Food was served in bowls of a very wide and simple form and of various sizes, generally carved out of large knots of wood. These served as drinking cups (ni′i¢átaⁿ), but now cups of tin or earthenware are used for that purpose.
When pottery was made, they used bowls and kettles. Some used wooden bowls of different sizes, the largest being about 2 feet in diameter. When they went on the hunt, they used the ínijeha (or sack made of the muscular coating of the buffalo paunch, by filling with, grass to make it stand out and keep its shape until dried). When the ínijeha was filled with water the mouth was tied, and it was kept covered and in the shade that it might remain cool. After being used for a few days it became strong smelling, and was thrown away, another taking its place. Some preferred the "ʇenăn′de uq¢a′ha ¢aⁿ" or pericardium(?) of the buffalo, which is like sinew. This does not smell unpleasant, even when used for seven or ten days. But at the expiration of that time it is unfit for further service.
Jugs have been introduced by the traders.
Provision sacks or parflèche cases were made of dried buffalo hide. When used for carrying the dried meat, they were called weábastá. After two or three years' use they became soft and were fit only for making moccasin soles. These sacks had the hair taken off, and were sometimes made in trunk fashion.
Fruit baskets were of three kinds. The Ponka made them of the bark of a tree, called tawáߵaⁿhe, which is found on the old Ponka reservation in Dakota. Northern Indians make boats of this bark. The Omaha do not find the tree on their land, so they make the fruit baskets of other kinds of bark. The three kinds of baskets are as follows: Naⁿ′pa ú¢isĕ, used for chokecherries; ag¢añ′kamañge ú¢isĕ, used for raspberries; and bact ú¢isĕ, used for strawberries. When the Ponka wished to make the baskets, they stripped off the bark in horizontal sections, not pulling upward or downward.
In modern times the Omaha have learned to make sacks of thread of different colors drawn from black, red, blue, and white blankets. Different figures are woven. Each sack is about a foot deep, 16 inches from the mouth to the opposite side, and from 2 to 2-1/2 feet long. The opening is on one of the long sides, and when the articles are put in a gathering string is drawn and tied.