356 THE OSAGE TRIBE. Teth. anx. 39 



This statement is made to call attention to certain dramatic acts 

 that are perfonned by the Xo'-ka and his initiate during the singing 

 of the songs that follow. 



The group of five songs which follow the Rain Songs bear in com- 

 mon the title I'-tsi° Ki-no° Kshi-the, which freely translated means 

 The Decorating of the Club. To each wa-xo'-be (portable shrine) 

 belonging to certain gentes is attached a symbolic club, tyjiical of the 

 one originally made by the people of the Tsi'-zhu Wa-no" gens, to 

 symbolize indestructible life, or the never-ending life craved by the 

 people for their tribal existence (see 36th Ann. Kept. B. A. E., p. 261, 

 lines 255-291) and which is the theme of these elaborate supplicatory 

 rites. If the wa-xo'-be used at an initiation into the mysteries of the 

 No^'-zM^-zho" degree happens to be one that has attached to it a 

 symbohc club, the Xo'-ka will use the mystic club when performing 

 the dramatic acts that accompany the songs. But should the 

 wa-xo'-be have no club the Sho'-ka will provide a stick of some kind 

 that will be used as a substitute. 



The first two songs of this group have in ccimnion the subtitle 

 I'-tsi" Ki-k'o°, The Act of Decorating the Club. 



The first of the two songs has but one stanza, which is sung four 

 times. As the A'-^i-ho" Xo'-ka begins to sing this song the Xo'-ka 

 rises and dances to the rhythm of the music while he lightly grasps in 

 his right hand the symbolic weapon. At the close of the stanza he 

 makes the hand that encircles the club pass along the entire length of 

 the club from the lower end to the top. The rhythmic movements of 

 the Xo'-ka's body and of his right hand are repeated with each singing 

 of the song as acts which symbolize the mystic power come from the 

 sky upon the weapon. 



A free translation of only one line is given, as the others are repe- 

 titions. 



