Chapter 4
1 The sound of this inverted u, between o and u, as well as the sounds of other letters used in this article, except that of the inverted {~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED H~} (which is a sound approximating ch in the German word ich), is to be found on page 206, Third Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology.
2 It is probable, however, that the Pan{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED H~}ka (Ponka) man began with the stick at the east, as he must use the right hand and foot first.
3 Meaning uncertain; it may refer to the female or doe.
4 See "Omaha Sociology," ยงยง 14-16, 19, 28, 33, 34, 36, 56, 143, 248-258, and passim, in Third Annual Report of the Director of the Bureau of Ethnology.
5 The literal rendering of the title is "Growth told. Tsi{~LATIN SMALL LETTER OPEN O~}u Peacemaker theirs." This may be translated freely by "Revelations of the elders of the Red Eagle gens."
6 Oin'{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED K~}a weha{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED K~}ice, "The first end of the children" or "The beginning of the race." This reckoning was backward. The Ponka have a similar usage: uhange, _an end_; uhange pahanga te, _the first end_ or _beginning_. Adintau, formed by crasis from a*d*e and intau, may refer to the words of the old men who have handed down these traditions. Tsika is unintelligible to the younger Osage of the present day. One man told the author that he thought it meant, "O grandfather," being addressed to the principal Wakan{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED T~}a. He said that it was substituted for another name of that being.
7 The chorus or refrain at the end of each line is omitted in the free translation, as it would make confusion. If retained, the first four lines would read thus:
The first of the race: he really said, O grandfather!
He was saying, "Ho, younger brother! the children have no bodies": he really said, O grandfather!
"We shall seek bodies for our children": he really said, O grandfather!
"Ho, younger brother! you shall attend to it": he really said, O grandfather!
8 E{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED K~}i anka refers to the preceding words, which were those of one of the mythic speakers. He was an ancestor of the Tsi{~LATIN SMALL LETTER OPEN O~}u gens. Here he addressed his younger brother. At this time the brothers were destitute of human souls and bodies, though they possessed conscious existence and could talk, as well as move about from place to place.
9 See the lowest horizontal line on the left side of the chart.
10 Nikaci{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED K~}a-da{~LATIN SMALL LETTER OPEN O~}i. Another reading is nikaci{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED K~}aqtsi-da{~LATIN SMALL LETTER OPEN O~}i: _they were not complete human beings_.
11 A different reading of lines 17 to 25 is as follows:
Maxe usaki*d*a | {~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED T~}u*d*a | nikaci{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED K~}aca*d*e: | a*d*intau, | Tsika!
Parallel upper worlds | four | they were made human beings | he really said | O grandfather!
Cun'unckita | e | eca*d*intau, | Tsika!
Awhile | he said | indeed, he really said | O grandfather!
Oin'{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED K~}a | {~LATIN SMALL LETTER OPEN O~}ui{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED K~}a | wacin'{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED K~}a*d*e, | e anka: | a*d*intau, | Tsika!
Child | body | they have none | he was saying | he really said | O grandfather!
Ha, | wisun'{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED K~}a! | e | eca*d*intau, | Tsika!
Ho | younger brother! | he said | indeed, he really said | O grandfather!
U{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED T~}an*d*e | an{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED K~}axe tatse: a*d*intau, Tsika!
Attention | we shall make | he really said | O grandfather!
Maxe usaki*d*a | ca*d*cin | e'{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED T~}si | antsi na{~LATIN SMALL LETTER OPEN O~}in': | a*d*intau, | Tsika!
Parallel upper worlds | three | there | they (?) came and stood | he really said | O grandfather!
| Oin'{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED K~}a | {~LATIN SMALL LETTER OPEN O~}ui{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED K~}a-*d*aci | e | eca*d*intau, | Tsika!
| Child | had no bodies | he said | indeed, he really said | O grandfather!
| Cun'unckita | u{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED T~}an*d*e | an{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED K~}axe tatse: | a*d*intau, | Tsika!
| Awhile longer | attention | we shall make | he really said | O grandfather!
| Maxe usaki*d*a | cun'*d*a | e'{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED T~}si | antsi na{~LATIN SMALL LETTER OPEN O~}in': | a*d*intau, | Tsika!
| Parallel upper worlds | two | there | they (?) came this way and stood | he really said | O grandfather!
_Translation._
At the fourth upper world they were made human beings.
"Still," said he (the elder brother?), indeed he really said,
"The children have no bodies.
"Ho, younger brother!
"We must give this matter our attention."
They came to the third upper world.
"The children have no bodies."
"Still must we give this our attention," said one.
They came to the second upper world. (From this line on there is no variation from what has been given above.)
12 Here they obtained human souls, though they were in the bodies of birds. See the bird hovering above the four upper worlds in the chart. Then began the descent to this earth.
13 Why the Black Bear was called Kaxe-wahue-san was not explained to the author.
14 Ca{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED K~}e | {~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED T~}sue{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED T~}sean' cakcice &c. _You shall take me for your servant_; literally, _You shall walk, causing me to burn my feet_; that is, _You shall make me go through fire and water for you_.
15 Watse-{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED T~}u{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED K~}a-na. {~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED T~}u{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED K~}a shows that the star was regarded as a male _animal_, just as min'{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED K~}a, in line 43, denotes that the next star was a female _animal_, not a female of the human race. As they were called "grandfather" and "grandmother," they were looked upon as supernatural beings or gods. So were all of the heavenly bodies to whom the Black Bear applied.
16 Oin'{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED K~}a {~LATIN SMALL LETTER OPEN O~}ui{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED K~}a minkce can'tse, a phrase that puzzles the writer, who suspects that an auxiliary verb has been omitted and that the whole should read: "Oin{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED K~}a {~LATIN SMALL LETTER OPEN O~}ui{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED K~}a-wikcice minkce can'tse? ( _Can I give you bodies for the children_?) No! You must still make attempts to obtain them elsewhere."
17 Wakan{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED T~}a {~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED K~}ana *d*cin-ma{~LATIN SMALL LETTER OPEN O~}i, _I am not the only mysterious one_ (apply to some one of the rest).
18 Mikak'e pecu*d*a, sometimes called "Mikak'e u*d*atse pecun*d*a," the Seven Gentes of Stars. Could this have any connection with the use of the number 7 as the number of the Tsi{~LATIN SMALL LETTER OPEN O~}u, Wa{~LATIN SMALL LETTER OPEN O~}a{~LATIN SMALL LETTER OPEN O~}e, and Han{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED K~}a gentes?
19 {~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED K~}ahi{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED K~}e-wa{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED T~}ayin{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED K~}a, of this gens, gave the following as another reading:
Oin'{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED K~}a | nikaci{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED K~}a | cin{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED K~}e-e{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED T~}an', | cu*d*ce | ecau, | witsi{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED K~}ue! | a*d*intau, | Tsika!
Child | human beings | none as | I go to you | indeed | O grandfather! | he really said | O grandfather!
_Translation_.
As the children are not human beings, I go to you, O grandfather!
20 This fragment of the tradition of the Bald Eagle subgens of the Tsi{~LATIN SMALL LETTER OPEN O~}u wacta{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED K~}e gens was told by Pahue-ska, the chief, to Ha*d*a-{~LATIN SMALL LETTER OPEN O~}ue{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED T~}se, who related it to the writer on the following day.
Ha*d*a-{~LATIN SMALL LETTER OPEN O~}ue{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED T~}se, 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 Upqan or Elk gens; but this is disputed by the members of the I*d*ats'e 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 Tsi{~LATIN SMALL LETTER OPEN O~}u wacta{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED K~}e people. So he was sent to "Watse-{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED T~}u{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED K~}a, who was a red star; then to Watse-min{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED K~}a, a star near the Morning Star; then to the Sun, Moon, and Seven Stars. As the people journeyed, the Black Bear said to the Tsi{~LATIN SMALL LETTER OPEN O~}u leader, 'Brother, I see a man's trail. Here is the man.' The stranger said, 'I am a young Han{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED K~}a. I am fit for work.' So they took him with them. Then they saw another trail, of which the Black Bear spoke to the Tsi{~LATIN SMALL LETTER OPEN O~}u leader. They overtook the man, who was Han{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED K~}aqtsi or Real Han{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED K~}a. By and by they reached the village of the Han{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED K~}a utacan{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED T~}se. They entered the village and made peace with the inhabitants. Then the leader of the Han{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED K~}a utacan{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED T~}se said, 'We have some people come to us, and we will make them our chiefs.' So the two wacta{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED K~}e were made chiefs. The wacta{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED K~}e were then sent to search for a land where they might dwell, as the village of the Han{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED K~}a utacan{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED T~}se 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 wacta{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED K~}e went out as mourners for seven days. The Han{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED K~}a wacta{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED K~}e (Pan{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED H~}ka = Ponka) came back first, saying, 'I have found a place.' Afterwards the Tsi{~LATIN SMALL LETTER OPEN O~}u wacta{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED K~}e 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 Tsi{~LATIN SMALL LETTER OPEN O~}u wacta{~LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED K~}e. Then four standards were made by members of the Wa{~LATIN SMALL LETTER OPEN O~}a{~LATIN SMALL LETTER OPEN O~}e (wanun 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 Wa{~LATIN SMALL LETTER OPEN O~}a{~LATIN SMALL LETTER OPEN O~}e gens."
On comparing this version with that of Sa*d*ekice 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.
22 At this point begins the account of the Female Beaver. She was an ancestor of the Osage, according to a statement published in Long's Expedition to the Rocky Mountains.
23 See the author's paper in the American Naturalist for 1885, entitled "Kansas mourning and war customs," with which was published part of the chart mentioned above.