14 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



the famous "Six Songs" of this ceremony. All other inter- 

 preters who have attempted to translate these words have 

 assumed that these songs are "songs of greeting and wel- 

 come," but Mr. Hewitt, solely on grammatic grounds and 

 the position of these songs, regards them rather as "songs 

 of parting," or "songs of farewell," which are dramatically 

 sung by an impersonator for the dead chief or chiefs. 



Mr. Hewitt also recorded, in the Onondaga dialect, a short 

 legend descriptive of the three Air or Wind Beings or Gods, 

 the so-called Hondu"i, the patrons of the Wooden-mask or 

 "False-face" Society, whose chief function is the exorcism 

 of disease out of the community and out of the bodies of 

 ill persons; another on the Medicine Flute; another on the 

 Husk-mask Society ; and another on the moccasin game used 

 at the wake for a dead chief: in all more than 100 pages of 

 text not related to the material dealing with the Iroquois 

 League. 



While in the field Mr. Hewitt purchased a number of fine 

 specimens illustrating Iroquois culture, exhibiting art of a 

 high order; these consist of a wooden mask, colored black; 

 a husk-mask; two small drums; a "medicine" flute; a moc- 

 casin game used at a chief's wake; a pair of deer-hoof rattles; 

 a horn rattle; and a squash rattle. During the time he was 

 in the field, until the close of the fiscal year, Mr. Hewitt read, 

 studied, corrected, and annotated about 8,000 lines of text 

 other than that mentioned above, and also made a number 

 of photographs of Indians. 



Mr. Francis La Flesche, ethnologist, was engaged in assem- 

 bling his notes on the rites of the Osage Tribe. Up to the 

 month of February, 280 pages of the ritual of the Fasting 

 degree of the war rites were finished, completing that degree, 

 which comprises 492 pages. The Qathadse, or Rush-mat 

 degi'ee, was next taken up and completed; this degree cov- 

 ers 104 pages. The Child-naming ritual was then commenced, 

 and 21 pages have been finished. 



In September, while on leave of absence, Mr. La Flesche 

 was visited on the Omaha Reservation by Xutha Wato"i" 

 of the Tsizhu Wano" gens, who gave a description of the 

 Washabe Athi", or war ceremony, as he remembered it. 



