220 THE OSAGE TRIBE (eih. anx. 36 



The Black Bear gens mention the Elk as the being who made the 

 waters to depart and exposed the four different colored soils of the 

 eartli— namely, the dark, the blue, the red, and the yellow. The 

 wi'-gi-e of the Puma gens tells of the Crawfish as the being who gave 

 the people the four symbolic soils of the earth. 



The wi'-gi-e of the Puma does not mention Wa'-tse-gi-tsi, He-Who- 

 is-from-the-Stars, met by the Black Bear people in their wanderings. 

 This person, in accordance with his office, bestowed upon the gens a 

 group of chief names, and he also exercised a definite peacefvd influ- 

 ence over the people, so that they agreed to banish from their acts 

 as a gens all anger and hatred. It may here be suggested that this 

 story offers a possible clew to the meaning of the name Wa-zha'-zhe, 

 which, literally translated, would be, wa-, an act; zha-zhe, name. 

 The word freely translated would be "The-Name-Giver." 



No mention is made in the Black Bear wi'-gi-e of the Elk giving 

 the breath of life to the four winds, as described in the Puma wi'-gi-e. 



The Black Bear wi'-gi-e makes the neck of the white swan to be 

 the war stanilard of the people, while the Puma wi'-gi-e makes the 

 brow antlers of the Elk to be the war standard. 



In the month of December, 1919, Wa-tse'-mo°-i° conferred upon 

 Mo°'-zhi (better known as William Pryor) the Ni'-ki degree in the 

 version belonging to the Wa-pa'-be or Black Bear gens, both of thg" 

 men being members of that gens. 



THE Wl'-GI-E 



1. What said they, it has been said, in this house, 



2. The little ones were to become a people, it has been said, in this 



house, 



3. A thought which threw the people into profound meditation. 



4. They sat in great perplexity, 



5. For in the first of the great divisions of the heavens 



6. They thought to make the abiding place of the little ones. 



7. They sat in great perplexity, 



8. For in the first divisions of the heavens it was not possible for 



the little ones to abide. 



9. They had made their first downward soaring. 



10. They gathered together, it has been said, in this house, 



11. The little ones had not yet become a people. 



12. They gave their thought to making the second division of the 



heavens 



13. The abiding place of the little ones. 



14. It was not possible for the little ones to abide therein. 



15. They had made their second downward soarmg. 



