Page:Siouan Sociology.djvu/50

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36
Siouan Sociology

or twelve under-chiefs did not seem to have the respect of the people.

Unmarried females labored in the fields, served their parents, carried wood and water, and cooked. When the eldest daughter married she controlled the lodge, her mother, and all the sisters; the latter were always the wives of the same man. Presents were exchanged when a youth took his first wife. On the death of the husband the widow scarified herself, rubbed her person with clay, and became careless about her dress for a year. Then the eldest brother of the deceased married her without any ceremony, regarding her children as his own. When the deceased left no brother (real or potential) the widow was free to select her next husband. Fellowhood (as in cases of Damon and Pythias, David and Jonathan) often continues through life.

The Kansa had two kinds of criers or heralds: 1, the wadji'paⁿyiⁿ or village crier; 2, the je'kiye' (Omaha and Ponka i'ĕki'¢ĕ). In 1882, Saⁿsile (a woman) was hereditary wadji'paⁿyiⁿ of the Kansa, having succeeded her father, Pezihi, the last male crier. At the time of an issue (about 1882) Saⁿsile's son-in-law died, so she, being a mourner, could not act as crier; hence her office devolved on K'axe of the Taqtci subgens. In that year one of the Ta yatcajĭ subgens (of the Taqtci or Deer gens) was iekiye number 1. Iekiye number 2 belonged to the Tadje or Kaⁿze (Wind) gens.

THE OSAGE

In the Osage nation there are three primary divisions, which are tribes in the original acceptation of that term. These are known as