ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT 15 



With this description he gave 5 wigie and 14 songs. The 

 wigie and the words of the songs have been transcribed from 

 the dictaphone but are not yet typewritten, and the music 

 of the songs has not yet been transcribed. A number of 

 stories also were obtained from Xutha Wato"i°, among them 

 that of the Osage traditional story of the separation of the 

 Omaha and Osage tribes. Xutha Wato^i" died soon after 

 his return home, his death being regarded by many as con- 

 firming the old-time belief that anyone who recites inform- 

 ally the rituals associated with these ceremonies will ine\'i- 

 tably suffer dire punishment. The death of this old man 

 shortly after giving the rituals has therefore added to the 

 difficulties attending the task of recording these ancient rites. 



Notwithstanding these obstacles, Mr. La Flesche succeeded, 

 during his visit to the Osage Reservation in April and May, 

 in securing from old Sho"'gemo°i" the version of the Fasting 

 ritual belonging to the Tsizhu Peace gens, of which he is a 

 member. The wigie and the words of the songs have been 

 transcribed from the dictaphone, but are not yet typewritten, 

 and the music of the songs is also to be transcribed. Sho"'- 

 gemo°i° likewise gave the Child-naming ritual belonging to 

 his gens, in which there are two wigie, one containing 227 

 lines and the other 94. In addition to these rituals, Sho"'- 

 gemo^i", after considerable hesitancy, recounted the " Seven 

 and Six" (13) coups he is always called on to recount when 

 any No'"ho°zhi°ga of the Ho"'ga division performs the cere- 

 monies of some of the war rites. For this service he is paid 

 a horse and goods amounting in value to from $125 to $150. 



Mr. La Flesche also secured from Waxthizhi information 

 concerning the duties of the two hereditary chiefs of the 

 Osage tribe, the gentes from which they were chosen, and 

 how their orders were enforced. He also obtained from 

 Watsemo^i" two wigie, one recited by him at the ceremonies 

 of the war rites, and the other by the N6°ho°zhi"ga of the 

 H6°ga Ahiuto" gens. 



In these studies Mr. La Flesche was materially assisted by 

 Washoshe and his wife, who have both overcome their aver- 

 sion to telling of the rites. Washoshe resigned from the 

 N6°ho°zhi°ga order because of the injustice of its members 



