Traditions of the Osage : Stories Collected and Translated by Francis La Flesche

The forty-nine traditional Osage narratives presented here, collected in Oklahoma between 1910 and 1923 for the Bureau of American Ethnology, have never before been assembled in one book. What makes these stories especially important is that they were collected in their original language, Osage, by a scholar who was a native speaker of a mutually intelligible language, Omaha, and who was also highly educated and articulate in English. As contextualized in Garrick Bailey's introduction, these stories offer insights into Osage culture and society that are not available elsewhere. Bailey divides the stories into sacred teachings, folk stories, and animal stories. To the Osage, the sacred included not only religious but also what we would consider social and political institutions. Unlike the sacred teachings, which were known only to priests, folk tales were public property. Sacred teachings were always educational, whereas folk stories served a variety of purposes. Some were entertaining, some humorous, some frightening, but all were also designed to instill the proper social norms and values of the Osage. The animal stories, intended for children, also illustrate Osage values, as well as conveying information about the animals themselves. Collection Of 49 Folk Tales From The Osage Indian Tribe Gathered By Scholar Francis La Flesche. Allegorical Story Of Tribal Organziation -- Origin Story Of The Wolf Clan (pah-nee-wah-with-ta) -- Origin Story Of The Black Bear Clan (bacon Rind) -- Creation Of The House Of Mystery (charles Wah-hre-she) -- Earth Names And Sky Names (charles Wah-hre-she) -- Origin Story Of The Sho'-ka (saucy Calf) -- The Tattooing Custom (charles Wah-hre-she) -- Haircut Of The Gentle Sky Clan (shun-kah-mo-lah) -- Finding Of The Four Colors (hlu-ah-wah-tah) -- What To Dream Of (saucy Calf) -- Instructions To The Mother (charles Wah-hre-she) -- Instructions To The Wife Of A Priest (saucy Calf) -- Instructions In The Painting Of The Sacred Robes (hlu-ah-wah-tah) -- Counting The O'don (shun-kah-mo-lah) -- Tradition Of The Omaha Departure Form The Osage (pah-nee-wah-with-tah) -- Making The Buffalo Come (charles Wah-hre-she) -- Deer-hunting Stories -- The Vision Of A War Leader (charles Wah-hre-she) -- Death Of An Old Warrior -- Origin Of The Hair Bundle (me-ke-wah-ti-an-kah) --^ Origin Of The Whistle Bundle -- Origin Of The Mourning Dance (black Dog) -- The Lost Warrior (saucy Calf) -- Captive Of The Pawnee -- The Boy Driven From Home -- The Woman War Leader (tho'-xi Zhin-ga) -- The Youngest Wife -- The Unfaithful Wife (pah-nee-wah-with-tah) -- Mourning Dance For Yellow Ears (saucy Calf) -- The Two Young Men Who Mourned Their Living Fater (andrew Jackson) -- The Wa-kon'-da-gi, Or Medicine Men -- Strange Medicine Man -- The Death Of Village Maker -- Big Bear And Runs-to-meet-men -- The Cruel Medicine Man And The Orphan -- Wah-ti-an-kah (bacon Rind) -- Dreamers (shun-kah-mo-lah) -- The Woman Dreamer -- Spirit Woman (hlu-ah-wah-tah) -- The Flute Ghost Story (ben Wheeler) -- The Young Warrier And His Dead Wife -- Return Of The Dead (charles Wah-hre-she) -- The Little People (tho'-xi Zhin-ga) -- The Demon Animal (ben Wheeler) -- The Squirrel Maidens -- The Hawk And The Horned Owl (tho'-xi Zhin-ga) -- The Four Coyotes And The Persimmons (tho'-xi Zhin-ga) --^ Edited And Introduced By Garrick Bailey. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Allegorical story of tribal organziation Origin story of the Wolf Clan (Pah-nee-wah-with-ta) Origin story of the Black Bear Clan (Bacon Rind) Creation of the house of mystery (Charles Wah-hre-she) Earth names and sky names (Charles Wah-hre-she) Origin story of the Sho'-ka (Saucy Calf) The tattooing custom (Charles Wah-hre-she) Haircut of the gentle sky clan (Shun-kah-mo-lah) Finding of the four colors (Hlu-ah-wah-tah) What to dream of (Saucy Calf) Instructions to the mother (Charles Wah-hre-she) Instructions to the wife of a priest (Saucy Calf) Instructions in the painting of the sacred robes (Hlu-ah-wah-tah) Counting the O'don (Shun-kah-mo-lah) Tradition of the Omaha departure form the Osage (Pah-nee-wah-with-tah) Making the Buffalo come (Charles Wah-hre-she) Deer-hunting stories The vision of a war leader (Charles Wah-hre-she) Death of an old warrior Origin of the hair bundle (Me-ke-wah-ti-an-kah) Origin of the whistle bundle Origin of the mourning dance (Black Dog) The lost warrior (Saucy Calf) Captive of the Pawnee The boy driven from home The woman war leader (Tho'-xi Zhin-ga) The youngest wife The unfaithful wife (Pah-nee-wah-with-tah) Mourning dance for yellow ears (Saucy Calf) The two young men who mourned their living fater (Andrew Jackson) The wa-kon'-da-gi, or medicine men Strange medicine man The death of Village Maker Big Bear and Runs-to-meet-men The cruel medicine man and the orphan Wah-ti-an-kah (Bacon Rind) Dreamers (Shun-kah-mo-lah) The woman dreamer Spirit woman (Hlu-ah-wah-tah) The flute ghost story (Ben Wheeler) The young warrier and his dead wife Return of the dead (Charles Wah-hre-she) The little people (Tho'-xi Zhin-ga) The demon animal (Ben Wheeler) The squirrel maidens The hawk and the horned owl (Tho'-xi Zhin-ga) The four coyotes and the persimmons (Tho'-xi Zhin-ga) The coyote and the woodpecker The coyote and the fawn. Presents the forty-nine traditional Osage narratives, collected in Oklahoma between 1910 and 1923 for the Bureau of American Ethnology. Sacred teachings, folk stories, and animal stories collected in their original language, Osage, between 1910 and 1923