LAFLESCHE] KITE OF VIGIL FREE TRANSLATION. 115 



to the time when these rites were under the control of the Ho^'-ga 

 U-ta-no°-dsi gens, before the reorganization mentioned in the first 

 volimie of the Osage work took place. (See 36th Ann. Rept. B. A. E., 

 pp. 59-61, 66.) 



When used at the initiation of a candidate belonging to the Ho^'-ga 

 great division in the No°'-zhi"-zho° degree of the rites, the rattle sym- 

 bolizes the head of the male puma. The " seeds " (or soimd-producing 

 gravel placed within the gourd) symbolize the teeth of the right jaws 

 of the animal, but when the initiation into this degree is given to a 

 member of the Tsi'-zhu great division the " seeds " symbolize the teeth 

 of the left jaws of the puma, thus indicating that the right to use the 

 symbolic rattle belongs in common to the great tribal divisions. The 

 handle of the rattle symbolizes the lower right front leg of the animal 

 when the initiate belongs to the Ho"'-ga division and the lower left 

 front leg when the man belongs to the Tsi'-zhu division. 



Thus the quality and the unity of the two great divisions of the 

 tribe might be symbolized as a man or an animal, but the Ho°'-ga 

 great division must always represent the right side of the man or 

 animal and the Tsi'-zhu great division the left. This idea of the 

 duality and unity of nature was not only reflected in the tribal organi- 

 zation but, in former times, instilled in the minds of the people by 

 certain personal habits, as for instance, members of the Ho°'-ga great 

 division when putting on their moccasins put the moccasin on the 

 right foot first, while members of the Tsi'-zhu great division put the 

 moccasin on the left foot first. 



RATTLE Wl'-GI-E. 

 (Osage version, p. 403; literal translation, p. 541.) 



1. What shall they use for a rattle, they said, it has been said, in 



this house. 



2. It is a head that they shall use as a rattle. 



3. Verily, it is not a head that is spoken of. 



4. The male puma that lies outstretched upon the earth, 



5. It is his head 



6. That they shall use as a rattle. 



7. When they use the head of the male puma as a rattle, as they 



travel the path of life, 



8. And go toward the setting sun, against their enemies, 



9. They shall, by its use, easily overcome their foes, O, younger 



brothers, they said to one another. 



10. Wliat shall they use for seeds (gravel put into the gourd) for the 



rattle, as they travel the path of life. 



11. The male pmiia that lies outstretched upon the earth. 



