Osage Indians -- Folklore; Osage language -- Texts
Ha*d*a-ɔüʇse, told some of the tradition first in English, but on
chanting it in Osage he did not give all; so the former account is
now given in these notes: "When the ancestors of the Bald Eagle
people came to this earth they alighted on a sycamore tree, as all
of the surrounding country was under water. This water was dried up
by the ancestors of the Elk people, according to the tradition of
the Ṵpqan or Elk gens; but this is disputed by the members of the
I*d*ats’ĕ gens, who are Kansa or Wind people. They say that their
ancestors blew on the water, drying it up and causing the growth of
vegetation. As soon as the water was gone the Bald Eagle people
alighted on the ground. Then they met the Black Bear, who offered to
become the servant of the Tsiɔu wactaʞe people. So he was sent to
"Watse-ʇuʞa, who was a red star; then to Watse-minʞa, a star near
the Morning Star; then to the Sun, Moon, and Seven Stars. As the
people journeyed, the Black Bear said to the Tsiɔu leader, ’Brother,
I see a man’s trail. Here is the man.’ The stranger said, ’I am a
young Hañʞa. I am fit for work.’ So they took him with them. Then
they saw another trail, of which the Black Bear spoke to the Tsíɔu
leader. They overtook the man, who was Hañʞaqtsi or Real Hañʞa. By
and by they reached the village of the Hañʞa uta¢anʇse. They entered
the village and made peace with the inhabitants. Then the leader of
the Hañʞa uta¢anʇse said, ’We have some people come to us, and we
will make them our chiefs.’ So the two wactaʞe were made chiefs. The
wactaʞe were then sent to search for a land where they might dwell,
as the village of the Hañʞa uta¢anʇse was filthy and offensive on
account of the dead bodies in and around it. This council was the
first one of the whole nation. The two wactaʞe went out as mourners
for seven days. The Hañʞa wactaʞe (Panɥka = Ponka) came back first,
saying, ’I have found a place.’ Afterwards the Tsiɔu wactaʞe
returned and reported. The council was held again to decide to which
place they would go. They agreed to settle at the place visited by
the Tsiɔu wactaʞe. Then four standards were made by members of the
Waɔaɔe (wanŭn gens, two for each side of the tribe. These were the
standards made of minxa ha (swan or goose skins), and they were
carried on the hunting road as well as on the war path. But the
otter skin standards were always retained by the Waɔaɔe gens."
On comparing this version with that of Sa*d*eki¢e we notice that in
one or the other a transposition of some parts has been made. In
this latter tradition the appeals to the heavenly bodies and to the
Red Bird were made before the journey to the four revolutions of the
upper worlds.
21 Here is where the two roads begin.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account