Part 7

268. Their round-handled-knife 269. They quickly took from its resting place, 271. And spake, saying: It is a fear-inspiring knife, 272. Verily, it is a mysterious knife. 273. Mysterious-knife 274. The little ones shall take as their personal name. 276. They lifted the round-handled knife 277. And quickly stabbed with it the body of the willow tree. 278. Then from its wound its life-blood streamed forth.

—(36th Ann. Rept. Bur. Amer. Ethn., p. 261.)

3. We´-thiⁿ-ça-gi, Strong-strap. With the mysterious knife the people shaped out of the “tree-that-never-dies” a mystic club. Taking with them the knife and the club they went in search of a buffalo and found one. On coming in sight of the animal they brandished the magic weapon four times in the air and the buffalo fell lifeless to the ground:

511. The skin of the (left) hind leg 512. They cut into a narrow strip, 514. And said: Verily the skin stretches not, 515. We shall make use of it as we travel the path of life. 517. Verily, it is a strong strap, 519. We shall consecrate it for ceremonial use, 520. Therefore Strong-strap 521. We shall make to be our sacred personal name.

—(36th Ann. Rept. Bur. Amer. Ethn., pp. 267-268.)

4. We´-thiⁿ-ga-xe, Strap-maker. By the cutting of the first strap out of the skin of the left hind leg of the magically killed buffalo the people of the Ṭsi´-zhu Wa-noⁿ gens created for themselves the office of making the straps (pl. 8) for the warriors for the tying of captives when any are taken. As they continued to cut out the strap they said:

523. Strap-maker, also, 524. We shall make to be our sacred personal name.

—(36th Ann. Rept. Bur. Amer. Ethn., p. 268.)

5. Wé-thiⁿ-zhiⁿ-ga, Slender-strap. The strap they made out of the skin of the left hind leg of the animal was long and slender, and when they had finished it,

526. They said: Slender-strap, also, 527. We shall make to be our sacred personal name. 549. The skin of the left side 550. They cut in a circle, 552. And seven slender straps 553. They made of it for the Ṭsi-zhu who possesses seven fireplaces, 554. One for each fireplace, 556. And they said: We shall consecrate these straps for ceremonial use.

—(36th Ann. Rept. Bur. Amer. Ethn., pp. 268-269.)

These seven straps cut from the left side of the buffalo were to serve as types for similar straps to be ceremonially made for each of the other gentes of the tribe when about to go to war, to use in tying captives.

6. He-thi´-shi-zhe, Curved-horn. As the people saw the horns of the buffalo they exclaimed:

558. Behold the left horn, 559. We shall consecrate it for ceremonial use, 561. Therefore Curved-horn, also, 562. We shall make to be our sacred personal name.

—(36th Ann. Rept. Bur. Amer. Ethn., p. 269.)

7. He-thi´-zha-ge, Outspread-horns. The people noticed that the horns of the buffalo stood wide apart and outspread and so they exclaimed:

564. Outspread-horns, also, 565. We shall make to be our sacred personal name. 566. And they said, again: Behold the left horn, 568. We consecrete it for ceremonial use.

—(36th Ann. Rept. Bur. Amer. Ethn., p. 269.)

Personal names relating to any of the life symbols of a gens serve to keep the members informed of their place in the gentile and tribal organization. For example: Men who were given such names as Ho-çoⁿ´, White-fish; To´-ho-ho-e, Blue-fish; and Ho´-ḳi-e-çi, Wriggling-fish, know that they are members of the Ho´-i-ni-ḳa-shi-ga, Fish-people, gens whose life symbol is the Fish, and that the place of their gens is in the Wa-zha´-zhe, the first of the two subdivisions of the Hoⁿ´-ga great tribal division which symbolizes the earth. The Wa-zha´-zhe subdivision typifies the water portion of the earth.

Those who were given such names as O´-poⁿ-ṭoⁿ-ga, Great-elk; Moⁿ´-thiⁿ-ḳa-ga-xe, Maker-of-the-land; and Moⁿ-zhoⁿ´-ga-xe, Maker of-the-earth, know that they are members of the Elk gens whose life symbol is the male elk (36th Ann. Rept. Bur. Amer. Ethn., p. 165, lines 274 to 354) and that the place of their gens is with the Hoⁿ´-ga, the second of the two subdivisions of the Hoⁿ´-ga great tribal division which symbolizes the earth. The Hoⁿ´-ga subdivision typifies the land portion of the earth.

Men who bear the names P̣i-çi´, Acorn; U-bu´-dse, Profusion; and Noⁿ-bu´-dse, Profusion (by the treading of the eagles on the branches of the red oak tree) know that they are members of the Ṭsi´-zhu Wa-shta-ge (Peacemaker) gens, that the life symbol of their gens is the red oak tree, the emblem of fruitfulness, and that the place of their gens in the tribal organization is with the Ṭsi´-zhu, the second of the two great tribal divisions which symbolizes the sky, including the sun, moon and stars that move therein. (See 36th Ann. Rept. Bur. Amer. Ethn., p. 281, lines 111 to 120.)

[Illustration:

FIG. 5.—Totemic cut of the Omaha boys’ hair. No. 1 is typical of the head and tail of the elk. No. 2 symbolizes the head, tail, and horns of the buffalo. No. 2a—the children of this subgens and those of the Ni-ni´-ba-toⁿ subgens of other gentes have their hair cut alike; the locks on each side of the bared crown indicate the horns of the buffalo. No. 3 represents the line of the buffalo’s back as seen against the sky. No. 4b stands for the head of the bear. No. 4c figures the head, tail, and body of small birds. No. 4d, the bare head, represents the shell of the turtle; and the tufts, the head, feet, and tail of the animal. No. 4e pictures the head, wings, and tail of the eagle. No. 5 symbolizes the four points of the compass connected by cross lines; the central tuft points to the zenith. No. 6 represents the shaggy side of the wolf. No. 7 indicates the horns and tail of the buffalo. No. 8 stands for the head and tail of the deer. No. 9 shows the head, tail, and knobs of the growing horn of the buffalo calf. No. 10 symbolizes reptile teeth. The children of this gens sometimes have the hair shaved off so as to represent the hairless body of snakes.]

THE GENTILE HAIR CUT OF CHILDREN

Another custom, akin to the taking of personal gentile names, was originated by the ancient Noⁿ´-hoⁿ-zhiⁿ-ga, that of the adoption by each of the various gentes of the tribe of a particular style of hair cut for the young children to typify one of the life symbols of the gens. (Fig. 5.) The style adopted by the Hoⁿ´-ga gens of the Hoⁿ´-ga tribal subdivision for their children was that of cutting nearly all the hair of the head close to the skin, leaving an unbroken fringe along the entire edge. (Fig. 6.) The story of its adoption is best told in the wi´-gi-e of the gens, a paraphrase of which is here given:

THE WI´-GI-E

The Hoⁿ´-ga, a people who possess seven fireplaces, spake to one another, Saying: O, younger brothers, The little ones have nothing of which to make their bodies. Then to the Hoⁿ´-ga A-hiu-ṭoⁿ (Winged Hoⁿ´-ga) they spake, Saying: O, elder brother! and stood in mute appeal. In quick response the Winged Hoⁿ´-ga set forth in haste To a deep and miry marsh, To the Little Rock who sitteth firmly upon the earth. Close to the Little Rock he stood and spake, Saving: O, Grandfather! Our little ones have nothing of which to make their bodies. The Little Rock spake in quick response: I am a person of whom the little ones may well make their bodies. Thereupon the Winged Hoⁿ´-ga hastened back to his brothers to whom he spake, Saying: O, younger brothers, a Little Rock sits yonder. Then, with heads bent thitherward, The younger brothers set forth in haste To the Little Rock who sitteth firmly upon the earth, in the marsh. Around him they gathered, close to him they stood as they spake To the Little Rock sitting with algae floating about him, like locks of hair blowing in the wind. (Fig. 6.) O, Grandfather! they said to him, Our little ones have nothing of which to make their bodies. The Little Rock made reply: I am a person who is difficult to be overcome by death. When your little ones make of me their bodies, They shall always be difficult to overcome by death. Behold the locks that float about the edges of my head. When the little ones reach old age, Their locks shall float about the edges of their heads. The little ones shall always live to see their locks grown scant with age. The younger brothers spake, saying: Close to the God of Day who sitteth in the heavens, We shall place the Little Rock.[3] When our little ones make of the Little Rock their bodies, Of the God of Day also Our little ones shall make their bodies. The four days, The four great divisions of the days (the four stages of life), The little ones shall always reach and enter, They shall always live to see old age.

[3] The Little Rock of the marsh is spoken of as the Gentle Rock because it is a special life symbol of the people for whom there must always be peace and happiness. As a memorial of the finding of the Little Rock of the marsh the members of the Hoⁿ´-ga gens in cutting the hair of their little ones leave a fringe around the entire edge.

This style of hair cut is called ḳonⁿ´-ha-u-thi-stse (ḳoⁿ´-ha, along the edge; u-thi-stse, a line left uncut), meaning an unbroken line of hair left uncut along the entire edge.

[Illustration:

FIG. 6.—Symbolic hair cut of the Hoⁿ´-ga gens]

At a festival being held at the Indian village near the town of Pawhuska, old Saucy-calf called the writer’s attention to a little boy who was playing hide-and-seek with other youngsters and said: “Look at the way his hair is cut (fig. 6); that is the Hoⁿ´-ga A-hiu-ṭoⁿ hair cut. That style is called ḳoⁿ´-ha-u-thi-stse. Xu-tha´-pa, Eagle-head, better known as Ben Wheeler, a young man who sat near us, looked up and said: “That’s my little boy; I cut my children’s hair like that.” Saucy-calf then explained that the act of the parents in cutting the hair of the child in that prescribed fashion was an implied petition to Wa-ḳoⁿ´-da to permit the little one to live to see old age without obstruction of any kind.

HAIR CUT OF THE ṬSI´-ZHU WA-SHTA-GE GENS

[Illustration:

FIG. 7.—Symbolic hair cut of the Ṭsi´-zhu Wa-shta-ge gens]

The people of the Ṭsi´-zhu Wa-shta-ge (Peacemaker) gens, who occupied the most important and honored place in the great tribal division representing the sky and all that it contains, adopted the ḳoⁿ´-ha-u-thi-stse style of hair cut for their little ones, which varied slightly from the styles used by the Hoⁿ´-ga. In the Ṭsi´-zhu Wa-shta-ge symbolic hair cut the line of hair left uncut along the edge is divided into little locks to typify the petals of the cone-flower, which is the sacred flower of the gens (fig. 7).

Shoⁿ´-ge-moⁿ-iⁿ, in speaking of the symbolic hair cut of the children of his gens, the Ṭsi´-zhu Wa-shta-ge, told the following mythical story of its origin:

In the beginning the Ṭsi´-zhu people came down, in the form of eagles, from the upper to the lower world. As they came in sight of the earth they beheld a large red oak tree. They soared down to it and alighted upon its topmost branches. The shock of their weight sent to the ground a shower of acorns which scattered around the foot of the tree, whereupon they said: We shall make of this tree our life symbol; our little ones shall multiply in numbers like the seeds of the oak that fall to the earth in countless numbers. The eagles that crowded upon the top branches of the oak became a people whose thoughts dwelt upon war, but two of the eagles found no resting place on the outspreading branches of the great oak and were obliged to drop to the earth. One alighted on a larger elder tree and his people became known as Ba´-po, people of the elder tree. The other eagle alighted upon the ground in the midst of a patch of little yellow flowers which his people made to be their life symbol and their emblem of peace. The people cut the hair of their children in such fashion as to make their heads resemble the little yellow flower, the emblem of peace. (Fig. 7.) This yellow flower is called Ba-shta´, Hair-cut. It is the _Ratibida columnaris_.

A paraphrase of the wi´-gi-e of the Xu-tha´-zhu-dse, Red Eagle, gens in which the “little yellow flower,” the emblem of peace, is mentioned, is here given.

PARAPHRASE OF THE WI´-GI-E OF THE RED EAGLE GENS

PEACEFUL DAY IS MY NAME

Verily, my abode is in the days that are calm and peaceful. When the little ones make of me their bodies (their life), They shall become a people of the days that are ever serene. From each of the great gods, I verily remove all traces of anger and violence. When the little ones make of me their bodies, They shall have power to remove from the gods All anger and the desire for destruction. From the god of the lower world (the earth); From the god of light who standeth in the midst of heaven; From the god of the upper world (the over-arching sky), I have power to remove all anger and violence. When the little ones make of me their bodies, They also shall have power to remove from the gods all anger. When the little ones of the Wa-zha´-zhe (subdivision), And those of the Hoⁿ´-ga (subdivision), Make of me their bodies, They shall have power to remove from all lands, All anger, hatred and violence.

NO-ANGER IS ALSO MY NAME

I am a person of whom the little ones may well make their bodies. My abode is in the midst of the earth’s warm, quivering air. When the little ones make of me their bodies, They shall become a people of the earth’s quivering air. Verily, in the days that are gentle and peaceful, I make my abode. When the little ones make of me their bodies, They shall become a people of the days that are gentle and peaceful. Of a little yellow flower I have made my body. The little Ba-shta´, that stands amidst the winds, I have made to be my body. When the little ones make of the Ba-shta´ their bodies, They shall ever live together without anger, without hatred.

Ṭoⁿ-woⁿ-i´-hi-zhiⁿ-ga, Little Ṭoⁿ-woⁿ-i´-hi, in speaking to Miss Fletcher in 1898 of the Osage gentile system, said that there are five subgentes in the Ṭsi´-zhu Wa-shta-ge gens, namely:

1. Ṭsi´-u-çkoⁿ-çka, House in the center, meaning the Sanctuary in the keeping of this gens which, figuratively, stands in the center of the earth.

2. Ba´-po, Elder, or, People of the elder trees.

3. Moⁿ´-ça-hi, Arrow-tree, or, People of the arrow tree.

4. Zhoⁿ-çoⁿ´, White-tree (Sycamore), or, People of the white tree.

5. Sho´-ḳa, Messengers, or, People from whom a ceremonial messenger is chosen for the gens. Sometimes this gens is called Ṭsi´-u-thu-ha-ge, Last group of houses.

It is from the people of the Ṭsi´-u-çkoⁿ-çka that the hereditary chief of the Ṭsi´-zhu great tribal division must always be chosen. The Ba´-po subgens has the office of making the stem for the ceremonial peace pipe of the Ṭsi´-zhu Wa-shta-ge. The stem must always be made of the Ba´-po, the elder tree. The people of the Arrow-tree and the Sycamore gentes have lost the significance of their life symbols. All of these five subgentes use the cone-flower symbolic hair cut.

There is something pathetic in the passing away of these ancient rites and customs which the Osage Indians had treasured from the earliest times of their tribal existence. Joe Shoⁿ´-ge-moⁿ-iⁿ, like his father, had respect and reverence for the religious thoughts of his ancestors which they had expressed in symbols and rituals with ceremonial forms and handed down. Joe had two little daughters (pl. 9, _a_) upon whom he bestowed a large share of his affections. He not only gave to each of them a sacred name of his gens, but, from year to year, as they approached womanhood, he cut their hair to typify the sacred flower of peace and happiness, an act which implied a supplication to Wa-ḳoⁿ´-da to bless each little one with a long and fruitful life. At the last symbolic hair cut the children had reached school age and they willingly went to the house of learning. The white children with whom they mingled hooted and jeered at them for their strange hair cut and made them unhappy. When they came home they told their father of their unkind treatment at the school. The fond father quietly took a pair of shears and cut away from each little head the symbolic locks.

Little Ṭoⁿ-woⁿ´-i-hi also stated that there was another style of symbolic hair cut called çiⁿ´-dse-a-gthe, tails worn on the head, which belongs to the Ṭsi´-zhu Wa-noⁿ, the principal war gens of the Ṭsi´-zhu great tribal division, which he described as: All of the hair of the head cut close but leaving uncut a row of three locks, equidistant apart, beginning at the crown of the head and ending near the edge of the hair at the back of the head. (Fig. 8.) This style of hair cut symbolizes all animals of the dog family, including the gray wolf, the coyote, and the domestic dog. It also symbolizes a star called Shoⁿ´-ge a-ga-ḳ’e e-goⁿ, Dog that lies suspended in the sky (Sirius).

The Dog Star is mentioned in the Child-naming Wi´-gi-e of the Ṭsi´-zhu Wa-noⁿ gens, bearing the title Wa-zho´-i-ga-the Wi´-gi-e, Taking of Life Symbols, given by Xu-tha´-wa-ṭoⁿ-in. (See p. 82, sec. 10 of the wi´-gi-e.)

Little Ṭoⁿ-woⁿ´-i-hi said that the Wa-ça-be-ṭoⁿ, Black Bear gens of the Hoⁿ´-ga great division, had a similar style of hair cut as that of the Ṭsi´-zhu Wa-noⁿ gens. Wa-xthi´-zhi said that the Puma gens also had the same style of hair cut.

[Illustration:

FIG. 8.—Hair cut of the Ṭsi´-zhu Wa-noⁿ and Wa-ça´-be (Black Bear) gentes]

The symbolic hair cut of the Ni´-ḳa Wa-ḳoⁿ-da-gi gens, Men of Mystery, is: hair of the head all cut close excepting a lock left uncut on the crown of the head (pl. 10, _a_) and a lock at the back of the head near the edge, which does not show in the picture. The life symbol of this gens is the hawk and the hair cut represents this raptorial bird which was adopted by all of the gentes of both the Hoⁿ´-ga and the Ṭsi´-zhu great tribal divisions as an emblem of courage for their warriors.

The name of the boy whose picture shows the hair cut of his gens is Gthe-doⁿ´-çka, White-hawk (Gthe-doⁿ, hawk; çka, white). It is the name that belongs to the second son in a family of this gens. His father’s name is Noⁿ´-ḳa-ṭo-ho, Blue-back (Noⁿ´-ḳa, back; ṭo-ho, blue), a name referring to the blue-backed hawk. White-hawk’s mother is Xi-tha´-doⁿ-wiⁿ, Good-eagle-woman, daughter of Shoⁿ´-ge-moⁿ-iⁿ of the Ṭsi´-zhu Wa-shta-ge gens.

The style of symbolic hair cut adopted by the Tho´-xe gens is of the Çiⁿ´-dse A-gthe class and is described as, hair on entire head cut close excepting a little tuft left uncut just over the middle of the forehead, and a fringe running across the crown of the head from one ear to the other as shown in the picture (pl. 10, _b_); two tufts, one on either side of the head back of the fringe, and a tuft just above the nape of the neck, which do not show in the picture. This style of cut represents the buffalo bull, the principal life symbol of the gens.

[Illustration:

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY

FORTY-THIRD ANNUAL REPORT PLATE 9

_a_

_b_

FOUR OSAGE CHILDREN]

[Illustration:

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY

FORTY-THIRD ANNUAL REPORT PLATE 10

_a_

_b_

CHILD’S HAIR CUT OF THE THO-XE AND NI´-ḲA WA-ḲO^N-DA-GI GENTES]

[Illustration:

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY

FORTY-THIRD ANNUAL REPORT PLATE 11

MEN, SHOWING HAIR CUT OF ADULT OSAGES]

[Illustration:

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY

FORTY-THIRD ANNUAL REPORT PLATE 12

BONE EAR PERFORATORS AND EXPANDERS]

The two gentes, the Ni´-ḳa Wa-ḳoⁿ-da-gi and the Tho´-xe, are closely related, being joint custodians of the rites pertaining to war. (See 36th Ann. Rept. Bur. Amer. Ethn., pp. 64-65.) The symbolic hawks, each of which formed the central figure in the ceremonies of the war rites, were regarded as being in the special care of the Ni´-ḳa Wa-ḳoⁿ-da-gi, while all of the thirteen o-doⁿ´, military honors, to be won by each warrior of the tribe in order to secure ceremonial rank, belonged to the Tho´-xe. The war honor must be won in a fight by a war party carrying a hawk, the tribal emblem of courage. The places of these two gentes are on the Ṭsi´-zhu side of the two great tribal divisions, but they are not of the seven fireplaces of that great division.

In the Ṭsi´-zhu Wi´-gi-e recited by Moⁿ-zhoⁿ-a´-ḳi-da (36th Ann. Rept. Bur. Amer. Ethn., pp. 277-285), relating to the mythical story of the descent of the people from the upper to the lower world, these two gentes are mentioned. A paraphrase of this part is here given:

PARAPHRASE OF WI´-GI-E RELATING TO THE NI´-ḲA WA-ḲOⁿ-DA-GI AND THE THO´-XE GENTES

The Messenger Then hastened down To the fourth division of the heavens, Close to it he stood and paused And lo, Ni´-ḳa Wa-ḳoⁿ-da-gi, Man of Mysteries, Appeared before him. The Messenger turned and said to his followers: Here stands a man, Verily, one who inspires fear. I truly believe his name is, Fear-inspiring. The Man of Mysteries spake, saying: I am a person of whom your little ones may well make their bodies. When your little ones make of me their bodies, They shall be free from all causes of death. They shall take the name Little-hawk, To use as their personal name, Then shall they be able to live to see old age. Woman-hawk Is also a name that I have. Your little ones shall use it as their personal name, Then shall they be able to live to old age.

The Messenger quickly passed on To Tho´-xe, who appeared in the form of a buffalo bull. Close to him the Messenger stood and spake, Saying: O, Grandfather! Then, turning toward his followers, he said: Here stands a man, Verily, a man who inspires fear. Then Tho´-xe spake, saving: I am a person of whom your little ones may well make their bodies. Thereupon he threw himself upon the earth, And the blazing star, a purple flower, Sprang up from the soil and stood, pleasing to the sense of sight. And Tho´-xe spake, saying: This plant shall be medicine for your little ones, It shall make their limbs to lengthen in growth, And they shall be able to live to see old age. Again Tho´-xe threw himself upon the earth And the poppy mallow Sprang from the soil and stood, beautiful, in its red blossoms. Then Tho´-xe spake, saying: Of this plant also, Your little ones shall make their bodies, They shall use it as medicine And it shall make their limbs to lengthen in growth. It is astringent to the taste, Therefore you shall name your little ones Astringent. When the little ones make of this plant their bodies, They shall be able to live to see old age.