274 THE OSAGE TRIBE [eth. ann. 36 



"What course shall we take in approaching that person?" the people 

 asked, and the keeper of the sacred weapon replied: "We will take 

 the path always taken by the sun." 



The people approached the person, moving in a westerly direcfion 

 in imitation of the sun. They made four ceremonial pauses on their 

 way. At the fourth pause the keeper of the sacred weapon lifted 

 the club, brandished it in the air, and the bull suddenly bellowed as 

 though stricken with instant pain. Again the keeper brandished the 

 weapon and the animal started to flee. A third time the keeper 

 brandished the club and the beast was stricken with mortal pain in 

 the hindquarters. At the fourth brandishing of the weapon the bull 

 whirled around and fell in death, his blood gushing from his mouth. 



The people hastened to the fallen animal. The}' made a shght cut 

 in its skin, using the sacred knife, that with which they had cut the 

 willow tree, and from the cut fat protruded. They tasted of the fat 

 and said: "It is good; it shall be food for the little ones; they 

 shall seethe it in boiling water to prepare it for use." Out of the 

 skin of the left hind leg they cut a round piece, which they called 

 Mo°'-ge-tse-ha-wa-gthe, Breast-shield; also two long narrow straps, 

 which they named We'-thi°-zhu-dse, Red-strap, and We'-thi°-Qa-gi, 

 Strong-strap, which names they subsequently used as personal names. 

 From the skin of the left side of the body they cut seven narrow 

 straps, which they painted red. The straps thus cut they called 

 mo°'-sha-ko°, and these served as the original types of similar straps 

 to be ceremonially made whenever the warriors are about to go to 

 war, and to be used by them for tying their captives should they 

 succeed in taking any. The round piece of skin called breast-shield 

 and which symbolized the sun they also painted red, and it too 

 served as a type for similar shields to be ceremonially made for the 

 warriors and worn by them as symbolic shields as well as charms. 

 At the same time that they made these sacred articles they dedicated 

 the tails, the bladders, and the heart sacks of buffalo buUs to 

 ceremonial use and made them to be sacred types. 



Nl'-KI Wl'-GI-E OF THE Tsi'-ZHU Wa-SHTA'-GE GeNS 

 MoN-ZHON-A'-KI-DA 



The following Ni'-ki wi'-gi-e of the Tsi'-zhu Wa-shta'-ge, given by 

 Mo°-zho°-a'-ki-da (pi. 22) of that gens, may have lost, in its trans- 

 mission, some of its unimportant parts, but it has retained all of the 

 life symbols considered important by that gens. As old Tse-zhi°'- 

 ga-wa-da-i°-ga used to say to the writer, "My son, you may think 

 that parts of these great rites have become lost as they were handed 

 down. That is quite possible, but what is lost are the parts that are 

 unimportant; those that are of real value have come down to us." 



