance. 

In addition to the dances described above, which were either 
sacred ceremonies or dances that were the property of organized 
eroups, the Ponca had several dances which were open to all. One 
of these, which PLC saw in the 1890’s, was called the Giant. PLC 
(in a letter to me dated October 12, 1955) described the dance as 
follows: ‘Gee ah nee this they go around the drum in pairs and 4 
of them facing each other and change, they just turn around and 
face others. This has died out in a very short years. I saw these 
in the 90s.”” Walter Hamilton, an Omaha Indian, stated that his 
tribe was also familiar with the dance. According to Hamilton, two 
men, dancing backward in Hediska style, led the dance. They were 
followed by two women, facing forward, after which came two more 
men dancing backward, two women facing forward, etc. The women 
carried large eagle-wing fans, and fanned the men as they danced. 
At a certain point in the song the men would turn forward and the 
women backward, and the group would proceed in this manner for 
a while, then reverse, and so on. The double line proceeded clock- 
wise around the drum throughout the dance. The name Giani is 
said to refer to the fanning of the men by the women, the character- 
istic feature of the dance. Neither PLC nor Hamilton could explain 
the symbolism of the dance. It resembles, in its choreography, the 
Turkey dances of the Quapaw and Caddo. 

Another dance open to all is the Wandgse-watsgaxe or ‘Soldier 
dance.’ It is a social dance at present, but has definite ceremonial 
overtones. It was witnessed at the Southern Ponca powwows in 
1952, 1954, 1959, and 1961. On each of these occasions it was used 
to open the dancing program each night, and was identified by PLC 
as a ‘‘very old and honored Ponca dance.” Men and women, inter- 
spersed, formed long lines, facing inward toward the drum, and 
circled the dance ground with a sidestep, moving in a clockwise 
direction. The best male dancers lifted their left knee with a slight 
snap as they stepped off with the left foot. 

The Round dance, witnessed on the same occasions, was very 
similar, although the characteristic jerking of the left leg seen in the 
Soldier dance was not as evident in this one. I was told that the 
songs were slightly different as well. Both the Soldier dance and 
Round dances are accompanied by a pronounced loud-soft drumbeat. 
The Round dance is immensely popular among the Southern Prairie 
and Plains tribes at the present time, and the enthusiasm for it has 
spread to the Omaha in Nebraska and the Fox in Iowa. In 1952 a 
croup of Omaha singers traveled to Oklahoma expressly to learn 
new Round dance songs. The origin of the Round dance is obscure. 
Some younger Ponca contend that it originated in Taos Pueblo, and 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 115 


is a secular form of the sacred Blue Lake Round dance of Taos. 
Others contend that it is merely a secular form of the old Ponca 
Soldier dance. 

A secular Buffalo dance was performed once each evening at the 
Southern Ponca powwows I attended. It seemed to be purely 
social in nature. During the first part of the song the dancers, 
both men and women, moved about the arena in a counterclockwise 
direction, using Hediska steps. On a musical cue, accompanied by 
a rolling of the drum, they turned toward the center of the dance 
eround, where the singers were seated around the drum. The drum- 
beat now changed to a heavily accented cadence and the dancers 
hopped in place, first on one leg, then on the other, at the same 
time “‘bunching up” like bison. On another musical cue they sepa- 
rated and continued around the arena in Hediska style. The dance 
proceeded in this manner for the duration of the song. I am told 
that one of the songs used in this dance belongs to the now obsolete 
Iskd-yuha society. 

Another dance which is performed at Southern Ponca powwows 
to break the monotony of the nearly continuous Hediska episodes 
is the Snake dance. According to PLC and several Southern Ponca 
informants this dance was borrowed from Oklahoma tribes in recent 
years. It is performed by a long file of dancers, both men and 
women, led by two good male dancers, one at each end of the line. 
As the song starts, one of the men leads off with a brisk, trotting, 
“Stomp dance” type step, the long file of dancers jogging along 
behind him. He leads the queue in a serpentine path, sometimes 
coiling the whole line into a tight spiral. On a musical cue the 
dancers about-face and follow the leader at the other end. Thus 
the line of dancers twists, coils, and changes direction throughout 
the song, presenting a weird and beautiful effect. When viewed 
from the vantage point of the grandstand the line of dancers very 
much resembles a huge feathered serpent. 

In its choreography this dance seems to be a variant of the “Stomp 
dance” of the Eastern Woodland tribes. The musical accompaniment, 
however, is provided by singers seated around a large drum, a feature 
more typical of the Prairie-Plains area. 

The Stomp dance of the Eastern Woodland tribes is performed 
by the Southern Ponca on occasion. This dance, much like the 
Snake dance in its choreography, features antiphonal singing by 
a leader and a long line of dancers, both men and women, who follow 
him. Rhythmic accompaniment is provided by a “shell shaker 
girl,” a woman who wears heavy terrapin shell or condensed-milk-can 
leg rattles, and dances just behind the leader. 

According to Curtis (1930, vol. 30, p. 214), Henry Snake, a Ponca, 
brought the dance to his tribe from the Quapaw. Curtis also credits 


116 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


Snake with having introduced the dance among the Osage, Oto, Chey- 
enne, Kansa, and Iowa. There are several ‘Stomp leaders” among the 
Southern Ponca at present, though these men are reluctant to lead 
the dance when more experienced Creek, Seminole, or Seneca-Cayuga 
leaders are present. Since the Stomp dance requires no particular 
costume, it is usually performed after the main part of the program 
at Ponca powwows (that is, after such dances as the Soldier, Hediska, 
Buffalo, Snake, and Round dances). It is a great favorite of teenagers, 
who often “Stomp” all night each night of a powwow. 

Another dance popular with the younger set is the “49.” This 
dance, which seems to have originated among the Kiowa, is similar 
to the Round dance in its choreography, but has a much faster 
rhythm. Several circles of young people sidestep around the 
singers, who stand in the center of the circle holding a large drum. 
At times the singers pause and let the female dancers carry the 
refrain as they dance. The songs, I am told, are old Kiowa ‘war 
journey” songs. Like the Stomp dance, the ‘49’ requires no special 
costume and is performed after the main program at powwows. 
A good “49” dance often lasts from 9 or 10 p.m. until dawn the 
following day. 

Another dance recently imported from the Kiowa is the Brush 
dance. According to William Kimball this dance was once performed 
by the Kiowa as a part of their Sun dance rites. It was performed 
as an incidental daytime dance at the Southern Ponca powwow in 
1952. 

The group performing the dance was led by a middle-aged Ponca 
man wearing a mescal-bean bandolier and a ‘‘peyote blanket” of red 
and blue broadcloth. He carried a peyote gourd, which he shook in 
time with the drum, in his right hand, and peyote “feathers” in his 
left. A woman, probably his wife, wearing a buckskin dress and 
also carrying peyote feathers, danced beside him. ‘These two were 
followed by a group of eight singers carrying a large Hediska drum, 
beating it and singing as they proceeded. They were not in Indian 
costume. The singers were followed by a group of women, all 
wearing shawls or blankets and carrying green branches in the 
right hand. As they moved forward in the dance these women took 
care to maintain a crescent formation, the ends of the crescent 
pointing forward. The step was a simple advancing of one foot 
ahead of the other in time with the drum. 

The party advanced, dancing and singing, for about half a mile 
through the powwow encampment, until they reached an open 
space, at which point the dance was ended and a Ghost dance Hand 
game was begun. PLC stated that he had never seen nor heard of 
the dance prior to this time. The date of the dance’s introduction 
among the Southern Ponca is therefore post-1932, for PLC was then 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 117 


living in Oklahoma and would have been familiar with the Brush 
dance if it had been performed by the Ponca at that time. 

At the present time the Northern Ponca retain only one aboriginal 
type dance, this being the widespread Rabbit dance. JLE said 
that this dance came to the Ponca from the Shoshone, but I am 
more inclined to credit its introduction to the Teton or Yankton 
Dakota. It is a purely social dance, and is probably the Indian 
adaptation of the square and round dances of the White pioneers. 
Couples, arm in arm in the “skaters’ embrace’’ circle the drum in a 
clockwise fashion, stepping off with the left foot and bringing the 
right up with it in time with a heavy loud-soft drum beat. 

During the period of my fieldwork the dance had not been per- 
formed for a number of years owing to the fact that the custodian 
of the Northern Ponca Community Hall, the only suitable place for 
holding such dances, refused to let it be used for “uncivilized”’ 
Indian practices, following the old-line ‘‘assimilationist’’ policy 
of the Indian Bureau. 

A Begging dance is described by J. O. Dorsey (1884 a, p. 355), who 
writes: ‘The ‘Wand-watsigare’ or Begging dance is not found among 
the Omahas; but among the Ponkas, Dakotas, etc.” This ‘Begging 
dance,’”’ which I have observed among the Arikara, Dakota, Omaha, 
and Winnebago, is really not a dance per se but rather a dancing 
custom. Any suitable dance, such as the Hediska or Round dance, 
may be used. A group of singers and dancers, usually composed of 
visiting Indians, gathers and moves about the camp of their hosts, 
stopping to sing and dance before the tent of every well-to-do person. 
At each tent, after an interval of song and dance, the owner appears 
and presents the group with a gift, whereupon they move along to 
the next one. After the entire camp has been circled an auction is 
held where single items donated to the group are sold to the highest 
bidder. The money from this auction, plus any loose cash contributed 
by the tent owners, is then divided among the group. 

Among the Ponca, as in most Plains tribes, shamans were organized 
into groups on the basis of spirit helpers held in common. For 
example the Matégaze or ‘Bear doctor’ society was composed entirely 
of medicine men who claimed to derive their powers from the bear, 
either directly, by means of visions, or indirectly, by means of purchase 
from other members of the group. Dealing primarily in herbal 
remedies, they were the physicians of the tribe. Another society, 
the “Buffalo doctors,’ which was devoted to the healing of wounds, 
was made up of shamans who had the buffalo as their tutelary deity. 
Its members were the Ponca “‘surgeons.”’ °° 


39 A bear-buffalo shaman dichotomy was present in many Plains tribes. Thoughshamans could, and did, 
receive power from many animals, these two were considered most powerful. They were, therefore, the 
two most often sought, and secured, as spirit helpers. 


718—071— 65 9 


118 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


Skinner describes the Bear society as follows: 


The Matégaze, or bear dance, was one of the so-called mystery dances, and had 
four leaders, two waiters, and a herald. Before performing, a cedar tree was 
pulled up by the roots and set up in the center of the lodge. During the dance 
one of the participators would go up and break off a branch and scrape off the 
bark. Then he would circle the lodge four times, show it to the members, and 
announce that he would run it down his throat. He would then thrust it in until 
the tip barely showed. After a moment he would pull it out, and the blood 
would gush forth. One shaman had the power of thrusting the cedar through 
his flesh into his abdomen. After he pulled it out he merely rubbed the wound 
and it was healed. Still another would swallow a pipe, cause it to pass through 
his body, and then bring it out and lick it. 

Big-goose once saw a man, who was performing in the bear dance, take a 
muzzle-loading rifle and charge it in everyone’s presence. Another man circled 
the tent singing, and on the fourth round he was shot by the Indian with the 
gun; everyone thought he was killed, but he soon sprang up unhurt. Another 
performer took a buffalo robe, had a third man re-load the magic gun, and fired it 
at the robe. There was no hole visible, but the bullet was found in the center 
of the robe. [Skinner, 1915 ¢, p. 792.] 


My informants AMC, Ed Primeaux, and Leonard Smith described 
the ‘magic musket’”’ trick of the Bear society as well. Leonard 
Smith stated that when Shaky, the famous Northern Ponca shaman, 
performed the act he used bluestem grass to extract the bullet from 
the ‘‘bear’s” body. 

Though the Ponca Bear society no longer existed as an organized 
eroup there were, during the period of my fieldwork, a few Southern 
Ponca who claimed bear power and practiced as individuals. WBB 
was a bear shaman at one time, but he abandoned the practice when 
he ‘turned Christian” (i.e., joined the Peyote religion). He once 
stated that when he practiced as a Bear doctor he painted his hands 
black with yellow between the fingers in imitation of a bear’s paws. 

Likewise Henry Snake told me that he had once been offered 
bear power by an Omaha shaman while visiting near Macy, Nebr., 
on the Omaha Reservation. Snake expressed disbelief in the Omaha’s 
power, so the Omaha told him, ‘Come down by the river tomorrow 
morning. Bring your wife and she can see it too.”” He then men- 
tioned a certain place, quite secluded. Snake and his wife went to 
this location at the appointed time, and shortly after their arrival 
a huge black bear appeared, walked near them, and then disappeared 
in the brush. ‘It was that old man, disguised as a bear,” com- 
mented Snake. In spite of this evidence of the Omaha’s power, 
however, Snake did not take up the “bear way.” 

The 7é-watst or Buffalo “doctors” society, as indicated above, 
was devoted to the healing of wounds. Skinner (1915 ¢c, p. 792) notes 
that— 


. there were four leaders, two waiters, and a herald as officers. This 
society is now obsolete, as there is little call for the practice of surgery because 
there is no more war. Ifa man were wounded the buffalo doctors got together 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 119 


and squirted water on the wound. They would dance in imitation of the buffalo, 
wearing robes, buffalo horn caps, and tails. They painted only with clay which 
is the buffalo’s pigment. They painted only the upper or lower halves of their 
faces. The buffalo dancers were very waxube or powerful. 

I was unable to secure much additional information concerning 
this group. PLC, who wears a buffalo headdress similar to that of 
the Buffalo Doctors society when he dances the Hediuska, stated 
that only red, yellow, and black face paint should be worn with 
this headdress. He criticized a Dakota buffalo dancer who used 
white paint for not respecting the “old buffalo ways.” 

The largest and most important of the Ponca medicine societies 
was the Wasiska-adé or Medicine Lodge. This group, which is the 
Ponca equivalent of the well-known Ojibwa Midéwiwin and similar 
organizations of other tribes, was apparently a shamans’ organi- 
zation originally. In later years, however, like the Midéwiwin and 
the Omaha Shell society, it became a sort of ‘service club” as well. 
Though the leaders were still usually shamans, and practically all of 
the members of the Bear and Buffalo societies were Wasiska-adé 
members as well, there were also many Medicine Lodge members who 
were not shamans at all. Even women and children, in fact, could 
and did belong. The professed goals of the society were the mutual 
benefit and prolongation of the life of the membership. 

The name Wasiska-adé may be translated ‘White-shell-owners.’ 
It refers to the ‘“‘medicine arrows” (or better “‘medicine projectiles’) 
used during a part of the ceremony known as the “medicine shoot.”’ 
In historic times these were usually cowrie (Cyprea moneta) shells. 
Other items were also used as medicine arrows, however, one being 
a small, round stone. For this reason the group was sometimes 
called the Pebble society. Other projectiles, such as rooster spurs, 
fishbones, or mescal beans were sometimes used as well. 

The Ponca believed that sorcerors could magically ‘shoot’ or pro- 
ject these objects into the bodies of their enemies with their “‘medicine 
bows.” * These medicine bows, which were one of the badges of 
membership in the society, were usually the decorated skins of small 
animals, such as mink, otter, weasel, or raccoon. Occasionally, how- 
ever, an eagle’s wing was used, and one account mentions a black silk 
handkerchief. 

At meetings of the society, which were held in the type of structure 
called dividipu-snéde, members were lectured on morality, taught the 
legendary history of the order, and instructed in the use of various 
herbal medicines. There were also singing and dancing and magical 
performances by the Buffalo and Bear shaman contingents of the 
organization. However, the highlight of each meeting was the medi- 


40 This belief was very common throughout Northern Europe, Northern Asia, and North America, 
The German term Hezenschuss (lit. ‘‘witch’s shot’), used in reference to a sudden sharp pain, usually 
in the back, seems to be a linguistic survival of this belief. 


120 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


cine shoot, which followed the initiation of new members. These 
were contests in which the various shamans tested one another’s 
“power” or waxtibe. One shaman, gasping the magic cry Hez!, hez!, 
hex!, would point the nose of his animal skin bag at another, thus 
“shooting” his “medicine arrow’ into this person’s body. The per- 
son “shot” in this manner would stagger and fall, apparently uncon- 
scious. Other shamans would then ‘doctor’ this person, who 
would shortly recover. He would then “shoot” the first man, in turn, 
or another, until all members had participated. If a person “shot” 
in this manner was not immediately treated by other members of 
the society, or if they failed to retrieve the ‘‘medicine arrow” of his 
assailant, he would soon sicken and die. 

Admission to the Medicine Lodge society was by purchase, and the 
price was high. If a candidate had relatives who were already mem- 
bers, however, the price was slightly lower. Skinner (1920, p. 307) 
also notes that: “‘a member possessed the privilege of passing on his 
knowledge, by purchase, to his eldest son, who might buy it of him 
instead of from one of the four leaders. If he had no son, he might 
sell it to his nearest relative. In any case, he had to inform the 
society of his intention.” 

Persons who had been “‘doctored”’ by the society were also eligible 
for admission at lower rates. The last Northern Ponca curing cere- 
mony of this type was described by JLR, who had attended it as a 
small boy: 

My brother was a great fisherman. He used to go out and fish all day. One 
night, after he had been fishing all day, he had a nightmare. He sat up in bed 
crying, ‘‘Daddy, save me, he’s going to get me! Daddy save me, there he is!” 
My father went to his bed and shook him to wake him up. “There is nothing 
here to harm you,”’ he said, “so don’t be afraid.’ My brother had the same 
dream for four nights. The animal he saw was like a bloodsucker, only much 
larger. My brother was terribly afraid of this monster. 

Then one day he went fishing in the lake near Monowi, the one that never 
freezes. This lake has a smell like sulphur, and steam comes off it. Even in 
winter it never freezes. This was the day my brother saw Gisnd, the water 
monster. It was so big that it had to lie in a horseshoe shape because there 
was no room for it otherwise. The monster saw my brother and tried to hook 
him with his tail and drag him into the lake, but my brother fought his way back 
to shore. Seeing that he was escaping, the monster shot him with his tail and 
then disappeared under water. 

Shortly after this my brother took sick, and we thought he was going to die. 
My father called in the Medicine lodge society doctors to see what they could 
do for him. Shaky was the leader of the society. My father said to him, ‘‘Come 
and examine my oldest boy.”’ Shaky agreed to come. He instructed my father 
how to prepare the house for the ceremony. One night shortly after, Shaky 
and three other doctors came and put on their dance. They had my brother 
stand naked in the center while they danced around him. They asked my 
brother what the Gisné had told him when it shot him with its tail. My brother 
said, ‘‘It told me I was to be a doctor.”’ 

The first doctor danced around my brother. He suddenly stopped dancing 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 12% 


right in front of my brother and took a big black water beetle from my brother’s 
chest. This was part of what the Gisnd had put there. I saw this bug myself 
as it was crawling away. Then the second medicine man danced around my 
brother. He took some green moss from the joints of my brother’s arms and 
legs. [The joints were considered particulary vulnerable to medicine arrows, JHH.] 
He piled this moss on the floor. The Gisnd had put this there too. Then the 
third medicine man danced around my brother. He found some of the round 
stones that we call ‘‘marbles’’ in my brother’s hands. All of this stuff had been 
shot into my brother by the water monster. 

Then Shaky came out to the middle of the floor. He asked each of the others 
if they had taken out everything they could find. ‘Try again, and see if you can 
find anything else,’’ he said to them. Each of them tried again, but each found 
him empty. Then Shaky, the head doctor, said, ‘““There 7s something else. I 
will try to get it out. If I can’t get it out it will kill him.” He went around 
and around my brother, without saying a word. Finally he stopped. ‘There is 
something else! He is standing on them!’’ He had my brother move each of 
his feet. From under each one he took a human eyeball. 

“Now he is cleaned out!’’ said the doctors. Then Shaky said, ‘‘Don’t take it 
all away from him. We must leave him some power to protect himself.” So the 
doctor who had taken the marbles from my brother’s hands gave him back one 
of these. After that he was considered a member of the Medicine lodge society, 
and was respected for having water-monster power. 

After this, one time, we were visiting over at Macy. Those Omaha Pebble 
society people were having their ceremonies. As a joke they called my brother 
out to take part in their shooting ceremony. They were going to make a fool 
out of him. Just before they were going to begin the leader looked closely at my 
brother and then said. ‘‘Wait, we had better pass him by, he really has some- 
thing [i.e., medicine power].”’ 


The rhythmic singing for the dancing which accompanied the 
ceremony was provided, according to AMC, by a group of singers 
seated around a large drum. This is strange, for in most tribes 
possessing the rite a wooden water drum was used. The Ponca were 
familiar with the water drum but used it only in the Wd-wq ceremony. 

Apparently the Medicine Lodge ceremony, unlike most of the old 
Ponca rites, persisted longest among the Northern Ponca. The 
ceremony described above took place about 1910, and Henry Le Roy, 
the boy “shot”? by the water monster and cured by the shamans, 
was still a young man when he died in an automobile accident in 
1926. Yet when Alanson Skinner (1920, p. 306) inquired about the 
ceremony among the Southern Ponca in 1914 he found that it had 
been ‘‘so long extinct . . . that practically nothing was remembered 
by the writer’s [Skinner’s] informants.” 

Another extremely interesting and perhaps significant medicine 
society was the Mescal Bean cult. The rites of this group centered 
around the mescal bean (Sophora secundiflora), the fruit of a legu- 
minous shrub native to northern Mexico, Texas, and Arizona. The 
only mention of the Mescal Bean cult in the older Ponca literature is 
a vague statement by J. O. Dorsey (1884 a, p. 349), who, in discussing 
the Wichita dance of the Omaha, and the use of the mescal bean by 


122 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


this group, states: “Similar customs are found among the Pawnees 
and Ponkas.” J am the author of a short paper on the cult (Howard, 
1957). 

LMD stated that the Mescal Bean cult had been a powerful organi- 
zation in his father’s time. He had heard a great deal about it, 
since his father was one of the leaders of the group and kept the 
sacred bundle of the society. He said that the Mescal Bean society 
was much older, with the Ponca, than the Peyote religion, which was 
acquired from the Cheyenne in 1902. 

The Mescal Bean cult was secret, and even though his father had 
been a leader, LMD had never been allowed to witness the ceremonies. 
By hearsay, however, he learned the form of the ritual. He stated 
that the Mescal Bean society meetings were quite similar to present- 
day Peyote meetings. They were customarily held in a tipi, the 
entrance of which faced east. The leader of the rite sat opposite the 
door, in the place of honor. Another important officer, the fireman, 
sat across from him, just to the right of the entrance. Both of these 
officers have parallels in the Peyote ceremony. The leader held a 
staff as his emblem of authority, another feature also found in the 
Peyote ritual. (Fig. 5.) 

Each member of the order owned an individual sacred bundle, but 
the principal bundle was kept by the leader. These bundles were 
opened during the ceremony and their contents displayed. The 
leader opened his bundle first, then the members. A tea was brewed 


Ficure 5.—Diagram of a Ponca Mescal Bean society meeting. 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 13° 


from mescal beans, which the members drank. Sometimes the 
participants secured visions after drinking this infusion. One sip of 
the decoction was said to be enough. Songs were sung to the accom- 
paniment of a rawhide rattle which was struck upon a buckskin pillow 
filled with bison wool. Sometimes there was dancing as well. 

“Yellow-hammer” (flicker) feathers were worn by the members of 
the Mescal Bean cult. LMD explained that the flicker was the 
“main bird” of the Mescal Bean group, just as the “waterbird” 
(water turkey or snakebird, Anhinga anhinga) is now the ‘main 
bird” of the Peyote religion—that is to say, this bird was believed 
to carry prayers of the members from earth to heaven. Many 
Oklahoma Indian groups share the Ponca respect for the flicker. 
An Arapaho, Jim Fire, explained the special importance of the flicker 
as follows: ‘“‘We notice this bird is always able to find bugs and things 
under the bark of trees. That is why we Indian people associate him 
with doctoring. He can seek out hidden impurities.” The Ponca 
Mescal Bean society members probably had a similar belief, as curing 
was quite important in their group. 

In the old days of tribal warfare the mescal bean was used as a 
war medicine. LMD commented that ‘since the red bean is so very 
hard to crack, a man who carried it as his medicine would be hard to 
pierce with arrows or bullets.’”” When used as medicines the beans 
were wrapped in a small circle of buckskin which was tied at the top 
with a buckskin thong. This buckskin wrapper was always perforat- 
ed, since the bean “would die if it was not able to breathe.” LRL 
was also familiar with the virtues of the mescal bean as a war medicine. 
He stated that warriors going into battle often put a mescal bean in 
either ear. If they did not fall out the wearer would be almost 
impervious to arrows and bullets. 

The use of the mescal bean as a war medicine has not completely 
disappeared. When Parrish Williams, the son of James Williams 
(now deceased) went into the service in World War II, his father 
gave him a mescal bean to carry with him. Parrish still keeps this 
as a good luck charm, carrying it in an old-fashioned leather coin 
purse. 

The mescal bean was also strongly identified with horses and mules, 
according to Ernest Blue-back, and he stated that these animals were 
given mescal bean tea to make them swift and to cure their infirmities. 
To illustrate this he told the following story: 


Once my granddad took part in a big buffalo run. A lot of other tribes took 
part too, some of them ancient enemies of the Poncas. The Sioux, Winnebagoes 
[sic], Omahas, and Pawnees were all there. Just before the hunt granddad went 
out to look at his buffalo runners and found that someone had shot them full of 
arrows for him. He had to shoot most of them to put them out of their misery. 
One mule that was down, though, had only been grazed. Now granddad used 
this mule to run buffalo sometimes. He painted the mule, gave it red bean tea to 


124 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


drink, and sang over it. Pretty soon the mule got up and walked around. He 
rode that mule in the hunt and beat them all. 

The mescal bean was sacred to many of the Prairie and Plains tribes, 
and several, including the Wichita, Pawnee, Tonkawa, Osage, Iowa, 
Oto, Kiowa, and Arikara also possessed cults centered about it in 
which mescal bean tea was drunk by the members. In view of the 
fact that the Mescal Bean cults are much older in the Prairie-Plains 
area than is the Peyote religion, and in view of the fact that some 
forms of the ceremony were very similar to the later Peyote rites, 
particularly those of the Ponca and Tonkawa, it is mteresting to 
speculate that perhaps the Mescal Bean cult ‘smoothed the way”’ 
for the Peyote religion, and contributed much to the ritual form of the 
Prairie-Plains Peyote ceremony as well. 

Fletcher and La Flesche (1911, pp. 490-493) mention a medicine 
society called Ingdt-iddedé, ‘those to whom the thunder has shown 
compassion.’ The society was open only to men and women who 
had been visited by thunder beings in dreams or visions. Members 
were believed to be able to control the elements, to bring rain or to 
drive storms away. Future events could also be foretold, and some- 
times members pitted their power against one another. 

There were two cults of ceremonial clowns among the Ponca. Both 
are described by Skinner (1915 c, p. 789). Concerning the Heydka 
cult he writes: 

Under this name went certain men who, because of some dream which I could 
not ascertain, danced in companies in the spring. [4] They used backward 
speech, and took food from boiling kettles. Some even poured boiling water over 
themselves. On account of the identity of the title of these clowns with the 
Dakota performers of similar antics, I suspect that the cult is of Teton origin. 

He also describes a distinct clown cult called ‘““Those-who-initate- 
mad-men’’: 

These people (called Danibdadd) are said to have been entirely distinct from 
the heyoka and the cult is perhaps not of foreign origin. They did ridiculous and 
foolhardy things, such as crawling up and trying to touch a woman’s genitals in 
broad daylight; coming to a stream they would strip off one legging and moccasin 
and ford it by hopping on the clad leg and carefully protecting the bare one from 
moisture. ‘They were looked upon as clowns and fun-makers and their antics are 
said not to have been significant. 

Only the vaguest memories of these clown cults remained with my 
informants. JLR seemed to remember a Heydka cult performance 
he had seen as a boy, but was not sure whether it was Ponca or 
Santee Dakota clowns. Clowns formed a popular diversion at the 
Southern Ponca powwows in 1952 and 1954. They were not part of 
any organized group, however, and appeared to be simply funmakers. 


41 Among the Dakota, men joined the Heydka cult because of having dreamed of thunder. It was believed 
that if they did not dance as clowns they would be struck by lightning. 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 125 


The Peyote ritual is the only religious ceremony of an aboriginal 
nature still performed by the Ponca. As noted earlier, it came to the 
Southern Ponca from the Cheyenne in 1902. Shortly thereafter the 
Southern Ponca carried it to the Northern band of their tribe. EBC 
stated that the Northern Ponca also had one ‘‘fireplace” or ritual 
which was introduced by the famous Winnebago leader, John Rave. 
This was a “cross” or ‘big moon’ type ceremony. The Cheyenne 
ritual was the “half moon” or “basic Plains’ rite which has fewer 
Christian features. 

The general form of the Peyote meeting is as follows: About 8:30 
p.m. the worshipers file into the tipi where the ceremony is to be 
held, and take their places. There is an opening prayer by the 
leader, then a general praying by all the members while smoking 
prayer cigarettes (cigarettes are not used in the Winnebago ritual). 
Peyote (Lophophora williamsi) is then distributed, usually in the 
form of dried “buttons.” This is eaten, as a sacrament, by the 
peyotists. After this the singing begins. Each person sings four 
songs, accompanied by the gourd rattle, which he shakes, and the 
water drum, which is played by the man on his right. 

At midnight there are prayers by the leader and a ritual drinking 
of water. The singing, interspersed with prayers, then continues 
until dawn, at which time a ceremonial breakfast of parched corn, 
fruit, and other native foods is eaten. The four closing songs are 
then sung by the leader and the meeting is ended. Most of the 
members loiter about the tipi until noon of the following day, at 
which time the host serves them a dinner. 

Readers interested in a more complete account of the ceremony 
than it is possible to include here are referred to Weston La Barre’s 
excellent work, ‘“The Peyote Cult’ (1938), in which both Peyote 
rituals used by the Ponca are described in some detail. 

At the present time the Peyote religion is still flourishing among 
the Southern Ponca. Peyote meetings are usually held on Saturday 
night so as not to conflict with the workweek of those who have jobs. 
However, the Northern Ponca have not held Peyote meetings since 
the early forties. EBC, the Jast Northern Ponca leader resident in the 
Niobrara area, died in 1950. JI am told, however, that another North- 
ern Ponca, who lives among the Yankton Dakota, still runs an oc- 
casional meeting for that group’s peyotists. 


SPORTS AND GAMES 


Next we turn to sports and games. It may seem odd to some that 
sports and games should be considered in the same chapter with 
religion, dances, and ceremonies. It will become evident in the dis- 
cussion, however, that these sports and games were very often (though 


126 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


not invariably) connected with religion, and were regarded as 
ceremonies. 

PLC mentioned that both footraces and horseraces werepopular sports 
with the Ponca. On the morning of the third day of the Ponca Sun 
dance there was a ceremonial race by the dancers to the center pole 
(G. A. Dorsey, 1905, p. 76). The winner had the honor of counting 
first coup on a dead enemy. 

The Ponca possessed several medicines which were used to make a 
horse fast during a race. The use of one of these was described by 
PLC; 


If you want to win a horse race you take the root of the Pé-ipiye [Allionia nyc- 
taginea Michx.], cut a piece about two or three inches long, and chew it. While 
you are chewing it go and talk to your racehorse. Do this in secret just before 
the race. Tell the horse that he is going to win. Spit a little of the chewed root 
on your hands and rub the horse down with it, starting with the nose. Talk to 
the horse all the time. Grab his tail last. As you rub his tail say ‘‘You are going 
to have your tail up in the air.”’ I used to use this quite a bit, and I always won 
the race. I hate to use it because it isn’t fair to the others. For the best effect 
you should dig the root in the fall, when the power is going back into the roots. 
The name I gave you is the Sioux name; we Poncas call it Makd-skide or “Sweet 
medicine.” 


AMC, LRL, and Ernest Blue-back also mentioned that mescal 
beans were sometimes ground up and given to racehorses to make 
them fast. 

An old Ponca sport which is still popular with the Southern Ponca 
is shinny, or Tabégasi. Like the Southeastern Indian ball game, the 
Ponca game of shinny is in the nature of a religious observance, and 
certain rituals are performed in connection with it. The game has 
an appointed ritual custodian who is responsible for arranging for its 
play at the proper time. At the present time Ernest Blue-back 
“owns” the Ponca shinny game. He keeps the sacred ball used in it 
and announces the dates of the game each year. Shinny is played 
only in the spring. Blue-back stated that the game is played at this 
time so that the members of the tribe can “limber up” after the en- 
forced inactivity of winter. Four games are played each spring, one 
game each day, spaced at intervals of a few days to a week. All of 
the men in the tribe who are able, participate. 

The sticks are made of ash and have a slight bend at the end. They 
are about 3 feet in length at the present time, though they are said 
to have been slightly shorter a generation ago. The ball is of deer- 
skin stuffed with horsehair, and each year the owner of the game 
makes a new ball. Ernest Blue-back showed me several which he 
had made. One had an interesting design upon it, a yellow cross with 
a red square where the arms of the cross intersected, flanked on either 
side by a design of crossed shinny sticks. Whitman (1939, p. 185) 
writes: ‘‘Among the Ponca the ball represented the earth and was 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 127 


mystically painted as such.” I found no trace of such a belief, though 
I used many of the same informants as Whitman. Ernest Blue-back 
firmly denied any such symbolism. 

The Ponca shinny game is played on a field a mile in length and 
about half a mile wide. At each end a goalpost about 6 feet tall 
is erected. The game is begun at a point half way between the goal- 
posts. An official (formerly a shaman) draws a cross, representing 
the four winds (the same design painted on the ball mentioned above), 
on the ground and places the ball on it. Play commences in much 
the same manner as in a modern hockey game. The captains of each 
side raise their sticks above the ball three times, then the fourth 
time they attempt to drive the ball into the opponents’ territory. 

Play is fast and furious and often a player of one team mistakes 
an opponent’s head for the ball. Each time one team works the ball 
to the opponents’ goalpost one point is scored. The first team to 
score four goals wins. 

LMD stated that formerly there was much more ceremony in 
connection with the shinny game than at present. Even the goal- 
posts were in charge of special custodians. Before each game offerings 
of calico were tied to the posts and they were ceremonially marched 
to the ball field. There were four prescribed halts on this march at 
which the poles were lowered to the ground and the entire group raised 
a great war cry, drumming the palm of the hand over the mouth. 
After each game the posts were returned to the camps of their keepers. 

Certain players possessed medicines or bundles which gave them 
ability in the game. Whitman (1939, p. 185) writes: “In his early 
youth Black Eagle’s (WBB’s) father gave him a goodluck bundle. . . 
‘When I play shinny I use that medicine. You can’t hit me.’ ”’ 
Ernest Blue-back commented that the Ponca believe that touching 
the ball in the shinny game is a cure for stiffness. 

Ponca women had their own version of the game, according to 
J. O. Dorsey (1884 a, pp. 336-337). It was called Wabddade. 

Dorsey and Miner both mention a man’s game is which arrows 
were first shot into the branches of a tree and then the players en- 
deavored to dislodge them (Dorsey, 1884 a, p. 336; Miner, 1911, 
p. xxx). Another game played with arrows is described by Dorsey, 
who writes: 

Magadéze is a game unknown among the Omahas, but practiced among the 
Ponkas, who have learned it from the Dakotas. It is played by two men. Each 
one holds a bow upright in his left hand with one end touching the ground and 
the bow-string towards a heap of arrows. In the other hand he holds an arrow, 
which he strikes against the bow-string, which rebounds as he lets the arrow go. 
The latter flies suddenly towards the heap of arrows and goes among them. The 
player aims to have the feather on his arrow touch that on some other arrow 
which is in the heap. In that case he wins as many arrows as the feather or web 


has touched; but if the sinew on his arrow touches another arrow it wins not only 
that one but all in the heap. [Dorsey, 1884 a, p. 339.] 


128 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


The widespread bowl dice game was known to the Ponca. J. O. 
Dorsey (1890, p. 617) gives an origin legend for the game in which 
Ukiaba (?), ‘“‘a tribal hero of the Ponca,” sends five plum stones, the 
counters in the game, to a young woman he has seduced, afterward 
telling her ‘Keep the plum stones for gambling. You shall always 
win.”” The game was played only by persons of the same age and sex. 
Two players made up a side. Five marked plum stones were placed 
in a shallow wooden bowl and this bowl was struck against a pillow. 
Certain combinations of marked stones indicated a winner. (Dorsey, 
1884 a, pp. 334-335.) 

Another game of chance, the well-known moccasin game, was 
also played by the Ponca. A player from one side hid a stone under 
one of four moccasins, singing all the while to distract the opposing 
players. A member of the opposite side then guessed the location of 
the stone. PLC, who described the game, had seen it played only 
once, when he was a small boy. 

Very similar to the moccasin game is the hand game, a variant of 
which is still popular with the Southern Ponca. ‘Two players from 
one side hide two pieces in their hands while a member from the 
opposing side attempts to guess their location. The present form of 
the game, which came to the Ponca from the Pawnee in connection 
with the Ghost dance, is described by Lesser (1933) in ‘The Pawnee 
Ghost Dance Hand Game.” The game still has religious overtones 
for the older Ponca, and until fairly recently the gaming implements 
of a successful player were buried with him because his children 
feared the waxtibe or ‘power’ which they carried. 

It is very common for a Southern Ponca family or organization to 
sponsor a hand game in honor of a visitor from some other tribe. 
The various donations made by losers during the game are then 
presented to this visitor as a mark of esteem. 

PLC, LMD, and Parrish Williams all told the same origin legend 
for the old, pre-Ghost dance, hand game. A Ponca war party of 
about 20 warriors left to raid an enemy tribe. Months passed, but 
no word of the departed men reached their anxious relatives. Finally 
they were presumed to have been ambushed and were given up for 
dead. 

A year or two later a young Ponca was hunting in the region where 
the war party had disappeared. Night fell and he wrapped himself 
up in his robe and went to sleep. In his sleep he began to dream. 
A wolf howled four times, each time coming closer. Finally it was 
only a few feet from him. The wolf spoke to the young hunter, 
telling him that the missing war party was nearby. The wolf then 
taught the young man a medicine song and vanished. 

The young man rose and walked in the direction the wolf had indi- 
cated. He saw a light in the distance, and as he came nearer he 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 129 


noticed that it came from a fire burning in a large grass lodge. Indians 
were playing some sort of game inside, near the fire. It was the hand 
game.” ‘They sang as they played and seemed to be having a wonder- 
ful time. The young hunter recognized the players as the members of 
the lost war party. He spoke to several of them but they ignored 
him, absorbed in their gambling. He stayed with the group most of 
the night, watching the game and learning the songs used to accom- 
pany it. Just before dawn he left and returned to the main camp of 
the Ponca. 

He informed the head chief that he had located the missing warriors. 
The chief and his Buffalo-police went to investigate. When they 
arrived at the spot which the young man had described they found 
only the ashes of a campfire and various scattered human bones. 
When the young man was informed of this he realized that he had 
been watching ghosts play the hand game. From that time on the 
Ponca played the game as their own. 

Ponca boys had many sports and games of their own. As we 
would expect, these lacked the ceremonial associations of the adult 
games. J. O. Dorsey (1884 a, p. 340) describes a variant of snow-snake 
known as Maibagi. This was also known to PLC: “A game that 
the Ponca children used to play was called Maibagi. This means 
‘Slide-a-stick-on-the-ground.’ The stick was held at one end and 
thrown underhanded along the ground. The boy whose stick went 
the farthest was the winner. The game was played in the summer.” 
According to PLC the Northern Ponca used fossil ivory from “‘ele- 
phant”’ (mammoth or mastodon) remains found at the mouth of 
Ponca Creek for the tips of the game sticks used in the Maibagi game. 

J. O. Dorsey (1884 a, p. 341) describes two other children’s games 
which resemble games played by White schoolchildren. One was a 
game of tag: ‘Children strike one another ‘last,’ saying ‘Gatia,’ i.e., ‘So 
far.’’’ The other he describes as follows: 

Tahddize is played by two persons. A’s left hand is at the bottom, the skin 
on its back is pinched by B’s left hand, which, in turn, is pinched by A’s right, and 
that by B’sright. After saying ‘‘ Tahddize’”’ twice as they raise and lower the hands, 
they release them and hit at each other. . . . These two customs were observed 
among the Ponka children. 

PLC described a Ponca boys’ game called Manikadéde or ‘Mud-on- 
a-stick’: 

This game was played by two opposite sides. They would go down by the 
river where each player would cut himself a willow stick. Then they would mold 
a ball of mud on the end of the stick. The two sides would pretend to be warriors 
from two different tribes, and throw mud at each other from the end of their 
sticks. This was great sport. Both sides would be covered with mud at the 
end of the day. 


4 Parrish Williams stated that these warriors were playing the moccasin game rather than the hand game, 
and that the hand game had developed from the older moccasin game. If so this “‘origin legend”’ is an 
interesting example of syncretism. 


130 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


PLC also mentioned popguns of clay which were made by the Ponca 
children: 

You went down by the river and got some good sticky clay. This clay you 
could make into a hollow ball by rolling it on your elbow. When you had a good 
round ball you threw it out in the water. Then you took a stick, put a ball of 
mud on the end of it, and threw this at the floating clay ball. If you hit the ball it 
exploded with a loud pop. This was one of my favorite games when I was a 
boy. It is called Ni-ikatus. 

PLC and Leonard Smith both mentioned that Ponca boys used to 
slide downhill on sleds in the winter. The sleds were made of flat 
bison ribs lashed together with sinew. 

At the present time the favorite pastime of many Southern Ponca 
adults is playing cards. Several of the Southern Ponca homes I 
visited had a raised wooden platform, covered with canvas or rugs, 
in the front yard, shaded by overhanging trees. Here the long 
summer afternoons are whiled away with Poker, Hearts, or other 
games. Apparently card games have been popular for many years, 
for certain typically Indian practices have developed by which the 
players may increase their luck. Thus Gilmore (1919, p. 82) states 
that the fruit of the long-fruited anemone was chewed and spit on 
the hands, or burned and the hands rubbed in the smoke, as a charm 
in card playing. The name of this plant is Wadibabd-makd, or 
“playing-card-medicine.”’ 


WAR AND PEACE 


All of my informants stressed the fact that the Ponca were not 
a warlike people, and were content to live in peace with other tribes. 
They also pointed out, however, that the Ponca were quick to resist 
any incursion upon their tribal domain. At this late date it is quite 
difficult to ascertain just what the extent of the Ponca territory was 
in the late prehistoric and early historic periods, or how well the 
tribe defended it. 

In 1954 I spent considerable time attempting to determine the 
boundaries of the traditional Ponca domain. Though they differed 
in minor details, the accounts of the various informants were remark- 
ably consistent. The area delimited, however, seems far too large 
to have been used or defended by a tribe as small in numbers as the 
Ponca were in the 18th and 19th centuries. The informants insisted, 
however, that this was true, and that the tribe had been much larger 
formerly. For what it is worth, then, a consensus of their statements 
on the subject is presented below. 

The eastern boundary of the Ponca territory, according to most 
informants, was a line extending south to the Platte River from a 
place on the Missouri called Ni-dgatsatsa, “The-place-where-water- 
splashes-on-the-chalk-cliffs.’ Most informants thought that this 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE T3t 


Ni-agatsatsa (or Ni-dgatsaki, as some pronounced it) was the site of 
the present Sioux City, Iowa. J. O. Dorsey’s ‘Omaha Indian Map,” 
however, which was compiled from data furnished by Omaha and 
Ponca informants in the period 1877-92, locates it near the present 
Homer, Nebr.** The Omaha, according to my informants, had their 
villages east of this line. Though they hunted west of the boundary 
they acknowledged that they were doing so as guests of the Ponca. 
The Omaha insist, of course, that the Ponca were their guests. 

The southern boundary of the Ponca domain was the Platte (North 
Platte west of the fork). All informants agreed that the Pawnee 
villages were south of the Platte and that that tribe customarily 
hunted south of that river. 

The western boundary of their territory was vaguest in the minds 
of most informants. Some stated that it extended from a point 
‘Just west of the Black Hills” in South Dakota south to the North 
Platte River. Others mentioned an even vaster domain with Pdhe- 
Zé-egg, “The-hill-that-resembles-an-erect-penis,’ the present Pike’s 
Peak, as the western boundary marker. 

Most informants agreed that the northern boundary followed the 
Missouri west from Ni-dgatsatsa to the mouth of the White River in 
what is now South Dakota. From the mouth of the White River 
the boundary line continued straight west through the Black Hills 
to meet the western boundary. PLC remarked that the Ponca also 
claimed a strip of land north of the Missouri ‘“‘a day’s hunt” or about 
30 miles in from the river in the present Bon Homme and Charles 
Mix Counties, S. Dak. This was confirmed by VHM. 

PLC stated that the Ponca had hunted in this strip for many years 
prior to the time that the Yankton Dakota, recent arrivals from 
Minnesota, asked the Ponca if they might settle there. In return for 
land on which to live, the Yankton offered to help the Ponca when the 
latter tribe was attacked by its enemies. The Ponca agreed to these 
terms and the Yankton built their villages in the vicinity of their 
present reservation. However, PLC pointed out that the Yankton 
failed to live up to their agreement, for when the Teton Dakota 
attacked the Ponca the Yankton did not come to their aid. Never- 
theless the Yankton Dakota and the Ponca always remained friendly, 
even when the Teton from the Rosebud and Pine Ridge Reservations 
were constantly raiding the Ponca. 

Ponca relations with the Omaha, their neighbors to the east, were 
generally quite friendly. The two tribes often joined for the summer 
bison hunt and there was some interchange of personnel, through 
marriage and adoption, a pattern which continues up to the present 
time. Relations became somewhat strained, however, in 1864, when 


“a Blueprint copies of this map are on file at the Nebraska State Historical Society, Lincoln, Nebr., and 
at the Laboratory of Anthropology, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebr. 


132 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


the Omaha, under their chief Logan Fontanelle, ceded a large tract of 
land to the Government. Part of this land, which lay south of an 
east-west line drawn through the mouth of the Iowa River, was claimed 
by the Ponca, who were not a party to the treaty. When the Ponca 
chief Wégasapi or “Whip” learned of this cession he was furious, 
and prepared to lead a war party against the Omaha, saying ‘‘When 
the Omaha have defeated the Ponca in battle, then they can sell our 
land!’ At the last moment, however, Wégasdpi was turned from his 
purpose by Government promises of annuity payments. Nowadays, 
though the Omaha and Ponca visit freely with one another, a few 
Ponca still harbor resentment against their sister tribe because of 
“Fontanelle’s crooked deal.” 

Ponca relations with the Pawnee, who were south of the Platte, 
were also good, as a rule. Occasionally, Pawnee horsethieves would 
enter the Ponca country. If caught, these horsethieves were killed 
on the spot, and this sometimes led to reprisals. Nevertheless, there 
was much visiting and a great deal of cultural exchange between the 
two tribes. Both the Wd-w¢ and Heduska dances probably came to 
the Ponca from the Pawnee. According to PLO, the Ponca also 
maintained friendly relations with the Arikara or ‘‘Sand-Pawnee” 
when that tribe lived in South Dakota, and intermarried with them 
to some extent. 

To the southwest of the Ponca, at one time, lived the Pdd ka or 
Padouca tribe. The Ponca identify these people as Comanche, 
but recent ethnohistorical and archeological work has shown that 
they were Lipan Apache (Champe, 1949; Secoy, 1951). Relations 
with this tribe were never friendly, and warfare was continuous until 
the Padouca were finally broken and driven from the land. PLC 
mentions the Ponca wars with the Padouca in his “‘ History,” and most 
of my other informants also mentioned them. The Padouca were 
skilled horsemen, and savage opponents. LLMD had heard that they 
often used long lances with loops at the end with which they could 
snare and decapitate their enemies. 

The West was apparently an empty waste as far as the Ponca 
were concerned. ‘There seem to be no tales of contacts with tribes 
to the west, though many stories tell of long hunting trips in this 
direction, some as far as the Rocky Mountains, where the Ponca 
made hide ‘“‘moccasins” to protect their dogs’ feet, and hunted the 
Rocky Mountain goat. 

To the north of the Ponca were the various bands of the Dakota 
nation. East of the Missouri were the semisedentary Yankton. 
West of this river were the warlike and nomadic Teton. We have 
already noted that the Ponca and Yankton Dakota were good friends. 
Relations between the Ponca and the Teton seem to have been ami- 
cable also, until shortly after the middle of the 19th century. Several 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 133 


of the travelers who journeyed up the Missouri found Ponca visiting 
in the Teton villages. Maximilian (1906, vol. 22, p. 160),for example, 
mentions a young Ponca named Ho-ta-ma, among the Dakota at Fort 
Pierre: ‘‘Frequently he was seen with his comrades playing what was 
called the hoop game, at which sticks covered with leather are thrown 
at a hoop in motion.” 

From about 1850 on, however, the Teton became increasingly 
belligerent. After the Ponca settled on their reservation, in 1858, 
the Teton found it quite convenient to raid them. This situation 
was made considerably worse by the Sioux Treaty of 1868, in which 
the United States, by error, ceded to the Dakota the reservation which 
had been guaranteed to the Ponca. Young Dakota braves who were 
seeking war honors now had a good excuse for attacking the Ponca— 
the Ponca were intruders on Dakota territory! Their raiding was 
intensified until the Ponca could scarcely venture outside their villages 
to till their land. It was this situation which finally prompted the 
Federal Government to remove the Ponca to the Indian Territory. 

The Santee Dakota, who became neighbors of the Ponca following 
the Minnesota Uprising of 1862, and now occupy a small reservation 
adjoining that of the Northern Ponca, were apparently friendly with 
the Ponca from the first. The Teton recognized this fact, and when 
they raided the Ponca they often shot up the Santee settlement just 
for good measure. Relations between the Northern Ponca and the 
Santee are very good at the present time and there has been a great 
deal of intermarriage and cultural exchange through the years. 

The Ponca were, of course, familiar with many other tribes with 
whom contacts were less extensive than for those listed above. PLC 
and Dave Little-cook (a Southern Ponca) supplied the following list 
of tribes with which the Ponca were acquainted. 


English name Ponca name Translation of Ponca name 
ATApAnOLL 42s SS2 2s Maxpiato.—-.=- == Blue cloud. 
Avikcaraeye, 2. Se Pédj-piza_____-- Sand Pawnee. 
IBlacktoOoteess =) as St-SQ0Cs ae ae ee Black foot. 
Caddoueeiite Atk are ROOCC Rs De Ee PO ie he aR, Rhone, Wp Gh a Cec 
@herokeeb 2 ies) 2c eee s. 2eae~. (Ponea version of the English name 


for the tribe—used only by the 
Li Southern Ponca.) 

@heyennei=. 24.2.2... SIUC: (1) ean aa ae (Ponca version of the Dakota name 
for this tribe—meaning ‘Red 
speakers,’’ i.e., People of an alien 
[non-Siouan] speech.) 

@omanche.2-2--2-52- PCdgk as {ote (Believed by some Omaha and 
Ponca to have to do with the 
head, or hairdress.) 

Dakota (Sioux).____-- Spree 5 SA ee SOE ANN Ce ned Eh ed so 

Santee Dakota------- WS -Gtl ae a (Ponca version of the Dakota name 
for the Eastern Dakota, meaning 
“Dwellers at the knife.’’) 

718—-071—65——-10 


134 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


English name Ponca name Translation of Ponca name 
Yankton Dakota- ---- Fhgtawmtsst ees 2 (Ponca version of the Dakota name 
for this band of the Middle 
Dakota, meaning ‘‘Dwellers at 
the end of the circle.’’) 


NOWals eee ee VG CC ae Thought by some Ponca to be a 
corruption of Pdé-ride, “Gray 
heads.” 

Kansa or Kaw- ------ Kigsess. cece 5p oe Ae Se Se 

GOW Ass Se ee eee IKGO GRO S San seo (Ponca version of the English name 
of the tribe.) 

IMGs yoy bee A eS ae Mawédant: 2.22 ueoco ete Se eee Benes ae ee 

INezeRerce sae eee Peggsqd@e_------- Braided forelocks (said to refer to a 
customary Nez Perce male hair- 
dressing). 

Ojibwa 22 352 se ee W Grigio seen, leech Se 

Onanhiaes shes bel oa Umahge = = Upstream people. 

Osapeme sh .hieentias sae Wacdcet ono se An ancient Dégiha term having 
reference to snakes. 

Otobet* ease 3 Wadétadg___----- Lechers. 

iPawneens see eee POG 22 oo ete oS) oben dete ae 

Potawatomi__222+—=2-- Wahtdemom 202 -svosteichptesce ec oo 

Ouarawene- shee ee gag pe sao sae Downstream people. 

Wintiebago— 2]. So = Hotagns se ee Big voices. 


Names given by Fletcher and La Flesche (1911, pp. 101-103) 
which were not mentioned by my informants are: 


Bannock. £324 ius f Banik. Se Sie [Appears to be the Dégiha version 
of the English name for the tribe.]} 

Caddossete sees eee Pédi-wasdbe-- - -- Black Pawnee. 

Oglala band of Teton Ubéddéda__-_-_----- [Ponca version of the Dakota 

Dakota. name.] 

Kaicksapoors. 212 22722 EGG sae [Appears to be the Pégiha version 
of the English name.] 

Kiowas ene eee Mazxptato...-.--- Blue clouds. [I am certain that this 


is incorrect. Note that it is the 
same as the term given by PLC 
and Little-cook for “‘Arapaho.’’ 
The Dakota have the same name, 
Mazxpiaio, for the Arapaho.] 


Massouric sta 46 det oe NGetitarste sae Those who came floating down [the 
river] dead. 
AUK 2 een eee bat Ty | aes oe oe [Appears to be the Dégiha version 


of the first part of this tribe’s 
name for themselves Qsdkigsk.] 
Wichita 2s eeeet Ab WattuGsexuccues (eeost S222 2 


Ponca terms which Fletcher and La Flesche state were different 
from the Omaha terms, or were not used by the Omaha, are: 


Crows oe en tees Kagi-witdSa__-_-- Crow people [a term adopted by the 
Ponea from the Dakota without 
modification]. 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 135 


English name Ponca name Translation of Ponca name 


Crow (variant)_—~-2=== Hiipatida___---_-- [Perhaps a Pégiha corruption of 
the variant Dakota name for the 
tribe, Psal6ka. This, in turn, is 
a corruption of the Crow name, 
for themselves, A psdruke.] 


Dakota of Lower Brulé Kvtida-witsd3a_._. Lower people [a term adopted from 
Reservation. the Dakota without modifica- 
tion]. 
Dakota of the Rosebud S¢zti_......----- Real or pure Sioux. 


Reservation (Brulé 
band of Teton 


Dakota). 

Dakota of Pine Ridge Sit&¢ru____------ Burnt-leg [the Dakota term for 
Reservation (Oglala the Brulé, adopted without modi- 
and Brulé bands of fication by the Ponca]. 

Teton Dakota). 
Moukawas. 52-2202 Nikadaté_..----- [Not given by Fletcher and La 


Flesche, but translated ‘‘Canni- 
bals’ by George Phillips, 
Omaha.] 


To Army officers and others accustomed to Western-European 
techniques, the American Indian manner of waging war seemed 
unorganized and the “troops” lacking in discipline. Thus J. O. 
Dorsey (1884 a, p. 312), commenting on the military organization of 
the Omaha and Ponca, writes: 

War was not carried on by these tribes as it is by nations of the Old World. 
The Pégiha and other tribes have no standing armies... . no militia, ready to be 
called into the field by the government. On the contrary, military service is 
voluntary in all cases, from the private to the commanders, and the war party is 
usually disbanded as soon as home isreached. They had no wars of long duration; 
in fact, wars between one Indian tribe and another scarcely ever occurred; but 
there were occasional battles, perhaps one or two in the course of a season. 

In spite of Dorsey’s statement that the Ponca maintained no militia, 
in a later work he (1897, p. 214) indicates that the Pivida and Nika- 
pasna clans served in somewhat such a capacity: ‘“The Pirida gens 
and part of the Nikapdsna gens of the Ponka tribe are considered 
to be the warriors of the tribe, though members of other gentes have 
participated in war.” The names of these two clans, which mean 
“Blood” and ‘Bald Head” (i.e., a scalped head) are certainly ap- 
propriate for warrior groups. 

Defensive warfare was the only type sanctioned by the tribe, and 
chiefs were forbidden to engage in any other form of warlike activity. 
Raids on other tribes, even though these groups were traditional 
enemies, were undertaken solely upon the responsibility of the leader 
who had organized them, and leaders of unsuccessful war parties 
were held accountable for the deaths of their followers. Whitman 
(1939, p. 180) writes: “If a man tried to lead a war party without 


136 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


adequate supernatural aid, the proof of which would be the failure 
of the expedition, he was lable to be severely flogged by the Buffalo 
Soldiers of the tribe.” 

In spite of the penalty for failure, however, warfare was an important 
avenue to success, and renowned war leaders seldom lacked followers. 
The various warriors’ dancing societies, with their emphasis on mili- 
tary virtues, spurred the youth of the tribe to seek fame on the 
warpath. These societies vied with one another, each attempting to 
gain more war honors than the others. Generally each society main- 
tained a fierce competition with one other rival group. Members of 
the society which had been more successful than its competitor in the 
most recent engagement could steal the wives of the members of 
the other group (Skinner, 1915 ¢, p. 692). 

Dorsey (1884 a, p. 852) mentions “no retreat’ obligations in con- 
nection with the Make-no-flight society, and Skinner (1915 e¢, p. 78) 
notes them for certain officials of the Not-afraid-to-die and Iskd-iyiha 
eroups. Men who had such obligations usually wore a bandolier with 
a long slit tail, and carried a lance. In an advance they led the 
charge. If the tide of battle began to turn, they passed their spear 
through the slit in ther bandolier and literally staked themselves in 
place, making retreat impossible. Thus anchored, they stood and 
fought until their comrades could rally and save them. Needless to 
say, it was often difficult to find men willing to fill the offices of spear- 
men in the various societies. 

War honor feathers and other war honor decorations and privileges 
of the type so well known for other Prairie and Plains tribes are 
mentioned for the Ponca by a number of writers (McGee, 1898, pp. 
156-157; Fletcher and La Flesche, 1911, p. 440; Skinner, 1915 c¢, 
p. 794). I also collected the following list of war honor decorations 
and their symbolism from LRL: 

1. One feather worn erect at the back of the head: Wearer has killed an enemy. 

2. One feather worn horizontally at the back of the head: Wearer has captured 
an enemy. 

3. Two feathers worn in the roach headdress: Wearer has counted first coup on 
an enemy. 

4, One feather worn hanging over the forehead in front: Wearer has scalped 
an enemy. (This decoration has become a standard item in the present-day 
“straight”? dancing costume.) 

5. A red feather worn in any manner: Wearer has been wounded in battle. 

On the basis of internal evidence I am personally inclined to take the 
various war honor feather systems with more than a grain of salt, not 
only in the case of the Ponca, but for the Prairie and Plains tribes in 
general. Every ethnographer, it seems, secures the “correct”? war 
honor feather symbolism for the tribe he is studying, which he duly 
reports. The “rub” is that each system collected is quite different from 
those collected previously from that group. 


coward THE PONCA TRIBE 137 


Thus, the system which I collected for the Ponca does not match 
any of those previously described, nor, in fact, do any two of these 
agree! Symbolism probably did exist, but of a very loose and in- 
dividual character, the wearer assigning the symbolism after he had 
made his favorite ornament. After all, in small tribes such as the 
Ponca and Omaha, it was quite easy to keep one’s heroes straight 
even without distinctive ornaments. 

At the present time the porcupine and deer-hair roach headdress, 
the crow belt, and various ‘‘war honor” type feathers are worn indis- 
criminately by all dancers in the Southern Ponca Heédiska dance. 
PLC, the only Northern Ponca dancer, sometimes wears such regalia 
in the dance as well. His favorite headdress, however, is a buffalo- 
skin cap, with horns, of the type worn by the Buffalo shamans and the 
Big-belly warrior society. Attached to this headdress are crow 
feathers, owl feathers, an eagle feather, and a coyote tail. PLC 
explained that the creatures represented by these decorations were 
all ‘“‘takers of the meat” (i.e., scavengers on the battlefield), and were 
thus considered the guardians of warriors. The same creatures were 
represented in the original form of the crow belt or dancing bustle 
(Fletcher and La Flesche, 1911, pp. 441-442). Another dance head- 
dress occasionally worn by PLC is a red-fox-skin turban with an erect 
golden eagle tail feather at the back. Leonard Smith stated that this 
headdress was formerly the insignia of the Ponca warrior. Chiefs 
wore a similar headdress but of otterskin, with a downy eagle plume 
in the back. 

Actual “wars” of long duration and involving large numbers of 
men were not common with the Ponca, as we have noted above. 
The most common type of warlike endeavor, according to PLC, JLR, 
OK, LMD, LRL, and Lea Peniska, was the small raiding expedition 
which went in search of scalps and horses. Such war parties were led 
by an experienced man who owned or could borrow a sacred war bundle 
which guaranteed success to his venture. 

The procedure followed on such a raid is succinctly described by 
Skinner, as follows: 

The war leader, who carried a sacred waxuibe, or war bundle, and went ahead 
of the party could neither turn back nor go aside. If the party saw the foe, or 
desired him to turn off, they pulled him back, or turned him in the direction 
they wanted to go. He slept by himself, and all his cooking was done for him. 
Buffalo meat was prepared, and an attendant offered it to him in his hands on a 
bunch of sagebrush. The leader might only take four bites. 

Scouts were sent out to all four points of the compass and told to watch, or, at 
night, to listen for the enemy. They went wrapped in white or gray blankets 
and acted like wolves, stooping over and trotting and signaling by howling. 
If they saw anything they came in trotting together, then apart, then coming 


together. At night, when the leader wanted them to return, generally about 
midnight, the party would howl like wolves to call them in. The scouts went as 


138 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


far as they could, and the one who went in the direction the party was traveling, 
left an arrow where he had been to be picked up as the party went by. 

If a foe were seen and the war bundle was “‘opened on him,”’ he must be killed, 
even if a mistake had been made and he turned out to be another Ponca and a 
relative. 

When an enemy was killed, the Ponca scalped him, then cut off his head and 
threw it away. The sign for Ponca in the sign language indicates this custom. 
They also severed a dead enemy’s hands from the wrists and threw them away. 
They also slashed the slain foe’s back in checker board style. This was called 
“making a drum of an enemy’s back.’’ All these deeds were considered brave 
and could be boasted about. ([Skinner, 1915 ¢, p. 797.] 


Several such raiding expeditions were described by my informants. 
Accounts of two of these, which I consider typical, are presented here. 
The second describes an unsuccessful raid and the treatment accorded 
its leader. 


A PONCA HORSE-STEALING RAID 
As told by PLC 


Now I will tell you a story that I heard from one of the oldest men in the tribe 
when I was alittle boy. This story took place just before the Poncas were moved 
to Oklahoma. They needed horses so some of the men decided to go and capture 
them from the Sioux. Seven men started from the Ponca camp, which was 
right by the monument [the monument to the Mormon pioneers, approximately 
3 miles south and 2 miles west of Niobrara, Nebr. This was the “Gray 
Blanket” village]. The whole Ponca tribe was camped there. 

They were carrying ropes to lead the horses that they captured. They went 
west. They traveled quite a while before they saw any sign of the Sioux. Finally 
they founda big Siouxcamp. The Sioux were dancing. The leader of the Poncas 
said, ‘‘We must hide until after dark.” 

They found a big log of driftwood and hid behind it. They stayed there all 
day. Once they were nearly spotted by a woman who came to gather wood. 
The leader whispered ‘‘Don’t shoot unless they see you.’””’ The woman turned 
away before she saw them and went back to the village. 

The Sioux danced until dark. The Poncas waited until the camp had quieted 
down, and then the leader said, ‘“Now I am going to get the horses. You wait 
on that high spot over there.” He left them and crept toward the Sioux camp. 

The Sioux had their horses picketed near the tents so that if a horse made a 
noise its owner could hear it. Finally the Ponca leader reached the Sioux camp. 
He crept from one bunch of horses to the next, looking them over. Finally he 
came to an especially nice bunch. He found a wonderful speckled horse there. 
He picked out six other horses and put ropes around their necks. He led these 
seven horses out of the camp, and all the other horses followed. 

Soon the Sioux found out what had happened and came in pursuit. ‘He! he! 
he!’ they were yelling as they came after the Poncas. The six other Poncas were 
waiting in the place where the leader had told them to. They all got on the 
horses the leader had brought. By this time the whole Sioux camp was awake 
and coming after them fast. Dogs were barking and the men were getting their 
weapons ready in the Sioux camp. The Ponca scattered, each man going his 
own way. They thought they would have a better chance that way. 

The leader of the war party, the man with the speckled horse, was the first 
man to return to the camp here. He came riding down between those two hills 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 139 


over there [two hills about 1 mile west of the Mormon monument]. All the 
people came out to greet him. They asked for the others and he told them what 
had happened. ‘I don’t know what happened to the others,’’ he said. The 
families of the other warriors thought that their boys had been killed and they 
all mourned. 

The next day the second rider came in. He too had no news of the others. 
On the third day another warrior came in. He didn’t know anything about the 
others. He hadn’t seen them. The fourth day they finally all returned. The 
leader gave the wonderful speckled horse that he had captured to his brother. 
It was the fastest buffalo runner the Poncas ever owned. 


NASKI-TAGA’S WAR PARTY 
As told by JLR 


Once there was a Ponca war party of seven men. Their leader was a man 
called Nq@Ski-taga, which means “‘Big-head.” They called him this because he had 
a big funny-shaped head. This war party traveled several days and didn’t see 
the enemy. They traveled until their moccasins wore out. They came to some 
timber and went into it. They went to a clearing and began to mend their 
moccasins. 

They had just begun to sew when they were attacked on all sides by the enemy. 
Na&ki-taga escaped by running faster than the enemy. He ran as hard as he could, 
but the enemy were right behind him. They had horses and he knew they would 
soon catch him. 

He was running across a flat place when he noticed a prairie wolf hole. He 
quickly jumped into this hole and covered himself with weeds. These holes are 
quite large, big enough for a man to hide in. He waited a short while, and sud- 
denly he heard a roar above him. The horses were going right over the place 
where he was hidden! 

He waited in the wolf hole until dark, then he got out and began to run again. 
He ran all that night. The next day he hid under a cutbank. Finally he got 
home safely. 

He waited for the others to come back to camp, but they never showed up. 
They were all killed by the enemy. Because of this the people of the tribe turned 
against N@&ki-t ga and called him a poor war leader. They said that he always 
managed to get back safely himself, but the men who went with him never did. 
He was finished. 

Only when the Ponca had been attacked in their villages or when 
their territory had been invaded in force did the Ponca tribe fight as 
a unit. On such occasions all of the men of the tribe, including the 
chiefs, entered the conflict. Sometimes even the women took part. 
J. O. Dorsey writes: 

When the foe had made an attack on the Omahas (or Ponkas) and had killed 
some of the people it was the duty of the surviving men to pursue the offenders 
and try to punish them. . .. When the Ponkas rushed to meet the Brulé and 
Oglala Dakotas, June 17, 1872, Huddégi-huq, a woman, ran with them most of the 
way, brandishing a knife and singing songs to incite the men to action. The 
women did not always behave thus. They generally dug pits as quickly as possible 
and crouched in them in order to escape the missiles of the combatants. [Dorsey, 
1884 a, p. 312.] 


JLR also described a defensive battle: 


140 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


A BATTLE BETWEEN THE PONCA AND THE SIOUX 


Once six Sioux came to attack the Ponca when they were camped on the Nio- 
brara here. The Ponca didn’t want to fight, but the Sioux kept firing into the 
camp until finally the Ponca got mad enough and chased them. They chased the 
Sioux across the Niobrara and beyond. 

It was terribly hot day, and finally the Sioux horses, which were already tired, 
gave out. The Poncas saw the horses where the Sioux had turned them loose and 
cried, ‘‘There are their horses! Now we will catch them for surel”’ All but two 
of the Sioux were run down by mounted Ponca and killed. 

These last two Sioux barricaded themselves in some rocks. One of the Sioux 
held back the Ponea while the other dug for water, as they were both suffering 
greatly from thirst. The Poncas had dismounted, and were trying to crawl up 
on the Sioux where they had barricaded themselves. The Sioux who was holding 
the Ponca back was a good shot, though, and held them off. Once he cut the 
feather in two that a Ponca was wearing on his head. 

It was plain that the Poncas couldn’t get the Sioux in this way. Finally the 
Ponea leader said ‘‘Let’s rush them.’’ The Poncas remounted and rode down 
the two Sioux, killing them both. 

The one Sioux who was such a good shot they mutilated and cut into pieces. 
Each warrior took a piece back. One warrior took his head, another his hand, 
and so on. They took them back to the village and rode around with them 
while the women danced the Scalp dance. 

Later one old woman gathered up the pieces where they had been thrown in 
the dirt and buried them, so the children wouldn’t see them lying around. She 
told the people who were watching her: “‘They deserved this for attacking us 
when we wanted no war, but they are humans after all.” 


Concerning the return from war, J. O. Dorsey (1884 a, p. 270) 
writes: ‘‘When men return from war the old men, who act as criers, 
halloo and recount the deeds of each warrior, whom they mention 
by name.” Scalps taken by the party were turned over to the 
women, who stretched them over small willow hoops and painted the 
backs red. They were then attached to poles for the scalp dance. 
Warriors who had been killed by the enemy were danced over by 
members of the Mawddani warriors’ dancing society and then buried 
in full battle regalia. 

Captives were apparently well treated by the Ponca. Dorsey 
(1884 a, p. 332) writes: “Captives were not slain by the Omahas and 
Ponkas. When peace was declared the captives were sent home, if 
they wished to go. If not they could remain where they were, and 
were treated as if they were members of the tribe; but they were not 
adopted by any one.” 

Trophies of war were often kept by the Ponca and shown at parades 
and dances. Both PLC and Andrew Snake (a Southern Ponca) told 
of a Dakota warrior who used an Omaha dance (Hediska) whistle as 
a war signal. However, he gave away his position by his whistling, 
and was found and killed by the Ponca. Later the Ponca composed 
a Hediska song describing the incident, which is still a favorite 
among the Southern Ponca. The whistle which the Dakota was 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 141 


blowing when he was killed was displayed whenever this song was 
sung. This famous whistle, the end of which is carved to resemble 
a crane’s head, is now on display in the Ponca City Indian Museum, 
Ponca City Library, Ponca City, Okla. 

Fletcher and La Flesche (1911, pp. 489-441) describe the Ponca 
ceremony of conferring war honors, in which the sacred bundles 
figured prominently. Warriors were required to tell of their warlike 
deeds in the presence of the entire tribe and the unopened war bundles. 
Persons who lied or exaggerated concerning their deeds were threatened 
with supernatural punishment. 

Peacemaking between the Ponca and other tribes, according to 
J. O. Dorsey (1884 a, p. 332; 1890, pp. 399-401), was usually effected 
by sending an envoy bearing a peace pipe to the enemy. Hyde 
(1934 a, p. 53) writes of a tradition mentioning that a Wd-wq ceremony 
was performed at a great peacemaking council attended by the Ponca, 
Omaha, Arikara, and Cheyenne. 

At the present time, of course, tribal warfare is a thing of the past. 
Present-day Ponca know some tales of the old tribal wars, however, 
and are very proud of the tribe’s military tradition. Veterans of 
World War II were highly honored on their return from the service, 
and pictures of veterans in uniform are found in many homes. One 
Southern Ponca family visited in 1954 had even built a small indoor 
shrine to honor the servicemen and servicewomen of the family. This 
consisted of small flags, pictures of members of the family in uniform, 
and religious and patriotic mottoes, all arranged artistically over the 
fireplace. 

LIFE CYCLE 


According to my informants, sexual intercourse was treated quite 
openly by the Ponca in aboriginal times. Since privacy was vir- 
tually unknown in an Indian camp or village, children at an early 
age probably observed their parents and others engaged in the 
sexual act. Two positions were commonly employed by the Ponca 
and Omaha in sexual intercourse; in the first the man lay above 
the woman, in the other their positions were reversed. Foreplay 
consisted in rubbing the genitals in the case of the male and rubbing 
the breasts and genitals in the case of the female. 

Several philters or ‘love medicines” were used by Ponca men to 
seduce women who were cold to their advances. A small amount 
of this substance, usually plant material, was brushed on the girl’s 
clothing, put in her food, left where she would step over it, or other- 
wise brought into contact with her. A favorite trick was to open a 
moistened packet of the medicine upwind of the girl. Once she 
tasted or smelled the medicine it acted as a powerful aphrodisiac 
and drove her to her would-be lover in spite of her inclinations. 


142 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


Gilmore (1919, pp. 80, 82-83, 107, 134) lists meadowrue, blood- 
root, wild columbine, “Jove seed” or Cogswellia daucifolia, and ‘“‘fuzzy- 
weed” or Artemisia dracinculoides as plants used in this manner. 

Usually such love medicines were secured from an old shaman. 
Shamans renowned for particularly potent philters amassed con- 
siderable wealth from their manufacture and sale. Whitman (1939, 
pp. 190-191) notes that WBB secured such a “squaw medicine” 
from his mother’s brother. At the time he was given the medicine 
he was warned that if he did not use it correctly (.e., to secure a 
wife; not to seduce one woman after another) his misdeeds would 
“come back on him.” This is a common concept among both the 
Ponca and the Omaha. 

Sexual abstinence was observed before and during ceremonies. 
G. A. Dorsey (1905, p. 71) writes that participants in the Sun dance 
abstained from women, fearing a serious accident if they did not 
do so. Whitman (1939, p. 192) notes that ‘. . . married men were 
supposed to stay away from their wives four days before a peyote 
meeting.” 

Like his war honors, a Ponca man’s record with women was a 
prestige factor in Ponca society. Skinner (1915 c, p. 788) tells of 
a men’s society, the members of which publicly boasted of their 
conquests in love. He also notes that the Ponca women got together 
and boasted of their lovers, but there seemed to be no definite society 
established for this purpose. 

Though chastity in unmarried girls was rare, complete promiscuity 
was frowned upon. Whitman (1937, p. 48) notes that if a girl denied 
a suitor and was not circumspect in her conduct thereafter she was 
liable to be raped. Apparently rape and seduction were common, 
as Whitman (1937, p. 72) later notes that Ponca girls were sometimes 
laced up in bison hides at night to protect them. 

Harlots were rare in the tribe, though there were always one or two 
women in the tribe known as “run arounds.”’ At the present there 
are two or three “‘toughies” in the Southern band. Though such 
women were frowned upon by the tribe, under certain conditions 
their conduct was excused. Whitman (1937, p. 86) writes: ‘“Among the 
Ponca, it was said that a woman might become a run-around through 
a vision. In such a situation her conduct would be condoned.” 
Just how many women availed themselves of this excuse for promis- 
cuous behavior is not mentioned. 

The familiar institution of the berdache or transvestite was found 
among the Ponca. As among the Dakota and other neighboring 
tribes, these men were sometimes taken as wives by warriors. They 
were reputed to make the best quillwork and beadwork. ‘The con- 
dition was attributed to at least two causes. J. O. Dorsey (1894, 
p. 379) writes: ‘A Ponka child once said to the author, . . . ‘If boys 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 143 


make a practice of playing with the guls they become . . . Mi-xuga 
[berdaches].’’”? PLC and OK held this belief as well. They also stated 
that if a man permitted himself to be seduced by the Deer-woman the 
same condition would result. 

Extramarital sex relations on the part of a married woman were 
met with drastic punishment. Skinner (1915 ¢, pp. 800-801) writes: 
“A Ponca might kill, scalp, or cut the hair off a man whom he caught 
holding clandestine intercourse with his wife. A wife could kill 
another woman with whom her husband eloped. A husband could 
cut off the nose and ears of an unfaithful wife. Blood vengeance 
could not be exacted for these crimes.” 

JLR told a folk tale concerning a young woman, married to a man 
several years her senior, who had been having intercourse with her 
lover ‘‘under the tipi cover.”” Her husband, learning of her activities, 
traded places with her the following night. When the lover came and 
made his advances, the husband cut the lover’s penis off and tied it to 
his wife’s hair while she slept. The next morning when a crowd had 
gathered about the slain lover, the wife was identified as being the 
cause of his death by this singular hair ornament. 

According to Jones (1890), the Ponca practiced wife lending when 
they visited, or were visited by, their friends from other tribes. This 
is, however, the only mention of this custom for the Ponca in the 
literature. 

PLC made the following remarks concerning birth and its attendant 
customs among the Ponca: 


Births just came naturally among the Poncas. There was no birth control. 
In the old days, they tell me, a woman gave birth to her baby in a kneeling posi- 
tion. She was on a hide. Sometimes her female relatives would come and help 
her. Nowadays a bed is used, just like the White folks. 

In the old days you never saw any deformed children like you do now. The 
reason for this was that no one ever married any possible relation of his. They 
were also more careful about keeping away from a woman when she was having 
her turn [i.e., during menses]. 

Births didn’t come very close together in the old days. A woman wouldn’t 
have her second child until the first one could walk around and take care of itself. 
The man and woman stayed away from one another unless they wanted a baby. 


One wishes that there were more information available concerning 
the vital statistics of groups such as the Ponca. In such an economy, 
children are a handicap much longer than they are in a fully agri- 
cultural society. Lactation is prolonged and a woman cannot easily 
handle more than one infant at a time when the tribe is on the move, 
as on the tribal hunt. In spite of PLC’s statement, there seems to be 
considerable evidence that infanticide has been general among food- 
gathering peoples and groups which, like the Ponca, had a mixed 
economy but were on the hunt for months at a time. 


144 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


Dorsey (1884 a, p. 263) notes that the ‘‘Couvade is not practiced 
among the Pégiha. Foeticide is uncommon.” 

The umbilical cord of the child was commonly placed in a buckskin 
amulet made especially to preserve it. ‘These amulets were still being 
manufactured by Ponca mothers for their children in 1954. These 
fetishes were usually in the shape of a horned toad for boys and in 
the shape of a turtle for girls. The horned toad symbolized endurance 
and longevity, the turtle fertility. In earlier times such fetishes were 
worn on the clothing of the child until puberty, but at the time of 
my fieldwork they were wrapped in cloth and secreted by the mother 
in a bureau drawer or other hiding place. 

Concerning infancy, PLC stated: 

Ponca children were very carefully brought up in the old days. At first the 
mother carried the child around on a cradleboard that was fastened to her back. 
This could be set up against a tree when she was working around the camp. It 
had a wooden bow in front so that if it fell over the baby wouldn’t fall face down 
in the dirt. 


The down of the cattail was used by Ponca mothers as a talcum for 
their babies, as a padding for cradleboards, and in quilting baby wrap- 
pings. Newborn infants were also laid in it (Gilmore, 1919, pp. 64-65). 

Most Ponca mothers of both bands still breast feed their babies 
if it is physically possible. Gilmore (1919, p. 136) mentions the use 
of an infusion of skeletonweed stems by mothers having a scanty 
supply of milk in order to increase the flow. 

PLC mentioned that “‘when babies’ teeth began coming in, they 
were given a piece of dried meat to chew on to help this along.” All 
informants, when questioned as to the age of infants at creeping, 
standing, walking, and talking, stated that it was “‘just the same as 
White people.” Although no detailed study was made in this area, 
I observed nothing which would negate this statement. 

Unfortunately, early European explorers generally had little to 
say about child development in such groups as the Ponca in early 
post-contact times. Some interesting information concerning stages 
in development recognized by the aboriginal Ponca is contained in 
the Ponca folk tale ‘The Rabbit and the Grizzly Bear,” which was 
recorded by J. O. Dorsey (1890, p. 47): 

(1) He commenced talking, saying words here and there, not speaking plainly 
or connectedly. (2) Next, he spoke without missing a word or syllable. (3) He 
became like boys who pull the bow and shoot very well, and who runa little now 
and then, but not very far. (4) He was as a youth who can draw the arrow, and 
who runs swiftly for some time. (5) He became a young man, one of those who 
carry the quiver and take wives. 

Little information was secured concerning child care. Dorsey 
(1885 a, p. 107) mentions Ponca mothers scaring their children by 
telling them stories of Jndddinge, and thus making them behave. 
JLR mentioned, in a story, a woman putting her niece outside the 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 145 


tipi because the child would not stop crying. Jealousy of the woman’s 
own daughter, possibly the Beloved Child, was implied. 

T was impressed, while living among the Ponca, at the small amount 
of physical discipline used with children. Now and then a parent 
would scold a child for ‘‘getting into things,” but this was all. No 
temper tantrums were observed, and little crying. 

A Ponca child’s education began as soon as it was able to imitate 
and learn adult patterns of behavior. Respect for sacred objects 
was inculcated at an early age. Whitman (1939, pp. 181-182) 
quotes WBB to the effect that: “Children were taught to respect 
the bundle. ‘When we wanted to play or scuffle, we couldn’t do it 
in the tipi on account of what hung in it.’”’ He later notes that 
WBB’s father scolded his son for not listening to the father’s prayer 
before breakfast (ibid., p. 182). 

PLC made the following remarks concerning children’s education 
and upbringing: “Some older man or woman taught the children 
how to act, and told them stories about famous people and battles. 
There was one thing that they always said to children. They told 
them ‘Get up at daybreak. Go to bed with the sun.’ ” 

Besides the games mentioned in an earlier chapter, the following 
children’s activities are mentioned by Gilmore (1919, pp. 68, 72-73): 
Red hay stems were used by little boys as arrows; little girls used 
cottonwood leaves to make toy tipis and toy moccasins; whistles 
were also made of cottonwood leaves on occasion. 

Children had contests involving the eating of unripe wild goose- 
berries without grimacing (ibid., p. 34). Spiderbean pods were used 
by little boys to imitate rattles, as were black-rattle-pod and little- 
rattle-pod pods (ibid., pp. 89-91). | Wild sweetpea pods were roasted 
and eaten in sport by children (ibid., p. 98). 

Violets were used by children in a game of ‘‘war,” the heads of the 
violets being snapped by one person at his opponent (ibid., p. 103). 
This was apparently similar to the game played by contemporary 
White children in which dandelion heads are snapped. Elderberry 
stems were used by small boys for making popguns (ibid., p. 115). 

J. O. Dorsey (1885 a, p. 108) notes that: ““The Omaha and Ponka 
boys catch an insect called the teatata which resembles the ‘hobby horse,’ 
or praying insect. After saying certain words over it, they think 
that it turns its head in the directions of the buffaloes, or else in that 
of the Dakotas. ... The whippoorwill . . . was often addressed by 
the children, who thought that it repeated their words.” 

An important childhood rite, the ceremony of “Turning the Child,” 
is described by Fletcher and La Flesche (1911, pp. 44-45). During 
this ceremony a child was led into a sacred tent in which a stone, 
representing long life, had been placed. The child was led to the 
stone, made to stand upon it, and then turned by the hereditary 


146 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


priest to each of the four lifegiving winds or directions. During this 
ceremony a child’s infant name was “‘thrown away” and a new name, 
having clan significance, was bestowed. A lock of hair was cut 
from the heads of boys who were “turned” but this was not done to 
girls. This ceremony was last performed in the 1930’s. Perry Le 
Claire was the “‘child”’ turned and LRL the officiating priest. 

The vision quest was an important part of a Ponca boy’s training 
in former years. The boy went to a secluded place, his face painted 
with charcoal, and fasted for a number of days, in hopes that some 
“spirit helper,’ usually an animal, would “pity” him and give him 
supernatural power or knowledge. Whitman (1939, pp. 184-185) 
notes that WBB was sent on the vision quest by his father. The 
vision quest is no longer practiced by either band of the Ponca. 

There was no puberty ceremony for boys in the Ponca tribe. PLC 
commented that when a boy became old enough to start being inter- 
ested in girls he began braiding his hair. This was a sign that he 
was beginning to think of himself as a man. 

OK remembered a sort of girl’s puberty ceremony in which the 
Northern Ponca chief Birdhead gave away a horse in honor of the 
fact his daughter had become a woman. The horse was highly 
decorated, with quilled leg ornaments and a beaded bridle. It was 
led into the dance ring and given to an old woman with appropriate 
speeches. This was considered a great honor for the daughter. 

Concerning menstruation, J. O. Dorsey (1884 a, p. 267) writes: 

Among the Omahas and Ponkas the woman makes a different fire for four 
days, dwelling in a small lodge, apart from the rest of the household, even in cold 
weather. She cooks and eats alone, telling no one of her sickness, not even her 
husband. 

Lowie also mentions this custom, and it was mentioned by all of 
my informants as well (Lowie, 1917, pp. 92-93). Women were 
considered very dangerous during their period, and were carefully 
excluded from ceremonies. JLR attributed much of the disease of 
present-day Indians to the fact that the menstrual taboo is no longer 
strictly observed. His opinions on this matter were echoed by 
WBB and other Southern Poncas. 

Ponca boys began going on the warpath at what would be con- 
sidered, in our culture, a very early age. PLC and JLR stated that 
it was not uncommon for boys 12 or 13 years old to accompany war 
parties, and this statement is confirmed by that of J. O. Dorsey 
(1890, pp. 372-377) concerning young Nudd-ara. Such boys secured 
water and firewood for the older warriors and performed other camp 
drudgery. 

Present-day Ponca youths usually attend school until they are 16 
or 18; they then travel about the country for a year or two before they 
settle down and marry. The traveling around period is spent in 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 147 


visiting other tribes, following rodeos, visiting large cities, and visiting 
places of unusual interest. They support themselves during this 
time by working on and off for eating money and by staying with 
other Indians. Young men from other tribes visit the Ponca in the 
same manner, often from such distant groups as the New York Iro- 
quois and the Plains-Cree of Saskatchewan. Most adult Ponca men 
have a large fund of stories relating to their wanderings at this stage 
of life which are recounted in much the way the old tales of war ex- 
peditions would have been told a few generations back. 

Concerning marriage customs of the Ponca, A.D. Jones, Superin- 
tendent and Clerk of the (Southern) Ponca Agency, in a letter to 
J. M. Wood, the Agent, dated November 12, 1890, writes as follows: 


Girls married at 14 to 16 years of age. Often a man ‘‘bought” a girl with 
ponies when she was very young, then married her later. In this case she might 
live with him in his camp if he were already married to her older sister, otherwise 
she would remain with her parents until of marriageable age. Wives who were 
not sisters often refused to live under the same roof. The mother-in-law wielded 
great power. If the husband mistreated his bride the mother-in-law would fetch 
her home. 


Jones’ comments on the early age of Ponca girls at marriage are 
confirmed by Dorsey (1884 a, p. 259), who writes: 


It is now customary for girls to be married at the age of fifteen, sixteen, or seven- 
teen years among the Omahas, and in the Ponka tribe they generally take hus- 
bands as soon as they enter their fifteenth year. It was not so formerly; men 
waited until they were twenty-five or thirty, and the women till they were twenty 
years of age. 


PLC commented on Ponca marriage customs as follows: 


When a boy wanted to marry a girl, he could do it in one of two ways. The 
first way he gave lots of presents to her family, such as horses and buffalo robes. 
This was the most common way. If her family kept the presents, it meant that 
they approved the marriage, and the girl would come and live with the man. 

The second way was by arrangement. A boy would go to his parents. He 
would tell them that he was interested in a certain girl, and ask them to help 
arrange a match. If they were willing, they would go and talk with the girl’s 
parents. After four days, if the girl’s parents didn’t complain, the boy’s parents 
collected a large number of gifts and took them over. Four days later these gifts 
were returned.[*?] This made the marriage good. 


These two forms of marriage may reflect the mixed cultural heritage 
of the Ponca. ‘The first form is quite typical of the High Plains area 
(i.e., Cheyenne, Teton Dakota) while the second is the usual form in 
the Eastern Woodlands (i.e., Ojibwa, Potawatomi). 

James (1905 b, p. 25) refers to young Omaha men eloping with 
married women and coming to live with the Ponca. Perhaps, in like 
manner, Ponca couples eloped and went to live with the Omaha to 
avoid the censure of their tribe. 


4 By ‘“‘these gifts’? PLC actually means gifts of comparable value, not the same items. 


148 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


At the present time the Ponca customarily contract marriages in 
the manner of the major White culture, i.e., in either a church or a 
civil ceremony. Common law marriages are also quite common. 

Courtship was sometimes a bit difficult for the Ponca youth in 
aboriginal times, since maidens, though usually quite willing to come 
at least half way, were closely chaperoned by older female relatives. 
With a strong will, however, the Ponca boy usually found a way. 
PLC commented as follows: 

When a boy wanted to impress a girl he would wear his best clothes and parade 
in front of her whenever he could. At dances he would try to talk to her alone. 
Girls would walk under a boy’s blanket for a while, and the boys would talk to 
them. 

It was usually quite hard for a boy to talk with a girl alone. Wherever a girl 
went, some female relative would go along. Boys sometimes found opportunities 
to speak with girls when the girls went after water. When a girl was interested 
in a boy she would make it easy for him to see her. Sometimes a boy would 
court a girl by playing his flute outside her tent at night. She would know who 
it was, and if she could, she would go outside and speak with him. 

Little information could be secured on Ponca nuptials. One gains 
the impression that there was slight formal ceremony. PLC com- 
mented merely that a Ponca bride braided her hair and put on her 
best clothes for the marriage feast. This feast was attended by the 
families of the bride and groom and a few of the couple’s friends. 

As I have indicated earlier, the Ponca practiced polygyny. PLC 
commented: ‘‘ Usually the old-time Poncas only had one wife. Some- 
times, though, a well-to-do man would take two wives. If he did this 
he usually took the younger sister of the first wife, because they could 
get along better if they were sisters. Standing-bear, the chief, had 
two wives, and they were sisters. A woman never had two husbands.” 

At the present time monogamy is the only form of marriage in the 
Ponca tribe. 

Divorce was simple in Ponca society. PLC stated: “If a man and 
wife didn’t get along, or weren’t satisfied, they just split up.”” Skinner 
(1915 c, pp. 784-785) writes of men giving away their wives in the 
Hediska dance, and Whitman (1937, p. 41) notes that: ‘‘For prestige 
fathers gave up their sons to war; husbands gave away their wives.”’ 

There was no fixed rule regarding the disposition of children of a 
divorced couple. J. O. Dorsey (1884 a, p. 262) writes: ‘‘When parents 
separate, the children are sometimes taken by their mother, and some- 
times by her mother or their father’s mother. Should the husband 
be unwilling, the wife cannot take the children with her. Each 
consort can remarry.” 

Separation and desertion are the common forms of ending a marriage 
among the present-day Ponca. Though legal divorce is recognized 
as the “right way” of doing things, few Ponca bother with it. Cost 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 149 


is undoubtedly a factor, but the fact that the old pattern of divorce 
was simple separation is probably more relevant. 

Dorsey (ibid., p. 260) mentions a widow remarrying in a rather 
unusual manner. She ran a race with her suitors and the one who 
caught her became her husband. This ‘‘reverse Sadie Hawkins”’ pro- 
cedure was considered loose conduct on the part of the widow by 
Dorsey’s informants. 

PLC commented as follows on the status of the aged in Ponca 
society: 

The Poncas took care of their old people as best they could. They tried to 
treat the old people as good as possible, because everyone gets old sooner or later. 
In the old days, if the tribe was going on a long journey, the old people were 


sometimes left behind. It was said that nature would take care of them. The 
old people were well loved because they knew the stories and history of the tribe. 


J. O. Dorsey (1885 a, p. 107) states that the old were ‘‘addressed 
reverently when alive” and in another work (1890, p. 29) he mentions 
a certain corrupt form of speech ‘‘used by old women and children,”’ 
which indicates that the aged were treated with indulgence. In yet 
a third study (1884 a, pp. 274-275) he writes: 


The Omahas and Ponkas never abandoned the infirm aged people on the 
prairie. They left them at home, where they could remain till the return of the 
hunting party. They were provided with a shelter among the trees, food, water, 
and fire.... The Indians were afraid to abandon (wagédd) their aged people, 
lest Wakdda should punish them when they were away from home. 


An interesting comment upon Ponca acculturation and how it 
affected the old men’s position in the tribe is contained in Whitman’s 
“Xtibe, A Ponca Autobiography”’: 


In a society in which the goals could best be reached by the young, the practice 
of xuibe [the use of supernatural power, JH] gave to the older men the necessary 
instrument of control by which they could maintain their ascendancy over an 
ambitious younger generation. Xzbe kept the young in their place. As a man 
grew older he acquired more and more power. As his physical vigor slowly 
diminished, he took on supernatural strength. Only at the end of his life did a 
man give up his power, usually to a receptive and selected son. By this act he 
was thought to kill himself; his life was ended; and he died. 

Now that the white man has shattered ziuibe with his superior power, the Ponca 
father has little left to hand on to his son; the old man can no longer maintain his 
ascendancy, because today the young have lost faith and interest. They no longer 
fear their elders who have become an economic burden instead of a source of spir- 
itual and economic strength. The effect on Ponca society of this loss of respect 
has been one of rapid and tragic disintegration. [Whitman 1939, pp. 192-193.] 


With the foregoing statement in mind, I discussed xtibe with some 
of the younger Ponca. Though a few could ‘speak the language”’ 
of xtibe, that is, knew how it was supposed to operate, it was very 
clear that to most of them the various sacred rites in which this 
sacred power figured, together with their bundles and paraphernalia, 

718-071— 6511 


150 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


were something one spoke of with respect only out of consideration 
for the feelings of the older people. Though one young man remarked, 
“Tt sure would have been wonderful if the old folks had passed that 
stuff down to us,’ even this individual had made no effort to learn 
what little sacred lore remains in the tribe. 

Turning next to the subject of sickness, we note that to the Ponca 
there were two principal types of illness: the type which resulted 
from natural causes and the type which was caused by sorcery or the 
displeasure of the spirits. Diseases or injuries of the first type were 
generally treated therapeutically (i.e., herbal teas for stomach dis- 
orders, splints for broken limbs, etc.). Diseases of the second type, 
since they were caused by magical or supernatural means, could be 
combated only by means of a stronger counter magic. Often one 
could not be sure which type of disease had come, and it was therefore 
thought best to take no chances. Thus, many Ponca remedies 
combined therapeutics with magic. 

The following cure for snakebite, given by Fletcher and La Flesche 
(1911, p. 46), illustrates this well: 

When any one in the tribe chanced to be bitten by a snake, he sent at once for 
a member of the Wazdze [Snake, JH] gens, who on arriving at the tent quickly 
dug a hole beside the fire with a stick, and then sucked the wound so as to draw 
out the blood and prevent any serious trouble from the injury. The purpose in 
digging the hole could not be learned from the writer’s informant. 

To the Ponca, magical methods were as reasonable as splints for a 
broken leg. For example, Fletcher and La Flesche (1911, p. 43) 
mention that members of the Pizida clan cured pains in the head by 
wetting an arrow with saliva, setting it in position on the bow string, 
and then pointing the arrow at the sick man’s head four times. Then 
the Pizida rubbed the afflicted person’s head with the arrow, and so 
effected a cure for the pain. 

The Ponca possessed numerous herbal remedies, many of which 
were recorded by M. R. Gilmore (1919). The following have been 
abstracted from his work: 

Puffballs were used as a styptic for any wounds, especially for 
application to the umbilicus of newborn infants (p. 62). 

Cedar fruits and leaves were boiled together and used internally 
for coughs. For a cold in the head, twigs were burned and the smoke 
inhaled (pp. 63-64). 

Cattail down was used as a dressing for burns and scalds (pp. 
64-65). 

Calamus was used as a carminative, and the rootstock was chewed 
as a cough remedy and as a remedy for toothache. For colic an 
infusion of the pounded rootstock was drunk. As a remedy for colds 
the rootstock was chewed or a decoction was drunk, or it was used in 
the smoke treatment (pp. 69-70). 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 151 


Blueflag rootstock was pulverized and mixed with water or saliva 
and the infusion dropped into the ear to cure earache; it was also used 
to medicate eyewater. A paste was made to apply to sores and 
bruises (p. 72). 

Oak and red elm bark were boiled in water and the decoction given 
for bowel trouble (p. 75). 

Wild four-o’clock root was chewed and blown into wounds (p. 78). 
Windflower also was used for wounds, externally or internally, and 
was also used as a wash for sores (p. 82). 

The root of the blue cohosh was boiled and used as a fever medicine 
(p. 83). 

For kidney trouble a decoction of wild black currant was used (p. 
84). 

A wash for the inflammation of the eyes was made by steeping the 
fruit of the wild rose (p. 85). 

Chokecherry bark and fruit decoctions were used as diarrhea 
remedies (p. 89). 

The root of the Kentucky coffee tree was pulverized and mixed 
with water and used as a rectal injection in cases of constipation. 
A syringe made of an animal bladder and a bird leg bone was used in 
connection with this (pp. 89-90). 

Shoestringweed was used as a moxa in cases of neuralgia and 
rheumatism. ‘The stems were attached to the skin after having been 
moistened at one end, and were then fired and allowed to burn down 
to the skin (p. 93). Rabbitfoot was used similarly (pp. 97-98). 

Chamaesyce serpyllifolia (Pers.) Small was boiled and the decoction 
drunk by young mothers whose flow of milk was scanty or lacking 
(p. 99). 

The raw root of the pleurisy root was eaten for bronchial or pul- 
monary trouble. It was also applied to wounds and sores (p. 109). 

The root of the tall milkweed was eaten raw as a remedy for stomach 
trouble (p. 110). Wild mint tea was used as a carminative (p. 112). 

Prairie groundcherry root was used in the smoke treatment. 
A decoction of the root was used for stomach trouble and headache. 
A dressing for wounds was also made from it (p. 113). 

Hot plantain leaves were applied to the foot in order to draw out 
a thorn or splinter (p. 115). 

Coralberry and buckbrush leaves were steeped to make an infusion 
for weak or inflamed eyes (p. 116). 

Wild gourd was highly regarded as a medicine. It was called 
‘human being medicine” from its shape. Gilmore (p. 117) notes 
that “‘as a remedy for any ailment a portion of the root from the 
part corresponding in position to the affected part of the patient’s 
body is used—for headache or other trouble in the head some of 
the top of the root is used; for abdominal trouble a bit of the middle of 
the root; and so on.” 


152 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


Combplant was used as an antidote for snakebite and for other 
bites and stings. It was also used in smoke curing. As a remedy 
for toothache a piece was kept on the painful tooth. Burns were 
bathed in the juice of this plant, and it was said that shamans bathed 
their arms and hands in the juice so that they could take a piece of 
meat from a boiling kettle without suffering pain (p. 131). 

Angle stem root was commonly burned in the smoke treatment for 
a cold in the head, neuralgia, and rheumatism (p. 132). 

A tonic for horses was made of pilotweed (p. 132). 

Ragweed was used to cause nosebleed, being snuffed up the nostrils. 
This was done to relieve headaches (pp. 132-135). 

Sticky head was used by the Ponca for consumption (p. 135). 

Beaverroot was boiled and the decoction was taken for intestinal 
pains and as a physic (p. 107). 

Skeletonweed stems were made into an infusion for sore eyes. 
Mothers having a scanty supply of milk also drank this infusion in 
order to increase the flow (p. 136). 

Present-day Ponca still use many herb remedies, but the services of 
White docters are employed in cases of serious illness. A few plants of 
medicinal use were collected from PLC, who also described their uses. 

Artemesia glauca, or green sage, is made into an emulsion which is 
taken both internally and externally for burns. PLC described a case 
in which a woman had been badly burned with lye and had been 
“siven up’ by White physicians. PLC’s brother Henry, aided by 
PLC, cured the woman with decoctions of this plant, forcing her to 
drink large quantities of it and covering all but a small part of the 
burned area with cloths soaked in the fluid. The small area was left 
exposed to “let the poisons out.” 

Prairie cone flower is made into a tea which is taken for kidney 
trouble, sore back, gallstones, and general aches and pains. PLC was 
using this when visited in 1951, having recently hurt his back. 

Lygodesmia juncea, or skeletonweed, mentioned previously as hav- 
ing been used in an infusion applied to sore eyes and to increase the 
flow of milk in a mother’s breasts, was given as a diarrhea remedy by 
PLC. The stems are cut into 1-inch lengths and soaked in a quart of 
water until they have imparted a definite greenish hue to the liquid. 
Doses of this infusion are taken by the patient every half an hour 
until he is cured. 

Members of the Peyote religion in the Southern band tend to regard 
their ritual plant as a catholicon, or cure-all, and tell marvelous tales 
of patients cured by it, including persons suffering from tuberculosis. 

PLC described the proper way to dig a medicinal plant: 

Before you dig the plant, stand over it and pray. This plant belongs to Mother 


Earth, and we must thank her for it. After you have prayed, dig the plant very 
carefully. Cut the stem off over the hole, and throw the top part of the stem, the 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 153 


part you aren’t using, back in the hole. Then sprinkle tobacco in the hole, pray- 
ing again. This is to thank Mother Earth for her gift. After you have dug the 
root, scrape it very carefully, and thread it on a string to dry. 

PLC remarked that dried Mayflies and the bladder of a young 
rabbit had been used by Whiteshirt, the Northern Ponca chief and 
shaman, in his “‘doctoring way.’”? PLC had learned this when he was 
a young man, from a chance remark made by Whiteshirt, but had 
failed to ask for further information. Had he done so, Whiteshirt 
would have taught him their uses. ‘‘I was foolish not to ask him when 
I had the chance.” 

Adam Le Claire, a Southern Ponca, is known as a “‘bleeding doctor.”’ 
Persons who are not feeling well go to him to have their blood “‘thin- 
ned.’”’ He taps a vein in the arm with a small steel lancet (formerly a 
flint knife was used) and removes a quantity of blood. May Kimball, 
also a Southern Ponca, stated that when she was a girl she had been 
doctored in this way by having cuts made in her temples. It is not 
known whether ‘‘bleeding’”’ of this sort is an aboriginal practice or, 
one acquired from the major ‘‘White’’ culture where it was extensively 
practiced until about one hundred years ago and is still used today for 
the treatment of high blood pressure and certain heart ailments. At 
any rate it was, and is, practiced by a number of American Indian 
tribes of the Prairie and Plains region as far north as the Plains-Ojibwa. 

Some Ponca ideas concerning death are recorded by J. O. Dorsey 
(1894, p. 374), who writes: 

About eighteen years ago, the author was told by the Ponka, . . . that they 
believed death to be caused by certain malevolent spirits, whom they feared. In 
order to prevent future visits of such spirits, the survivors gave away all their 
property, hoping that as they were in such a wretched plight the spirits would 
not think it worth while to make them more unhappy. 

Here we have an excellent explanation of the Prairie and Plains 
custom of the ‘‘give-away.”’ 

Whitman (1939, p. 184) notes that: ‘““Xubes were said to have short 
lives. They were also liable to lose their children.” He (1937, p. 
97) also records the Ponca belief that a medicine man could prevent 
sickness, so that when it came time to die, he suddenly dropped dead. 

After a person died, his spirit continued to exist. Dorsey (1894, 
p. 419) writes: 

They have a very crude belief. Each person is thought to have a wandze or 
spirit, which does not perish at death. According to Joseph La Fléche and Two 
Crows, the old men used to say to the people ...i.e. “If you are good, you will 


go to the good ghosts. If you are bad, you will go to the bad ghosts.” Nothing 
was ever said of going to dwell with Wakanda, or with demons. 


Also (p. 421): 


There has been no belief in the resurrection of the body, but simply one in the 
continued existence of the ghost or spirit. 


154 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


Fletcher and La Flesche (1911, p. 310) also record a belief in the 
continued existence of the soul. In describing the Ponca chief-making 
ceremony they cite the speech of an old man, who remarked: ‘The 
chiefs, although long dead, are still living and still exercise a care over 
the people and seek to promote their welfare; so we make the offering 
of food, the support of our life, in recognition of them as still our 
chiefs and caring for us.’”’ PLC also mentioned an old Ponca, stating 
that after he died he would be ‘‘above,”’ or in heaven, looking down 
upon his people. 

Occasionally spirits hovered about on the earth as ghosts and there 
are several Ponca tales concerning encounters with them. Whitman 
(1939, p. 193, footnote 60) writes that: “Black Eagle was afraid of 
ghosts. Power, it was thought, might also be handed on after death 
if the recipient came to the grave after dark immediately following 
burial. When aman dies, the heart and eye are thought still to possess 
life until the spirit passes to the spirit world.” 

Ghosts sometimes tormented the living: ‘“The spirit of a murdered 
person will haunt the people, and when the tribe is on the hunt, will 
cause the wind to blow in such a direction as to betray the hunters 
to the game and cause the herd to scatter, making it impossible for the 
people to get food” (Fletcher and La Flesche, 1911, p. 216). This 
belief was also mentioned by JLR, who told of a murderer shooting a 
ghost with his gun and thus freeing himself from the curse. 

Shamans were thought to be able to predict their own deaths. 
J. O. Dorsey (1888 a, p. 73) records that: ‘‘Bare-legs had a presenti- 
ment of his own death. He saw his spirit covered with blood upon a 
hill; four days later, May 3, 1872, he was slain.”” Whitman (1939, 
pp. 192-193) likewise records WBB’s father predicting his own death 
by the fact that his spirit helper, a mescal bean, had become cracked. 

PLC described Ponca mortuary customs as follows: 

When someone died, the relatives would cut off their hair and mourn for a 
long time. Both men and women would cut off their hair and cut their arms 
and legs with a knife. They wouldn’t eat for four days afterwards. 

A body was buried in the ground and a roof was made over the grave. This 
roof was made of logs in a A shape. This was then covered with dirt. 

The people often thought of the dead. Sometimes they will throw away a 
little piece of food when eating, for a dead person’s spirit, or set a glass of water 
out for it. When a crying is heard outside people throw a little food out. They 
think maybe it is the spirit come back. 

People were usually buried in some of their best clothes, and sometimes a little 
food and water was placed with them. 

Special painted designs, denoting the clan of the deceased, were 
applied before burial. In some cases other special insignia were 
added as well. Fletcher and La Flesche (1911, p. 44) write: “When 
a member of the subdivision Téhato-itaz [of the Nikapasna gens] died, 
moccasins made from the skin of the deer (which was taboo to the 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 155 


living) were put on his feet that he might not ‘lose his way,’ but go 
on safely and ‘be recognized by his own people’ in the spirit world.” 

Concerning Ponca graves Maximilian writes: ‘“Towards evening 
we were near the Assiniboin steamer, which lay before us, and halted 
in the vicinity of Basil Creek, where the Poncas formerly dwelt, 
numbers of whose graves are seen upon the hills’? (Maximilian, 
1906, vol. 22, p. 290). We are not told how these graves were built. 
At a later period Alanson Skinner (1915 ¢, p. 801) described the graves 
as follows: ‘‘Now the Ponca bury their dead in the ground altogether, 
but formerly they used scaffolds and trees.’”? Bushnell (1927, fol. p. 52) 
shows two illustrations of Ponca burials, one of the scaffold type, the 
other of the log-roofed type mentioned by PLC (see pl. 14, the present 
volume). 

JLR commented upon Ponca burial customs as follows: 

The old time Poncas used to use both scaffolds and graves to put the dead in. 
In winter, when the ground was frozen solid and they couldn’t dig a grave, they 
buried the person on a scaffold. In summer they dug a grave. Ponca graves 
were quite shallow. Various gifts were placed with the dead person. 

Sometimes, in the old days, the man’s family would tie his favorite horse to the 
grave. This is not done any more. We don’t ever bury on a scaffold any more 
either. 

Dorsey mentions a complete give-away at death as the Ponca 
custom, but PLC stated that only a partial give-away was practiced 
in hisday. He also mentioned that the Ghost Lodge or Spirit-keeping 
ceremony of the neighboring Dakota was unknown to the Ponca. 
Mourning feasts did occur, however, and G. A. Dorsey (1905, p. 71) 
witnessed one at the Ponca Sun dance which he attended. Presents 
were distributed in the name of the deceased on this occasion. A 
similar custom is mentioned by J. O. Dorsey (1894, p. 148): “If the 
deceased was a male and a member of an order of young men, all who 
belong to it are invited to a feast where they sing songs.” Skinner 
(1915 c, p. 785) notes that: ‘The Hediska helps people mourn for 
their dead, and makes collections of gifts for bereaved people to help 
dry their tears.” 

Deceased persons could be referred to by name (J. O. Dorsey, 
1883, p. 273). Indeed, it was common for a Ponca to assume the 
name of a deceased ancestor (J. O. Dorsey, 1894, p. 371). 

At certain times the spirit or soul of a dead person would be rein- 
carnated. When this occurred, the child in which the soul was 
reborn often grew up to be a shaman. In 1954, while visiting the 
Southern Ponca, I was shown sucha child. This boy, it was reported, 
knew things which he could not possibly have learned except in a 
previous life. He could speak in great detail of events which had 
taken place long before his birth and he could also look into the 
future. Mrs. Wilson D. Wallis reports a similar belief among the 
Canadian Dakota (personal communication, 1954). 


156 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


NORTHERN PONCA-SOUTHERN PONCA: DIFFERENTIAL 
ACCULTURATION 


In the preceding chapters Ponca culture has been described as 
fully as the information available and my own abilities allow. I have 
also attempted to show, when the information permitted, changes 
through time and the present differences between the cultures of the 
Northern and Southern bands. Thus far, however, the possible 
causes of these differences have not been treated at any length. It 
is the purpose of this final chapter to consider what factors might have 
been responsible for the existing differences, especially the differential 
acculturation. 

It was noted in the Preface that early Ponca culture was very close 
to that of the Central Algonquian and Central Siouan tribes. This 
culture developed in, and was primarily adapted to, a Woodland and 
Prairie environment. The Ponca have retained elements of this 
Woodland-Prairie culture up to the present. After reaching the 
Niobrara region, however, the Ponca gradually began to assume more 
and more traits characteristic of the tribes of the High Plains. 

In the early period the Ponca seem to have borrowed extensively 
from the Caddoan-speaking tribes to the south and west, the Pawnee 
and Arikara. The Hediska complex is very likely Pawnee in origin 
and the Wd-waq may be as well. Both Omaha and Ponca traditions 
state that the art of building earth lodges was learned from the 
Arikara (Fletcher and La Flesche, 1911, p. 75). 

In historic times, however, borrowing was heaviest from the Teton 
and Yankton Dakota, neighbors of the Ponca to the north and north- 
west since about 1750. Various costume styles, military and medicine 
societies, games and social customs are undoubtedly Dakota importa- 
tions. Of course we must not infer that this borrowing was a one-sided 
affair. The Dakota secured their Omaha or Grass dance from the 
Omaha and Ponca, and many other traits and complexes which have 
come to be considered “typically Dakota” may ultimately prove to 
have stemmed from the Bégiha. Nevertheless, it seems quite likely 
that the Ponca, being the smaller group, were more often the recipients 
of Dakota customs than the reverse. 

By 1877, the year of the Ponca Removal, the ‘“Dakotaization” of 
the Ponca had reached such a point that it is often difficult, when one 
is presented with a series of old photographs showing both Dakota and 
Ponca, to separate the members of the two tribes by their dress and 
equipment. Likewise, most of those traits which distinguish the 
Ponca of this period from their close linguistic and cultural relatives, 
the Omaha, are features which the former tribe had borrowed from 
the Dakota. Examples are the Plains style woman’s dress, hard- 
soled Plains moccasins, and geometrically designed beadwork in the 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 157 


“lazy stitch” technique. It may be assumed that this borrowing was 
not limited to items of dress and personal equipment, and that other, 
nonmaterial, traits were borrowed as well. 

With the division of the Ponca tribe into Northern and Southern 
bands after the Removal, the situation was altered. Those Ponca 
who chose to remain in the Indian Territory were now no longer in 
face-to-face contact with the Dakota. Among their new neighbors in 
the south were various Northeastern, Southeastern, and Central 
Siouan groups whose influence cannot but have tended to reinforce or 
revive Woodland elements in Ponca culture. Likewise certain new 
Eastern complexes, such as the “Stomp” dance, were introduced.“ 
New Plains elements, not of Dakota origin, were introduced as well, 
such as the Ghost dance, Peyote religion, and Brush dance. 

In the north, the process of assimilation to Dakota culture continued. 
There was a great deal of intermarriage with the Santee and Yankton 
Dakota, and, after the cessation of hostilities, with the Teton Dakota 
as well. This intermarriage, of course, led to increased cultural ex- 
change. Members of both bands, in discussing recent Ponca history, 
acknowledged that the Northern Ponca had ‘picked up a lot of Sioux 
ways” in the years since the Removal. ‘This was particularly evident, 
according to EBC, in the last Hediska dances held in the Niobrara 
area. The Northern Ponca dancers ‘‘dressed and danced like the 
Sioux, bending down and shaking their heads Sioux style.” 

At the same time these differing tribal influences were affecting the 
cultures of the two Ponca bands, White acculturation was proceeding 
apace. In the preceding chapters the reader will have noted that in 
nearly a'l respects the culture of the Northern Ponca more closely 
approximates that of the Whites than does that of the Southern band. 
In their economy, technology, social organization, and ceremonialism, 
the Southern Ponca have retained much more of the aboriginal pattern. 

The only striking exceptions to this general rule are in the areas of 
traditional history and mythology, where the Northern Ponca are the 
more conservative. The reasons for this are immediately apparent. 
The Southern Ponca, in their new environment, were no longer 
reminded of past events by geographic landmarks (i.e., the site of the 
Ponca fort, the den of Wakddagi, etc.); hence the stories connected 
with these landmarks were forgotten. This was clearly demonstrated 
to me when I was gathering data in connection with the Ponca land 
claims litigation in 1954. It was very important, in this work, to 
secure descriptions of the tribal domain in terms of recognizable 
geographic landmarks. Almost all Northern Ponca informants over 


44 According to Curtis (1930, p. 214) it was Henry Snake, a Southern Ponca, who introduced the Stomp 
dance to the Osage, Oto, Kansa, Iowa, and Cheyenne. I was present when Henry’s brother, Andrew, 
introduced the Creek style Stomp dance among the Omaha, in 1949. 


158 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


35 years of age were able to supply data of value, while in the Okla- 
homa group only a very few old people were able to do so. 

In my opinion the three principal factors responsible for this 
differential proportion of White acculturation are: 

(1) The difference in the size of the two bands. 

(2) The large percentage of White intermarriage in that portion of the tribe 
which became the Northern Ponca band. 

(3) Reinforcement of certain Indian traits among the Southern Ponca through 
their participation in Pan-Indianism. 

The very considerable difference in the size of the two Ponca bands 
is perhaps the main reason why the Northern Ponca have approxi- 
mated White culture more closely than have their Southern kinsmen. 
According to Dorsey and Thomas (1910, p. 279) 225 Ponca returned 
to Nebraska, while 600 remained in the Indian Territory. Obviously, 
all other factors being equal, the culture of a small group would tend 
to be swallowed up by the dominant culture more quickly than that of 
a large one. 

All of the other factors were not equal, however, even at the start, 
and this brings us to the second point. Although Chief Standing-bear 
and a few of his close relatives were unmixed, many of those who 
returned to Nebraska with him were of mixed Indian-White descent. 
Also, the percentage of individuals of mixed Ponca-White descent in 
the Northern band was considerably augmented at the time the 
Northern Ponca reservation was created. 

The circumstances of this event, one of the “hidden pages’ of 
Ponca history, were explained by PLC and JLR in 1954. It seems 
that in order to secure a reservation from the Government, Chief 
Standing-bear needed considerably more personnel than had followed 
him from Indian Territory. He therefore sought to enroll in his 
band as many persons as possible of Ponca or part-Ponca descent in 
order to qualify it as a “reservation size” band. ‘Thus, many persons 
of mixed descent, who before that time had formed a sort of ‘fringe 
group” in the area and had, in fact, not even been moved to Indian 
Territory with the main body of the tribe, were now enrolled as 
Ponca. These individuals, mixed both biologically and culturally, 
were gradually absorbed into the Northern Ponca band. 

The third factor listed, the influence of Pan-Indianism, is more 
difficult to assess. One might begin by defining terms. By Pan- 
Indianism is meant the process by which certain Indian groups are 
losing their tribal distinctiveness and in its place are developing a 
generalized nontribal ‘Indian’ culture. Some of the elements in 
this culture are modifications of old tribal customs; others seem to be 
innovations peculiar to Pan-Indianism. The Southern Ponca have 
participated in this phenomenon from the start, which I would place 
somewhere between 1915 and 1925. 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 159 


To date there are few accounts of Pan-Indianism in the anthro- 
pological literature. Petrullo was the first to touch upon the subject: 


The reservation system has caused the old tribal animosities to disappear, and 
there has arisen a sympathetic attitude of the various tribal units toward each 
other, with the result that intercourse between them has become common, and each 
other’s rites are observed and studied with the avowed purpose of comparison. 
This constant interchanging of ideas is giving rise to a novel feeling for Indian 
nationality. As welcome as this may be to one interested in the progress and 
development of the Indian, it must not be underestimated as being of prime 
importance in the disintegration of tribal culture patterns. The Delawares are 
actively participating in this, and as a result not only have they assimilated many 
of the ideas emanating from other tribes, but have disseminated their own widely. 
[Petrullo, 1934, p. 26.] 


Herskovits, in his ‘‘Acculturation,” also touches upon the subject. 


In commenting upon Margaret Mead’s study of the Omaha, “The 
Changing Culture of an Indian Tribe” (1932) he states: 


The great emphasis placed in this study on the impact of white culture on the 
“Antlers,” furthermore, tends to obscure the effect on the same people of a highly 
significant process of inter-tribal acculturation that the book implies is going on 
among the Indians themselves. It would undoubtedly have been very illuminat- 
ing if the fact that the “‘Antler”’ takes refuge from his sense of a loss of tribal 
dignity through identifying himself with the larger group, “the American Indian,” 
had been further probed. [Herskovits, 1938, p. 50.] 


In his concluding chapter he elaborates upon his earlier statement: 


The mutual give-and-take that results when American Indians of many different 
tribes come together in rodeos and exhibitions of various sorts is well worth the 
attention of ethnologists. Such an obvious example of intertribal acculturation 
as the spread of the war-bonnet, now the authenticating label of a “true Indian” 
no matter what his tribe, comes to mind as a rough illustration of this sort 
of borrowing; but one can only speculate whether the obviously foreign ele- 
ments seen in the performances of the various tribes of Southwest Indians at 
such a gathering as the Gallup Festival, assumed for purposes of show in the 
presence of a white audience, are carried home to invade tribal rituals. [Ibid., pp. 
124-125.] 

The late Karl Schmitt, of the University of Oklahoma, was much 
interested in the subject of Pan-Indianism, and read a paper entitled 
“A Possible Development of a Pan-Indian Culture in Oklahoma”’ at 
the 1948 meetings of the Central States Branch of the American 
Anthropological Association. He intended to publish on this subject, 
but his untimely death halted the project. 

William Newcomb, Jr., has published a brief study of Delaware 
participation in Pan-Indianism (1955), and his ‘‘The Culture and 
Acculturation of the Delaware Indians”’ (1956) also contains excellent 
material on the subject. JI have a short paper on the general subject 
of Pan-Indianism as well (1955 b). 

Both Newcomb and I have observed that the powwow, centering 
around the modern form of the Hediska, or War dance, is the prime 
secular focus of Pan-Indianism in Oklahoma. In addition to .the 


160 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


War dances, which occupy much of the time at powwow, there are 
other Indian dances and activities. Among the Plains Indian ele- 
ments are Round dances, the Buffalo dance, and the Ghost dance 
Hand game. From the Eastern Woodlands come the “Stomp” and 
Snake dances; from the Southwest comes the Eagle dance. Of non- 
Indian origin are championship dancing contests and ‘‘powwow prin- 
cess’”’ events. The “Indian Cake-walk,” a version of musical chairs 
accompanied by Indian singing and drumming, is of mixed derivation. 

In the large tent villages surrounding the powwow arena, a South- 
ern Ponca, Choctaw, Delaware, or any other tribesman can associate 
with other Indians in an “Indian” atmosphere. In the evening he may 
reafirm his Indian ethos by actively circling the big drum or by 
passively identifying himself with the dancers from the sidelines. 
What matter if he is a Cherokee, yet dances Plains Indian dances in 
a Plains Indian costume? It is all recognized as being part of an 
Indian whole, and this is the essential point. 

The Southern Ponca are ardent powwowers, and furnish singers and 
dancers for the celebrations of many surrounding tribes. Their own 
annual “Ponca powwow” is likewise a Pan-Indian affair, and draws 
its participants from many tribes. Costumes, dancing styles, and 
music, are rapidly becoming standardized throughout the State of 
Oklahoma. 

The ‘“Pan-Indianization”’ of the Southern Ponca has effected many 
changes in what little remains of the aboriginal culture of the band. 
For example, the fact that a premium has been placed on the ability 
to sing Hediska songs, which are the accompaniment of the Pan- 
Indian War dance has brought about a mild revival of this musical 
form. Likewise, since Ponca singers are called upon to sing for other 
tribes quite frequently, the Ponca have felt compelled to learn the favorite 
songs of other groups. Nowadays we even find Ponca who can lead 
(i.e., sing for) the Southeastern ‘‘Stomp” and Alligator dances, and 
teams of Southern Ponca dancers perform the Pueblo-derived Eagle 
dance at various powwows. 

The degree to which Oklahoma Indian dance costumes have become 
standardized is immediately apparent, even to the untrained observer. 
The ‘‘feathers’”’ style costume is now worn by nearly all male par- 
ticipants in the War dance, regardless of which tribe. In the case of 
the Southern Ponca this has meant that older, more characteristically 
tribal, costume styles have been abandoned. Younger Southern 
Ponca, lacking the perspective time gives, often do not realize that 
things have not always been so, and consider the rather baroque 
“feathers” outfit, with its fancy butterfly bustles, to be the same 
costume their ancestors wore two or three hundred years ago. 

Some Southern Ponca girls, apparently resenting the relatively 
restricted role that tribal tradition and the heavy woman’s dress 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 161 


assigned them in the dance, have now taken up the man’s style of 
dancing, wearing a slightly modified version of the man’s ‘‘feathers” 
costume. Although some of the older people object, the innovation 
is spreading. 

Just as the War dance-centered powwow is the most important 
secular focus of Pan-Indianism, so the Peyote cult is its prime religious 
expression. This form of worship, the Indian feels, is really his own. 
Since the unifying effect of Peyotism has been discussed at some 
length by others, particularly La Barre (1938) and Petrullo (1934), 
T shall not enter into great detail here. Worthy of mention in passing, 
however, is a Peyote meeting which I attended in the summer of 1954. 
Though technically a ‘‘Ponca” affair, since it was sponsored by a 
Ponca family and held on the Ponca reservation, the meeting was 
led by a Comanche, and attended by Kiowa, Comanche, Sauk, 
Delaware, Oto, Pawnee, Southern Cheyenne, and Omaha adherents. 
Southern Ponca peyotists present at this ceremony assured me that 
the large number of tribes represented was not unusual. 

Like the powwow, the Peyote religion has affected the remaining 
aboriginal culture of the Southern Ponca. The tipi and the costume 
blanket, once everyday parts of Ponca culture, have become symbols 
of peyotism, and in this manner have been retained by the tribe longer 
than would probably have otherwise been the case. ‘‘Peyote bead- 
work,” the Southern Plains technique which came to the Southern 
Ponca on the gourds, feathers, and other ritual equipment of the reli- 
gion, is now used quite often on dancing costumes and souvenirs 
made by the Southern Ponca in place of their older lazy-stitch and 
spot-stitch work. 

Having described some of the principal features of Oklahoma Pan- 
Indianism, let us now consider some of the social factors which seem 
to have played a special role in its growth. 

One of the principal factors fostering this intertribal solidarity is 
undoubtedly ethnic discrimination. Although the Indian slums found 
in the cities of other States with large Indian populations are not com- 
mon in Oklahoma, some discrimination in employment and housing 
does exist. Many Oklahoma Whites tend to lump all tribes together, 
merely as ‘Indians.’ This, of course, elicits a complementary 
reaction. 

The common low economic level of most Oklahoma Indians, par- 
tially a result of the ethnic discrimination just noted, is also a major 
contributing element. Most Oklahoma Indians lease what little land 
they have and supplement the income thus derived with wage labor 
performed for Whites. The common poverty of the members of dif- 
ferent tribal groups, by its contrast to the position of the surrounding 
majority, undoubtedly fosters a strong feeling of unity. This is well 


162 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


illustrated in the traditional remark of the Indian host to his mealtime 
guests: ‘‘We don’t have much; we’re just Indians.” 

In this connection it should be noted that the oil-wealthy Osage, 
although geographically in the vortex of Pan-Indianism, participate 
in it much less than their poorer neighbors. In their version of the 
Hediska or War dance, the long prayers and other religious features 
which have been discarded by other groups are retained. The Pan- 
Indian “feathers” costume is viewed with disapproval by most Osage, 
and the more traditional “Straight dance”’ costume is worn, even by 
the younger men. Some of these younger dancers, however, have now 
adopted the “feathers” style of dancing and costume, but use it only 
when they attend the more Pan-Indian powwows of the Ponca, 
Quapaw, and other tribes. In the same vein, it should be noted, the 
Osage are also resistant to the Pan-Indian “half-moon” Peyote ritual, 
preferring the older (with them) “big moon” variant. Apparently the 
relative wealth of the Osage, which automatically distinguishes them 
from neighboring tribes and gives them a greater opportunity to 
identify themselves successfully with the non-Indian community, re- 
moves their incentive to sacrifice tribal distinctiveness for the sake of 
solidarity with the larger minority society of Indians at large. 

The use of the English language as a lingua franca has likewise 
been instrumental in the growth of Pan-Indianism. Indeed, many 
younger Indians do not understand an Indian language. At all Okla- 
homa powwows that I attended, except those of the Osage, English 
was used by the announcer. In 1954 a young Pawnee dancer admitted 
to me that he could not tell a Pawnee song from a Ponca song by its 
text. He was, in fact, observed dancing vigorously to a Ponca tune 
which told of the killing of a Pawnee horsethief, much to the amuse- 
ment of certain Ponca present. Recently many “Stomp” dance and 
Round dance songs have been composed which have English words. 
These are great favorites among the younger people. Likewise, Eng- 
lish is now the language spoken at Peyote meetings, although now 
and then a worshiper, after first excusing himself to the members 
of other tribes present, will pray in his native tongue. 

Intermarriage between members of different tribes may be regarded 
as both a cause and an effect of Pan-Indianism. The announcer at 
a “Stomp” dance “shell shaker” contest held in connection with the 
annual Quapaw powwow in 1954, was often hard put to identify, by 
tribe, the girls participating, although he was obviously acquainted 
with them or with their families. One contestant was identified as 
a Shawnee-Delaware-Wyandot. The winner of the War dance con- 
test at this same gathering was part Osage and part Quapaw, and the 
winner of the “Straight dance’’ contest was a Creek-Osage. 

Increased geographic mobility is another prominent factor facili- 
tating the intertribal exchange of ideas and promoting a feeling of 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 163 


Indian “nationalism.” Although Indians have always been fond of 
visiting one another, until recently the mere limitation of transporta- 
tion made it difficult to go far from home. With the advent of the 
fast car, however, such desires could be more easily indulged. Now 
it is common for Oklahoma Indians to make short visits to tribes in 
Nebraska, Iowa, and even Wisconsin at powwow time. The 1952 
Ponca powwow was attended by delegations of Omaha and Winnebago 
from Nebraska, not to mention groups from almost all of the larger 
Oklahoma tribes. 

Finally, I might mention Indian school contacts as a source of much 
Pan-Indian feeling. Certainly the ‘‘Indian” clubs at schools such as 
Haskell and Chilocco, with their multitribal membership, have been 
responsible for a great deal of the intertribal exchange of songs, 
dances, and costume styles. La Barre (1938) has discussed the role 
of Indian school contacts in the diffusion of the Peyote cult. 

In summary, we may say that all of these situations and pressures 
lean in one direction, creating a cumulative pressure which Pan- 
Indianism attempts to relieve. Ethnic discrimination, in effect, is the 
mark of the refusal of the larger society (White) to permit complete 
merging in it of Indians who, by merging, would lose separate identi- 
fication either with specific tribes or with Indians in general. Be- 
cause identification with ‘Indians’? makes one a member of a larger 
peer group than identification with a tribe, this is the usual choice. 
The low economic status of Oklahoma Indians, because it stands in 
contrast to that of most Whites, also prevents the development of a 
sense of identification with White society, and fosters a we-group 
sense among Indians at large (the Osage excepted). 

The use of the English language works against tribal exclusiveness, 
but is equally appropriate to Pan-Indian identification or to identi- 
fication with Whites. Intermarriage between members of different 
tribes works in the same manner, but there is less tendency toward 
identification with Whites. Increased geographic mobility could 
work in either way as well, except where ethnic discrimination makes 
it harder for Indians to merge with Whites in the use of motels, 
restaurants, etc. while en route, and makes points of rest during travel 
more apt to have Indian associations. Indian school contacts, 
multitribal in nature, definitely work against tribal exclusiveness 
and for Pan-Indian identification. Because they occur in special 
Indian schools, identification with Whites is less likely to occur. 

Having discussed these social factors which seem to have fostered 
Pan-Indianism, we turn now to the question of Pan-Indianism as a 
part of the larger phenomenon of ‘‘nativistic movements,” and the 
significance to be drawn from considering its nativistic aspects. 
Linton (1943, p: 230), in his article on the subject of nativism, defines 
such a movement as ‘‘any organized attempt on the part of the society’s 


164 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


members to revive or perpetuate selected aspects of its culture.” 
He offers a typology of such movements based upon an end-means 
formulation. 

Linton approaches nativistic movements in the social context of 
dominance-submission. For the subordinated groups there is a sense 
of deprivation and frustration, and this leads them to nativistic 
protest. Unhappy in the present, they seek to restore at least a 
part of the past. For a number of years Linton’s view expressed 
in his paper (1943) reflected the opinion of most students in this 
area. More recently, however, Voget (1956) and Wallace (1956) 
have approached these phenomena on a slightly different tack. 

Voget (1956, p. 259), under the rubric “reformative nativism,”’ 
discusses three charismatic movements: the Iroquois Gaiuwiio (better 
known as the Handsome Lake religion), Peyotism, and the Shaker 
Church of the Northwest. He sees all three as movements which 
“pave the way for a more secular, pragmatic, and accommodative 
adjustment.” He discusses Pan-Indianism (p. 259) but refuses to 
admit it as a reformative movement because of its largely secular 
nature (p. 260, footnote 9). For some reason he does not consider 
Peyotism a component of Pan-Indianism (p. 260, footnote 9). 

Wallace (1956, p. 265) titles his paper ‘“‘Revitalization Movements.” 
He defines such a movement as a “deliberate, organized, conscious 
effort by members of a society to construct a more satisfying culture.” 
Important points brought out by Wallace which, in my opinion, 
make his concept more useful than either Linton’s or Voget’s, are 
found in his discussion of the ‘‘Varieties and Dimensions of Varia- 
tion” which a movement may have (pp. 275-279). Points two and 
three seem particularly relevant to a discussion of Pan-Indianism. 
For one thing, a movement may be more or less religious, and Wallace 
notes a trend away from religious bases of action (p. 277). In 
point three, ‘‘Nativism,” he points out that the amount of nativistic 
activity in a revitalization movement is likewise variable. Some 
movements, for example, are antinativistic from a cultural stand- 
point, though quite nativistic as to personnel (p. 278). Mead’s 
(1956) recent study of the Manus “New Way” illustrates this very 
well. Rather than attempt a revival of their old culture in the face 
of deprivation and frustration, the Manus have made a heroic attempt 
to discard as much as possible of both their material and nonmaterial 
past. At the other end of the scale we might place the Iroquois 
Gaiwiio, which retained great amounts of the existing culture pattern 
unchanged. Most movements, including Pan-Indianism, fall some- 
where in between, retaining those elements of the old considered 
useful or attractive, adapting others, and casting aside the rest. 
The culture, through the revitalization movement, thus is reshaped 
to fit the altered conditions faced by the society that bears it. 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 165 


In Oklahoma Pan-Indianism the elements selected for perpetua- 
tion, namely the powwow, with its associated dances and activities, 
the Ghost dance Hand game, and the Peyote religion, are all symbols 
not of the old but of the new Indian way of life. Although all of these 
elements existed before Pan-Indianism, they have recently been 
developing as fixed and ever-enriched complexes, and have been 
getting more and more widely adopted as overt expression of ‘“‘Indian- 
among-Indians”’ self-perception. 

Pan-Indianism is thus seen as a revitalizing movement that provides 
Oklahoma Indians with a fund of common knowledge and experience 
that sets them off from other ethnic groups, maintains the dignity 
of the group through intertribal solidarity, and at the same time per- 
mits accommodative adjustment to the dominant American culture. 

Although Pan-Indianism is, at present, largely limited to the social 
(powwow and Ghost dance hand game) and religious (Peyote religion) 
spheres, the potential economic and political advantages of larger 
size may be realized in future years by Indians in Oklahoma. Indeed, 
the common support and mutual encouragement for the Peyote 
religion in the face of opposition, without which the church groups 
of the various individual tribes would have been outlawed long ago, 
have shown what can be achieved through intertribal cooperation. 
Discussion of common problems, such asland-claims cases, termination, 
etc. in seminars such as are held in connection with the Gallup Cere- 
monial in New Mexico, or as were held at the American Indian Chicago 
Conference, loom ahead. At the present time participation in such 
conferences is limited to only a few of the more articulate and accul- 
turated Indians, but will undoubtedly become increasingly important 
in future years. 


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MEKEEL, ScuDDER. 
1943. A short history of the Teton-Dakota. North Dakota Hist. Quart., 
vol. 10, No. 3, pp. 1386-205. 


170 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


MERRILL, Mosss. 

1892. Extracts from the diary of Rev. Moses Merrill, a missionary to the 
Otoe Indians from 1832 to 1840. Nebraska State Hist. Soc., 
Trans. and Rep., vol. 4, pp. 160-191. 

Miner, WILLIAM HaRVEY, EDITOR. 
1911. The lowa. Cedar Rapids, Iowa. 
Mooney, JAMES. 

1928. The aboriginal population of America north of Mexico. Smithson. 
Mise. Coll., vol. 80, No. 7. 

1896. The Ghost-dance religion. 14th Ann. Rep. Bur. Amer. Ethol.,1892- 
93, pt. 2 

Moraan, Lewis Henry. 

1868. Systems of consanguinity and affinity of the human family. 
Smithson. Contr. Knowl., No. 218. 

1959. The Indian journals, 1859-62. (edited, with an introduction, by 
Leslie A. White.) Univ. Michigan. 

Murpock, GrorGE P., ET AL. 

1945. Outline of cultural materials. Yale Univ., Institute of Human 

Relations, Anthrop. Stud., vol. 2. 
NasatTirn, ABRAHAM P. 

1952. Before Lewis and Clark; documents illustrating the history of the 

Missouri; 1785-1804. 2 vols. St. Louis. 
National ARcHIvVES, BuREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. 
Letters received, 1824-51. St. Louis Superintendency. 
Letters received, 1824-74. Upper Missouri Agency. 
Letters received, 1836-57. Council Bluffs Agency. 
Letters received, 1859-80. Ponca Agency. 
NeEwcoms, WILLIAM W., JR. 

1955. A note on Cherokee-Delaware Pan-Indianism. Amer. Anthrop., 
vol. 57, No. 5, pp. 1041-1045. 

1956. The culture and acculturation of the Delaware Indians. Univ. 
Michigan, Mus. Anthrop., Anthrop. Pap., No. 10. 

OEHLER, Gorruies F., and Smita, D. Z. 

1914. Description of a journey and visit to the Pawnee Indians who live 
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PETRULLO, VINCENZO. 
1934. The diabolic root; a study of peyotism .... Univ. Pennsylvania. 
Pike, KENNETH L. 

1947. Phonemics, a technique for reducing languages to writing. Univ. 

Michigan Publ. Ling., vol. 3. 
PLC, see Le Cuarre, PETER. 
Ponca AGENcy Recorps. Oklahoma State Historical Society, Oklahoma City. 
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1937. The underlying sanctions of Plains Indian culture. In “Social 
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Reip, RussEvL, and GANNON, CLELL G., EDITORS. 

1929. Journal of the Atkinson-O’Fallon expedition. North Dakota Hist. 

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Ethnol., vol. 9. 


Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE 171 


Royce, CHARLES C., COMPILER. 
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1915 c. Ponca societies and dances. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., Anthrop. 
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1956. Revitalization movements. Amer. Anthrop., vol. 58, No. 2, pp. 264- 
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L772 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 


WEDEL, WALDO R. 
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WHITMAN, WILLIAM. 
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Cleveland. 
Witt, Grorce F. 
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1917. Corn among the Indians of the upper Missouri. Little Histories of 
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Woop, W. Raymonp. 
1955. Historical and archeological evidence for Arikara visits to the Central 
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ZIMMERMAN, CHARLES LEROY. 
1941. White Eagle, chief of the Poncas. Harrisburg. 
ZYLYFF. 
1880. The Ponca chiefs. Boston. 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 195 PLATE 1 


Shoo-de-ga-cha (Sude-gaxe or The Smoke), chief of the Ponca tribe. Painted by George 
Catlin in 1832. Original painting is in the Smithsonian Institution. 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 195 PLATE 2 


ae 


— 
oe 


Naa? 


Mong-shon-sha or Bending Willow, wife of Great Chief, Ponca. Painted by George 
Catlin in 1832. Original painting is in the Smithsonian Institution. 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 195 PLATE 3 


Hee-lah-dee or Pure Fountain, wife of The Smoke. Painted by George Catlin in 1832 
Original painting is in the Smithsonian Institution. 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 195 PLATE 4 


gee eae 


ower 


wo 


Hongs-kay-dee or Great Chief, son of The Smoke. Painted by George Catlin in 1832. 
Original painting is in the Smithsonian Institution. 


BULLETIN 195 PLATE 5 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 


“CEOT SURTMUIXE] Ul SuIARISUS Ue WOT “JOATY sow [{ oy} 
JO yInour oy} Ivou “¢¢gy “TI AB UO JouIpog [1k Aq poquted ,,‘tinossipy 2y2 Jo syueq ey} uo pedtuvoue suvipuy eyuNd,, 


coe 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 195 PLATE 6 


A battle between the Ponca and the Dakota as drawn by To-tay-go-nai (Standing Buffalo) 
a young warrior. Copy by A. Z. Shindler, 1858, Washington, D.C. 


BULLETIN 195 PLATE 7 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 


"Iy8U Je Surpuris st ‘Jeryo vouog ay ‘Ieog Surpurig 


"GQJe] 1@ paives) quose T1942 YUM usM voUOg | 


fo) dnoin 


BULLETIN 195 PLATE 8 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 


*“spoo],qxtur ayy fo Joly) *QUIOJUY y) 


eur fo 
Joy ,oue 


jotyds ‘aulojuy fo 


Ajqissod) 


IOWIv 


M UP 


*(Spoo]qx1ur 
ydeisojoyd 
Ipuy vouog “q 


*IOTIIG M vouOd ‘Oy bug 


sig 


D 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 195 PLATE 9 


rx . 


Four Ponca chiefs. Left to right: E-shno®-ni-ka-ga-hi (Esno-nikagahe or He-alone-is-chief); 
Ta-to®-ga-no"-zhin (Tatoga-ng2j or Standing-buffalo-bull); We’-ga-sa-pi (Wégasapi or 
Whip); and Wa-shko™’-mo®-thi® (Waskg-mod}). Photograph by A. Z. Shindler, taken 
in 1868, Washington, D.C. 


BULLETIN 195 PLATE 10 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 


‘OSS “eo ueyed ydesZojoyd yeursiio ue woz paidod “q “698 “¥9 UEeHeI Ajqeqoid ‘ydeiz0joyd 
MOO ‘0 *AIOUIIaT, ULIPUT 24} WOIf PYSeIGON] OF YI" ajdoad siy jo aed pay oyM farys vouog oY} ‘(izdu-nsquopy) Jvaq-suIpurys 


“a 5 


BULLETIN 195 PLATE 11 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 


‘umouyUN Jaydevisojoyg 
*(QMeIDaT J919g JO Jayiey) o1e[QeT ‘H SeyieyD pure Aqevuieg ‘sioqaidsaqur ayy, “74814 of 1fa] ‘Suipunig ‘(4vag 
SUIPURIS 10 1zdu-nS/ N07") ulYZ-g OU-NYI-n OJ §(a[3vI-9I1Y MA 10 Yys-ppry) By-eYI-TY S][Nq-o[eyngq-3urpuryg 10 
izou-vsew] ‘(]]e-3Ig 10 Diuo}|-BdQ)) B3-701-gOd-.1Q “1y3tL 04 12] “‘paqwas “1 J QT ‘uoZulYyse A 0} uolesajap eouog 


BULLETIN 195 PLATE 12 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 


Ul £{8T Ul udayea 
"2181 01 Jowud “ 


‘Og ‘uoisulyse 
ydeisoloyg ‘vIOYVE YyINog ul /6-] ER] Usog uvIpuT eduog ‘(4vaq-A]zzu3-Alepy 10 axly-nsywopy) 91X-alY-NYd-aOyy ‘“q 
Oq ‘uoiwulyseAA ul usye] ydeisojoyg ‘9Z78T Ul usJOg jalyd vouog ‘(4ayvWI-ayOWSG JO axvs-apng) ax 


e3 


9p- 


‘ 


aies 


BULLETIN 195 PLATE 13 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 


‘slate, “Mf Aq Ayqissod y 
¥3-a OY-.n OP-NN pey[vo osye 


"7881 “O'C ‘uoasuryse (A 
devasojoyg *(uteided [rem] 10 p3dy-Hpn yy) 
(sdiys-ojeyng 10 2)0qg23a7) 91-eqg-.ayZ-9J, “4 


Tea 


‘OE ‘uoisuryse ny “Z[6] aunf[ “rg Asoue 
ulog ‘vystuag yorf{ paleo (a]8va-yorlq 


Ted 4q ydeiz0j0yg ‘OFST ul 
10 2qvs-DBLY) 2q-82- eYI-IX “D 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 195 PLATE 14 


Two types of burials, Ponca Reservation, Nebraska. Copied from prints furnished b 
yp > ; Pp Pp 


J. Owen Dorsey, 1885-95(?). 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 195 PLATE 15 


\ 
© 
xe 


a, We’-ga-ca-pi (Wégasapi, Iron Whip or The Whip) of the Dhi-ghi-ga (Pixida) gens. 
Father of Xi-tha’-cka (Nida-ska or White-eagle). Photograph by A. Z. Shindler, 
Washington, D.C., 1858. , Mi’-xa-to®-ga (Miga-toga or Big-goose), Ponca Indian born 
in 1848. Photograph by DeLancey Gill, February 1906, Washington, D.C. 


BULLETIN 195 PLATE 16 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 


906] Arenigay [ID Asoueyeq Aq ydeisojoyg =, AIOISIF] PIUO"Y,, S$ a1le[QaT Joleg JO apoyvzd jy 


‘ 


ay} st slay uMoyYs [[Ng uyOf 4, “atuy-aIY AA fforys-a11y AA 
“IDIPJOS-9]IIIT  fastOY-MOT[aR ffotyd-as1opy “74314 07 if] “paves 


‘ 


‘| 


‘ 
g 


[nq uyo[ ‘asoos-s1gq -7y314 07 1/27 “SULpUudIsS 


“uoly 259]9p BOUOg Uloy INOS 


, 
i 


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Bet pe 


9061 ay2 Jo ueg 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 195 PLATE 17 


Ponca ceremonials. a, Southern Ponca Sun dance (copied from a much-worn print kept 


by a Northern Ponca as a religious memento). b, Northern Ponca Peyote meeting in 
the 1930’s. (Both, courtesy University of Nebraska Laboratory of Anthropology.) 


BULLETIN 195 PLATE 18 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 


‘OWI] SP] DY} 10} WVpPYY YY 19]sUOWI 10}eM ayy paso}UNOoUa 
BoUog FY} IVY? Lo spussa] eoUOg Yi Iya] Ye Aa|[ea [[vUs 941 UT “IqeN “IMmOUOTY Jo Isva salu ¢ Jnoqe peOI WoIy YIIOU SuryOoT 
MATA “Pp ‘vOUOg OY JO spuNoI Sulsing ay aaMm syniq aesayy, “AQAN “eILIGOIN' IvdU JOATY Wnossipy oy Zuoje syniq ypeyD ‘9 -aSipopuy 
Po[2 o4NIwIID 92 pesojUNOIUS 9dUO BUOY IYI Avs spuds] BUOY IVY} IIe SIY} UI STI] “AqaN ‘eIvIGOINy Jo ysaM soptu y AJa}euTIxosdde 


AdquUNOD AT[IY UL YINOs Suro] MIA “¢ “IQaN “eIvIGOIN| Jv9U ‘JOATY LILIGOIN' dy} UO IsaMYIOU SUIyOO] MaIA ‘YP *A1]UNOD BOUOg ay} UT saUaag 


BULLETIN 195 PLATE 19 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 


‘SuIping AjlunuIWOD sy} 1vauU pozed0] 
‘ulged vouog usay.ON [eodAy, ‘yp ‘10qe] ukIpUuy pue spun} JUSTHUIAAOD YIIM YInq o1aMm 3d4} sty} Jo sowoZy ‘Surpying 
AyunNUIUIOD oy} Ivdu sUIOY vIUOg UIOYWON 69 “plouNoD [eq], 9y JO SsuTjoOW IOF pasn MOU SII] ‘“sddUeP UVIPUT JOF pssn 
A]IOULIOF SEM ZUIP]ING IY J, “IGEN ‘ereIGOIN JO YINOs saplw ¢ pur jsoMm sop Z Aja}eIxoidde po.¥so] ‘SuIping AzuNUIUTOD 


BIUOg UlIYIION “q “IGON “eIvIqOIN, “120115 uUIvyTA\] UO SOM SUI OO] MOT A “py “BoUOd UsJOYIION, oy fo JUIULI]}}OS pue SuIsnoyy] 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 195 PLATE 20 


Northern Ponca types. a@, Joseph Le Roy (JLR), Northern Ponca informant, the son of 
a chief of the second rank. 6b, The late Alfred Larvie, a Northern Ponca patriarch and 
Peyote Leader. c, The late Otto Knudsen (OK), the last chief of the second rank in the 
Northern Ponca band. d, Silas LeClaire, a Northern Ponca of the South Dakota group, 
with a powder horn of his own manufacture. 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 195 PLATE 21 


Cc "eh eS a d 

Peter LeClaire (PLC), the Ponca historian. a, Wearing a Heduska costume of the “Straight 
dance” type. The vest is Teton Dakota work. (Photographed in 1951.) 6, Wearing 
a buffalo headdress with a costume of the “Straight dance” type. (Photographed at 
a Dakota Grass dance held at Okreek, §. Dak., in 1949.) c, With the Northern Ponca 
Heduska drum, last used in the 1930’s. (Photographed in 1949.) d, With the late 
chiefs Whiteshirt and Birdhead, at one of the last Northern Ponca Heduska dances, held 


near Niobrara, Nebr., in the late 1930’s. (Photograph courtesy University of Nebraska 
Laboratory of Anthropology.) 


BULLETIN 195 PLATE 22 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 


—  sate[pe7 seiig Aq epeur ui0y sepmog “ “eile[DeT 191g “sayy 
pure ‘ayy Aq epeur deo Jaquim,, urys uoosdey “YY — “alTe[ Der] Jolod “Sip pue “AY Aq apew ‘dduUep vysnpay] JY UI pasn 
s]USWIBUIO JIeyY pue JIIYs a1IM pur prog ‘3 “f -alle[DaT 1919 Aq apew dd1Aap Zuljays-UlOD ‘9 = ‘alle[Oe"q Jaieg Aq 
opew sadurey adig ‘p ‘pinod ajofed ev uvyl os0ur a[}1¥1 Ya-v yy & So[quuased HI 9zIs ydaoxa sjoodsoi [je UT “alle[ge'T 
Jajag Aq apeur ‘a]yqet JO ,pinod,, aJ0A9q evoUdg UWayWON “9 ‘olle[De] 1910 Aq epeul “jusWPUIO auIeS 941 JO 
UOISIOA VIUOG UIIYWON oy, ‘¢ “sasodind aanviedwos 10} slay UMOYS SII] “9UINISOD DYsI BIH] SIY YIM IPL DIT 
Jajag Aq uJOM A]IoWIOJ seM JUSWIEUIO SIYT, “JEoyM YOMINb Jo JoUad 07 pay joyoed ouloipow YIM ‘sialopurq 


0} payor} ye ad} ayy fo JUIWIPUIO IURDP [I¥jJ-loap eONeC UuOjIT, ‘D ‘OANY[ND [vse vIUO UlOY ION jo SW9}T 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 195 PLATE 23 


| 
: 
{ 
' 
; 


Southern Ponca scenes. a, Southern Ponca village scene in the early 1900’s (Doubleday 


photograph). 6, Southern Ponca Soldier dance, 1953. Note the Pan-Indian “feather” 
costumes. 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 195 PLATE 24 


Southern Ponca types. a, Chloe Eagle, Southern Ponca beauty, in powwow costume. 
Note the “princess crown” type headband, a Pan-Indian innovation. 6, Southern 
Ponca beauty in powwow costume. c, Obie Yellow-bull (OYB), also known as Little- 
standing-buffalo, playing the Indian flute. d, Edward Primeaux, also known as Pack 
horse, a Southern Ponca Peyote leader. 


INDEX 


Abraders, grooved, 12 
Acculturation, intertribal, 159 
Acorns, flour from, 44 
Adoption, reasons for, 83 
Affection, gesture of, 71 
Aged, care for, 19, 149 
status of, 149-150 
Agriculture, 3, 4, 26 
“Aiaouez,” see Iowa Indians. 
“Ajoues,” see Iowa Indians. 
Aksarben Aspect, 12 
Algonquian Indians, 51, 56, 61, 66, 156 
Allen, Walter, 37 
Allionia nyctaginea, horse medicine, 126 
Altar, used in Sun dance, 1038, 104 
(AMC), see Makes-cry, Albert. 
American Fur Company, trade with, 28 
American Indian Chicago Conference, 
165 
Ammunition, 32 
See also Firearms ; Weapons. 
Amulet, made by mothers to hold um- 
bilical cord, 144 
Andropogon furcatus, 56 
Anemone (Wadibaba-maka), 130 
Anhinga anhinga (waterbird), 102, 123 
Animals, 17, 39 
clan, 97 
claws of, 100 
disguises as, 25, 41 
extinct, 78 
power from, 99 
prehistoric, 18 
skin of, 100 
Anise, wild, 44 
Ankle bands, angora, 64 
cotton, 66 
Announcer, see Crier [camp]. 
Antelope, 8, 39 
Anthropologists, 7,17 
“Antlers,” 159 
Antoine, Ponca mixblood chief, 70 
Anvils, stone, 12 
Aphrodisiae, use of, 141 
Aquilegia canadensis, 69 
Arapaho Indians, 60, 104, 123, 133 
Archeological remains, 11, 80 
North-Central Nebraska, 14 
prehistoric, 13 
Archeologists, 12 
Arikara Indians, 12, 18, 14, 26, 29, 117, 
124, 182, 141, 156 
Ponca name for, 133 
Ponca relations with, 132 
pottery of, 13 
Arkansas River, 35 


718—-071—65——_15 


Armbands, 638, 64, 79, 80 
Arm cutting, sign of mourning, 154 
Arrowheads, 20, 58, 55 
Arrowleaf, eaten in soup, 43 
Arrows, 18, 31, 41, 49, 51, 55, 90, 97, 111, 
123, 127, 150 

ash wood, 55 

dogwood, 55 

Juneberry, 55 

medicine, 119, 120 

signaling by, 1388 

toy, 145 

trifeathered, 55 
Arrowshafts, 55 

wrenches for, 12, 53 
Arrowwood, added to tobacco, 47 
Art, v, 13 

coppersmith’s, 3 

of Mexico, 2 

See also Artwork. 


Artemisia dracincupoides ( ‘“‘fuzzy- 
weed”), 142 

A. glauca (green sage), medicinal use 
of, 152 


Artifacts, 12, 20, 23, 51 

Artists, Ponca Indians visited by, 27 

“Art visions,” rock pictures of, 71 

Artwork, representative, done by men, 
80 


See also Art. 
Ash Creek, 17 
Ash (trees), 9 
arrows made of, 55 
bows made of, 54 
rotten powdered, 20, 54 
shinny sticks of, 126 
Assiniboin Indians, 104 
Assiniboin Steamer, 155 
Atkinson, Gen. Henry, 9 
Atkinson-O’Fallon exploring party, 27 
Atlatl or spear thrower, 13 
“Aunt,” 85 
Automobiles, effect of on Indians, 163 
Awls, 26 
Axes, 28, 51 
half, 32 
monolithie, 3 
stone, 3 
Aztalan area, 10 


Babies, 144 

Backrests (“lazy-backs”), 51, 58 
Badger, 8 

“Bad Village,’’ Omaha village, 16 
Bags, 62, 120 

Ball, 126, 127, 130 


173 


174 


Bandoliers, 61, 62, 63, 68, 70, 104, 112, 
116, 186 
Banners, cloth, 103 
Bannerstone, catlinite, 13 
Bannock Indians, Ponca name for, 134 
Bare-legs, Indian shaman, 154 
Barges, 28 
Basil Creek, 155 
Basketry, 51 
Basswood ashes, solution of, 44 
Bastions, 11 
Baths, sweat, 59 
Batons, carved, 51, 64 
Baxter Springs, Kans., vii1, 2 (map), 21, 
34, 35 
Bazile Creek, 25 
Beads, 21, 28, 63 
Beadwork, 64, 79, 80, 142 
designs of, 79, 156 
Peyote, 80, 161 
Beans, 3, 13, 18, 30, 44, 45, 46 
mescal, 68, 101, 112, 119, 121, 123, 
124, 126, 154 
Beards, 70 
Bear hunts, 41 
Beatrice, Nebr., 34 
Beaver, 8, 25, 39, 41, 42 
Beds, 37, 58 
Beetle, water, 121 
Bellin map, 24 
Bells, 21, 64 
Belts, 61, 62, 64, 79 
Berdache (Mi-vuga), 142, 1438 
Berries, dried, 46 
wild, 8, 17, 44, 46 
See also specific names. 
Beverages, 44 
Big-goose, informant, 110, 118 
Big Horn Mountains, 18 
Big Sioux River, 14, 15, 24 


Big-soldier, see Headman, Mrs. Vir- 
ginia 

Birdhead, Northern Ponea chief, 55, 93, 
94, 102, 146 


Birds, 8 (list), 17, 41 
claws of, used as fishhooks, 48 
figures of, 80 
power from, 99 
Birdskins, scalps attached to, 100 
Bison, 8, 19, 20, 25, 28, 30, 39, 40, 41, 43, 
44, 49, 74, 80, 104, 115 
bulls, 41, 55, 108, 112 
cannon bone, 53 
cows, 41 
dung, 20, 54 
figures of, 80 
headdress, worn by dancers, 112, 
119 
herd, 19, 40, 41 
hide, 41, 50, 54, 57, 71, 137, 142 
horn, 53, 111, 119, 131 
hunt, v, 18, 26, 28, 29, 30, 32, 38, 
39, 49, 50, 57, 74, 91, 94, 95, 128, 
131 
meat, 41, 187 
ribs, 53, 130 
robe, 58, 61, 118, 119, 147 
seapula, 8, 52, 58 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 


[Bull. 195] 


Bison—Continued 
sinews, lashings of, 130 
tail-hair, 68, 101, 119 
wool, use of, 48, 123 
Black-eagle, see Blue-back, Walter 
Blackfoot Indians, 71, 111, 133 
Blackhaw fruits, 43 
Black Hills of South Dakota, 7, 15, 20, 
28, 41, 49, 76, 181 
Black-rattle-pod pods, 145 
Blankets, 21, 26, 28, 33, 50, 58, 61, 118, 
114, 116, 137 
broadcloth, v1u1, 68, 112, 116 
costume, 161 
Government issue, 6 
“Peyote,” 116, 161 
saddle, 85 
white sheeting, 68 
Blood-root, use of, 142 
Bloodsucker, nightmare about, 120 
Blouse, loose silk, 66, 69 
Blue-back, Ernest, 123, 126, 127 
Blue-back, Walter (WBB), vit, 45, 48, 
57, 59, 71, 73, 76, 78, 84, 85, 86, 
98, 104, 109, 118, 127, 142, 145, 
146, 149, 153, 154 
Blue stone (Mohi-du), used for knives, 
53 


Boats, pillage of by Ponca Indians, 13 
Body painting, 62, 66, 69, 111 
See also Face painting. 
Bon Homme County, 8. Dak., 131 
Bow Creek, Nebr., 15 
Bowl, wooden, 128 
Bows, 138, 19, 51, 54, 55, 62, 79, 127 
“medicine,” 119 
See also Arrows. 
Bowshaves, 12 
Bowstring, 55, 127 
Boxelder trees, 9, 44 
Boxes, 51, 73, 102 
Bracelets, 68, 112 
Brackenridge, H. M., explorer, 27, 61 
Bradbury, John, 9 
Brant, 75, 103 
Bread, 46 
Breakfast, 46, 125 
Breastplates, bone “hairpipe,” 61 
Breechcloth, 61, 62, 64, 79 
Bridle, beaded, 146 
Broadcloth, 64, 68 
Broken-jaw, Ponea chief, 101, 102 
Brooches, 12, 66, 68, 111 
Brother, 84, 85, 120, 121 
“Brother,” 86 
Brother-in-law/sister-in-law 
ship, 86 
Brulés, subband of Teton Dakota, 9, 21, 
Aigole oo loo woo 
Brush, houses covered with, 56 
Buckskin, 52, 66, 90, 116, 123, 144 
Buffalo, see Bison. 
Buffalo (fish), 8 
Buffaloberries, 44 
Buffalo-chief, Edward, vu, 46, 58, 92, 
106, 125, 157 
Buffalo-chip, see Buffalo-chief, Edward. 
Buffalo-head, Mrs. Napoleon, 109 


relation- 


INDEX 


175 


_ Buffalo-police, vi11, 19, 40, 91, 94, 95, 96, | Cedar (tree), 118, 150 
129 


Buffalo runners, fast horses, 123 

Buffalo Soldiers, punishment inflicted 
by, 136 

“Buffalo track” (small depression) , 45 


fire, for drying meat, 46 
flutes of, 80 
smoke of, fumigation by, 100 
whistles from, 80 

Cemetery, village, 34 


Bull, John (Mqzqhode), Southern Ponca | Central Algonquian Indians, 51, 56, 61, 


chief, 16 

Bullrush stems, mats of, 52 
Bundle, 40, 100, 102 

ceremony, 100, 102 

contents of, 100, 101 

disposal of, 100 

doctoring, 101 

good-luck, 127 

medicine, 101, 127 

owners of, 38, 100 

rituals, 50 

sacred, 52, 84, 100, 122, 187, 141, 149 

storage of, 100, 102 

transportation of, 100 

war, 187, 188, 141 
Burials, 12, 154, 155 

Christian, 34 

goods from, 26 

tribal, 37 
Burying grounds, 8, 18, 31, 36, 37 

Ma-azi (Chalk-rock Bank), 18, 36 
Bushnell, David I, Jr., 56, 59, 155 
Bustle, dancing, 107, 137, 160 
Butte, Nebr., 53, 78 
Button, silver, 68 


Cache pits, see Pits. 
Cactus plant (Lophophora williamsi), 
48 
Caddoan tribes, 4, 13, 156 
Caddo Indians, 6, 30, 114, 133, 134 
Cahokia region, 10 
Calamus roots, use of, 43, 150 
Calicoes, 28, 127 
Calumet, ceremonial pipe, 47, 105 
Cambria Focus, 10 
Camp circle, 17, 20, 40, 75, 89 (fig.), 92 
Canada, 20 
Canadian Dakota, 155 
Canes, carved, 51 
Cannibalism, VII 
Cannon, owned by Mormons, 29 
Cap, buffalo horn, 119, 137 
buffaloskin, 137. 
fur, 61 
otterskin, v11, 61, 92 
Captives, treatment of, 140 
Cards, favorite sport of Ponca Indians, 
130 


Caribbean Islands, 3 

Carlisle School, 76 

Carp (fish), 8 

Carvings, 3 

Cass, Lewis, Secretary of War, 28 

Cataleptic trance, result of Ghost dance, 
109 

Catfish, 8 

Catlin, George, 27 

Catlinite, 12 

Cattail down, uses of, 144, 150 

Cattle, 37, 104 


66, 106, 107 
Central Great Plains, 7, 71, 76 
Ceramic arts, practice of, 13 
See also Pottery. 
Ceremonies, viII, 4, 23, 39, 47, 59, 60, 61, 
66, 76, 86, 95, 102, 157 
building, lack of, 56 
bundle, 102 
Calumet, 104, 105 
Cheyenne, 125 
chief-making, vit, 94, 154 
costumes for, see Costumes. 
“cross” or “big moon,” 125 
curing, 59, 101-102 
Ghost Lodge, 155 
“half moon” or “basic Plains,” 125 
Hediska, see Hediiska. 
Medicine lodge, v, 60, 62, 106, 120, 
121 
Naming, 146 
Pipe (Wd-wa@), 80, 81, 95, 99, 105, 
106, 121, 141, 156 
puberty, 50, 146 
purification, 59 
rainmaking, 75, 90 
religious, 38, 86 
sacred, 80 
spirit-keeping, 155 
Sun Dance, 66 
tattooing (Hahe-watsi), 38, 90, 113 
Winnebago, 125 
See also Peyote. 
Chains, silver, 68 
Chairs, 58 
Champe, John L., 15, 18, 132 
Charcoal, 99, 111 
Charles Mix County, S. Dak., 131 
Chastity, rare in unmarried girls, 142 
Cherokee Indians, 4, 35, 107, 160 
Ponea name for, 133 
Cherries, sand, 44 
Cheyenne Indians, 31, 60, 66, 104, 116, 
122, 125, 141, 147, 157, 161 
Ponca name for, 133 
Chickasaw Indians, 4 
Chief, 1, 17, 22 (list), 66, 91-94, 112, 135, 
154 


as religious leader, 92, 93, 99 
“big,” 17, 92, 93 

clan, 92, 98 

costume of, 61, 92 

dress for head chief, 32 
ethics required of, 98 (list) 
fire of, seven sticks in, 73 
first-rank, 40, 92, 93, 94, 98 
head, 32, 40, 91, 92, 93, 94, 129 
insignia of, 137 

Ituzpa, 92, 93 

“little,” 17, 92, 938, 94 
Northern Ponca, viz 

Peyote, VII 


176 


Chief—Continued 
Ponea, vit, 17, 19, 21, 22 (list), 30, 
Sul, 3, 33). Be) 
principal, 3, 17, 20, 21, 90 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 


[Bull. 195) 


Clothing—Continued 
women’s, 61, 66, 67 (fig.), 69, 156 
See also Costume; Dress; and in- 
dividual items of apparel. 


second rank, vit, vu, 17, 40, 71, 92, | Clown cult, Dakota-inspired, 49 


93, 94, 98 
Chikaskia Creek, 36 
Childbirth, 37, 148 
Children, 40, 85, 144, 145 
activities of, 145 
capture of, 31 
clay figures made by, 80 
clothing of, 61 
death of, 34 
education of, 37, 38, 85, 145 
effects of divorce on, 84, 148 
games for, 129, 130, 145 
naming ceremony for, 146 
toys for, 55 
White, 129 
Chiloceo, Okla., 77 
Chiloceo Agricultural School, Chilocco, 
Okla., attended by Ponea In- 
dians, 77, 163 
Chiwere division of Siouan language 
family, 4 (list), 15 
Choctaw Indians, 4, 160 
Chokecherries, 42, 44, 51, 53, 151 
Choreography, 103, 107, 110, 111, 118, 
114, 115, 116 
Chouteau Creek, 15 
Christmas, celebration of, 51 
Church, Senator —, 39 
Church, Christian, 99, 125 
Peyote, 99 
services, 50 
Cigarettes, prayer, 125 
smoked socially, 47 
Clamorgan, Jacques, trader, 25 
Clans, 15, 40, 79, 81, 82, 83, 86-93, 97 
Dizvida, 80, 87, 88, 89, 90, 93, 135, 
150 
family position in, 81 
Hisada, 75, 87, 89, 90 
Ice (Nuze), 19, 75, 87, 88, 89, 90 
Medicine, 19, 76, 79, 87, 89 
Nikapasna, 69, 87, 88, 89, 90, 135, 
154 
Omaha, 86 
Ponca, 5, 69, 76, 86, 87, 90, 92 
Snake, 87, 88, 89, 90, 150 
taboos of, 88, 89, 90, 97 
Wasabe (grizzly bear), 87, 89, 90, 
93 


Clark, William, 9 (map), 27, 28 
Clay, 8, 130 
blue (Wase-dw) , 53 
figures of, made by children, 80 
iron-bearing, 52 
yellow, 69 
Climate, 7 
Cloth, 12, 26 
See also Broadcloth ; calicoes. 
Clothing, 58, 61, 79, 96 
for the dead, 154 
men’s, 61, 62, 68, 64, 65, 79 


Clowns, ceremonial, 124 

Club, 77 

Coats, blue, 32 

Cobbles, 53 

Cogswellia daucifolia, 69, 142 

Collar, 61, 104 

Collins, Charlie, 106 

Collot, Gen. George H. V., map of, 24 

Colors, significance of, 18 

Columbine, wild, 69, 142 

Columbus, Kans., 34 

Columbus, Nebr., 33, 34 

Comanche Indians, 18, 49, 66, 132, 161 
Ponca name for, 1338 

Combs, 26, 68 

Constitution, application of to Indians, 

37 


Contests, dance, 162 
Cookery, 46 
Coot (bird), 8 
Copper, use of, 3 
Cordage, 51 
Corn, 3, 12, 19, 20, 21, 28, 28, 29, 37, 38, 
44, 45, 46, 79, 103 
mortars for, 51, 58 
parched, 125 
preservation of, 46 
red, white, blue, and yellow, 21 
seaffold for, 45 
sheller for, 45 
squaw, 20, 39, 74 
“Corn balls,” 46 
Corncakes, 46 
Cornfields, 21, 28, 29, 31 
Corn legend, 20-21, 44 
Corn smut, used as food, 48 
Cornus amomum (red dogwood), 47 
C. asperifolia, see Arrowwood. 
C. stolonifera, see Redbrush. 
Coronet, beaded, worn by women, 66 
Costume, styles of, 156, 160, 163 
chief’s, 61 
dancing, vir, 53, 61, 63-64, 79, 80, 
107, 108; 110; d3g) 1125 1605061" 
162 
“feather outfit,” 64, 65, 66, 160, 161, 
162 
“straight dance outfit,” 62, 65, 66, 
136, 162 
Sun Dance, 66, 104 
“Woodland type,” 61 
Cotton, 66 
Cottonwood trees, 9, 49 
Council Bluffs, near the Missouri, 29 
Council Cove, Kans., 34 
“Council of seven,” meeting of, 93 
Councils, 33, 59 
meetings of, 59, 91, 92 
Peacemaking, 141 
tribal, 39, 91, 94 
Coup counting, 107, 126 
Courting, Indian flute used in, 80, 81, 
148 


INDEX 


Courtship, method of, 148 
Couvade, not practiced, 144 
Covington, Nebr., 15 
Cows, 49 
Coyote, 8, 49 
tail of, 137 
Crabapples, wild, 44 
Cradleboards, 51, 144 
Crappie (fish), 8 
Creek Confederacy, tribes of, 4, 107 
Creek Indians, 116 
Creek-Osage Indian, 162 
Crier (Eyqpaha), news told by, 70, 140 
Crime, 95 
adultery, 96, 148 
murder, 95, 96, 154 
rape and seduction, 142 
smuggling of whiskey, 35 
whipping, as punishment, 40, 96 
wife stealing, 110, 136, 143 
Crook, Gen. George, 22, 36, 37 
Crops, raised by Ponca Indians, 45, 50, 
96 


Croupers, 50 
“Crow belt,” ornament worn by war- 
riors, 62, 64, 107, 137 
Crow Indians, 82, 110, 1385 
Ponca name for, 134, 135 
Crows, 41 
feathers from, 40, 109, 137 
tamed, 49 
Crucifixion, pictures of, 17 
Cults, 49, 121-124 
See also Mescal Bean, 
Cups, White manufactured, 46 
Curtis, Edward S., 115 


Dakota-Cheyenne combination, 31 
Dakota Indians, 4, 6, 14, 15, 23, 25, 26, 
28, 29, 31, 32, 56, 68, 71, 73, 76, 77, 
78, 81, 83, 87, 97, 100, 104, 107, 
108, 110, 111, 112, 117, 124, 127, 
132, 183, 135, 142, 155, 156, 157 
raids on Ponea Indians, 133 
warriors, 29, 183, 140 
Dancers, 53, 64, 66, 103, 106, 107, 108, 
110, 111, 112, 113, 160 
“fancy,” 65 (fig. ) 
“straight,” 52, 63 (fig.), 64, 68, 69, 
80 
Sun, 66, 72, 79 
Dances, 238, 46, 59, 66, 102, 108, 163 
“49,” 116 
Alligator, 160 
Bear, 117, 118 
Begging, 117 
“Big-belly,” 112 
Blue Lake Round, 115 
branches carried in, 116 
bravery, used at military funerals, 
it) 
Brush, 116, 117, 157 
Buffalo, 115, 116, 160 
building for, 56, 57, 111, 112, 118 
bustle for, 107, 187, 160 
Chief’s, 113 
contests of, 160, 162 


17 


Dances—Continued 


costumes for, 53, 62-68, 79, 80, 84, 
136, 160, 161 

Coyote, 111 

“Dream,” 107 

Eagle, 160 

“fancy,” 79 

Ghost, 45, 109, 110, 116, 128, 157 

Giani, 114 

“Going-to-war,” 108 

Gourd, 110 

Grass, 156 

ground for, 115 

headdress for, 137 

Heduiska, 23, 38, 46, 50, 62, 65, 70, 
72, 80, 81, 83, 84, 102, 106, 108, 110, 
bea GheS Galay abi pabe a sbkeam Gy, 
137, 148, 157, 159, 162 

Igazige-wad, 113 

“Kettle,” 108 

leaders of, 106, 109, 118 

Make-no-flight, 111 

“Mans,” 107 

Medal, 113 

Meskwaki, 109 

Mikasi, 111 

mirror used in, 51, 64, 72, 109 

music for, 50, 81, 160 

mystery, 118 

“Night,” 113 

Indian, vil, 23, 46, 59, 66, 102, 108, 
163 


“Indian cake-walk,” 160 

Not-afraid-to-die, 110, 111, 136 

Not Ashamed (Ikistazi), 112 

Omaha, 112, 156 

Omaha watsipi, 108 

One-legged, 111 

ornaments, 107 

Pan-Indian war, 160 

paraphernalia for, 72 

Pipe (Wa-W¢@), 19, 102, 105, 106, 
111, 132 

Plains Indian, 160 

Rabbit, 59, 117 

Reach-in-the-boiling-kettle, 108 

ring for, 59, 109 

Round, 81, 111, 113, 114, 116, 117, 
160, 162 

Scalp, 113, 140 

Sioux Heduska, 108 

Snake, 115, 116, 160 

“Sneak-up,” 109 

Soldier, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117 

“square,” White origin, 117 

“Stomp,” 115, 116, 157, 160, 162 

Sun, v, vot, 16, 18, 19, 20, 38, 45, 50, 
57, 60, 66, 72, 74, 75, 79, 80, 81, 94, 
99, 102, 103-105, 110, 116, 126, 
142, 155 

Sun-seeing, 103 

Tokala, 111 

Turkey, 114 

waiters for, 118 

war, 21, 23, 38, 102, 106, 107, 159, 
160, 161, 162 

Warrior Society, 110 


178 


Dances—Continued 
White horse, 112 
Wichita, 121 
Dandelions, 145 
Death, ideas concerning, 111, 153-155 
property disposal of at, 96 
rate of, 37 
during Removal, 34, 35 
See also Burials. 
Deer, 25, 39, 41, 43 
Virginia, 8 
headdresses from hair of, 61, 107, 
137 
moccasins from skin of, 154 
rattles from hoofs of, 80 
égiha, language group, vu, Ix, 4, 5, 6, 
7, 10, 14, 16, 20, 23, 838, 84, 86, 
99, 110, 112, 135, 144, 156 
Delaware Indians, 159, 160, 161 
Delinquents, few in number, 96 
See also Crime. 
Demons, 99, 153 
Designs, 64, 79 
Des Moines River, 14 
De Soto, —, 4 
Devil (Wakdnda-pé2) , 99 
Digging sticks, 43 
Dinner, 46 
ceremonial, 47, 125 
Directions (cardinal points), 17, 76 
Disease, 4, 21, 26, 34, 149-152 
consumption, 34, 152 
contagious, 36 
HKuropean, 26, 27 
malaria, 36 
smallpox, 26 
See also Medicine. 
Dishes, porcelain, 53 
Disks, 12, 62, 64 
Ditch, protective, 12 
Divorce, effect of on children, 84, 148 
method of, 84, 148 
Doctors, 120, 152, 153 
See also Disease ; Medicine. 
Doghouse, burlap-covered, 57 
Dogs, 17, 40, 41, 48, 49, 79, 138 
as food, 48, 108 
figures of, 80 
Istd-duba (four-eyes), 48 
leg bones of, 53 
moccasins for, 48, 132 
Dog Soldiers, 60 
Dogwood, 47, 55 
Donkeys, acquired from Whites, 49 
Dorsey, George A., 60, 66, 75, 103, 104, 
126, 155 
Dorsey, James O., 5, 6, 11, 14, 15, 30, 
33, 39, 43, 47, 55, 59, 70, 71, 73, 
74, 75, 77, 78, 79, 81, 83, 84, 86, 90, 
93, 94, 95, 96, 99, 105, 110, 111, 
ais} able sal, aby qe aes), AG al: 
135, 186, 1389, 140, 141, 142, 144, 
145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 153, 154, 
155 
Dorsey, James O., and Thomas, Cyrus, 
6, 10, 14, 87, 158 
Dorsey map, 11, 12 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 


[Bull. 195] 


Dougherty, John, agent to the Ponca 
Indians, 28 
Dress, 61-70, 84, 116 
Droughts, 7 
Drum, 20, 21, 80, 106, 110, 113, 114, 115, 
116, 117, 121 
Big, 160 
Heduska, 59, 107, 116 
hollow-log water, 106, 121, 125 
Drumkeeper, 106 
“Drum Religion,” 107 
Drumsticks, 51, 55 
Ducks, 8, 41 
Dundy, Judge, decision of, 22, 36, 37 
Dwellings, permanent, 52, 58 
Dye, 52 


Hagle, David, 92, 94, 137 
Eagles, 41, 42, 75, 90, 102, 103 
bald, 8 
feathers of, 40, 42, 64, 65, 66, 68, 92, 
137 
golden, 8, 137 
tail feathers of, 62, 64 
war, 73 
whistle from bone of, 76, 80, 103, 
104 


wing of, 62, 64, 114, 119 
“Hagle sickness,” fear of, 42 
Eagle trapping, 42 
Harache, treatment for, 151 
Harrings, silver, 68 
Earth lodge, vit, 12, 56, 58, 59, 156 

ceremonial structure, 57 

construction of, 56, 156 

Plains type, 14 

round, 56 
Earth-lodge village, vu, 4, 11, 29, 60 
Harthquake, 75 
Haster, celebration of, 51 
Eastern North America, 3, 45 
Eastern United States, 77 
Eastern Woodland area, 106, 147, 160 
Hastern Woodland complexes, v 
Eastern Woodland tribes, 115 
(EBC), see Buffalo-chief, Edward 
Economy, 39-50, 157 

surplus, 3 
Education, informal, 76 

See also School. 

EKggan, Fred, 82 
Elderberries, 44 

stems, used by small boys, 145 
Hlephant, circus, 78 

extinct, 78, 129 

Pd-snu-tah, 18, 78 
Elk, 39, 41, 43 

antlers of, 49, 53 

leather from, 52 
Elkhorn, Battle of the, 31 
Elkhorn River, vii, 31 
Elm (tree), 9 

bark of, 54, 151 

cord from bark of, 51 

house posts from, 56 

mortars from, 69 

red, 54 


INDEX 


Elm (tree)—Continued 
saddle frames from, 49 
slippery, 54 
Emporia, Kans., 34 
Encampments, Sun Dance, 57 
Enemies, 25 
hands removed from, 138, 140 
head removed from, 6, 138, 140 
See also Warfare. 
English language, 162 
accepted by Ponca, 7, 70, 162, 163 
Entryway, covered, 56 
Ethics, code of, 98 (list) 
HKuropeans, 4, 42 
Explorers, 27 
European, 4, 23, 24 
White, 5, 91 


Face painting, 41, 69, 99, 119, 146 
Fairfax, S. Dak., vir 
Fall, Ponca name for, 74 
Family, position in, 81 
Fans, eagle-wing, 62, 64, 114 
Farmers, 13 
Fasting to obtain visions, 99 
Fat, marrow, 46 
Father-in-law taboo, 86 
Fathers, 83, 86, 95, 148 
boys taught by, 76 
brother of, 86 
relationship to son, 84, 85 
sister of, 82, 85 
Feasts, 59, 61 
mourning, 155 
Feathers, 50, 51, 79, 161 
bird, 100 
costumes of, 64, 65, 66, 107, 160, 161, 
162 
crow, 40, 137 
downy, 64, 66, 92, 137 
eagle, 40, 42, 64, 65, 66, 68, 92, 137 
eagle tail, 62, 66 
owl, 102, 137 
pelican, 101 
Peyote, 64, 80, 101, 102, 116 
pheasant, 42 
symbolism of, 136 
war honor, 62, 136 (list), 187 
“Yellow-hammer,” 123 
Featherwork, 3 
Fetishes, made by mothers, 144 
Field mouse, 8 
Finger-weaving technique, 52 
Fire, Jim, Arapaho Indian, 123 
Fire, 75, 129 
in center of dwelling, 58 
pits for, 52 
pottery hardened by, 54 
preservation of, 20, 54 
wood for, 103 
Firearms, 138, 26, 29, 32, 33, 42, 96, 118 
bullets for, 41, 118, 123 
flints for, 26 
musket, 41 
powder and balls for, 26, 28, 30 
Firemaking, 20, 54 
Fireman, Peyote officer, 122 
Fireplace, 59, 103, 104 


179 


“Fireplace” (ritual), 125 
Fish, 8 (list), 43 
cooking methods, 46 
Fishbones, used as projectiles, 119 
Fishhooks and lines, 32, 43 
Fishing, 3, 39, 43, 120 
“Fish smellers,” Ponca group, 30 
“Five Civilized Tribes,” 4 
Flags, 26, 32 
Flatboats, 28 
Flaxseeds, wild, 43 
Fleshers, 12, 53 
Fletcher, Alice C., 81, 90, 91 
Fletcher, Alice C., and La Flesche, 
Francis, 5, 10, 14, 15, 23, 40, 45, 
49, 55, 60, 62, 69, 70, 75, 76, 78, 79, 
81, 88, 90, 91, 92, 95, 97, 1138, 124, 
134, 135, 136, 187, 141, 145, 150, 
154, 156 
Flicker, 102, 123 
Flint, used for arrows, 20, 53 
Florence, Nebr., 15 
Flour, 44, 46 
Flute, Indian, vit, 80, 81, 148 
Flycatcher, scissortail, 102 
Foeticide, not practiced, 144 
Folktales, taught by grandparents, 85 
Fontanelle, Logan, Omaha chief, 132 
Food, etiquette connected with, 47 
preservation of, VII 
Footraces, 126 
Foreman, Grant, 37 
Forks, White manufactured, 46 
Fortifications, 3, 5,12, 18 
Fort Laramie, 21 
Fort Pierre, 68, 133 
Four-o’clock root, medicinal use of, 151 
Fowling, 41 
Fox fur headdress, 66, 137 
Fox Indians, 114 
Fremont, Nebr., 18 
Fruit, 17, 18, 125 
supernatural, 21 
wild, 44, 46 
Fry, Edwin A., 30 
Funeral, 47 
Fur, 66, 137 
trade in, 25, 26, 28 
Furniture, household, 37, 58 
“Wuzzy-weed” (Artemisia 
loides), use of, 142 


dracincu- 


Galium trifiorum, 69 
Gallup Festival, 159, 165 
Gambling, 129 
charm for, 130 
Game, 7, 15, 43 
Games, 156 
boys’, 129, 130 
ecard, 130 
ceremonial races, 126 
footrace, 126 
Ghost Dance hand, 109, 110, 116, 
160, 165 
goalpost for, 127 
hand, 50, 109, 128, 129 
hoop and javelin, 3, 133 


180 


Games—Continued 
horserace, 126 
implements for, 128 
Mdgadéze, 127 
Moaibagi, 129 
Manikadede (mud-on-a-stick) , 129 
moccasin, 81, 109, 128, 129 
Ni-ikatusi, 130 
shinny (Tabégasi), 50, 126, 127 
snow-snake, 129 
Tahddize, 129 
tribal, 85 
Gardens, 138, 21, 28, 44, 45 
Garments, 52, 61 
Garters, 48 
Gasconade County, Missouri, 15 
Gathering, wild food, 3, 39 
Gauntlets, 64, 79 
Geese, 41 
Canada, 8 
Genoa, Nebr., 29 
Gens, 87, 91, 97 
Geographers, 7 
Ghost Dance Hand game, see Games 
Ghosts, 79, 129, 153, 154 
Gifts, buried with dead, 155 
presentation of, 106, 107, 112, 155 
Gilmore, Melvin R., 42, 43, 44, 47, 49, 51, 
52, 54, 55, 56, 69, 76, 1380, 142, 144, 
145, 150, 151 
Girls, 69, 76, 81, 142, 146 
Give-away, explanation of, 153, 155 
Gives-water, Charles, 94 
Goats, 49, 132 
God (Wakanda), 17, 21, 99, 106, 153 
Gooseberries, wild, 145 
Gopher, 8 
Gorgets, 2, 3, 12 
Gourds, 3, 44, 45, 51, 105, 161 
handles of, 80 
“Peyote,” 116 
rattle made from, 20, 80, 101, 105, 
110, 111, 125 
Grandchildren, 18 
“Grandchildren,” 82, 92 
Grandfathers, 16, 86 
Grandparents, 85, 94 
Grandsons, 17 
Grapes, wild, 44 
Grass, 8 (list), 9 
big bluestem, 8, 20, 53, 54 
little bluestem, 8, 118 
needle, § 
prairie, 49, 56 
slender wheat, 8 
tied to arms, 77 
Graves, see Burial. 
“Gray-blanket”’ village, 21, 29, 30, 60, 188 
Great Sioux Treaty, 21 
Gregory, I. S., 31, 32 
Griffin, James B., 10 
Groundcherries, 44, 151 
Grouse, pinnated, 8, 41 
Guards, 30 
Guns, see Firearms 


BUREAU 


Habeas Corpus, right of, 22, 36 
Hackberry, 9, 44 


OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 


[Bull. 195] 


Hail, 75 

Hair, facial, plucking of, 70 
Hairbrushes, 69 

Hair dressing, 68, 69, 91, 108, 146, 148 


dsku (hair lock), 68 
long, 16, 62, 66 
sign of mourning, 154 
Half-tribes, 87 
Halters, 50 
Hamilton, Colonel, 9 
Hamilton, Walter, Omaha Indian, 114 
Hammers, 26 
Hammerstones, 12 
Handkerchiefs, silk, 63, 64, 119 
Hands, removal of, 138 
Handsome Lake Religion, 164 
Hangings, used on horses, 50 
Harlots, rarity of, 142 
Harness, 37, 49-50 
Harvard University, 23. 
Harvey, Thomas H., 29 
Haskell Institute, Lawrence, Kans., 77, 
163 
Hat, otterskin, 66 
Hatchet, 12, 26, 32 
Hawks, 8, 41, 49 
Hayes, Rutherford B., 37, 38 
Hazelnuts, 44 
Head, human, removal of, 3, 6, 188 
Headbands, 64, 79 
“Head cutters,” name for Ponea, 6, 70 
Headdress, buffalo, 112 
dance, 137 
deer-hair roach, 137 
fur, 61, 66 
porcupine and deer-hair, 62, 107 
roach, 53, 61, 62, 64, 68, 107, 136, 137 
warrior, 66, 137 
Headman, Mrs. Virginia (VHM), in- 
formant, VIII 
Head searfs, silk, 62 
Heaven (Magata), 99 
Heavy Cloud, third chief of Ponca tribe, 


31 
Hediuska, 46, 70, 97, 98, 99, 107, 108, 
111, 140, 141, 155, 156, 160 
See also Dances 
Heliograph, signaling device, 72 
Heralds, dance, 118 
Herbalists, 90 
Heron, 8 
Herskovits, Melville J., 159 
He-sah-da, Ponea band, 19 
Heyoéka (kind of hawk), 49 
cult, 124 
Hickory (trees), 44 
Hidatsa Indians, 4, 29, 42, 46, 48 
Hides, 52, 101 
High Plains area, 147, 156 
High Plains culture, v, 51 
High Plains tribes, 79, 156 
Hoeing, done by women, 45 
Hoes, 28 
iron, 12 
seapula, 8, 12, 52 
Hoffman, J. B., Indian agent, 32 
Homer, Nebr., 131 
Homesickness, 22, 35 


INDEX 


Homosexuals, beliefs regarding, 75, 78 
See also Berdaches. 
Honey, wild, 44 
Hoops, sage-wrapped, 103 
Horse-Chief-Hagle, Ponca chief, 94 
Horsehair bandoliers, 68 
Horsehair collars, 104 
Horseraces, 126 
Horses, 28, 30, 32, 38, 35, 36, 37, 40, 48, 
49, 50, 80, 100, 105, 123, 187, 188, 
140, 147 
acquisition of, v, 49 
“Buffalo runner,” 40, 139 
decoration of, 50, 146 
draft stock, 50 
figures of, 80 
herds of, 30, 49 
medicine for, 126, 152 
pack, 40 
presents of, 146 
sacrificed with dead, 155 
stealing of, 182, 188-139 
stolen, 30, 49, 50 
white, ridden by dancers, 112 
Horticulture, v, vit, 4, 39, 50 
Hothouse, council house, 1 
Houses, 1, 37, 56-60, 96 
Howard, E. A., Indian agent, 33, 34, 35 
Howard, James H., 122 
Humphrey, Seth K., 10 
Hunters, 40, 41, 75, 77, 129 
Hunting, 3, 30, 39, 41, 50 
autumn, 26, 39, 40, 50 
camp, 30, 31, 39 
communal, 40, 95 
in groups, 39 
party, 31, 96, 100 
spring and summer, 31, 39, 45, 50 
tribal, v111, 26, 28, 30, 32, 39, 40, 91, 
94, 95 
winter, 41, 50 
Hunt leader, 39, 40, 92 
Huts, women’s menstrual, 7, 59, 146 
Hyde, George E., 14, 141 


Ice, 75 

Indian agent, 33 

Indian Appropriation Bill, 33 

Indian Territory, 21, 22, 33, 34, 35, 36, 
37, 38, 133, 157, 158 

Indian trade, Missouri Valley, 25 

Indian Work Projects Administration, 


Infancy, 144 
Infanticide, practice of, 148 
Informants, Northern Ponca, VII—VIU, 


Omaha, 131 
Ponea, VI, VII, Ix, 23, 47, 58, 58, 60, 
73, 74, 75, T7, 78, 81, 84, 86, 87, 91, 
95, 98, 104, 111, 113, 115, 121, 130, 
181, 1384, 188, 144, 146, 150, 157 
Southern Ponca, VItI—Ix 
Inheritance rights, 96 
wives’, 86 
Inlay, 51 
Intermarriage, 13, 133, 157, 158, 162, 163 
See also White man. 


718—071—65—_16 


181 


| Interpreters, 22 (list) 
Tola, Kans., 34 
Iowa, 10, 15, 163 
Iowa Indians, 4, 5, 15, 23, 24, 40, 77, 78, 
114, 116, 124, 157 
Ponca name for, 134 
Iowa River, 132 
Iron Eyes, Omaha chief, 36 
Iroquois Indians, 92, 147, 164 
Handsome Lake Religion, 164 
Tvory, fossil, used in games, 129 
Ivy, poison, 76 


James, Edwin, 9, 48, 49, 53, 60, 91, 147 
Jewelry, Peyote, 57 

(JLR), see LeRoy, Joseph 

Johnson, Elden, 68 

Jokes, played by relatives, 85 

Jones, A. D., 148, 147 

Juneberries, 44, 55 

Justice, Plains Indian’s, 95 


Kansa Indians, 1x, 4, 5, 14, 15, 28, 116, 
134, 157 
dialect, 6 
Ponca name for, 134 
Kansas City area, 10 
Kaw Indians, see Kansa. 
Kemble, E. C., United States Indian In- 
spector, 33 
Kettles, 13, 26, 53 
Keya Paha River, vir 
Kickapoo Indians, Ponea name for, 134 
Kimball, May, 153 
Kimball, William, 116 
Kinnikinnick, added to tobacco, 47 
Kinship, Nikie, 86 
Kinship system, 82, 83 
terms of, respect shown by, 86 
“iowa-Apache Indians, 111 
Kiowa Indians, 66, 71, 97, 111, 116, 124, 
161 
Ponca name for, 134 
Knee bands, 52, 64 
Knee bells, 64 
Knife handles, bone, 12 
Knives, 20, 26, 46, 51, 53 
Knowledge, esoteric, 
men, 97 
Knox County, northeastern Nebraska, 
1G fh 11 
Knudsen, Nancy Birdhead, 59 
Knudsen, Otto B., vu, 41, 44, 46, 47, 50, 
55, 57, 58, 59, 66, 69, 72, 74, 75, 
76, 78, 87, 91, 93, 94, 95, 98, 101, 
108, 187, 148, 146 


owned by Sha- 


La Barre, Weston, vit, 125, 161, 163 

Labor, cooperative, 3 

Lactation, prolonged, 143 

La Flesche, Francis, 14 

La Flesche, Joseph, 87, 153 

La Flesche, Suzette (“Bright Hyes’’), 
Omaha girl, 37 

Lake Andes, see Chouteau Creek. 

Lamberton, —, U.S. District Attorney, 
22 


Lance, 132, 136 


182 


Lance heads, 53 
Land, ownership of, 96, 97 
“Language of the blanket,” 70, 71 
Lariats, rawhide, 30 
La Roche Focus, 13 
Lashing, sinew, 130 
Lawrence, Kans., 77 
Lazybacks (backrests), 51, 58 
Lazy-stitch, used in beadwork, 161 
Leaders, see Chiefs. 
L’eau-qui-court, see Niobrara River. 
Le Claire, Adam, 74, 153 
Le Claire, Perry, 94, 146 
Le Claire, Peter, vir, vim, Ix, 7, 18, 16, 
17, 18, 21, 39-60, 62, 66, 68-80, 83, 
84, 85, 87, 90, 92-96, 98, 99-108, 
105-108, 110-116, 119, 126, 128— 
133, 1387, 188, 140, 143, 145-149, 
152-155, 158 
Leggings, 30, 61, 64 
Le Roy, Henry, 121 
Le Roy, Joseph, vi, 18, 41, 42, 45, 48, 49, 
AGH I eh (AOS (a OY Tal 725 re, 
78, 79, 84, 85, 87, 92, 98, 95, 96, 
LOLS TA ZONA AS loo: 
143, 144, 146, 154, 155, 158 
Lesser, Alexander, 109, 128 
Levers, knowledge of, 54 
Lewis, Meriwether, 9, 27, 72 
Lewis and Clark, 9, 27, 72 
Lightning, 75, 76, 124 
Lineoln, Nebr., 2 (map), 44, 131 
Linton, Ralph, 163, 164 
Lipan Apache Indians, 132 
Lipan Indians, 18 
L’Isle, Guillaume De, map by, 24 
Little-cook, Dave, Indian man, 6, 69, 70, 
87, 92, 133 
Little Missouri River, 28 
Little-rattle-pod pods, 145 
(LMD), see Macdonald, Louise. 
Lodge, 49 
built by women, 56 
ceremonial, 92 
communal, 83 
council, 40 
dance, 111, 112, 118 
earth, 28, 56, 83, 100 
earth-covered, 1, 156 
elongated (Diud ipu-hede), 56, 57, 
58, 60, 119 
Ghost, 155 
grass, 129 
hemispherical (Diudipwu), 56, 57, 58, 
59 


BUREAU 


hide-covered, 56, 57 
Medicine, 60, 97 
posts for, 56, 60 
Sun Dance, 60 
sweat, 59 
Logs, moving of, 54 
Loincloth, 66 
Long’s Expedition, 9 
Loons, 75, 103 
Lophophora williamsi, see Peyote. 
“Love seed” (Cogswellia daucifolia), 
142 
Lower Brulé Reservation, 185 


OF AMERICAN 


ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195] 


Lower Loup Focus, 13 

Lowie, Robert H., 59, 86, 146 

(LRL), see Red-leaf, Leslie. 

Lullabies, sung by mothers, 81 
Lygodesmia juncea (skeletonweed), 152 


MacDonald, Louise, vii, 18, 23, 41, 48, 
49, 87, 90, 92, 94, 109, 110, 122, 
UPB UG ese 1B. a1Si7/ 
McGee, W. J., 14, 15, 136 
Mace, 3 
Macy, Nebr., 47, 57, 75, 118, 121 
Magie, black, 100 
Maha Indians, see Omaha Indians. 
Maize, see Corn. 
Makes-Cry, Albert (AMC), informant, 
vit, 41, 48, 74, 75, 78, 84, 87, 92, 
118, 121, 126 
Mammals, list of, 8 
Mammoth, hairy, 78, 129 
Mandan Indians, 4, 5, 29, 42, 46, 48, 
58, 71 
Ponca name for, 1384 
Manhattan, Kans., 34 
Maple trees, 44, 52 
“Marbles,” 121 
Marriage, 81, 147-148 
See also Intermarriage. 
Martin, Paul 8.; Quimby, George I. ; and 
Collier, Donald, 1 
Martingales, 50 
Marysville, Kans., 34 
Mastodon, extinct, 129 
Mat, 53 
Mats, bullrush, 52 
Matting, twined, 12 
Mauls, grooved stone, 12, 53 
Mead, Margaret, 159, 164 
Meadowrue, use of, 142 
Mealing slabs, 12 
Meat, cooking methods, 46 
dried, 26, 30, 39, 46 
wabasna (roast), 46 
Medals, 26, 118 
Medicine: 
angle stem root, 152 
arrows, 119, 120 
beaverroot, 152 
“bleeding” as, 153 
blueflag, 151 
buckbush, 151 
bundles, 100 
cedar, 150 
Chamaesyce serpullifolia, 151 
chokecherries, 151 
coffee tree, Kentucky, 151 
cohosh, blue, 151 
combplant, 152 
coralberry, 151 
eurrant, black, 151 
gourd, wild, 151 
herbial, 117, 119, 150 (list), 152 
horse, 126 
love, 70, 141, 142 
mayflies, 153 
milkweed root, 151 
oak bark, 151 
packets, 99, 100 


INDEX 


Medicine—Continued 
pelican (skin and head), 101 
pilotweed, 152 
plantain, 151 
plants, 152-153 
pleurisy root, 151 
power, 100, 121 
prairie cone flower, 152 
projectiles, 119 
rabbit, 151, 153 
ragweed, 152 
rose, wild, 151 
sage, green, 152 
shoot, 119, 120 
skeletonweed, 144, 152 
squaw, 85, 142 
sticky head, 152 
windflower, 151 
Medicine Men, 17, 18, 117, 153 
Medicine Women, 93, 100 
Medill, William, Commissioner of In- 
dian Affairs, 29 
Memorial Day, celebration of, 51 
Men, 56, 70, 76, 80, 83, 86, 106, 140 
Menomini Indians, 77 
Merrill, Rev. Moses, 10 
Mescal Bean cult, 121, 122, 123, 124 
Mescal bean tea, drunk by members, 
123, 124 
Meskwaki Indians, 61, 109 
Messages, conveyal of, 72 
Meteoric shower, recorded by Ponca, 71 
Mexico, 3, 4 
Mica, use of for signaling, 72 
Mice, 90 
Middle American influences, 3, 4 
Middle Mississippi civilization, 3-6, 8, 
10, 12, 19 
weapon, 13 
Middle Missouri area, 13 
Middy collar, 66, 67 (fig.) 
Midwestern tribes, 57, 78 
Miles, Gen. Nelson A., 37 
Milford, Nebr., 34 
Military fraternities, 40 
Military funerals, 111 
Military service, unorganized, 135 
Milkeamp Community Hall, near St. 
Charles, S. Dak., 112 
Milkweed, 438, 151 
Milky Way (Wakq-0zqge) , 15 
Mill Creek Aspect, 10 
Miner, William Harvey, 14, 127 
Mink, 62, 119 
Minnesota, 10, 15, 131 
Minnesota Uprising, 133 
Mint, wild, beverage made from, 44, 151 
Mirror handle, carved, 51, 72 
Mirrors, 32, 51, 64, 72, 109 
heliograph, 72 
Missionary influence, effect of, 98 
Mississippi River, 15, 17 
Mississippi Valley culture, 10 
Missouri, 15 
Missouri bluffs, 8, 37 
Missouri country, 23 
Missouri Indians, 4, 5, 76 
Ponca name for, 134 


183 


Missouri River (Nusho-day), v, 4, 8, 11, 
18, 15, 18, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 41, 
42, 48, 44, 52, 58, 72, 76, 77, 112, 
180, 132, 183 
bottom lands, 9 
Missouri Valley Indian trade, 25 
Missouri Valley tribes, 39, 49 
Mittens, 61 
Moccasins, 30, 52, 61, 62, 64, 66, 69, 182, 
139, 154, 156 
decoration of, 79 
for dogs, 48 
toy, 145 
Moities, 87 
Mole, 100 
Monarda fistulosa, 69 
Monier, Jean Baptiste, Spanish trader, 
25, 53 
Monogamy, practice of, 148 
Monowi, Nebr., 77, 120 
Months (Moons), recognized by Ponca, 
73 (list)-74 
Monuments, historical, 71 
Moon, 75 
Mooney, James, 9 
Morel, wild, 43 
Morgan, Lewis H., 86, 87, 90 
Mormons, 21, 29, 30, 96, 97, 188, 1389 
Mortars, corn, 51 
perfume and medicine, 51, 69 
wooden, 46, 58, 69 
Mortuary customs, 154 
Mourning, 154 
Moss, green, 121 
Mother-in-law, 71, 83, 147 
taboos, 86 
Mothers, 76, 81, 82, 84, 85 
Mounds, 1, 3, 12 
Mules, 35, 49, 123, 124 
Mullers, 12 
Munie, Juan, see Monier, Jean Baptiste 
Music, excelled in by Ponca Indians, 80, 
81 
Musical instruments, 80 
Muskrat, 8, 41, 42, 101 
Mythological beings, 77-80 
Bear, 117, 118 
Bear Girl, 84 
Buffalo, 117, 118 
buffalo cow, 20 
Deer-woman, 78, 148 
dwarfs, 18, 77-78 
Gisnd, water monster, 77, 120, 121 
Great Medicine, 103 
Indadige, 77 
Indddinge, Ponea wood sprite, 51, 
144 
Little-tree-dweller, Dakota, 77 
“Monkey,” see Trickster. 
Mother Earth, 152, 153 
Nida, T8 
Satan (Wakdnda-pé2i) , 99 
Snake, 90 
Sun, 103, 104 
Thunder, 124 
Thunder Bird, 75, 90, 104 
“Trickster,” 78 


184 


Mythological beings—Continued 
Underwater Panther, 77, 90 
Wakada, 79, 149 
Wakadagi (water monster), 77, 157 
Wakandas (gods or spirits), 75 
Wolf, 128 

Mythology, 103, 157 


Names, clan, 97, 146 
Nikie, 75 
Nasatir, Abraham P., 9, 24, 25 
“Native American Church,” see Peyote. 
Nativism, definition of, 163, 164 
Nebraska, v, vil, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 21, 22, 
33, 36, 71, 80, 96, 107, 114, 158, 163 
Nebraska Aspect, 10 
Nebraska State Historical Society Mu- 
seum, 102, 181 
Neck disk, shell, 53 
Neckerchief, silk, 63, 64 
slides, silver, 80 
Necklace, 62, 64, 66, 104 
Neckties, broadcloth, 68 
Neligh, Nebr., 34 
Nelumbium, roots and nuts, 43 
Neobrara River, see Niobrara River 
“Nephew,” 85 
Newcomb, William, Jr., 159 
New Year’s Day, celebration of, 51 
Nez Perce Indians, 134 
Nicotiana quadrivalis, 
Ponca Indians, 47 
Niece, 85, 144 
“Niece,” 85 
Nighthawk (Chordeiles minor subsp.), 
75 


cultivated by 


Niobrara, Nebr., vir, 2 (map), 6, 11, 15, 
16, 21, 38, 41, 59, 60, 71, 77, 80, 188 

Niobrara area, 10, 60, 106, 125, 140, 157, 
165 

Niobrara Reservation, 33, 38, 47 

Niobrara River, 18, 24, 25, 27, 28, 31, 83, 
140 

Niobrara sawmill, destruction of, 31 

Niobrara State Park, 9, 41, 69 

Norfolk, Nebr., 60 

North Platte River, west of the fork, 131 

North Star, see Star. 

Numerals, 17, 72 (list)—73 

Nuts, 44 


Oak trees, 9, 20, 151 
O’Fallon, Maj. Benjamin, 27 
Oglala, S. Dak.. 109 
Oglala Dakota Indians, 134, 135, 139 
Oglala Sioux Indians, 21, 27, 31 
Ohio (Oh-hah-they) River, 14, 17 
Ojibwa Indians, 60, 77, 106, 119, 147 
Ponca name for, 134 
(OK), see Knudsen, Otto B. 
Oklahoma, v, vi, 5, 7, 10, 21, 35, 80, 94, 
96, 106, 107, 108, 114, 138. 160, 161 
area, 64, 115 
Indian groups, 123, 158, 161, 163, 
165 


Pan-Indianism, v1, 160, 161, 165 
Omaha, Nebr., 2 (map), 22, 36 


BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 


[Bull. 195] 


Omaha Indians, 1x, 2, 4, 5, 6, 10, 14, 15, 
16, 20, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 32, 35, 
39, 40, 43, 47, 48, 52, 57, 59, 60, 66, 
73, 75, 76, 78, 82, 87, 91, 93, 95, 97, 
99, 101, 104, 108, 113, 114, 117, 118, 
1A Bey bay, ale, ale, eh Ilety/ 
139, 140, 141, 142, 145, 146, 147, 
149, 157, 161, 163 
chief, 36 
Dakota name for, 108 
legends of, 14, 156 
Ponca name for, 134 
raids on, 29 
Omaha-Ponea separation, 15 
Omaha Reservation, 36, 101, 118 
Omawhaw Creek, 60 
Onions, wild, 43 
Ornaments, copper, 3 
crow-feather, 109 
dance, 107 
German-silver, 62, 63, 66 
metal, 112 
Osage County, Missouri, 15 
Osage Indians, Ix, 4, 5, 6, 14, 15, 23, 46, 
52, 56, 62, 80, 87, 107, 116, 124, 
157, 162 
Ponea name for, 134 
Osage orange, used for bows, 54 
Osage River, 15 
Oto Indians, 4, 5, 40, 78, 85, 105, 116, 
124, 157, 161 
Ponca name for, 134 
Oto-Missouri, historic, 80 
Ottawa Indians, 77 
Otters, 119 
Otterskins, 64, 68 
bags made of, 62 
bandoliers of, 61, 136 
cap of, 61, 92, 137 
dance tail of, 64 
hat of, 66 
shirt of, 61 
tobacco pouch, 61 
Owls, 8, 41 
feathers of, 102, 137 
Ownership, property, 96 
Oxen, 35 
(OYB), see Yellow-bull, Obie. 


Paddle, 54, 101 
Padoka Indians, see Padouca. 
“Padouca,” enemy tribes, 18, 49, 132 
Paint, black, used on face, 41 
body, 62, 66, 69, 111 
decorative use of, 79 
face, 119 
vermillion, 26, 28 
white, 51 
Paints of the lodge, brought by Buffalo 
Bull, 104 
Palisade, upright posts, 1, 11 
Pan-Indianism, v1, 107, 158-163 
Parents, 84, 85 
Parfléche, 52 
Pawnee Indians, vu, 2 (map), 6, 12, 
13, 28, 28, 29, 30, 32, 71, 106, 109, 
AOD 122 2324 Ratlam 
156, 161, 162 


INDEX 


Pawnee Indians—Continued 
as horsethieves, 132 
attacked by Ponca Indians, 30 
hunting camp of, 30 
Ponca name for, 1384 
Pelican, 8, 101 
Pemmican (Dagadube), 46 
Pendants, beaded or quilled, 61 
Peniska, Lea, 137 
Perfume, 63, 69, 70 
Pestle, stone, 46 
Petit, Solomon, French trader, 25 
Petroglyphs, 17, 54, 71, 80 
Petrullo, Vincenzo, 159, 161 
Petticoats, 69 
Pewter, see Inlay. 
Peyote, vu, 39, 47, 48, 50, 51, 55, 57, 
58, 66, 68, 70, 738, 74, 76, 80, 84, 
86, 97, 99, 101, 102, 118, 122, 128, 
124, 125, 142, 152, 157, 161, 162, 
163, 164, 165 
beadwork, 80, 161 
feathers, 64, 80, 101, 102, 116 
“fire chief,” 74 
“fireplace,” 85 
gourd, 116 
jewelry, silver, 57 
Northern Ponca, vit, 118, 122 
rattle, 45, 80 
regalia, 57 
“road chief,” 66, 74 
See also Blanket ; Songs 
Peyote (Lophophora williams) , 48, 125 
“Peyote tea,” taken by sick people, 48 
Pheasants, 41, 42 
feathers of, 42, 102 
Phillips, George, Omaha peyotist, 55, 75, 
101, 185 
Phratries, clan division, 87 
Pickaxes, 26 
Pictures, 58 
Pierre, S. Dak., 2 (map) 
Piette River, 2 (map) e 
Pike, Kenneth L., x 
Pike’s Peak (Pahe-2e-ega) , 18, 20, 538, 131 
Pilcher, Joshua, 28 
Pilcher, Joshua, and Dougherty, John, 
report of, 29 
Pillow, bison wool, 123 
Pilotweed, beliefs regarding, 76, 152 
Pine Ridge Reservation, 108, 131, 135 
Pins, wooden, 57 
Pipes, 17, 47, 79, 80, 92, 95, 105, 106, 118 
eatlinite, 12 
clan, 17, 79, 94, 102 
hair, 12, 61, 63 
keeper of, 40 
peace, 29, 141 
sacred, 17, 19, 40, 92, 93, 94, 95, 103 
tribal, 40, 92, 94, 100, 102 
Pipe smoking, ceremonial, 47-48, 94 
See also Ceremonies. 
Pipe stem, 17 
Pipestone, Minn., 15, 17 
Pipestone, 15, 17 
Piracy, 25, 26 
Pitchfork, used for spearing, 48 


185 


Pits: 
cache, 59 
camouflaged, 42 
eagle-trapping, 42 
fire, 52 
Plains, v, 3-7, 10, 29 
Plains Apache Indians, 18 
Plains-Cree Indians, 104, 147 
Plains Indians, 6, 17, 50, 70, 71, 95, 102, 
104, 117, 124, 136, 157, 160 
Plains-Ojibwa Indians, 56, 104, 111, 153 
Plant roots, powdered, 100 
Plants, 43, 44, 151-153 
Plant taboos, 76 
Plates, White manufactured, 46, 47 
Platte River, v111, 130, 131, 132 
Plaza or ‘square ground,” 1 
(PLC), see Le Clair, Peter. 
Plume holders, 538, 62 
Plumes, 62, 66, 68 
Plums, wild, 44 
Plum stones, counters in game, 128 
“Point” village, 60 
Poison ivy, taboo on, 76 
Pole, center, 103, 104, 126 
sacred (Zq-waaube) , 15, 23 
Sun Dance, 75, 103, 104 
Police, 21, 32, 94, 95 
See also Buffalo-police. 
Polygyny, formerly practiced, 148 
Ponea, Nebr., 17 
Ponca Agency, 38, 60, 147 
Ponea City, Okla., vir, vit, 2 (map), 16, 
60, 94, 141 
Ponea Creek, Knox County, 11, 24, 25, 
27, 90, 129 
Ponea Fort site (25K X1), 11, 12, 13, 26, 
py aay, illsir 
Ponea House, French trading post, 2 
(map), 25 
Ponca Indians, V, VII, 1x, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 
14, 15, 16, 17, 20, 23, 24, 25, 27, 28, 
29, 30, 31, 32, 35, 36, 39, 42, 47, 52, 
57, 59, 60, 68, 78, 85, 87, 88, 91, 93, 
101, 108, 109, 118, 117, 122, 124, 
125, 128, 131, 182, 133, 141, 149, 
156, 162 
and Sioux Indians, battle between, 
140 
as known by other tribes, 6 
bands of, 19 (list), 44 
ethics of, code of, 98 (list) 
gentile system, 73 
history, 71, 72, 93, 157 
physical type, 12 
Removal, vir, 2 (map), 5, 6, 16, 21, 
29, 30-39, 156, 157 
territory of, 2 (map), 7-9, 21, 22, 
28, 31, 32, 42, 45, 1380, 157 
traditions of, 13, 16, 30, 49, 71, 156 
tribal lore, 7, 11, 14 
Ponea Indians, Northern, v, v1, vu, 5, 6, 
7, 10, 38, 39, 41, 48, 47, 50, 51, 55, 
57, 59, 60, 69, 74, 80, 81, 90, 98, 94, 
96, 101, 103, 108, 109, 113, 117, 120, 
121k 125 A299) 133) Asi, 1462456; 
157, 158 


186 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195] 


Ponca Indians, Southern, v, VI, vu, viz, | Protestant church, 57 
5, 6, 7, 10, 14, 38, 39, 44, 45, 47, 50, | Provinse, John H., 95 
51, 52, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 66, 67 | Puffballs, 43, 150 
(fig.) , 68, 69, 70, 80, 81, 84, 85, 94, | Pumice, 52 
96, 100, 102, 103, 104, 106, 107, 108, | Pumpkins, 44, 45 
109, 113, 114, 115, 116, 118, 121, | Puncah Indians, see Ponca. 
124, 125, 126, 128, 130, 137, 140, | Punishment, supernatural, 106, 141 
141, 142, 146, 152, 153, 156, 157, | Purification rite, see Ceremonies. 


158, 160, 161 Purse, leather coin, 123 
agency, 60, 147 Pyramids, 1, 3 
Ponca Medicine Lodge, 60, 97 
Poncarara, see Ponca. Quapaw Agency, 35 
Ponca Reservation, 32, 161 Quapaw Indians, 1x, 4, 5, 14, 15, 23, 34, 
“Poncaries Village,” see Ponca Indians. 114, 115, 162 
Ponca River, 31 country, 35 
“Poncas of Dakota,” 38 dialect, 6 
“Poncas of Nebraska,” 38 lands, 34 
Poorhorse, Mrs. James, 47 Ponea name for, 134 
Popguns, clay, 180 reservation, 35 
Poppleton, A. J., lawyer, 22 Quarrels, rare, 83 
Population figures, 9-10, 37, 60 Quillwork, 142 
Porcupine, 61, 79, 107 bands, used on fetlocks, 50 
Post molds, 12 replaced by beadwork, 79 
Posts, 11, 56, 58 Quirt handles, wooden, 51 
Potatoes, Indian, 18, 38, 48 
Potawatomi Indians, 61, 77, 147 Rabbit and Grizzly Bear, Ponea folk 
Ponca name for, 134 tale, 144 
Pots, earthenware, 2, 53 Rabbits, 39 
Pottery, 1, 3, 11, 12, 13, 20, 538-54 medicinal use of, 151, 153 
Power, supernatural, 938, 99 used for bait, 42 


Powwow, 39, 47, 50, 57, 59, 70, 80, 84, 98, | Raccoon, 8, 41, 42, 119 
106, 107, 114, 159, 160, 161, 162, | Racehorses, 126 


165 Raiding expedition, procedure followed, 
dwelling for, 57 137-1388 
grounds for, 57, 116, 160 Raids, 29, 182, 135 
Omaha, 47, 57, 59 Rail, 8 
Ponca, 50, 70, 78, 102, 108, 114, 115, | Rain, 7, 8, 75, 104, 124 
116, 124, 160, 163 Rainmakers, 19, 75, 76, 90 
Quapaw, 162 Raspberries, wild, 44 
“Powwow Princess,” 107, 160 Rattles, deer-hoof, 80, 111 
Prairie dog, 8 gourd, 20, 80, 101, 105, 110, 111, 125 
Prairie Flower, daughter of Standing leg, 115 
Bear, 34 Peyote, 45 
Prairie Indian, 56, 102 rawhide, S80, 123 
Prairie-Plains area, 4, 10, 71, 124 terrapin-shell or condensed-milk 
culture, 51, 107 ean, 115 
tribes, 108, 110, 112, 115, 153 Rattlesnake, 8 
Prairie region, 4, 10, 71 Rave, John, Winnebago leader, 125 
tribes, 5, 79, 124, 136, 156 Rawhide, used for saddles, 49 
Prairie turnip, 438, 44, 45 Razors, adopted by Ponca men, 70 
Prayers, 75, 76, 107, 162 Redbird Focus, 13 
at end of dance, 21 Redbrush, added to tobacco, 47 
at start of meals, 46 Redgrass, use of, 75 
offered at Ponca rites, 47, 94, 125 Red horse (fish), 8 
offered to Mother Earth, 152-153 Red-leaf, Leslie, vi, 66, 92, 94, 123, 
places of, 71 126, 136, 137, 146 
respect for, 145 Redroot or “Indian tea,” 44 
Priests, 3, 4, 40, 105 Religion, vit, 4, 99-102, 161 
hereditary, 146 See also Peyote. 
of Southeast, 92 Renzel, Antonio, 9, 24 
Sun Dance, 103 Reprimand, form of discipline, 84 
Primeau, Peter, 71 Residence, 85 
Primeaux, Ed, 66, 68, 74, 118 Resurrection, no belief in, 153 
Projectile points, flint, 12, 20 Ribbonwork designs, 64, 66 
Promiscuity, frowned upon, 142 Rifles, see Firearms. 
Property, ownership of, 96-97 Riggs, Stephen R., 14, 73, 111, 118 


“Prophets,” assistants to the shaman, | Rings, 68 
109 Rites, see Ceremonies. 


INDEX 


“River du Rocher,” see Big Sioux River. 
“Road chief,’ Peyote leader, 66, 74 
“Road Man,” see Peyote. 
Robes, 52, 61, 128 

bison, 61, 118, 147 

decoration of, 80 
Rock pictures, see Petroglyphs. 
Rocky Mountains, 7, 18, 20, 41, 48, 132 
Rodeos, 147, 159 
Rodriguez Mir6, Esteban, 9 
Roofs, poles and thatch, 1 
Rooster spurs, used as projectiles, 119 
Roots, wild, 8, 46 
Ropes, 51, 103 
Rosebud Reservation, 108, 131, 135 
Royce, Charles C., 31 
Rush, Joseph, 76 
Rushes, 9 


Saddles, “Spanish type,” 49, 50 

Sage, 62, 66, 104, 152 

Sagebrush, buffalo meat served on, 137 
St. Charles, 8S. Dak., 47, 112 

St. Helena, Nebr., 18 

St. Louis, 26, 28 


Salt, 44 
Salt Fork River, north-central Okla- 
homa, 35, 37 


Sanctions, religious, 95 
supernatural, 96 
Sand, suitable for pottery, 8 
Sandpaper, use of, 51 
“Sand Pawnee” or Arikara, 13, 182, 1383 
Sandstone, 8, 51, 52 
Santee, Nebr., 18 
Santee Dakota Indians, vit, 2, 124, 133, 
LG 
language, 7 
“Saones,” see Brulés. 
Sashes, finger-woven, 48, 52, 64 
Sauk Indians, 77, 161 
Ponca name for, 134 
Scalping, 6, 138 
“Scalp lock,’ 68 
Scalps, 7, 101, 137, 140 
Schmitt, Karl, 159 
School, 32, 38, 76 
Schudegacheh, Ponea chief, 61 
Schurz, Carl, Secretary of the Interior, 
36 
Scoria, 51 
Scouring-rush, 51 
Scouts, 40, 137 
Serapers, 12, 52 
Screens, camouflage, 42 
Scythes, 32 
Seasons, Ponca names for, 74 (list) 
Secoy, Frank R., 18, 1382 
Sedges, 9 
Sellard-Perrin du Lac map, 24 
Seminole Indians, 116 
Seneca-Cayuga Indians, 116 
Servicemen, honors paid to, 141 
“Seven,” sacred number, 17, 19, 20, 47, 
73 


Seward, Nebr., 34 
Sexual abstinence, 142 
Sexual intercourse, 141 


187 


Shaker Church of the Northwest, 164 
Shaky, Northern Ponca shaman, 100, 
iis. ales ARAL 
Shamans, vu, 76, 97, 100, 102, 109, 117, 
als WO Pal, ali, AK als alas 
154, 155 
Bear-Buffalo, surgeons, 117, 119 
Buffalo, 137 
Sharpshooters, 19 
Shawls, 68, 113, 116 
Shawnee-Delaware-Wyandot 
162 
Sheep, 49 
Rocky Mountain, 41 
Shells, 53 
“Shell shaker” contest, 162 
Shellwork, 2 
Shields, buffalo hide, 41, 55 
decoration of, 55, 80 
Shiery, Carl, Secretary of Interior, 22 
Shinny, see Games. 
Shirt, buckskin, 61, 64 
copied from Whites, 62 
dark, 68 
otterskin, 61 
Shoes, 52, 62 
Shoestringweed, 74, 151 
Shoshone Indians, 18, 49, 117 
Shoulder bustle, U-shaped, 64 
Sign language, use of, 70, 72 
Silverwork, 80 
Sinews, 20, 55 
Singers, Omaha, 114 
Ponca, 80 
Singing, 125 
antiphonal, 115 
rhythmie, 121 
See also Songs. 
Siouan language family, 4, 6, 71, 87 
Siouan tribes, Central, 81, 84, 156, 157 
Northeastern, 157 
Southern, 5, 157 
Sioux City, Iowa, 15, 24, 131 
Sioux Indians, 4, 6, 28, 31, 32, 108, 123, 
126, 138, 140, 157 
and Ponca Indians, battle between, 
140 
Southern, 4, 5, 157 
Sioux subagency, 28 
Sioux Treaty of 1868, 133 
Sister, 147 
“Sister,” kinship term, 86 
Sisters-in-law, 13 
Site 25KK1, see Ponea Fort site. 
Sites, archeological, 14 
Ponea, 11, 12, 13 
See also specific site names. 
Skeletonweed, 144, 152 
Skinner, Alanson, 6, 14, 39, 40, 45, 55, 
56, 57, 60, 61, 62, 66, 68, 70, 74, 
78, 83, 84, 85, 86, 89, 91, 93, 94, 96, 
97, 98, 105, 106, 108, 110, 111, 
113, 118, 120, 121, 124, 136, 188, 
142, 148, 148, 155 
Skins, tanned, 52 
Skirt, 61, 66, 69 
Sleds, bison-rib, 130 
Sleighbells, worn by dancers, 64 


Indian, 


188 


Slide, German-silver, 63 
Sloughgrass, used for thatch, 56 
Smith, Leonard, informant, 53, 73, 112, 
118, 180, 137 
Smoke curing, 152 
Smoke Maker, Ponea chief, 22, 27, 30 
Smoking, 47 
See also Cigarettes ; Tobacco. 
Smoothers, shaft, 12 
Smudge, cedar needle, used for fumi- 
gating, 107 
Snake, Andrew, Southern Ponca Indian, 
45, 80, 140, 157 
Snake, Henry, Ponea Indian, 115, 116, 
118, 157 
Snakebird, 123 
Snakes, 8 (list) 
Snaths, 32 
Snow, 75 
Snow blindness, prevention of, 41 
Snowfall, 8 
Soap substitute, 69, 70 
Soapweed, 20, 54 
Societies : 
age-grading in, 110 
Bear Doctor, 117, 118, 119 
Big-belly, 112, 137 
Buffalo Doctor’s, 117, 118, 119 
Bulls warrior, 112 
Ddduse, 111, 112 
Dakota No-flight, 111 
Gat’ ana, 113 
Gaxéxe, see Iskdiyitha. 
Hediuska, 97, 107, 111, 155 
Iskdiytha Warrior, 68, 110, 111, 
Tas 11s bss wets 
Make-no-flight, 110, 111, 136 
“Mandan” warrior, 110 
Mawéddani, 110, 111, 140 
Medicine Lodge, 62, 77, 84, 119, 120, 
156 
Mescal Bean, 122 (fig.) 
Midéwiwin, 60, 119 
military, 156 
Night-dance, 61, 98 
No-flight dancing, 111 
Omaha shell, 119 
Pebble Medicine Lodge, 60, 98, 119, 
121 
Ponea War Mothers, 113 
Ponca Medicine Lodge, 77 
secret, 97 
Strong-heart dancing, 111 
“Thunder,” 124 
Warrior, 50, 55, 68, 105, 106, 107, 110 
warrior’s dancing, 110, 111, 136 
women’s dancing, 113 
Solar eclipse, beliefs regarding, 75 
“Soldier” police, see Buffalo-police. 
Solomon, Ponea interpreter, 22 
Songs, 81 (list) 
brave heart, sung by women, 81 
ceremonial, 101, 110, 123 
dance, 50, 81, 163 
give-away, 111 
hand game, 81, 129 
Hediska, 98, 107, 140, 160 


BUREAU 


OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 


[Bull. 195] 


Songs—Continued 
medicine, 81, 128 
moccasin game, 81 
mourning, 81, 155 
Peyote, 81, 97, 125 
round dance, 114 
secret society, 97 
“War journey,” 116 
Sons, 17, 18, 30, 36, 97 
adopted, treatment of, 83 
power received by, 149 
Sophora secundiflora, 121 
Sororal nephews and nieces, 82 
Soul, 158, 154, 155 
South Dakota, v, vim, 5, 7, 10, 12, 49, 71, 
96, 131, 132 
Southeast, 3, 4, 8, 12, 14, 15 
Spearmen, obligations of, 1386 
Spears, 48, 51, 55 
Spiderbean pods, 145 
Spirit helper, 146, 154 
Spirits, belief in, 99, 153, 154 
Spirit World, 154, 155 
Spoons, 46, 53 
Spot-stitch, used in beadwork, 161 
Spreaders, bone, 53, 62 
Springfield, S. Dak., 18 
“Square braid” technique, 68 
Squash, 3, 44, 45, 46 
Squatters, White, 31 
Staff, ornamental, 40, 51, 80 
Stairway, earth or logs, 1 
Stakes, wooden, 57 
Standing Bear, Luther, Ponca chief, 22, 
29, 34, 36, 37, 70, 71, 76, 148, 158 
speech by, 36, 38 
son of, 36, 37 
versus George Crook, lawsuit, 22, 
36-37 
Star, 74, 75 
North, 75 
Starvation, threat of, 26, 30 
Statesmen, 92 
Status position, ‘‘ascribed,” 81 
Stick, game, 126, 129, 133 
willow, 129 
wooden, used as fork, 47 
Stickney, William, 37 
Stirrups, bent wood sewn in rawhide, 


Stockade, construction of, 11 

Stones, 54, 121 

Storehouse, goods stolen from by Ponca 
Indians, 31 

Stories, war and hunting, 50 

Storms, 75, 76, 124 

Stoves, 58 

Strawberries, wild, 44 

Strings, buckskin, 68 

Strong, William Duncan, 14 

Strouds, 28 

Subclan, 15, 86, 87, 90 

Subgentes, 87, 89, 91 

Sude-gaxre (Smoke-maker) , 27 

Sugar, 44 

Sumae, added to tobacco, 47 


INDEX 


Sun, time measured by, 74 
Sunfish, 8 
Sunflower, representation of, 66 
Supper, 46 
Surgeons, Bear-Buffalo shamans, 117 
Surround, hunting method, 40 
“Suspenders,” 64, 79 
Swanton, John R., 14 
Swanskin wrapping, 40 
Sweat baths, 59 
Sweat lodges, 59 
Sweetgrass, 69 
Sweetpeas, wild, 43 
pods of, roasted, 145 
Swine, 49 
Syringe, animal bladder and bird leg 
bone, 151 


Tabeau, Pierre, 9 
Tables, 47, 58 
Taboos, clan, 88, 89, 90, 97, 154 
father-in-law, 86 
menstrual, 146 
mother-in-law, 86 
plant, 76 
Tama, Iowa, 109 
Tanning, 52, 53 
Taos Pueblo, 114, 115 
Tassels, beaded, 68 
Tattooing, 61, 98, 113 
Tea, mescal bean, 123, 124 
Teasing, between brother and sister, 85 
Temples, 1 
Tents, 17, 35, 40, 58, 79, 88, 145 
Terms, kinship, 86 
Teton Dakota Indians, 2, 9, 27, 28, 29, 
32, 40, 46, 47, 49, 61, 68, 105, 108, 
IO), gall, abe aig abe alien albpy 
133) 1345 135, 247, 156; 157 
raids on Ponea Indians, 1383 
war parties, 30, 32, 33 
Teton Dakota language, 7 
Thalictrum purpurascens, 69 
Thanksgiving, celebration of, 51 
Thongs, 62, 64, 101 
Thread, 32 
Thunder, 34, 75, 76, 124 
See also Mythology. 
Tibbles, Thomas H., 37 
Tiepins, silver, 68 
Tilia americana, 51 
Time, measurement of, 74 
Tinder, dry-grass, 54 
Tipis, v, 6, 21, 35, 51, 56, 57, 60, 93, 96, 
100, 122, 144, 161 
as symbol of Peyote religion, 57, 58 
ceremonial, 102, 125 
circle of, 103 
cover for, 40, 57, 80 
decoration of, 79 
ownership of, 96 
construction of, 57 
of preparation, 103 
poles for, 40, 50, 57 
Thunder god, 75 
toy, 145 
Tipsina (see Prairie turnip), 48, 44, 46 


189 


Tobacco, 26, 28, 44, 47 
bags, beaded or quilled, 62 
pouch, otterskin, 61 
presentation of, 19, 105, 106 
Tonkawa Indians, 124, 135 
Tools, chipped-stone, 538 
copper, 3 
Tornado, destruction caused by, 34 
Towns, 1, 4, 5 
Trackers, 19, 20 
Trade goods, acquisition of, v, 138, 26 
(list) , 28 (list) 
European, 12, 18, 25, 27, 32, 42 
Middle American, 3 
Traders, 4, 26, 27 
European, 4, 42 
White, contact with, v, 5, 90, 91 
Trading craft, raiding of, by Ponca 
Indians, 25 
Trading posts, 26, 28 
Trail markers, 17, 18, 71 
“Trail of Tears,” Ponca, 2 (map), 30-39 
Transvestite, see Berdache. 
Trapping, 42, 48, 50 
Travois, 48, 50 
Treaties, peace, 105 
1817, 22 
1825, 22 
1858, 23, 31, 32 
1865, 31 
1866, 35 
1868, 133 
Trees, 9 (list) 
Trenton, Nebr., 112 
Tribal circle arrangement, 56, 57, 87, 88 
(fig.), 89 (fig. ) 
Tribal council, Northern Ponca, 39, 94 
Tribal domain, 157 
Tribes, American Indian, reputation of, 


Missouri Valley, 39, 91 
Southeastern, 107 
Southern Prairie and Plains, 114 
Trod-on-two, son of Chief Smoke-maker, 
30 
Trousers, 32 
Trudeau, Jean Baptiste, French trader, 
25, 26 
Trudeau, Zenon, lieutenant governor 
of Spanish Illinois, 26 
Tube, bone, 12 
Turbans, 48, 52, 187 
Turkey, wild, 77 
water, 123 
Turnips, preservation of, 46 
Turtles, 8, 48 
Tweezers, metal or clamshell, 70 
Twelve Apostles, identified with number 
twelve, 73 
Twin Buttes, 18 
Two Crows, Indian man, 71, 153 


Ukiaba, Ponca tribal hero, 128 

Ulna pick, 12 

Umbilical cord, preservation of, 144 
“Uncle,” 82, 85 

“Uncle Albert,” see Makes-cry, Albert 
Uncle-nephew relationship, 85 


190 BUREAU 


U.S. Army, 22, 28, 38, 135 

U.S. Government, 9, 10, 21, 27, 31, 32, 33, 
35, 36, 37, 38, 40, 117, 133 

University of Nebraska, 11, 52, 68, 131 

University of Oklahoma, 159 

University of South Dakota, 52, 68, 70 

Upper Missouri River, 26 

Upper Republican, 10 

“Upstream People,’ see Omaha Indians. 


Vegetables, 28, 37, 45 
Verbena, wild, beverage from, 44 
Verdel, Nebr., 6, 11, 18, 60 
Vermillion River, 24 
Vessels, 2, 13 
Vest, blue broadcloth, 64 
(VHM), see Headman, Mrs. Virginia. 
Villages, 3, 80, 50, 60 

permanent, 91, 92 

tent, 160 
Village tribes, harassment of, 29 
Violets, 145 
Vision quest, 99, 100, 146 
Visions, 48, 80 
Visitor, gifts given to, 128 
Voget, Fred W., 164 


Wagons, 34, 35, 36, 37 
Walker, Major, U.S. Army, 33, 34 
Wallace, Anthony F. C., 164 
Wallis, Mrs. Wilson D., 155 
Walls, wattle and daub, 1 
Walnuts, 9, 44, 52 
Wand, feathered, or “pipe,” 20, 95, 105 
Wapiti, 8 
Warbonnets, 65, 66, 101, 111, 159 
Warclubs, 51, 53, 55, 56 
Warfare, defensive, 135, 137, 189 
tribal, 4, 50, 107, 186, 139 
trophies of, 140 
War honors, 29, 62, 107, 183, 136, 137, 
141, 142 
War parties, 30, 93, 95, 100, 128, 129, 132, 
135, 187, 146 
description of, 139 
leader of, 100, 135, 136, 137, 189 
regulation of, 95, 186 
Warrior, Clyde, 102, 108, 112 
Warrior, Mrs. Grace, 94, 102 
Warrior, Sylvester, 106, 108 
Warriors, 31, 32, 33, 39, 91, 92, 93, 94, 
107, 123, 129, 186, 137, 141, 146 
Water, 75, 125 
Waterbird (water turkey or snakebird), 
123 
Water chinquapin, 43 
Watermelons, 45 
Waribe (power), 102, 119, 120, 128, 137 
(WBB), see Blue-back, Walter 
Weapons, 3, 18, 54-56, 62 
See also Arrows; Firearms. 
Weasel, 8, 119 
Weaving, 3 
Webster, John L., lawyer, 22 
“Wedding bridle,” silver, 80 
Wedel, Waldo R., 14 
Wégasapi (Whip), Ponca chief, 30, 31, 
132 


OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 


[Bull. 195] 


Weights, 12, 13 
Wewela, S. Dak., 57 
Wheat, 38 
Whetstones, 12 
Whip men, 106 
Whippoorwill, 145 
Whistle, cedar, 80 
eagle-bone, 76, 80, 103, 104 
heduska, 140, 141 
toy, 145 
wooden, 64, 65 
White, Leslie A., 82 
White acculturation, v1, 38, 69, 157, 158 
White-eagle, Ponea chief, 103 
White Eagle, Okla., 57, 59, 60 
White man, 30, 117 
White River, 15, 181 
Whites, animals acquired from, 49 
attitude toward Ponca, 36, 37, 96, 
163 
contact with, v, 4, 18, 45, 56 
in Oklahoma, 161, 163 
intermarriage with, 38, 90, 158 
Ponca name for, 26 
religion from, 5, 17, 58, 86, 99 
treaty with, 31 
See also Explorers; Traders ; 
Treaties 
White-shirt, Northern Ponea chief, 41, 
90, 101, 153 
Whitman, William, vii, 71, 79, 84, 85, 
86, 91, 92, 98, 99, 100, 105, 112, 126, 
127, 185, 142, 145, 146, 148, 149, 
1538, 154 
Wichita Indians, 124, 134 
Widow, remarriage of, 149 
Wied-Neuwied, Maximilian von, 9, 27, 
52, 55, 61, 62, 68, 188, 155 
Wife, 86, 116, 136, 143, 147, 148 
Wigwam, bark, of Central Algonquians, 
56 
Wildrice, 48 
Will, George F., and Hyde, George E., 
9, 28, 45 
Williams, James, 123 
Williams, John, 100, 101 
Williams, Parrish, 68, 100, 101, 106, 123, 
128, 129 
Willow (trees), 9, 49, 103, 104 
red, added to tobacco, 47 
rods, used in backrests, 51 
sandbar, 52 
Wilson, Peter, 27 
Wind Cave, in Black Hills of South 
Dakota, 20, 76 
Winds, four life-giving 
tions) , 76 
Winnebago Indians, 6, 57, 61, 78, 87, 98, 
LOS MIE el2S elas 
Ponea name for, 134 
Wire, lead, coils of, 12 
Wisconsin, 163 
Wolf, Prairie, 139 
Wolf hides, 41 
Wolf howls, signaling by, 137 
Wood, J. M., 147 
Wood, W. Raymond, 11, 12, 13, 26, 52 
Wood, use of, 51, 54 


(four direc- 


INDEX 


Woodbox, 58 

Woodearving, 3, 51 

Wooden articles, polishing of, 8 

Woodland culture, v, 10, 51, 61, 79, 156, 

157 

Woodland-Prairie culture, 156 

Woodlands, Northeastern, 3 
Southeastern, 83 
Southern, 56 

World War I, 66 

World War II, 113, 128, 141 

Wormscrews, 26 

Wrappings, rush, 52 

Wreath, sage, worn by man, 62 

Wrenches, shaft, 12, 53 

Wristbands, cotton, 66 

Wynot, Nebr., 16 


191 


Xube, see Blue-back, Walter 
Xube (supernatural), 39, 80, 99, 100, 
102, 109, 149 


Yankton, Dakota Indians, 2, 20, 28, 42, 

ehh IGE able 14s) aba ale aisyoy a lair 
Ponea name for, 1384 

Yards, care of, 58-59 

Yarn wrapping, 68 

Yellow-bull, Obie, vii1, 18, 23, 57, 64, 80, 
87, 89, 90 

Yucca root, used as soap, 69 

Yucca stem, used to make fire, 54 

Yutan site (25SD1), 80 

Zoomorphie designs, used on dance 

costumes, 79 


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