44 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 60 
internal troubles incident to our Civil War, it has been possible to add 
a great deal to our knowledge of the ancient Creek confederacy. 
Stupies AMONG THE OSAGE INDIANS BY Mr. Francis LA FLESCHE 
During the year 1912 Mr. Francis La Flesche continued his eth- 
nological studies among the Osage Indians, and his search for articles 
illustrative of their past life, for preservation by the Smithsonian 
Institution. 
Fic. 49.—Sacred Osage pack. Photograph by Bureau of American Ethnology. 
Before contact with the white race, the Osage Indians maintained 
a tribal organization, and the story of the means agreed upon for its 
conservation has been transmitted in rituals, songs, and ceremonies, 
and in certain articles consecrated for use in tribal rites. These 
rituals, songs, and dramatic acts had to be kept in their original 
sequence without variation, and a ceremony frequently requires from 
18 to 20 hours of continuous effort on the part of the officiating 
priest. 
