88 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1911. 
By arrangement with the Commissioner of Indian Affairs the bureau was 
fortunate in enlisting the services of Mr. Francis La Flesche, who has been 
frequently mentioned in the annual reports of the bureau in connection with 
his studies, jointly with Miss Alice C. Fletcher, of the ethnology of the Omaha 
tribe of the Siouan family. Having been assigned the task of making a com- 
parative study of the Osage tribe of the same family, Mr. La Flesche pro- 
ceeded to their reservation in Oklahoma in September. The older Osage men, 
like the older Indians generally, are very conservative, and time and tact were 
necessary to obtain such standing in the tribe as would enable him to estab- 
lish friendly relations with those to whom it was necessary to look for trust- 
worthy information. Although the Osage language is similar to that of the 
Omaha, Mr. La Flesche’s native tongue, there are many words and phrases that 
sound alike but are used in a different sense by the two tribes. Having prac- 
tically mastered the language, Mr. La Flesche was prepared to devote several 
months to what is known as the No*’ho*zhi"ga Ie’ta, the general term applied 
to a complex series of ceremonies which partake of the nature of degrees, but 
are not, strictly speaking, successive steps, although each one is linked to the 
other in a general sequence. While at the present stage of the investigation 
it would be premature to make a definite statement as to the full meaning and 
interrelation of these Osage ceremonies, there appear to be seven divisions of 
the No” ho*zhi*ga Te’ta, the names, functions, and sequence of which have been 
learned, but whether the sequence thus far noted is always maintained remains 
to be determined. From Saucy-Calf, one of the three surviving Osage regarded 
as past masters in these ceremonies, phonographic records of the first of the 
ceremonies, the Waxo’be-awatho’, have been made in its entirety, consisting 
of 80 songs with words and music, and 7 prayers. All these have been tran- 
scribed and in part translated into English, comprising a manuscript exceed- 
ing 300 pages. In order to discuss with the Osage the meaning of these rituals, 
Mr. La Flesche found it necessary to commit them to memory, as reading from 
the manuscript disconcerted the old seer. At Saucy-Calf’s invitation Mr. 
La Flesche witnessed in the autumn, at Grayhorse, a performance of the cere- 
mony of the Waxo’be-awatho’, the recitation of the rituals of which requires 
one day, part of a night, and more than half of the following day. It is Mr. 
La Flesche’s purpose to record, if possible, the rituals of the remaining six 
divisions of the No*’ho"zhi"ga Ie’ta. He has already obtained a pharaphrase of 
the seventh ceremony (the Nik’ino"k’o"), and hopes soon to procure a phono- 
graphic record of all the rituals pertaining thereto. 
In connection with his ethnological work Mr. La Flesche has been so fortunate 
as to obtain for the National Museum four of the waxo’be, or sacred packs, each 
of which formed a part of the paraphernalia of the No’ ho"zhi"ga Ie’ta, as 
well as a waxo’be-to"’ga, the great waxo’be which contains the instruments for 
tattooing. Only those Osage are tattooed who have performed certain acts pre- 
scribed in the rites of the No™”ho"zhi"ga TJIe’ta. The rites of the tattooing 
ceremony are yet to be recorded and elucidated. While the waxo’be is the most 
sacred of the articles that form the paraphernalia of the No*’ho"zhi*ga Ie’ta 
rites, it is not complete in itself; other things are indispensable to their per- 
formance, and it is hoped that these may be procured at some future time. 
While not recorded as one of the ceremonial divisions of the No™’ho"zhi®ga 
Ie’ta, there is a ceremony so closely connected with it that it might well be 
regarded as a part thereof—this is the Washa’beathi" watsi, or the dance of the 
standards. The introductory part of this ceremony is called Akixage, or weep- 
ing over one another in mutual sympathy by the members of the two great 
divisions of the tribe. There is no regular time for the performance of the 
Washa’beathi"n ceremony. It is given only when a member of the tribe loses 
