LA FLESCHE] TRIBAL RITES FREE TRANSLATION 73 



These articles will be described in detail and their pictures given, 

 together with that of the cormorant skin, in the tattooing rite, which 

 will be included in a later volume. 



The Wa-xo'-be To°-gas that have been seen and remembered 

 within recent years are as follows: 



The one owned by Wa-pe'-to''-zhi''-ga was secured for the United 

 States National Museum in 1911. 



That owned b)^ Wa-thu'-ts'a-ga-zhi, Wa-xthi'-zhi's father, was 

 buried with him when he died in 1910. 



The one that was owned by Wa-zhi°-pi-zlii, Btho'-ga-hi-ge's father, 

 is now in the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation, 

 New York City (No. 4/776). 



The one owned by To°-wo°-i'-hi-zhi°-ga was sold by him several 

 years ago to a traveler and its whereabouts is unknown. 



The one that was owned by To^-wo^-i'-hi-tC-ga is now in the 

 private collection of Mr. Charles Evanhoe, of Ralston, Oklahoma. 



The general description of the Wa-zhi^'-pi-zhi wa-xo'-be in the 

 Museum of the American Indian, obtained through the courtesy of 

 Dr. George H. Pepper, is about the same as the Wa-^;e'-to°-zhi°-ga 

 wa-xo-be in the National Museum. 



Initiation Into the Rite of the Chiefs 



The transfers of the Wa-xo'-be fo^-gas and the initiation of candi- 

 dates into the mysteries of this composite rite do not occur as fre- 

 quently as the transfers of the Hawk wa-xo'-bes and the accom- 

 pan\ang initiations into the mysteries of the rites pertaining to war. 

 The man who has a Wa-xo'-be To^-ga is apt to keep it until he is 

 incapacitated for tattooing work by old age or loss of eyesight. 

 For this reason there is less opportunity through frecjuent use for a 

 man to carry accurately all the details of this rite and the sequence 

 of the ceremonial arts than there is those of the war rites. 



When a man has been ceremonially presented with a Wa-xo'-be 

 To°-ga he becomes an involuntary candidate for initiation into the 

 mysteries of the rite of which the Wa-xo'-be fo^-ga is the central 

 figure. He will ask his wife and his relatives for permission to accept 

 the offer, and these persons readily grant the request, because it is 

 an honor in which they also have a share. 



The man and his relatives having agreed to accept the Wa-xo'-be 

 To°-ga, the candidate, with the help of his relatives, proceeds to 

 collect the various symbols, such as a buffalo robe, an elk skin, a 

 turtle shell, a mussel shell, an eagle skin, a deer skin, a swan skin, 

 all of which are necessary for use in the ceremonies. They also store 

 away food supplies, such as buffalo meat, sweet corn, dried squash, 

 roots of the lotus, and, in recent years, beef, flour, coffee, and sugar 



