The Savannah morning news., 1903-07-26

Rain-in-the-Face, was born. his father
stepped out of the tepee and was i'm
nediately struck in the face by wind
driven rain. That well-known Indian
warrior, ld-Man-Afraid-of- His Horse
was so called from the hour of his
birth. When his father went out to see
what would be sent him for the baby's
name he saw an old man riding an
indian pony The pony was trying to
run away with the old man. who was
evidently afraid of the beast. so the
father went back to the tepee and
solemnly named the squalling little red
baby old Man-Afraid- Of His Horse"
In some Indian tribes however, the
ceremony OF naming the baby is much
more elaborate than this. The Omahas
for instance, are divided into several
large families called gems" and each
gems has a different totem" or
coat-of-arms from which 1t takes it's
name, and each practices peculiar GER
emonies in naming a child The peo-
pie of the Deerhead gems" name the
baby on the fifth day after its birth.
All the members Of the family assem-
bic, and great feast is prepared The
, immediate relatives of the child must
net eat of anything prepared for the
feast, but the other guests eat enor-
mousiy. Little "Deer-in-th the Distance
Shows His-Tail- White Suddenly" IAN
actual name of a child of this "gens'O
is placed in the center Of a circle of
guests, and his face decorated with
daubs of red. Then red spots are
made at intervals down the child's
back in imitation of a fawn-for the
baby is of the Deerhead "gens"-and
red stripes are placed across its arms
and chest. Then all the people, even
the servants, decorate themselves by
rubbing the Indian red in their hair
and making red spots on their chests.
The Deerhead gems" is divided into
several smaller families. One of
these is called the Pipe family. If
little Deer-in-the-D Distance hows-His-
Tail Whites Suddenly is Pipe, char
coal, verdigris and the skin of a wild
cat are placed beside him, and he is
told, as each is pointed out, This you
must not touch; and this, too, you must
not touch: and this you must not
touch" And all his life the boy is
prohibited from touching those three
articles.
Some of the Omaha families do not
name the baby after what the father
sees when he steps out of the tepee,
but have a regular set Of names which
they give the boys as they come along,
Thus the Ictasanda "gens" call the
first boy born "Thunder-That-Is- Pass-
ing-By," the second 'Thunder-G od-is-
Roaring-asH e-Stands. the third boy
Big Shoulder" and the fourth walk
ing Forked- Lightning" If there Is q
fifty boy born. he is named Sheet
Lightning Makes-a-GIar Inside the
Lodge" and a sixth "The-Thunder-
Cod Who Walks-After-O thers-at- the
Close Storm"
The Somalis, in Africa, are noted for
their large families, and the parents
select names for the little ones from
some circumstance attending their
birth. Thus one little fellow will be
called IVA Berri," which means
"Born-in- the-Morning." and another
"Robleh," which means "Born-in-th the
Rain" In Somaliland and the more
children a man has the richer he
thinks himself
In Turkey the Mahomedans gener-
ally name their boys out of the Koran,
which is the Mahomedan Bible, or be-
stow upon them old Scriptural names
But the girls get such names as Rose
in-BloomrP Singing Nightingale" or