224 



THE OSAGE TRIBE. 



[BTH. ANN. 39 



The Fire Drill vSong. 



The song immediately following the Songs of Gathering Wood is 

 called Zho° Thi'-mo" Wa-tho°, Fire Drill Song. In kindling the 

 sacred fire the Osage used the old method, that is, by the use of two 

 slender sticks, one of which has two or three holes partly drilled 

 tlirough it in the middle. This stick is held firmly on the ground in 

 a horizontal position and into one of its drill holes is inserted one 

 end of the other stick which the firemaker twirls rapidly between 

 the palms of his hands. 



In the Fire Drill Song of the Osage the word " thi'-mo° " is used for 

 the manipulating of the drill. In the Omaha buffalo hunting rite is 

 a song descriptive of the kindling of fire by some belated hunters 

 who were obliged to camp out. The word "bi-mo°" is used in the 

 Omaha song for the manipulating of the fire drill. Both words have 

 the same meaning, the first syllable " bi " of the Omaha word meaning 

 action by pressm-e, and the first part of the Osage word, "tlii," 

 meaning action by grasping with the hands. (For the Omaha song 

 see 27th Ann. Kept. B. A. E., pp. 308-309.) 



M 



.M. Jr 



193 



Song 1. 



(Osage version, p. 403; literal translation, p. 590.) 



Transcribed by Alice C. Fletcher 



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Time beats 



Tse 



the tse-the thi-ho" thi - mo" tha, Tse 



r "^t" f ' ^ '^ ^ ^ ^ ^ 



the tse-the thi-ho" thi -mo" tha, Zho" thi-mon tha ha thi-ho" 



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ho" i-no" tha, Tse - the tse-the thi-ho"-ho" i-no" tha. Tse 



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m 



r r 



the tse - the 



r r 



thi - ho" .- ho" i-no" tha. 



