A FLESCHE] 



CHILD-NAMING RITE 49 



lu the course of a conversation concerning the gentile names, 

 classed as sky and earth names, Wa-xthi'-zhi, of the Puma gens, 

 remarked that: When the Ho^'-ga people were coming from the sky 

 to the earth they chose two persons (gentes) to act as official mes- 

 sengers. One of these persons was called Ho°-ga Wa'-tse-gi-tsi, 

 The-sacred-one-from-the-stars, and the other Ho°'-ga Wa-tse-ga-wa, 

 The-sacred-radiant-star. These messengers were expected to find 

 some way of dispersing the waters that submerged the earth and 

 of exposing the ground beneath so as to make it habitable for aU 

 livmg creatures. 



Wa'-tse-gi-tsi and Wa'-tse-ga-wa, the two messengers, found on the 

 still waters the wat«r spider, the water beetle, the white leech, and 

 the dark leech, of whom they asked for aid which they could not give, 

 but promised to help the people to reach old age. (See 36th Ann. 

 Rept. Bur. Amer. Ethn., p. 163, lines 200 to 273.) The two mes- 

 sengers went on and they met 0'-po°-to°-ga, the Great Elk, and 

 appealed to him for aid. The Great Elk threw himself upon the 

 waters four times and splashed about imtil the ground was exposed 

 and ready to receive men and animals. He then called to the four 

 corners of the earth for the life-giving winds to come. Next he threw 

 himself upon the ground and rolled about; then, as he arose, the 

 hairs of his body clung to the soil and became the grasses of the 

 earth. (See 36th Ann. Rept. Bur. Amer. Ethn., pp. 165-167, lines 

 274 to 354.) 



The two messengers then led the people over the dry land of the 

 earth, when suddenly Ho°'-ga Wa'-tse-gi-tsi, The-one-from-the-stars, 

 came upon I"-gtho"'-ga, the Puma. The messenger then changed 

 his name from Wa'-tse-gi-tsi to I°-gtho°'-ga. In lilce manner the 

 Ho°'-ga Wa'-tse-ga-wa, the Radiant Star, came upon Wa-ga'-be, the 

 Black Bear. The Radiant Star then changed his name from Wa'-tse- 

 ga-wa to Wa-ya'-be, the Black Bear. 



These were the first earth names of the two related gentes, the 

 I°-gtho'"-ga and the Wa-9a'-be. Wa-xthi'-zhi mentioned several 

 other personal earth names of these two gentes but he suggested that 

 the parts of the rituals given by himself and Wa-tse'-mo°-i° (pi. 5), in 

 which are mentioned the earth names, be referred to as authoritative, 

 and so the following paraphrases of those parts of the rituals are 

 here given. 



EARTH NAME Wl'-GI-ES 



(Wa-xthi'-zhi) 



The people spake to one another, saying: The little ones have nothing to use as a 



symbol of courage. 

 Then, at that very time, 



The Ho°'-ga Wa'-tse-ga-wa (Ho°'-ga-radiant-star), 

 Went forth with hurried footsteps 



