Osage Traditions — Reading Companion

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In Category - Folklore

Authors: Dorsey, James Owen, 1848-1895 Published By : Project Gutenberg In Year : 2006

Key Word: Osage Indians -- Folklore; Osage language -- Texts Target Reader: Readers of public-domain and historical texts

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Dorsey's 1883 fieldwork among the Osage yields a secret society's seven-degree initiation traditions, interlinear chants, and a symbolic chart, revealing how cosmology and kinship structure oral narratives.

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Edition 1, (October 4, 2006)

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION—BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY.

INTRODUCTION. TRADITIONS OF THE ELDERS. UNŬn’U¢ÁʞE. TSÍOU WACTÁʞE ITÁ*P*E. UNŬn’ U¢ÁʞE. QÜ¢ÁPASAn ITÁ*P*E. CONCLUDING REMARKS.

FIG. 389. Symbolic chart of the Osage.

BY REV. J. OWEN DORSEY.

When the author visited the Osage, in the Indian Territory, in January, 1883, he learned of the existence of a secret society of seven degrees, in which, it was alleged, the traditions of the people have been preserved to the present time. Owing to the shortness of his visit, one month and eleven days, he was unable to gain more than fragmentary accounts of the society, including parts of two traditions, from several Osage who had been initiated.

The version of the first tradition was dictated to the author by Ha*d*a-ɔüʇse (Red Corn), a halfbreed Osage of the Tsíɔu wactáʞe gens. He obtained it from Sa*d*eki¢e. Ha*d*a-ɔüʇse was adopted in childhood by a white man named Matthews, who sent him to a Jesuit college in Missouri(?) to be educated for the priesthood. But the boy left the institution after he had been taught to read and write, as he did not wish to become a priest. He took the name of William P. Matthews, but among his white associates he is known as Bill Nix. He has tried several occupations and is now an Indian doctor. The author was inclined at first to underrate Mr. Matthews’s accomplishments and stock of information, but subsequently changed his opinion of him, as he obtained much that agreed with what had been furnished by members of other tribes in former years. Besides, the author obtained partial accounts of similar traditions from other Osage, who used the same chant which Ha*d*a-ɔüʇse had sung. 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 Ha*d*a-ɔüʇse. At the top we see a tree near a river. The tree is a cedar, called the tree of life. It has six roots, three on each side. Nothing is said about this tree till the speaker nearly reaches the end of the tradition. Then follows the "ceremony of the cedar." The tree is described very minutely. Then follows a similar account of the river and its branches.

FIG. 389. Symbolic chart of the Osage.

Just under the river, at the left, we see a large star, the Red or Morning Star. Next are six stars, Ta¢a*d*¢in. The Omaha know a similar group, which they call "Minxa si ʇañga," or "Large foot of a goose." Next is the Evening Star; and last comes the small star, "Mikak’ĕ-ɔiñʞa." Beneath these four we see the seven stars, or Pleiades (Mikak’ĕ u*d*átse pé¢ŭn*d*a, the Seven Gentes of Stars), between the Moon (on the left) and the Sun (on the right). Beneath these are the peace pipe (on the left) and the hatchet (on the right). A bird is seen hovering over the four upper worlds. These worlds are represented by four parallel horizontal lines, each of which, except the lowest one, is supported by two pillars. 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. 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 Sa*d*eki¢e. ʞahiʞe-waʇayiñʞa 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 Waɔaɔe or war gentes applied for assistance. 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 sá*d*e, 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. 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." 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 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. Ha*d*a-ɔüʇse 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 Waɔaɔe and Tsíɔu gentes came to the village of the Hañ’ʞa-utá¢anʇse, 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 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. He carried a staff to aid him in walking. Three times a day he wept, in the morning, at noon, and near sunset. They returned to the people at the end of the seven days, being very thin. The report of the Tsíɔu man was accepted, so the Tsíɔu gens is superior to the Panɥka-wactáʞe or Watsetsi. A Waɔaɔe man acted as crier and told all about the new home of the nation. All the old men decorated their faces with clay. The next morning the two old men who had gone in search of the new home led their respective sides of the nation, who marched in parallel roads. When they reached the land the policemen ran around in a circle, just as they do previous to starting to war. The Waɔaɔe man ran around from right to left and the ¢uqe man from left to right. At different stations the two old leaders addressed the people. Finally the men took sharp pointed sticks, which they stuck into the ground, each one saying ’I wish my lodge to be here.’ The next day the Cuka or messenger of the Tsíɔu old man went to summon the Elk crier. The latter was ordered to make a proclamation to all the people, as follows: ’They say that you must remove to-day! Wakanʇa has made good weather! They say that you must remove today to a good land!’ In those days the Osage used dogs instead of horses. When the old Tsíɔu man made his speech, he went into details about every part of a lodge, the fireplace, building materials, implements, &c. Four sticks were placed in the fireplace, the first pointing to the west. When this was laid down, the Tsíɔu leader spoke about the West Wind, and also about a young buffalo bull (Tseʇu’-ɔiñʞa), repeating the name Wani’e-skă. When the stick at the north was laid down, he spoke of Tsehe quʇse (gray buffalo horns) or a buffalo bull. When the stick at the east was laid down he spoke of Tseʇuʞa tañʞa (a large buffalo bull). On laying down the fourth stick at the south, he spoke of Tse minʞa (a buffalo cow). At the same time a similar ceremony was performed by the aged Panɥka man on the right side of the tribe.(2)

"In placing the stick to the east, Taʇse ʞaqpa tsĕ, The East Wind, and Tahe ca*d*e, Dark-Horned Deer, were mentioned; to the north, Taʇse *P*asan tsĕ, The North Wind, and The Deer with gray horns were mentioned; to the west, Taʇse Man’ha tsĕ, The West Wind, and an animal which makes a lodge and is with the Tahe pasiʞe were mentioned; to the south, T]aʇse Ak’a tsĕ, The South Wind, and Ta wañka he aʞ¢aɔĭ skutañʞa were mentioned."(3)

ʞahiʞe-waʇayiñʞa gave no further information, as a reported case of smallpox near the agency led the author to start for the East February 21, 1883. Since then he has learned of the existence of similar societies among the Kansa and the Ponka, and he suspects that there were formerly such societies among the Omaha.(4)

TRADITIONS OF THE ELDERS.

In presenting the accompanying traditions, the following abbreviations are used in the interlinear translations:

an., _animate_. cv., _curvilinear_. du., _dual_. in., _inanimate_. mv., _moving_. ob., _object_. pl., _plural_. recl., _reclining_. sing., _singular_. st., _sitting_. std., _standing_. sub., _subject_.

UNŬn’U¢ÁʞE. TSÍOU WACTÁʞE ITÁ*P*E.

(Tradition of the Tsíɔu wactáʞe gens.)(5)

1 | Ɔiñʞa | weháʞi¢e(6): | á*d*intaú, | Tsiká!(7)

| Child | last | he really said | O grandfather!

6 | Ĕʇsíqtsi | níkacíʞa-*d*áɔĭ(10): | á*d*intaú, | Tsiká!

| Just there | they were not human beings | he really said | O grandfather!

| Ĕʇsíqtsi | níkacíʞa-*d*áɔĭ: | á*d*intaú, | Tsiká!

| Just there | they were not human beings | he really said | O grandfather!

12 | Ɔiñ’ʞa | ɔuíʞa | añʞúʞiʇsé tatsé: á*d*intaú, Tsiká!

| Ĕʇsíqtsi | níkacíʞa-*d*áɔĭ: | á*d*intaú, | Tsiká!

| Just there | they were not human beings | he really said | O grandfather!

18 | Ĕʇsíqtsi | níkacíʞa é(12): | á*d*intaú, | Tsiká!

| Just there | they were human beings | he really said | O grandfather!

| Káxe-wáhü-san(13) | ¢é-na: | á*d*intaú, | Tsiká!

| Crow bone white | he who was mv. in the past | he really said | O grandfather!

33 | ¢útsi naɔin’ | é | e¢á*d*intaú, | Tsiká!

| Came directly to him and stood | he said | indeed, he really said | O grandfather!

| Há, | wiɔin¢é: | á*d*intaú, | Tsiká!

| Ho | elder brother! | he really said | O grandfather!

42 | Cŭn’ŭnckíta | úʇan*d*e¢a¢é tatsé: | á*d*intaú, | Tsiká!

| Awhile longer | you shall attend to it | he really said | O grandfather!

| Cŭn’ŭnckíta | úʇan*d*e¢a¢é tatsé: | á*d*intaú, | Tsiká!

| Awhile longer | you shall attend to it | he really said | O grandfather!

54 | Cŭnŭnckítá | úʇan*d*e¢a¢é tatsé: | á*d*intaú, | Tsiká!

| Awhile | you shall attend to it | he really said | O grandfather!

| Há, | wítsiʞué | á*d*intaú, | Tsiká!

| Ho | grandfather! | he really said | O grandfather!

60 | Cŭn’ŭnckíta | úʇan*d*e¢a¢é tatsé: | á*d*intaú, | Tsiká!

| Awhile longer | you shall attend to it | he really said | O grandfather!

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J. Owen Dorsey's Osage Traditions (1883–84) presents two versions of a foundational narrative obtained during a five-week visit to the Osage in Indian Territory. The text is built around interlinear chants—Osage lines with English glosses—that recount a journey through four celestial gyrations before reaching a sycamore tree. Dorsey's introduction foregrounds the source: Ha d a-ɔüʇse (Red Corn), a halfbreed Osage of the Tsíɔu wactáʞe gens, who had been educated at a Jesuit college and later worked as an Indian doctor. The author notes that younger Osage men knew nothing of these matters, and that elder initiates bore parts of a symbolic chart tattooed on their throats and chests.

The Secret Society and Its Seven Degrees

Dorsey learned of a secret society with seven degrees, in which “the traditions of the people have been preserved to the present time.” His account is fragmentary: he could obtain only parts of two traditions, dictated by Ha d a-ɔüʇse and checked against partial accounts from other Osage who sang the same chant. The author warns that he was “urged not to speak to them on this subject” among younger men. This framing positions the recorded material as guarded knowledge, not public lore. The society’s graded structure is never fully described in the excerpts, but the repeated appeals to “grandfather” and “grandmother” in the chants suggest a ritualized dialogue between generations of initiates.

Symbolic Chart and Celestial Geography

Figure 389, a facsimile of a chart drawn by Ha d a-ɔüʇse, anchors the narrative. At the top stands a cedar tree—called the tree of life—with six roots, three per side. Below it runs a river with branches. The chart then depicts a sequence of stars: the Red or Morning Star, six stars (Ta¢a d ¢i n , compared by the Omaha to “Large foot of a goose”), the Evening Star, a small star (Mikak'ĕ-ɔiñʞa), and the Pleiades (Mikak'ĕ u d átse pé¢ŭ n d a, “the Seven Gentes of Stars”) between the Moon. Dorsey notes that “nothing is said about this tree till the speaker nearly reaches the end of the tradition,” after which follows the “ceremony of the cedar.” The chart thus functions as a mnemonic map, with celestial bodies corresponding to stages in the chant.

Interlinear Chant and Repetitive Structure

The core of the text is a chant in Osage with interlinear English translation. Each line follows a fixed pattern: a speaker addresses “O grandfather!” (Tsiká!) or “O grandmother!” (iɥʞú!), states an action or observation, and receives a reply. For example, “Bird red | to the st. an. ob. | arrived and stood | he really said | O grandfather!” The chant repeats the formula “Máxe | úʞawi n ’xe” (Upper world | gyration) four times, each time concluding that the people “were not human beings” until the fourth gyration, when they stand on a sycamore at harvest time. The repetition of “he really said” and the call-and-response between elder and younger brothers (wísŭñʞaé, wíɔi n ¢é) emphasize oral performance and ritual correctness.

Readers should approach this work as a field record shaped by Dorsey's brief visit and his reliance on a single primary consultant. The interlinear format preserves the chant’s structure but obscures its musical and performative dimensions. Comparing the two versions of the tradition—and noting where lines are marked as wanting—reveals the limits of the documentation. The symbolic chart offers a visual key to the narrative’s cosmology, but its meaning is only partially glossed in the text.

Dorsey’s seven-degree chart felt like holding a folded map of memory, each chanted line a ridge I’d walked in some other life. It reminded me of winter evenings spent turning pages of Algic Researches, Comprising Inquiries Respecting the Mental Characteristics of the North American Indians, First Series. Indian Tales and Legends, Vol. 2 of 2 — Context and Discussion, where kinship spoke through fox and star alike.