232 THE OSAGE TRIBE. [ eth. an.n. 39 



Let my grandfather go forth against the enemy, 

 Let the Little Hawk go forth against the enemy. 



4. 



Let my grandfather go forth against the enemy, 

 Let the Consecrated One go forth against the enemy. 



Songs of Triumph, or The Return of the Bird. 



The next group of three songs has two titles, Wa-tse' Wa-tho°, 

 Songs of Triumph, and Gthi' I-he-the Wa-tho", Songs of the Bring- 

 ing Home and the Laying Down of the Bird. 



The preceding song, with its accompanying ceremonial acts, pre- 

 sents a dramatization of the going forth of the warriors against the 

 enemy. In the follo^ving Song of Triumph or the Return of the Bird, 

 three kinds of hawk, each one a symbol of the courage of the warriors, 

 are mentioned, also the Do-do" '-ho"-ga who is called "The Conse- 

 crated One," and the entire war party are spoken of as going home in 

 triumph to the tribe when the sacred birds are returned to their 

 respective places among the various gentes. 



After a short pause the Sho'-ka rises, takes the sacred hawk from 

 its place to which it had been returned after the ceremonial acts, and 

 places it in the hands of the Xo'-ka. The A'-ki-h(j" Xo'-ka takes up 

 his rattle and begins to sing the Song of Triumph. At once the 

 Xo'-ka rises and holding the sacred bird in the hollowed palms of 

 his hands dances to the rhythm of the song, facing the Singer as he 

 does so (PI. 17). At the close of the fourth stanza the Xo'-ka, with a 

 flourish of his arms, lets the hawk drop to the ground and takes his 

 seat. 



The No°'-ho°-zhi"-ga who sits toward the other end of the lodge 

 and can not see the bird ask, "In what position does it lie?" The 

 Sho'-ka examines the position of the hawk. If he reports that it lies 

 breast upward, the position of a man who dies a natural death, having 

 had liis full length of life, all present cry: "Ho! it is well." This 

 position of the bird is taken as an omen that the Singer will be success- 

 ful as a warrior. If the Sho'-ka reports that the bird lies breast 

 downward, the position of a man suddenly slain in battle, the report 

 is received by the assembly in silence. 



A free translation of two lines from each stanza wUl suffice to give 

 the meaning of the song, as the other lines are repetitions. 



