260 THE OSAGE TRIBE. [tiTn. Ann. 39 



the enemy in order that his tribe may travel the path of life imim- 

 peded (see p. 84). The manner in which the Xo'-ka and his candi- 

 date move toward their seats at the east end of the House points to 

 the triumphant return and entrance of the warriors into their village, 

 having valiantly fulfilled their obligations as defenders of the tribe. 

 These two concluding movements of the Ceremony of Approach to the 

 House of Mystery have to do with deeds of violence and with the 

 destruction of life. The Tsi'-zhu Wa-shta'-ge omit from their version 

 of this ritual these two movements for the reason that the teachings 

 they embrace are repugnant to the duties imposed upon that gens as 

 peacemaker and conserver of the life, not only of the member of the 

 tribe but that of the stranger who may seek refuge in the house of a 

 member of the gens. 



Both Sho°'-ge-mo°-i'' and Wa'-thu-xa-ge emphasized the fact that 

 their gens, the Tsi'-zhu Wa-shta'-ge, has no proprietary right in any 

 of the war rituals, to initiate any war movement or to teach any of the 

 rites pertaining to war, but the use of the war rituals is permitted in 

 order to show the inherent right of the gens to participate in the 

 government of the tribe as a whole. The office of their gens, they 

 said, was to initiate the infant into life and to ceremonially bestow 

 the gentile name. 



After the singing of the song and the recital of the wi'-gi-e, at the 

 fourth stop in the ceremonial approach to the lodge, the Xo'-ka, his 

 candidate, the A'-ki-ho° Xo'-ka, and the Sho'-ka enter the lodge 

 and take their places at the eastern end (Fig. 2). The ceremonial 

 putting down of the shrine and of opening it begins. 



Songs of Opening the Shrine. 



The songs accompanied by the ceremonial movements of opening 



the shrine are called Wa-xo'-be Thu-shke Wa-tho°, Songs of Untying 

 the Wa-xo'-be. There are four of these songs, the first three of 

 which have but one stanza each and the fourth has four stanzas. 



(1) The first song is sung three times. The first singing is accom- 

 panied by the laying down of the shrine so that the head of the 

 sacred hawk is pointed toward the 'Tsi'-zhu side of the house. 



(2) At the second singing of the song the Xo'-ka turns the shrine 

 end to end so that the head of the bird points toward the Ho°'-ga 

 side of the house. 



(3) At the third singing the slu-ine is again turned and the head of 

 the bird is pointed toward the Tsi'-zhu side. 



All the lines of this song are the same and all the words but one 

 are either corrupted or are archaic, therefore they are unintelligible. 

 The exception is the first word, Kia'-ha, which means downward. 



