Like their relatives, the Omaha and the Ponca, the Osage people have a fondness for personal adornment. Much paint is used in decorating the face and body. Most of the lines and figures drawn upon the face and body are symbolic, as, for instance, a woman paints the parting of her hair almost daily. The red line symbolizes the path of the sun which forever passes over the earth and gives to it vitality. It is a sign of supplication for the continuity of life by procreation. Or, a man of the Life-giver gens paints his face all yellow with a narrow black line running diagonally across his face from one corner of his forehead down to the lower jaw on the opposite side. This is the life sign ceremonially put upon a captive when the word is passed by the Life-giver gens that the captive shall be permitted to live. A downy feather worn upright on the crown of the head by a man symbolizes the sun which brings life to the earth in material form. The white shell gorget which a man wears as a pendant on his necklace is also a symbol of the life-giving sun. EAR PERFORATING Down to recent times the Osage men have been sacrificing the shapeliness of their external ears to the gratification of their fondness for adornment. In ordinary times, and particularly on festal days, the Osage men weighted their ears with strings of wampum or other ornaments made of bone or shells and silver earbobs which were introduced by traders. The weight of the earrings and the crowding of the holes in the ears with the rings enlarge the perforations to an extraordinary size. (Pl. 11.) The holes, which are bored along the rim of the pinna, were made by the same men who performed the ceremony connected with the perforating. These men provided themselves with perforating instruments made of sharpened bone, wooden expanders, and little blocks of wood against which the ear is pressed when performing the operation. (Pl. 12.) For a long time Wa´-thu-xa-ge and Ṭsi´-zhu-zhiⁿ-ga held this office. The former died a few years ago. Both of these men were members of the Peace gens of the Ṭsi´-zhu great tribal division. An Osage was asked why the ears of the children were bored and he replied that the children whose ears were bored were apt to be better behaved than those whose ears were not perforated. ḲI´-NO^N WI´-GI-E 1 1. He´-dsi xtsi a´, a biⁿ da, ṭsi ga, 2. Da´-doⁿ ḳi-noⁿ gi-the moⁿ-thiⁿ ṭa ba doⁿ a´, a biⁿ da, ṭsi ga, 3. Wa´-ḳoⁿ-da ṭse-ga xtsi e-thoⁿ-be hi noⁿ noⁿ a´, a biⁿ da, ṭsi ga, 4. Ga´ ḳi-noⁿ gi-the moⁿ-thiⁿ bi a´, a biⁿ da, ṭsi ga, 5. Ḳi´-noⁿ gi-the moⁿ-thiⁿ bi doⁿ shki a´, a biⁿ da, ṭsi ga, 6. Ṭs’e wa-ṭse-xi ḳi-the moⁿ-thiⁿ ṭa bi a, wi-çoⁿ-ga, e-ḳi-a bi a, a biⁿ da, ṭsi ga. 2