218 



THE OSAGE TRIBE. 



[ETH. ANN. 39 



The men of the fires are gathering to sing, 

 If thou art a man, go thither. 



7. 



The men of the charcoal are gatliering to sing, 

 If thou art a man, go thither. 



Songs of the Crossing of a River. 



The group of songs next in order is called Ni Thi'-tse Wa-tho", 

 Songs of the Crossing of a River. These songs are of a supplicatory 

 character and are sung when a war party is about to cross a danger- 

 ous river. Wa-xthi'-zlii could not remember the songs, therefore 

 they had to be omitted. 



Songs of the Mystic House. 



The next group of songs is called Tsi Gi'-ka-xe Wa-tho°, Songs of 

 Making the Mystic House. This house was symbolic in character 

 and called Tsi Wa-ko°-da-gi, House Mysterious. The ancient No°'- 

 ho"-zhi"-ga placed this symbolic house in the keeping of the Wa-pa'-be 

 gens. At a certain stage of the great war ceremony called Wa-sha'-be 

 A-thi", this symbolic house was made and within it were performed 

 ceremonial acts that were regarded as the Mystery of Mysteries. The 

 Wa-sha'-be A-thi° will be described in a later volume. 



In this group of songs the Wa-^a'-be gens, the keepers of the house, 

 are represented as speaking. 



M.M. 



J = 111 



Song 1. 



(Osage version, p. 4G1; literal translation, p. 588.) 



Transcribed by Alice C. Fletcher 



mi^ ^■'Tuiij J Hi 



i 



Time beats 



r r r 



r r 



W'i-e tsi win ga-xa thi"-e e, 



r r r 



"Wi-e tsiwi" ga-xa 



mim 



w^f 



r r 



r r r r 



r r r r r r 



r 



thi"-e e he the, Ga-xa thi"-e e tsiwi-tanon ga-xa thi"-e. 



^ t i r -f f f r r f r} 



Wi-e lsiwi"ga- xa thi"-e e, Wi-e tsi wi"ga - xa thi"-e. 



