66 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 63 



was secured from the older men regarding the bnsk ceremonial and 

 other ancient usages. 



When the ceremonies were over Dr. Swanton visited the Indians in 

 Seminole County, who still speak Hitchiti, a language formerly 

 current throughout southern Georgia, and recorded several texts. He 

 also secured the cooperation of a Hitchiti Indian, able to write in 

 the missionary alphabet, to obtain other texts after his departure. 



CEREMONIES AND RITUALS OF THE OSAGE 



During the year 191 3, Mr. Francis LaFlesche of the Bureau of 

 American Ethnology secured the songs and rituals of five different 

 Osage ceremonies. Two of these are practically complete ; the others 

 are fragmentary, but enough information was obtained to give a fair 

 idea as to their significance. These rites are : Wa-do-ka We-ko, 

 Scalp Ceremony ; Wa-zhi/i-ga-o, Bird Ceremony for boys ; Wa-wa- 

 thow, Peace Ceremony ; Zhi«-ga-zhi;/-ga Zha-zhe Tha-dse, Naming 

 of a Child ; and We-xthe-xthe, Tattooing Ceremony. 



Owing to the superstitious hold these rites still have upon the 

 people, together with the fact that every initiated person obtained his 

 knowledge at a great expense, it was almost impossible to procure 

 complete texts of any of the ceremonies. 



The Tattooing Ceremony is of peculiar interest. It was more dif- 

 ficult to secure information concerning it than of any other ceremony. 

 In earlier times only the warrior who had won war honors was en- 

 titled to have the ceremony performed and have the war symbols 

 tattooed upon his body. If his means permitted it, they might also 

 be placed upon any number of his relatives. These war symbols 

 were his marks of distinction as a man of valor, for the strength and 

 life of the tribe depended upon the prowess of the warriors. In those 

 days there were but few who were entitled to have the ceremony per- 

 formed, because war honors were not easily won and few were 

 wealthy enough to afiford the expense of the ceremonies. When, 

 during the last century, wars between the various tribes ceased, the 

 real significance of the rite vanished, but the superstitious belief that 

 the symbolic figures meant long life to the individual so tattooed, re- 

 mained prominently in the minds of the people. 



About the time that the right of the honored warrior to the exclu- 

 sive use of the Tattooing Ceremonies came to an end, a new condi- 

 tion arose which materially changed the character of the rite. From 

 the sales of lands to the United States the Osage tribe acquired a 

 wealth by which a greater number of its members were enabled to 



