The primitive domiciles of the Omaha were chiefly (1) lodges of earth
or, more rarely, of bark or mats, and (2) skin lodges or tents. It may
be observed that there were no sacred rites connected with the earth
lodge-building or tent-making among the Omaha and Ponka.
Earth Lodges.
When earth lodges were built, the people did not make them in a tribal
circle, each man erecting his lodge where he wished; yet kindred
commonly built near one another.
The earth lodges were made by the women, and were intended principally
for summer use, when the people were not migrating or going on the hunt.
Those built by the Omaha and Ponka were constructed in the following
manner: The roof was supported by two series of vertical posts, forked
at the top for the reception of the transverse connecting pieces of each
series. The number in each series varied according to the size of the
lodge; for a small lodge only four posts were erected in the inner
series, for an ordinary lodge eight were required, and ten generally
constituted the maximum. When Mr. Say[1] visited the Kansa Indians, he
occupied a lodge in which twelve of these posts placed in a circle
formed the outer series, and eight longer ones constituted the inner
series, also describing a circle. The wall was formed by setting upright
slabs of wood back of the outer posts all around the circumference of
the lodge. These slabs were not over 6 feet in height, and their tops
met the cross timbers on which the willow posts rested. Stocks of hard
willow about 2 inches in diameter rested with their butts on the tops of
the upright slabs and extended on the cross timbers nearly to the
summit. These poles were very numerous, touching one another and
extending all around in a radiating manner, supporting the roof like
rafters. The rafters were covered with grass about a foot thick; and
over the whole lodge, including the sides or slabs, earth was piled from
a foot to 2 feet in depth. Such a covering lasted generally about twenty
years. A hole in the middle served as an exit for the smoke.
[Footnote 1: James' account of Long's Expedition to the Rocky Mountains
in 1819-'20.]
[Illustration: Fig. 306.--Yellow Smoke's earth lodge.]
In addition to the lodge proper there was a covered way about 10 feet
long and 5 feet wide, the entrance to which had a covering of tanned or
dried buffalo hides. This covering consisted of two hides hanging side
by side, with the inner borders slightly overlapping. They were fastened
to the passageway at the top and at the outer sides, but were loose at
the bottom where they overlapped. This part was raised by a person
entering the lodge. A similar covering was placed at the interior end of
the passageway.
Subsequently to 1855, the Omaha dwelt in three villages composed of
earth lodges, as follows: (1) Biku[']de, a village near the agency; (2)
Windja[']ge, Standing Hawk's village, near the Presbyterian mission
house; and (3) Ja^{n}[|c]a[']te ("Wood Eaters,") named after an insect
found under the bark of trees Sanssouci's village, near the town of
Decatur, Nebraska.
Earth lodges were generally used for large gatherings, such as feasts,
councils, or dances. Occasionally there was a depression in the center
of the lodge which was used as a fireplace; but it was not over 6 inches
deep. Each earth lodge had a ladder, made by cutting a series of deep
notches along one side of a log. On a bluff near the Omaha agency I
found the remains of several ancient earth lodges, with entrances on the
southern sides. Two of these were 75 feet and one was 100 feet in
diameter. In the center of the largest there was a hollow about 3 feet
deep and nearly 4 feet below the surface outside the lodge.
Lodges of Bark or Mats.
The Omaha sometimes make bark lodges for summer occupancy, as did the
Iowa and Sak. [T]iu['][|c]ipu jin[']ga, or low lodges covered with
mats, were used by the Omaha in former days. Such lodges are still
common among the Winnebago, the Osage, and other tribes. The ground plan
of such a lodge forms an ellipse. The height is hardly over 7 feet from
the ground. The tent poles are arranged thus: Each pole has one end
planted in the ground, the other end being bent down and fastened to the
pole immediately opposite; a number of poles thus arranged in pairs
formed both wall posts and rafters.
[Illustration: Fig. 307.--Ground plan of Osage lodge.]
Generally there was one fireplace and one smokehole in such a lodge; but
when I visited the Osage in 1883, I entered a low lodge with two
fireplaces, each equidistant from its end of the lodge and the entrance,
each fireplace having its smokehole.
Skin Lodges or Tents.
The tent was used when the people were migrating, and also when they
were traveling in search of the buffalo. It was also the favorite abode
of a household during the winter season, as the earth lodge was
generally erected in an exposed situation, selected on account of
comfort in the summer. The tent could be pitched in the timber or brush,
or down in wooded ravines, where the cold winds never had full sweep.
Hence, many Indians abandoned their houses in winter and went into their
tents, even when they were of canvas.
[Illustration: Fig. 308.--Omaha tent (from a photograph by
W. H. Jackson).]
The tent was commonly made of ten or a dozen dressed or tanned buffalo
skins. It was in the shape of a sugar loaf, and was from 10 to 12 feet
high, 10 or 15 feet in diameter at the bottom, and about a foot and a
half in diameter at the top, which served as a smokehole
([t]ihu[k]a^{n}). Besides the interior tent poles ([t]ici--3,
figure 309) and the tent skin ([t]iha--1), the tent had the
[t]i[|c]uma^{n}ha^{n}, or the place where the skins were fastened
together above the entrance (4). The [t]i[|c]uma^{n}ha^{n} was fastened
with the [t]ihu[|c]ubaxa^{n}(5), which consisted of sticks or pieces of
hide thrust crosswise through the holes in the tent skins. The bottom of
the tent was secured to the ground by pins ([t]ihu[|c]ugada^{n}--6)
driven through holes ([t]ihugaq[|c]uge) in the bottom of the skins, made
when the latter were tanned and before they had become hard. The
entrance ([t]ijebe) was generally opposite the quarter from which the
wind was blowing. A door flap ([t]ijebeg[|c]a^{n}--7) hung over the
entrance; it was made of skin with the hair outside, so as to turn
water, and was held taut by a stick fastened to it transversely. The
bottom of the door flap was loose, but the top was fastened to the tent.
[Illustration: Fig. 309--Exterior parts of an Omaha tent.]
The smokehole was formed by the two [t]ihugab[|c]i^{n}[|c]a(9), or
triangular ends of tent skins, immediately above the entrance and
[t]icuma^{n}ha^{n}. When there was no wind both of the
[t]ihugab[|c]i^{n}[|c]a were kept open by means of the
[t]ihu[|c]ubaji^{n}(8) or exterior tent poles, which were thrust
through the ujiha, or small sacks, in the corners of the
[t]ihugab[|c]i^{n}[|c]a. When the wind blew one of the
[t]ihu[|c]ubaji^{n} was raised to the windward and the other was
lowered, pulling its skin close to the tent and leaving an opening for
the escape of the smoke; but if the wind came directly against the
entrance both the flaps were raised, closing the smokehole to prevent
the wind from blowing down it. When the wind blew the people used
nandi[|c]agaspe to keep the bottom of each tent skin in place. These
consisted of twisted grass, sticks, stones, or other heavy objects.
Figure 310 represents the tent of [P]ejequde, an Omaha. The banners or
standards, which were carried by the leaders of a war party or a party
going on a dancing tour, are depicted with their decorations of strips
of red and blue Indian cloth. Sometimes these standards were ornamented
with feathers instead of with cloth. Each standard could be used in four
war expeditions.
No totem posts were in use among the Omaha. The tent of the principal
man of each gens was decorated on the outside with his gentile badge,
which was painted on each side of the entrance as well as on the back of
the tent.[1] The furniture of the sacred tents resembled that of the
ordinary ones.
Before the introduction of canvas tents by the whites no needles or
thread were used by the Siouan tribes. The women used sinew of the deer
or buffalo instead of thread, and for needles they had awls made of elk
horn.
[Illustration: Fig. 310.--[P]ejequde's tent.]
Since there were no outbuildings, public granaries, or other structures
of this description, each household stored away its own grain and other
provisions. There were no special tribal or communal dwellings; but
sometimes two or more households occupied a single earth lodge. When a
council was held, it took place in the earth lodge of one of the head
chiefs, or else two or three common tents were united, making one large
one.[2] There were no public baths, as the Missouri river was near, and
they could resort to it whenever they desired. Dance houses were
improvised either of earth lodges or skin tents.
Sweat-lodges were in the form of low tents ([t]iu[|c]ipu).[3] Stones
were not boiled for the sweat-lodge, but were put into the fire to be
heated. They were removed from the fire by means of sticks called
i^{n}[,][)e]basi[|c]a^{n}, and then water from the kettle was poured on
them, creating steam. Cedar fronds were dropped on the stones, causing a
perfume to arise.
[Footnote 1: Third Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethnology for 1882-'83, p. 230; also
"A Study of Siouan Cults," in Eleventh Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethnology,
1889-'90, p. 351.]
[Footnote 2: Third Ann. Rep., op. cit., p. 294.]
[Footnote 3: Contributions to North American Ethnology, vol. vi, 1890,
pp. 152, 169, and 234.]