Osage Indians -- Folklore; Osage language -- Texts
"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)
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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