I,A FLESCHE] 



RITE OF VIGIL FREE TRANSLATION. 



91 



i 



M 



. M.J = 



116 



Song 2. 

 (Osage version, p. 303; literal translation, p. 5^..) 



Transcribed by Alice C.Fletcher 



nn.n 



s 



mmm 



^m 



9J 

 Time beats 



■9-9 



r r r r r r r r f f 



A he 9i-kon.dahahe, a he he, pi-ko"-da ha ha we, A 



he — 9i-kon.da ha ha we A he ki-thi-to" tse he, a he 



r~r f'T^'T r r r ^ ^ 



he, — ^i-kon.da ha ha we, A he 9i-ko"-da ha ha we. 



From all that has been gathered during several years of close 

 study of the religious conceptions of the Osage people there is reason 

 for the belief that the ancient No^'-ho^-zhi^-ga who formulated these 

 intricate rites, and many of the men of the succeeding generations 

 through whom these rites were transmitted, knew that the various 

 articles dedicated for ceremonial use, together with their prescribed 

 forms, were intended to be employed as aids in conveying certain 

 fundamental ideas that could not be adequately expressed by words 

 alone. They also knew that there resided in the articles thus dedi- 

 cated no mystical power to excite fear or to be adored. There were, 

 however, men and women, initiated as well as uninitiated, who 

 drifted hopelessly into a literal belief that articles declared by the 

 " Holy Men" to be sacred and to be treated with reverent regard had 

 thereby become possessed of a mystical power which the articles 

 themselves could exercise for good or for evil. 



The Song of Reversal, with its prescribed ceremonial acts, is an 

 example of the foregoing. It was learned from some of the No°'-ho°- 

 zhi^-ga themselves that the men who were mentally alert when 

 receiving their initiatory instructions thoughtfully discerned that this 

 song with its attendant ceremonies teaches that in all important 

 tribal matters the two great tribal divisions must act as a single body 

 and be animated by one mind. On the other hand, there were men 

 of the tribe less gifted mentally, to whom the symbolic movements 

 that accompany the song meant simply that the dead bird within the 

 slirine had actually been awakened and had of its own volition 

 inclined its head with favor toward one division and then toward the 

 other. 



