The Osage tribe, two versions of the child-naming rite (1928 N 43 / 1925-1926 (pages 23-164)) — Key Ideas to Explore

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Authors: La Flesche, Francis, 1857-1932 Digital Source: Project Gutenberg Gutenberg Release Year: 2015 First Publication Year: Not confirmed

Key Word: Osage Indians -- Rites and ceremonies; Osage Indians -- Religion; Osage mythology Target Reader: Readers of public-domain and historical texts

Book Edition: Project Gutenberg digital edition Book Language: en

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Words 65,408

Reading time 285 min

Text sections 9

The source record for The Osage tribe, two versions of the child-naming rite (1928 N 43 / 1925-1926 (pages 23-164)) — Key Ideas to Explore measures this digital text at 65,408 words, 4 hr 45 min estimated reading time, and 9 detected text sections.

The text analysis averages about 16.5 words per sentence, while the detected sections provide another way to judge how the source is divided.

Project Gutenberg metadata also associates the work with “Osage Indians -- Rites and ceremonies,” connecting these edition facts with the source record’s subject description.

Source: Project Gutenberg record #49326

Francis La Flesche's bilingual record of two Osage child-naming ceremonies, with interlinear Osage text and English translation, reveals a ritual structure built on repeated formulaic phrases, gentile-specific wi´-gi-es, and a shift from mythic invocation to practical instruction.

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, saying: The little ones have nothing to use as a symbol of their courage. Wa-ça´-be replied: I am a person whom the little ones may use as a symbol of their courage. The brothers spake to one another, saying: He is a black bear! He is very dark in color! Let us take from him personal names. Sha´-be-ṭsi-gthe, the Dark-one, Shall be our name henceforth, as we travel the path of life. You have found the Dark-one, O, younger brothers, Sha´-be-i-the, Finder-of-the-dark-one, Shall be our name, henceforth, as we travel the path of life. Look you, O, younger brothers, they said to one another, The little ones have nothing to use as a symbol of courage. Then they went forth in a body to an open prairie, Where sat Mi´-xa-çka, the Great-white-swan. Face to face they stood with him and spake, Saying: The little ones have nothing to use as a symbol of courage, O, grandfather. The brothers spake in low tones, saying: O, younger brothers, We shall take from him personal names. How white he is! the younger ones exclaimed, He is a bird, A white swan. Mi´-xa-çka, the White-swan, Shall be our name, O, younger brothers. How white he is! they again exclaimed, Wa-zhiⁿ´-çka, the White-bird, shall also Be our name, O, younger brothers.

—(36th Ann. Rept. Bur. Amer. Ethn., pp. 194-195, lines 1063 to 1115.)

Earth names mentioned in the origin wi´-gi-e given, by Wa-ṭse´-moⁿ-iⁿ.

WI´-GI-E OF THE WA´ṬSE-GI-ṬSI

HE-WHO-CAME-FROM-THE-STARS

What said they? it has been said, in this house, The people spake, saying: O, younger brothers, We are a people who give no mercy to the foe. Then they spake to the one (gens) who had made of the Puma his body, Saying: O, younger brother. Hardly were these words spoken when the Puma hastened forth. After a time the people said: There are signs that our brother is returning. Then some of the brothers ran to meet him.

To their inquiry the Puma replied: O, elder brothers, Yonder stands a man, Verily, a man whose appearance inspires fear, A man who is like us in form. The people spake, saying: O, younger brother, We are a people who show no mercy to the foe. Whoever this man may be, We shall send him to the abode of spirits, We shall make him to lie low.

Then toward the man they hastened: They made one ceremonial pause. At the fourth pause, The Puma exclaimed: There he stands! It is well, the people replied, We shall send him to the abode of spirits. Then, at that very time, The stranger spake, saying: I am a sacred man, O, elder brothers.

The Puma spake, saying: He speaks clearly our language! I am Hoⁿ´-ga Wa´-ṭse-gi-ṭsi, a sacred person come from the stars, the stranger continued. I am Zhiⁿ-ga´-ga-hi-ge,[1] The-young-chief; I am Wa´-ṭse-ga-hi-ge, The-star-chief; I am Wa´-ṭse-ga-wa, The-star-radiant; I am Wa´-ṭse-moⁿ-iⁿ, The-traveling-star.

That pleases us! the people exclaimed. Zhiⁿ-ga´-ga-hi-ge, The-young-chief, the stranger went on, Shall be your name, as you travel the path of life; Wa´-ṭse-ga-wa, The-star-radiant, Shall also be your name, as you travel the path of life. I have done much to make you contented and happy. We are pleased! the people exclaimed, We shall henceforth put away all anger and hatred, We shall accept the names thus offered us. Zhiⁿ-ga´-ga-hi-ge, The-young-chief, Shall be our name, Wa´-ṭse-ga-wa, The-star-radiant, Shall be our name. I´-e-çka-wa-the, He-speaks-clearly, We shall also take as a name in his honor, P̣a´-thiⁿ-hoⁿ-ga, The-sacred-stranger, We shall also take as a name in his honor.

[1] The name Zhin-ga´-ga-hi-ge is still used in the Ṭa-p̣a´ gens of the Omaha, a cognate tribe.

Mi´-xa-çka, the white swan from whom personal names were taken, as mentioned in the following wi´-gi-e given by Wa-ṭse´-moⁿ-iⁿ, is a warrior symbol. The black color on its feet and on the tip of its nose typifies the fire that knows no mercy. The standards (crooks), which were carried by an Osage war party (pl. 6, _a_), typify the neck of the white swan.

MI´-XA-ÇKA, THE WHITE SWAN

The people spake to one another, saying: We have nothing of which to make a symbol (war standard). They spake to the Puma (gens), saying: Go thou and make search (for materials). Even as these words were spoken the Puma went forth to search.

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Francis La Flesche’s The Osage Tribe, Two Versions of the Child-naming Rite presents the text of two distinct ceremonial traditions side by side, each anchored in the repeated phrase a biⁿ da, ṭsi ga (“they say, it is said”). This formulaic opening, threaded through every wi´-gi-e (ritual song or prayer), establishes a voice that is both authoritative and collective, as if the speaker is channeling ancestral recitation. The work’s structure alternates between dense Osage-language lines and English paraphrases, creating a rhythm that mirrors the ceremonial pacing—slow, iterative, and layered with symbolic repetition.

Formulaic Repetition as Ritual Structure

The wi´-gi-es rely on a fixed pattern: each stanza begins with Da´-doⁿ wa-çi-thu-çe moⁿ-thiⁿ ṭa ba doⁿ a´, a biⁿ da, ṭsi ga (“Whatever I shall do as I move about, they say, it is said”), followed by a gentile-specific line—such as Wa´-ṭse do-ga thiⁿ-kshe a´ (“The male Wa´-ṭse stands there”)—and closes with U´-noⁿ a bi i-the ḳi-the moⁿ-thiⁿ ṭa bi a´, wi-çoⁿ-ga, e-ḳi-a bi a, a biⁿ da, ṭsi ga (“I shall cause him to walk in the path of life, my child, I have said, they say, it is said”). This repetitive scaffolding does not merely fill space; it enacts the ceremonial logic of blessing through verbal insistence. The same lines recur across different gentes, with only the gentile name and gender markers (do-ga/mi-ga) shifting, suggesting that the rite’s power lies in precise, unvarying recitation rather than narrative originality.

Parallel Versions and Shifting Voice

La Flesche juxtaposes two versions—the Puma gens ritual and the Ṭsi´-zhu Wa-shta-ge gens ritual—allowing readers to compare their distinct emphases. The Puma version opens with the Ḳi´-noⁿ (decorating the Xo´-ḳa) ceremony, while the Ṭsi´-zhu version begins with a Wa-zho´-i-ga-the (life symbol) wi´-gi-e. In the latter, the voice shifts from third-person narration to direct address: Ha´! wi-çoⁿ-ga, e-ḳi-a bi a´ (“Ha! my child, I have said”). This interjection of Ha´! marks a change in pace—a sudden, emphatic breath that breaks the measured repetition. The text also includes a section titled “Paraphrase of the wi´-gi-e of the Red Eagle gens,” where La Flesche moves from interlinear gloss to a freer English rendering, altering the rhythm from line-by-line fidelity to narrative summary. This shift in editorial voice itself becomes a layer of the reading experience.

Cataloguing Names as a Lexical Archive

The final third of the work departs from ritual text to list “Native Names of Osage Full Bloods” and “Names of the Gentes and Subgentes,” organized by gentile affiliation (e.g., Wa´-ṭse-ṭsi, Ṭa´ I-ni-ḳa-shi-ga, Hoⁿ´-ga U-ṭa-noⁿ-dsi). These pages read as a census of naming patterns rather than a narrative: each entry pairs an Osage name with its English gloss, such as Wa-xthi´-zhi (Iⁿ-gthoⁿ´-ga gens) or Shoⁿ´-ge-moⁿ-iⁿ (Ṭsi´-zhu Wa-shta-ge gens). The pace here becomes taxonomic—a deliberate deceleration from the ritual’s incantatory flow. La Flesche’s inclusion of these lists suggests that the naming rite cannot be understood apart from the social matrix of gentes, each with its own store of names and associated wi´-gi-es. The work thus functions as both a ceremonial script and an ethnographic lexicon.

Readers attentive to language will find that the work’s value lies not in a single coherent narrative but in the interplay between Osage text, English gloss, and ethnographic framing. La Flesche’s decision to present two versions invites comparison of minute variations—a shift in a single word, the addition of a line—that may carry ceremonial weight. The repeated phrase a biⁿ da, ṭsi ga becomes a refrain that orients the reader to the oral, iterative nature of the rite, while the appended name lists ground the ceremony in specific kin groups.

The rain kept time with the Osage elder’s voice, each wi´-gi-e a measured drop against the window. I noticed how the child-naming rite shifted from mythic refrain to plain instruction, a gentle descent from sky to earth. Later, flipping pages, I found a similar quiet turn in Women of Early Christianity — A Closer Reading, where ritual words become daily bread. That afternoon, both books felt like one long, patient exhale.