THE OSAGE TRIBE: TWO VERSIONS OF THE 

 CHILD-NAMING RITE 



By Francis La Flesche 



INTRODUCTION 



The two versions of the Osage Child-naming Rite recorded in 

 this volume were obtained with considerable difficulty, owing to the 

 reluctance of the people to speak of the sacred rites that were for- 

 mulated by the Ni'-ka Xu-be, Holy Men, of long ago. This un- 

 willingness to speak of the tribal rites, excepting in the prescribed 

 ceremonial way, arose from a sense of reverence for things sacred and 

 from the belief that within the rites, and in the articles dedicated 

 to religious use, there resides a mystic power which could punish, by 

 supernatural means, the persons who speak irreverently of the rites 

 and put to profane use the symbolic articles. 



In the early part of the life of the Osage, according to tradition, 

 the people kept together for protection and moved about without 

 tribal or gentile organizations, a condition which they termed "ga- 

 ni'-tha," which may be freely translated as, without law or order. 



It was in those days that a group of men fell into the habit of 

 gathering together, from time to time, to exchange ideas concerning 

 the actions of the sun, moon, and stars which they observed move 

 within the sky with marvelous precision, each in its own given path. 

 They also noticed, in the course of their observations, that the 

 travelers in the upper world move from one side of the sky to the 

 other without making any disturbances in their relative positions, 

 and that with these great movements four changes take place in the 

 vegetal life of the earth which they agreed was effected by the actions 

 of some of the heavenly travelers. These seasonal changes they 

 named Be, Do-ge', To°, and Ba'-the (Spring, Summer, Autumn and 

 Winter). 



The delving into the mysteries of the universe by this group of 

 men, which was carried on for a long period of time, was primarily 

 for the purpose of finding, if possible, the place from which comes 

 all life. 



The seasonal changes upon the earth which appear to accompany 

 the movements of the sun and other cosmic bodies suggested to these 

 men the existence between sky and earth of a procreative relation- 

 ship, an idea which fixed itself firmly in their minds. It fitted their 



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