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Read Ebook: The Osage tribe two versions of the child-naming rite (1928 N 43 / 1925-1926 (pages 23-164)) by La Flesche Francis
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Introduction 29
Child-naming Rituals 31
Birth Names of the Puma Gens 31 The First Three Sons 31 The First Three Daughters 32 Sky Names 32
Child-naming ritual of the Puma gens 33 ?i?-no?--ceremony of Decorating the Xo?-?a 33 ?i?-no? Wi?-gi-e 34 Wa?-?se-?si and the ?si?-zhu Wa-shta-ge Gentes 35 ?si ?a?-p?e 36 The Wa-the?-the Ceremony 38 Zha?-zhe ?i-?o? Wi?-gi-e 40 Old-age Wi?-gi-e 45 Wi?-gi-e of the Wa?-?se-?si Gens 47 Wi?-gi-e of the Bow People 47 Earth Names and Wi?-gi-es 48 Wi?-gi-e of the Wa?-?se-gi-?si 51 Special Instructions to the Mother 54 Origin Wi?-gi-e of the Tho?-xe Gens 56
Child-naming Ritual of the ?si?-zhu Wa-shta-ge Gens 59 Certain Gentes Called to Take Part in the Ceremony 59 Wa-zho?-i-ga-the Wi?-gi-e 60 The Xo?-?a Ceremonially Conducted to the Child's House 67 A Life Symbol Sent to Each of the Officiating Gentes 68 Gentes Recite Their Wi?-gi-es Simultaneously 68 The Child Is Passed from Gens to Gens to Be Blessed 71 First Child-naming Wi?-gi-e of the 0si?-zhu Wa-no? Gens 75 The Gentile Hair Cut of Children 87 Hair Cut of the ?si?-zhu Wa-shta-ge Gens 89 Paraphrase of the wi?-gi-e of the Red Eagle gens 90 Wi?-gi-e of the Ni?-?a Wa-?o?-da-gi and the Tho?-xe gentes 93 Fondness of personal adornment 95 Ear Perforating 95
?i?-no? Wi?-gi-e 96
?si ?a?-p?e Wa-tho? and Wi?-gi-e 97
Zha?-zhe ?i-to? Wi?-gi-e 97
U?-no? Wi-gi-e 101
Wa-zho?-i-ga-the Wi?-gi-e 103
Zha?-zhe ?i-?o? Wi?-gi-e 110
Wa-zho?-i-ga-the Wi?-gi-e 113
Native Names of Osage Full Bloods 122
Names of the Gentes and Subgentes 122 Wa?-?se-?si or P?o??-?a Wa-shta-ge 124 ?a? I-ni-?a-shi-ga 128 Ho? I-ni-?a-shi-ga 130 Ho??-ga U-?a-no?-dsi 132 Wa-?a?-be 133 I?-gtho??-ga 135 Ho??-ga Gthe-zhe 136 Ho??-ga U-thu-ha-ge 139 O?-po? 141 I?-ba-?se 142 ?si?-zhu Wa-no? 144 ?i??-dse-a-gthe 146 ?si?-zhu Wa-shta-ge 146 ?se-do?-ga I?-dse 152 ?se Tho??-?a 153 Mi-?'i?? 153 Ho?? I-ni-?a-shi-ga 155 Ni?-?a Wa-?o?-da-gi 157 Tho?-xe 160
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TEXT FIGURES
THE OSAGE TRIBE: TWO VERSIONS OF THE CHILD-NAMING RITE
INTRODUCTION
The two versions of the Osage Child-naming Rite recorded in this volume were obtained with considerable difficulty, owing to the reluctance of the people to speak of the sacred rites that were formulated by the Ni?-?a Xu-be, Holy Men, of long ago. This unwillingness to speak of the tribal rites, excepting in the prescribed ceremonial way, arose from a sense of reverence for things sacred and from the belief that within the rites, and in the articles dedicated to religious use, there resides a mystic power which could punish, by supernatural means, the persons who speak irreverently of the rites and put to profane use the symbolic articles.
In the early part of the life of the Osage, according to tradition, the people kept together for protection and moved about without tribal or gentile organizations, a condition which they termed "gani?-tha," which may be freely translated as, without law or order.
It was in those days that a group of men fell into the habit of gathering together, from time to time, to exchange ideas concerning the actions of the sun, moon, and stars which they observed move within the sky with marvelous precision, each in its own given path. They also noticed, in the course of their observations, that the travelers in the upper world move from one side of the sky to the other without making any disturbances in their relative positions, and that with these great movements four changes take place in the vegetal life of the earth which they agreed was effected by the actions of some of the heavenly travelers. These seasonal changes they named Be, Do-ge?, ?o?, and Ba?-the .
The delving into the mysteries of the universe by this group of men, which was carried on for a long period of time, was primarily for the purpose of finding, if possible, the place from which comes all life.
The seasonal changes upon the earth which appear to accompany the movements of the sun and other cosmic bodies suggested to these men the existence between sky and earth of a procreative relationship, an idea which fixed itself firmly in their minds. It fitted their notion that the earth was related to and influenced by all of the great bodies that move around within the sky. However, they were not satisfied that these celestial bodies move without the guidance of some governing power, and they continued their search and their discussions. Then, in course of time, there crept into the minds of these men, who became known as the "Little Old Men," the thought that a silent, invisible creative power pervades the sun, moon and stars and the earth, gives to them life, and keeps them eternally in motion and perfect order. This creative power which to their minds was the source of life they named Wa-?o??-da, Mysterious Power, and sometimes E-a?-wa-wo? a-ka, The Causer of Our Being.
These ideas are given expression in that part of the child-naming rite where the initiated members of two gentes are first called to enter the house in which the ceremonies are to take place. One of these gentes, the ?si?-zhu Wa-shta-ge, Peaceful ?si?-zhu, represents the sky with its sun, moon, and stars, and the other, the Wa?-?se-?si Wa-shta-ge, Peaceful Wa?-?se-?si, represents the earth with its waters and dry land. The house itself then becomes a symbol of the sky which encompasses the sun, moon, stars, and the earth. Thus the house, the two gentes and all the others who enter it to take part in the rite become, collectively, a symbol of the universe wherein life manifests itself by taking on an infinite variety of bodily forms. The whole ceremony is an expression of a longing desire that Wa-?o??-da who dwells in the universe will favor the little one who is to be named with a long life and an endless line of descendants.
The men who recorded the two versions of the Osage child-naming rite were typical full-blood Indians, neither of them spoke the English language, and nothing in all that they have given suggests foreign influence. Wa-xthi?-zhi was a man of an inquiring mind. He did not hesitate to ask of his initiators the meaning of the parts of the rituals which he did not fully understand. He learned much from his father, who was well versed in the ancient tribal rites.
Sho??-ge-mo?-i? did not have these advantages, but he had a retentive mind and what he committed to memory of the rites was sufficient to him. He did not insist upon being informed as to the meaning of the parts of the rites that were obscure to him.
I am indebted to Mr. Vince Dillon, of Fairfax, Okla., for permitting me to use a photograph he had made of two little Osages showing symbolic hair cut of one of them. Also to Joe Sho??-ge-mo?-i? for the loan of a photograph of his two daughters. Joe is the son of Sho??-ge-mo?-i?, who recorded the second version of the child-naming ceremony.
CHILD-NAMING RITUALS
To a self-respecting Osage husband and wife, the ceremonial naming of their first three sons and their first three daughters is of the utmost importance. The couple regard the performing of the ceremony as a sacred duty to their children which must never be neglected.
Each of these sons and daughters must be named according to the rites prescribed by the ancient No??-ho?-zhi?-ga. Until the ceremonial naming the child has no place in the gentile organization, and it is not even regarded as a person.
Every one of these three sons and three daughters has a special kinship term which can be used only by the father, the mother, and the nearest relatives. These special kinship terms, as observed in their sequence, are as follows:
Sons Daughters
I?-gtho??. Mi?-no?. Ksho??-ga. Wi?-he. ?a?-zhi?-ga. ?i?-ge or A-?i??-ga.
All the sons born after the third one are ?a?-zhi?-ga, and all the daughters born after the third one, ?i?-ge or A-?i??-ga.
To each of the first six children belongs a distinctive gentile personal name, spoken of as: i?-gtho?? zha-zhe , mi?-no? zha-zhe , etc. These names must always be ceremonially conferred upon the newly born child. All the other sons and daughters are named without any formality because the ceremony performed for the ?a?-zhi?-ga and the ?i?-ge serves for the other children that may follow. These distinctive gentile names may be designated as gentile birth names.
BIRTH NAMES OF THE PUMA GENS
The gentile birth names of the Puma gens, as given by Wa-xthi?-zhi, are as follows:
THE FIRST THREE SONS
The story of the introduction of this name, as told by the Black Bear gens in their Ni?-?i Ritual, differs from the Puma version of the story.
THE FIRST THREE DAUGHTERS
Another name follows that of the third son in the ritual, I?-shta?-sha-be, Dark-eyes, and is a ?a?-zhi?-ga name. The name is mentioned in the Naming Ritual of the Puma gens.
The name E-no??-gi-tha-bi, The Favorite, follows that of the third daughter, and is a ?i?-ge name. This name is not mentioned in the ritual. Wa-xthi?-zhi said the fourth daughter is the favored one because if the first three should fail to bring forth children the parents would cherish the hope that their fourth daughter will give them grandchildren.
SKY NAMES
The distinctive birth names of the Puma gens, mentioned above, are spoken of as sky names, to distinguish them from the common gentile names. These birth names are said to have originated in the sky when the "Little Ones" were about to descend to the earth to take upon themselves bodily form. Some of these names refer to important events that came to pass before the descent from the sky to the earth. Earth names were also used by both the Puma and the Black Bear gentes. These names will be referred to later.
Every Osage gens has its own version of the tribal Child-naming Ritual. The versions belonging to the I?-gtho??-ga gens of the Ho??-ga great division and that belonging to the ?si?-zhu great division have been secured and are given below in detail.
CHILD-NAMING RITUAL OF THE PUMA GENS
When a man of the Puma gens is prepared for the ceremonial naming of his newly born son he sends for the Sho?-?a of his gens. On the arrival of the Sho?-?a the father puts before him his customary fee of a blanket or blue cloth and a little pipe which he must carry as his official badge. The father of the child then orders the Sho?-?a to go and call the No??-ho?-zhi?-ga of the Puma, the ?si?-zhu Wa-shta-ge, and the Wa?-?se-?si Wa-shta-ge gentes. The ?si?-zhu Wa-shta-ge is the Peace gens of the ?si?-zhu great tribal division, and the Wa?-?se-?si Wa-shta-ge the Peace gens of the Ho??-ga great tribal division. Prominence was given, in this ceremony, to these two gentes because they are the favored people of the sun and the unclouded sky, the most sacred of the cosmic forces. Through these two favored gentes the blessings of peace and long life are invoked for the child to be named and formally given its place in the tribal unit.
The No??-ho?-zhi?-ga of these three gentes assemble in the evening at the house of the father who, in a formal speech, makes known to them the purpose of the summons. Then the heads of the ?si?-zhu Wa-shta-ge and the Wa?-?se-?si Wa-shta-ge gentes direct the Sho?-?a to go and call the No??-ho?-zhi?-ga of the following gentes to assemble at the house of the father on the next morning:
Ho??-ga A-hiu-?o?, Wa-?a?-be-?o? and the O?-po?, of the Ho??-ga subdivision; Wa?-?se-?si Wa-shta-ge, Ho? I-ni-?a-shi-ga, Wa-zha?-zhe ?ka and the ?a? I-ni-?a-shi-ga of the Wa-zha?-zhe subdivision; ?si?-zhu Wa-shta-ge, ?si?-zhu Wa-no?, Mi-k'i?? Wa-no? and the Tho?-xe of the ?si?-zhu great division.
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