James Owen Dorsey

“ Therefore, when a child is named in the Tsíɔu gens (alone?) the head man of that gens (ʞahiʞe-waʇayiñʞa himself, according to his statement) takes a grain of each kind of corn and a slice of each variety of pumpkin, which he puts into the mouth of the infant. Hada-ɔüʇse knew that the four kinds of [pg 380] rocks were found, "but he could not say in what part of the tradition the account belonged. He said that subsequently the Waɔaɔe and Tsíɔu gentes came to the village of the Hañ'ʞa-utá¢anʇse, a very war-like people, who then inhabited earth lodges. ”

“ These are unknown to the members of the Tsíɔu gentes. After the female red bird gave bodies to the Tsíɔu people, the Black Bear found seven skins, which were used for tents. Subsequently the people discovered four kinds of rocks, which were the In’qĕ sáde, or black rock; In’qĕ tṵhṵ,1 or blue (green?) rock; In’qĕ ɔüʇse, or red rock; and In’qĕ skă, or white rock. Therefore, when a child is named, four stones are heated for the sweat bath. ”

“ They stood on a sycamore tree.
45 They stood there at harvest time.
"Ho, younger brother! a man has left a trail."
"Ho, elder brother!" said the Black Bear; "you have said that a man has left a trail.
"This is the man."
48 "Ho, elder brother!" (said the stranger) "I am Young Hañʞa."
[Tsiɔu.] "Ho, younger brother! a man has left a trail."
[Black Bear.] "Ho, elder brother! you have said that a man has left a trail.
"This is the man."
51 "Ho, elder brother!" (said the stranger) "I am Osage.
"We shall be Hañʞa people." ”

“ After finding the rocks, according to ʞahiʞe-waʇayiñʞa, four buffalo bulls approached the people, as one of the men was returning to the company. When the first bull arose after rolling on the ground, an ear of red corn and a red pumpkin fell from his left hind leg. The leader of the Tsíɔu wactáʞe noticed them, and asked his younger brother to pick them up and taste them. The leader of the Bald Eagle subgens did so. Then the elder brother said: "These will be good for the children to eat. Their limbs will stretch and increase in strength." ”

“ In four revolutions or gyrations of the upper worlds, we became human beings.
Though we were human beings, we did not find bodies.
39 They arrived at the second revolution of the upper worlds.
There we were not (complete) human beings. ”

“ The lowest world rests on a red oak tree.
The journey of the people began at a point below the lowest upper world, on the left side of the chart. Then the people had neither human bodies nor souls, though they existed in some unknown manner. [pg 379] They ascended from the lowest upper world, on the left, to the highest. There they obtained human souls in the bodies of birds, according to Sadeki¢e. ʞahiʞe-waʇayiñʞa said that there they met a male red bird, to whom they appealed for aid. ”

“ None of the younger Osage men knew about these matters and the author was urged not to speak to them on this subject. He observed that several of the elder men, members of the secret order in which these traditions are preserved, had parts of the accompanying symbolic chart (Fig. 389) tattooed on their throats and chests. This chart is a fac simile of one that was drawn for the author by Hada-ɔüʇse. At the top we see a tree near a river. The tree is a cedar, called the tree of life. ”

“ They subsisted on animals, and bodies of all kinds lay around their village, making the air very offensive. The Tsíɔu succeeded at last in making peace with the Hañ'ʞa-utá¢anʇse. After this followed the part of the account given to the author by ʞahiʞe-waʇayiñʞa:
"After the council between the Tsíɔu, Waɔaɔe, and Hañ'ʞa-utá¢anʇse, two old men were sent off to seek a country in which all might dwell. One of these was a Tsíɔu wactáʞe and the other a Panɥka-wactáʞe. Each man received a pipe from the council and was told to go for seven days without food or drink. ”

“ This may be translated freely by "Revelations of the elders of the Red Eagle gens."
6.Ɔiñ'ʞa weháʞi¢e, "The first end of the children" or "The beginning of the race." This reckoning was backward. The Ponka have a similar usage: uhañge, an end; uhañge pahañga tĕ, the first end or beginning. Ádintaú, formed by crasis from ade and intau, may refer to the words of the old men who have handed down these traditions. Tsiká is unintelligible to the younger Osage of the present day. One man told the author that he thought it meant, "O grandfather," being addressed to the principal Wakanʇa. ”

“ So were all of the heavenly bodies to whom the Black Bear applied.
16.Ɔiñ’ʞa ɔuíʞa miñkcé ¢an’tse, a phrase that puzzles the writer, who suspects that an auxiliary verb has been omitted and that the whole should read: "Ɔiñʞa ɔuiʞa-wikci¢e miñkcé ¢an’tse? ( Can I give you bodies for the children?) ”