I20 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 66 



rituals belonging;- to his gens, the Tsi'zhu Washtage. namely, the 

 ceremonial naming of a child of the gens, and the initiation of a 

 young man into the mysteries of the war rites., A portrait of 

 Sho"'gemo"i" is here given (fig. 121). 



The ritual of the ceremonial naming of a child belonging to the 

 Tsi'zhu Washtage gens is the second ritual of this rite that Mr. 

 La Flesche has succeeded in recording since commencing his study of 

 the Osage tribe. The first obtained is the ritual used by the Puma 

 gens, whose gentile function is to conduct the principal parts of the 

 war ceremonies ; the second ritual procured is that of the Tsi'zhu 

 Washtage gens whose duty it is to take part in the ceremonies con- 

 nected with the hunt. This gens is one of the two gentes to which 

 belong the hereditary office of chief, and it is also a peacemaker gens. 

 These two rituals of the child-naming ceremony comprise 107 type- 

 written pages and will form a cha])ter in the forthcoming memoir 

 on the Osage tribe. Many of the full-bloods still cling to the idea 

 that a child who has not been ceremonially named has no place in 

 the tribe as a person, and that it is only through the rights acquired 

 at this naming that the child on attaining manhood can command 

 the respect of other members of the tribe. In tliese child-naming 

 rituals the gentile syml)ols are clearly set forth. 



The second ritual obtained during the year from Sho"'gemo"i", 

 /. c, the initiation of a young man into the mysteries of the war rites, 

 bears the title of No"zhi"zho" Watho", which signifies, " the fasting- 

 songs." These relate to the rite of fasting which the chosen leader 

 of a war ])arty takes upon himself in order to excite the compassion 

 of Wako"'da and thereby enlist the aid of that power in winning 

 success. 



The No"'ho"zhi"ga of the Tsi'zhu Washtage gens always render 

 their version of this ritual with an air of reluctance, the reason being 

 that the office of this gens is to protect life, even that of a caterpillar 

 that happens to stray into the chief's house. During the ceremonial 

 approach to the Sacred House the song and the wi'gie sung and 

 recited have no references to war or to valorous deeds, but to the 

 path of life in which all must strive to travel in peace. In the 

 No"'zhi"zho", or fasting ritual, of the other gentes there is a wi'gie 

 that explains the significance of the rattle used in the ceremony, 

 one that relates strictly to war. But as it has to be included in the 

 fasting rite of the Tsi'zhu Washtage gens, when they recite it they 

 omit the authoritative refrain at the end of each line, a hi" da, tsi ga, 

 ("it has been said, in this house "), for the reason that war was not 

 taught in the Sacred House of the Tsi'zhu Washtage ; but as the 



