Osage Traditions | Page 2

human souls in the bodies of birds, according to
Sa*d*eki¢e. {~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED K~}ahi{~LATIN
SMALL LETTER TURNED K~}e-wa{~LATIN SMALL LETTER
TURNED T~}ayiñ{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED K~}a said
that there they met a male red bird, to whom they appealed for aid. (See
p. 383, line 18.) This was distinct from the female Red Bird, who gave
them human bodies. They descended to the first world, and from that
they traveled until they alighted on the red oak tree. (See p. 383, line
30.) The ground was covered with grass and other kinds of vegetation.
Then the paths of the people separated: some marched on the left, being
the peace gentes that could not take life; they subsisted on roots &c.;
while those on the right killed animals. By and by the gentes exchanged
commodities.
The small figures on the left, in going from the tree (on the right when
facing the tree), show the heavenly bodies or beings to whom the Black
Bear went for help, and those on the right, in going from the tree (on
the left when facing the top of the chart), show similar bodies or beings
to whom the Wa{~LATIN SMALL LETTER OPEN O~}a{~LATIN
SMALL LETTER OPEN O~}e or war gentes applied for assistance.

These are unknown to the members of the Tsí{~LATIN SMALL
LETTER OPEN O~}u gentes. After the female red bird gave bodies to
the Tsí{~LATIN SMALL LETTER OPEN O~}u people, the Black
Bear found seven skins, which were used for tents. Subsequently the
people discovered four kinds of rocks, which were the In'qe sá*d*e, or
black rock; In'qe tuhu,(1) or blue (green?) rock; In'qe {~LATIN
SMALL LETTER OPEN O~}ü{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED
T~}se, or red rock; and In'qe ska, or white rock. Therefore, when a
child is named, four stones are heated for the sweat bath. After finding
the rocks, according to {~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED
K~}ahi{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED K~}e-wa{~LATIN
SMALL LETTER TURNED T~}ayiñ{~LATIN SMALL LETTER
TURNED K~}a, 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 Tsí{~LATIN SMALL LETTER
OPEN O~}u wactá{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED K~}e
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." When the second bull arose after
rolling, an ear of spotted corn and a spotted pumpkin dropped from his
left hind leg. These, too, were tasted and declared good for the children.
When the third bull arose after rolling, an ear of dark corn and a dark
(black?) pumpkin dropped from his left hind leg. From the left hind leg
of the fourth buffalo dropped an ear of white corn and a white pumpkin.
Therefore, when a child is named in the Tsí{~LATIN SMALL
LETTER OPEN O~}u gens (alone?) the head man of that gens
({~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED K~}ahi{~LATIN SMALL
LETTER TURNED K~}e-wa{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED
T~}ayiñ{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED K~}a 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. Ha*d*a-{~LATIN SMALL LETTER OPEN O~}ü{~LATIN
SMALL LETTER TURNED T~}se knew that the four kinds of rocks
were found, "but he could not say in what part of the tradition the
account belonged. He said that subsequently the Wa{~LATIN SMALL

LETTER OPEN O~}a{~LATIN SMALL LETTER OPEN O~}e and
Tsí{~LATIN SMALL LETTER OPEN O~}u gentes came to the
village of the Hañ'{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED
K~}a-utá¢an{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED T~}se, a very
war-like people, who then inhabited earth lodges. They subsisted on
animals, and bodies of all kinds lay around their village, making the air
very offensive. The Tsí{~LATIN SMALL LETTER OPEN O~}u
succeeded at last in making peace with the Hañ'{~LATIN SMALL
LETTER TURNED K~}a-utá¢an{~LATIN SMALL LETTER
TURNED T~}se. After this followed the part of the account given to
the author by {~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED K~}ahi{~LATIN
SMALL LETTER TURNED K~}e-wa{~LATIN SMALL LETTER
TURNED T~}ayiñ{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED K~}a:
"After the council between the Tsí{~LATIN SMALL LETTER OPEN
O~}u, Wa{~LATIN SMALL LETTER OPEN O~}a{~LATIN SMALL
LETTER OPEN O~}e, and Hañ'{~LATIN SMALL LETTER
TURNED K~}a-utá¢an{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED T~}se,
two old men were sent off to seek a country in which all might dwell.
One of these was a Tsí{~LATIN SMALL LETTER OPEN O~}u
wactá{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED K~}e and the other a
Pan{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED H~}ka-wactá{~LATIN
SMALL LETTER TURNED K~}e. Each man received a pipe from the
council and was told to