38 ANNUAL, REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1911. 



By arrangement with the Commissioner of Indian Affairs the bureau was 

 fortunate in enlisting the services of Mr. Francis La Flesche, who has been 

 frequently mentioned in the annual reports of the bureau in connection with 

 his studies, jointly with Miss Alice O. Fletcher, of tbe ethnology of the Omaha 

 tribe of the Siouan family. Having been assigned the task of making a com- 

 parative study of the Osage tribe of the same family, Mr. La Flesche pro- 

 ceeded to their reservation in Oklahoma in September. The older Osage men, 

 like the older Indians generally, are very conservative, and time and tact were 

 necessary to obtain such standing in the tribe as would enable him to estab- 

 lish friendly relations with those to whom it was necessary to look for trust- 

 worthy information. Although the Osage language is similar to that of the 

 Omaha, Mr. La Flesche's native tongue, there are many words and phrases that 

 sound alike but are used in a different sense by the two tribes. Having prac- 

 tically mastered the language, Mr. La Flesche was prepared to devote several 

 months to what is known as the No n 'ho n zhi n ga Ie'ta, the general term applied 

 to a complex series of ceremonies which partake of the nature of degrees, but 

 are not, strictly speaking, successive steps, although each one is linked to the 

 other in a general sequence. While at the present stage of the investigation 

 it would be premature to make a definite statement as to the full meaning and 

 interrelation of these Osage ceremonies, there appear to be seven divisions of 

 the No n 'ho n zhi n ga Ie'ta, the names, functions, and sequence of which have been 

 learned, but whether the sequence thus far noted is always maintained remains 

 to be determined. From Saucy-Calf, one of the three surviving Osage regarded 

 as past masters in these ceremonies, phonographic records of the first of the 

 ceremonies, the Waxo'be-awatho 11 , have been made in its entirety, consisting 

 of SO songs with words and music, and 7 prayers. All these have been tran- 

 scribed and in part translated into English, comprising a manuscript exceed- 

 ing 300 pages. In order to discuss with the Osage the meaning of these rituals, 

 Mr. La Flesche found it necessary to commit them to memory, as reading from 

 the manuscript disconcerted the old seer. At Saucy-Calf's invitation Mr. 

 La Flesche witnessed in the autumn, at Grayhorse, a performance of the cere- 

 mony of the Waxo'be-awatho", the recitation of the rituals of which requires 

 one day, part of a night, and more than half of the following day. It is Mr. 

 La Flesche's purpose to record, if possible, the rituals of the remaining six 

 divisions of the No n 'ho n zhi n ga Ie'ta. He has already obtained a pharaphrase of 

 the seventh ceremony (the Nik'ino n k'o D ), and hopes soon to procure a phono- 

 graphic record of all the rituals pertaining thereto. 



In connection. with his ethnological work Mr. La Flesche has been so fortunate 

 as to obtain for the National Museum four of the waxo'be, or sacred packs, each 

 of which formed a part of the paraphernalia of the No n 'ho n zhi n ga Ie'ta, as 

 well as a waxo'be-to n 'ga, tbe great waxo'be which contains the instruments for 

 tattooing. Only those Osage are tattooed who have performed certain acts pre- 

 scribed in the rites of the No n 'ho n zhi n ga Ie'ta. The rites of the tattooing 

 ceremony are yet to be recorded and elucidated. While the waxo'be is the most 

 sacred of the articles that form the paraphernalia of the No n 'ho n zhi n ga Ie'ta 

 rites, it is not complete in itself; other things are indispensable to their per- 

 formance, and it is hoped that these may be procured at some future time. 



While not recorded as one of the ceremonial divisions of the No n 'ho n zhi n ga 

 Ie'ta, there is a ceremony so closely connected with it that it might well be 

 regarded as a part thereof — this is the Washa'beathi" watsi, or the dance of the 

 standards. The introductory part of this ceremony is called Akixage. or weep- 

 ing over one another in mutual sympathy by the members of the two great 

 divisions of the tribe. There is no regular time for the performance of the 

 Washa'beathi"n ceremony. I! is given only when a member of the tribe loses 



