The bestowal of a name, whether the name is of the first or of the second class already described, was always attended with ceremonies.  These differed among the many tribes of the United States, particularly in their details, but fundamentally they had much in common.

PRESENTING THE CHILD TO THE COSMOS

Among the Omaha a ceremony was observed shortly after the birth of a child that on broad lines reflects a general belief among the Indians.

In the introductory chapter of this book the Indian’s feeling of unquestioning unity with nature is mentioned.  The following Omaha ceremony and ritual furnish direct testimony to the profundity of this feeling.  Its expression greets him at his birth and is iterated at every important experience throughout his life.

When an Omaha child is born the parents send to the clan that has charge of the rite of introducing the child to the Cosmos.  The priest thus summoned comes to the tent wherein the infant lies and takes his stand just outside the door, facing the East.  He raises his right hand, palm outward, to the sky, and in a clear ringing voice intones the following ritual: 

Ho!  Ye Sun, Moon, Stars, all ye that move in the heavens,
I bid you hear me! 
Into your midst has come a new life;
Consent ye, I implore! 
Make its path smooth, that it may reach the brow of the first hill!

Ho!  Ye Winds, Clouds, Rain, Mist, all ye that move in the air,
I bid you hear me! 
Into your midst has come a new life;
Consent ye, I implore! 
Make its path smooth, that it may reach the brow of the second hill!

Ho!  Ye Hills, Valleys, Rivers, Lakes, Trees, Grasses, all ye of the earth,
I bid you hear me! 
Into your midst has come a new life;
Consent ye, I implore! 
Make its path smooth, that it may reach the brow of the third hill!

Ho!  Ye Birds, great and small, that fly in the air;
Ho!  Ye Animals, great and small, that dwell in the forests;
Ho!  Ye Insects that creep among the grasses and burrow in the ground,
I bid you hear me! 
Into your midst has come a new life;
Consent ye, I implore! 
Make its path smooth, that it may reach the brow of the fourth hill!

Ho!  All ye of the heavens, all ye of the air, all ye of the earth,
I bid you hear me! 
Into your midst has come a new life;
Consent ye, consent ye all, I implore! 
Make its path smooth—­then shall it travel beyond the four hills!

In this manner the child, the “new life,” was introduced to the Cosmos of which it was now a part.  All the powers of the heavens and of the earth were invoked to render aid to the “new life” in its onward struggle over the rugged path that traverses the four hills of life, typifying Infancy, Youth, Maturity and Old Age.