no SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. JO 



RESEARCHES AMONG THE OSAGE 



In the month of May, 1918, Mr. Francis La Flesche, of the Bureau 

 of American Ethnology, visited the Osage Reservation to continue 

 his field researches among the people of the Osage tribe. During his 

 stay among these people, Mr. La Flesche prevailed upon Wa-xthi'- 

 zhi to give in full the Ga-hi'-ge 0-k'o°, " The Rite Belonging to the 

 Chiefs," which, up to that time, he had persistently declined to do 

 excepting to give it in paraphrase. His unwillingness to repeat the 

 rite and to recite in detail its wi'-gi-es (spoken parts) was strength- 

 ened by the recent loss of his only son and also of a grandchild, losses 

 which he attributed to his giving the tribal rites without the traditional 

 prescribed ceremonial forms, and the open criticism of some of the 

 men who, in times past, had often taken part with him in the actual 

 performance of the ceremonies. But after much persuasion he 

 finally consented to give the rite in full. 



Wa-xthi'-zhi prefaced his narrative with the story of the develop- 

 ment of the governmental organization of the tribe which had passed 

 through four experimental stages before it finally satisfied the 

 people. These stages were as follows : 



First. When the afi:'airs of the people were in the control of one 

 great tribal division known as the Ho"'-ga L"-ta-no"-dsi, a division 

 whose tribal symbol is the earth. During the control of this division 

 the affairs of the people were in a continual state of chaos and con- 

 fusion and there were no fixed rules of action. 



Second. When the Wa-zha'-zhe, a division whose tribal symbol 

 is the waters of the earth, persuaded the Ho"'-ga U-ta-no°-dsi to 

 submit to a movement toward an organization that would better 

 satisfy the people of all the great tribal divisions. This movement 

 the people called, figuratively, " A departure to a new country." It 

 was at this time that the people organized a military form of gov- 

 ernment to be controlled jointly by four great tribal divisions. 

 These four divisions were empowered to initiate war movements, 

 the organization for such a purpose to be known as Do-do"'-hi"- 

 to"-ga, " War Party by Hundreds," and these four divisions also 

 controlled the tribal hunting expeditions. It was during this stage that 

 the tribal war rites and the rites pertaining to the ceremonial naming 

 of the children were formulated. 



Third. In course of time the people became conscious of a dis- 

 advantage in the method prescribed for the organizing of a war 

 party. This method was burdened by a multiplicity of ceremonial 

 forms which made it impossible to act promptly when haste became 

 urgent. For this reason another " Departure to a new country " 



