[the keeper of ritual prepared two sacred pipes for the chiefs when deliberating.] He had to be careful not to let either of the pipes fall. Should this happen the meeting of the council would be at an end, and the life of the keeper would be in danger from the supernatural powers.1

1Dorsey, J.O.n/an/an/an/a, "The Omaha Tribe," Bur. Amer. Ethnol., Ann. Rep., 3: 209.