no SMITHSOXIAX M ISCF.LLAXEOU.S COLIJ-:CTIOXS VOL. "JO 



RESEARCHES AMONG THE OSAGE 



111 the month of May, 1918, Mr. l-'rancis La Flesche. of the Jkireau 

 of American Ethnology, visited the ( )sage Reservation to continue 

 his field researches among the people of the (Jsage tribe. During his 

 sta_\- among these people, Mr. La I'lesche prevailed upon W'a-xthi'- 

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

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

 excej^ting to give it in paraphrase. His unwillingness to repeat the 

 rite and to recite in detail its \vi'-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 

 jjerformance of the ceremonies. But after much persuasion he 

 hnally consented to give the rite in full. 



W'a-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 afifairs of the people were in the control of one 

 great tribal rlivision 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. W hen the \\ a-zha'-zhe, a division whose tribal symbol 

 is the waters of the earth, persuaded the Ho"'-ga L'-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 de])arture 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 jjurpose to be known as Do-do"'-hi"- 

 to"-ga, " War I 'arty by Hundreds," and these four divisions also 

 controllerl the tribal hunting ex])editions. 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 peojjle became conscious of a clis- 

 advantage in the method prescribed for the organizing of a war 

 jjarty. This method was burdened by a multiplicity of ceremonial 

 forms which made it imi)0ssible to act promptly when haste became 

 urgent, bor this reason another " Departure to a new country '" 



