48 THE OSAGE TRIBE [btu. ann. 3C 



The theme of the rite is abstract; it deals with hfe, not only in its 

 diverse manifestations, but, in ])articular, witli that mysterious 

 power known to the people as Wa-ko"'-ihi, which gives life to all 

 things and whose abode is believed to be within everything and in 

 every place, both celestial and terrestrial. 



It would appear from the story handed down by the old men, in 

 mythical form, of the origin of the people, that the No°'-ho°-zhi°-ga 

 arrived at the idea that life was conceived between two great fructi- 

 fying forces — namely, the sky and the earth — and continued forever 

 to proceed therefrom. This conception the No'"-ho°-zhi°-ga not 

 only expressed in the mythical story mentioned above, but also in 

 dividing the tribe in two parts — one to represent the sky and the 

 other the earth — they further emphasized this symbolic expression 

 by requiring the men belonging to one division to take wives from 

 among the women belonging to the other division. This tribal 

 arrangement did not arise from an idle thought, but from a belief, 

 born of a long study of nature, that such was the means employed 

 by Wa-ko^'-da to bring forth life in bodily form. 



The mythical story, telling of the origin of the people, the No^'-ho"- 

 zhi°-ga distributed in modified versions among the various gentes of 

 the tribe. The version given to a gens was made to conform to that 

 part of nature which the gens represented in the tribal and the 

 gentile organizations, for the tribe in its entirety s3;Tnbolized the 

 visible universe in all its known aspects. 



In the course of this study of the Osage tribe, covering a number 

 of years, it was learned from some of the older members of the No°'- 

 ho''-zhi°-ga of the present day that, aside from the formulated rites 

 handed down by the men of the olden days who had delved into the 

 mysteries of nature and of life, stories also came down in traditional 

 form telling of the manner in which these seers conducted their 

 dehberations. The story that seemed most to impress the No°'- 

 ho°-zhi°-ga of to-day is the one telling of how those men, those stu- 

 dents of nature, gradually drifted into an organized association that 

 became known by the name No°'-ho°-zhi°-ga, Little-Old-Men. As 

 time went on this association found a home in the house of a man who 

 had won, by his kindness and hospitality, the affection of his people. 

 It was at the house of this big-hearted man that the Little-Old-Men 

 assembled for their discussions. Since that time it has been regarded 

 by prominent men as an honor to entertain the No^'-ho^-zhi^-ga. 

 There were times in the long career of these holy men — for they were 

 sometimes designated by that term of reverence — when, as they sat 

 around the fire of their home, they were confronted with perplexing 

 questions, questions that affected their conclusions or the application 

 of their conceptions to human affairs. At such times of doubt they 

 would choose two of their number to go and seek divine aid and guid- 



