LAFLESCHEJ Nl'-KI NO^-KON RITE 219 



245. Upon whose foreheads are tattoo marks, 



246. As also around their mouths 



247. And upon their breasts they have tattoo marks. 



248. Verily, they are a people well supplied with weapons, 



249. A people who have shields to protect their bodies. 



250. It has been said, in this house, 



251. The Wa-zha'-zhe promptly replied, saying: It is well, O, Ho^'-ga. 

 252.^ You shall overcome these strange people and make them to fall, 



O, Ho°'-ga. 



253. Seven tines of the antlers of the deer 



254. I have made to be my weapons, mysterious and sacred. 



255. Even the small tip of a tine of the deer's antlers 



256. I can split with one of these arrows, O, Ho°'-ga, so accurate are 



their flight. 



257. These mysterious arrows you shall use, O, Ho°'-ga, to overcome 



these strange people and make them to fall. 



Nl'-KI Wi'-Gi-E, Version of the Black Bear Gens 



(Osage version, p. 414; literal traBslation, p. 562) 



In April, 1919, the following wi'-gi-e, another version of the Ni'-ki 

 No°k'o° of the Ho°'-ga Division, was obtamed from Wa-tse'-mo°-i° 

 (pi. 18). This version is used by the Wa-?a'-be-to° (Black Bear) 

 gens, of which Wa-tse'-mo"-!" is a member. The Black Bear and 

 the Puma gentes are closely related, and it is stated by members of 

 the two gentes that they use in common their set of rituals. It 

 appears, however, that each gens has its own version of the Ni'-ki 

 No°-k'o°, and that m ceremonial rank the Black Bear gens has pre- 

 cedence over the Puma gens. 



In 1896, while on a visit in Washingtcm City, Wa-tse'-mo°-i° gave 

 to Miss A. C. Fletcher a paraphrase of this wi'-gi-e. At that time 

 very little was known of the elaborate tribal rites of the Osage, and 

 while the information gathered was mteresting there were no means 

 then available for further and comijlete study of the rites of that tribe. 



The important differences between the two wi'-gi-es are as follows: 



The four great gods to whom the Puma people appealed for aid 

 when about to descend from the sky to the earth arc ignored by the 

 Black Bear people. 



The Black Bear gens make no mention of the eagle spoken of by 

 the Puma gens as leading the people down to the earth, under whose 

 guidance the people alighted on seven trees. In the Black Bear story 

 the people alighted by their own volition upon seven rocks. 



In the wi'-gi-e of the Puma gens Wa'-tse-ga-wa, The Radiant Star, 

 the sky name of the Black Bear gens, acts as messenger, while in the 

 Black Bear gens wi'-gi-e the Puma acts as messenger. 



