Sky Names
The distinctive birth names of the Puma gens, mentioned above, are spoken of as sky names, to distinguish them from the common gentile names. These birth names are said to have originated in the sky when the “Little Ones” were about to descend to the earth to take upon themselves bodily form. Some of these names refer to important events that came to pass before the descent from the sky to the earth. Earth names were also used by both the Puma and the Black Bear gentes. These names will be referred to later.
Every Osage gens has its own version of the tribal Child-naming Ritual. The versions belonging to the Iⁿ-gthoⁿ´-ga (Puma) gens of the Hoⁿ´-ga great division and that belonging to the Ṭsi´-zhu great division have been secured and are given below in detail.
CHILD-NAMING RITUAL OF THE PUMA GENS
(Wa-xthi´-zhi)
When a man of the Puma gens is prepared for the ceremonial naming of his newly born son he sends for the Sho´-ḳa (official messenger) of his gens. On the arrival of the Sho´-ḳa the father puts before him his customary fee of a blanket or blue cloth and a little pipe which he must carry as his official badge. The father of the child then orders the Sho´-ḳa to go and call the Noⁿ´-hoⁿ-zhiⁿ-ga of the Puma, the Ṭsi´-zhu Wa-shta-ge, and the Wa´-ṭse-ṭsi Wa-shta-ge gentes. The Ṭsi´-zhu Wa-shta-ge is the Peace gens of the Ṭsi´-zhu great tribal division, and the Wa´-ṭse-ṭsi Wa-shta-ge the Peace gens of the Hoⁿ´-ga great tribal division. Prominence was given, in this ceremony, to these two gentes because they are the favored people of the sun and the unclouded sky, the most sacred of the cosmic forces. Through these two favored gentes the blessings of peace and long life are invoked for the child to be named and formally given its place in the tribal unit.
The Noⁿ´-hoⁿ-zhiⁿ-ga of these three gentes assemble in the evening at the house of the father who, in a formal speech, makes known to them the purpose of the summons. Then the heads of the Ṭsi´-zhu Wa-shta-ge and the Wa´-ṭse-ṭsi Wa-shta-ge gentes direct the Sho´-ḳa to go and call the Noⁿ´-hoⁿ-zhiⁿ-ga of the following gentes to assemble at the house of the father on the next morning:
Hoⁿ´-ga A-hiu-ṭoⁿ, Wa-ça´-be-ṭoⁿ and the O´-poⁿ, of the Hoⁿ´-ga subdivision; Wa´-ṭse-ṭsi Wa-shta-ge, Ho´ I-ni-ḳa-shi-ga, Wa-zha´-zhe Çka and the Ṭa´ I-ni-ḳa-shi-ga of the Wa-zha´-zhe subdivision; Ṭsi´-zhu Wa-shta-ge, Ṭsi´-zhu Wa-noⁿ, Mi-k’iⁿ´ Wa-noⁿ and the Tho´-xe of the Ṭsi´-zhu great division.
The Sho´-ḳa, as he goes on this errand, does not neglect the little pipe, his official badge.
Ḳi´-noN—Ceremony of Decorating the Xo´-ḳa
Before sunrise of the following day the Noⁿ´-hoⁿ-zhiⁿ-ga of the Puma gens assemble at the house of the member who had been appointed by the father to act as Xo´-ḳa in the ceremony. When all the members had taken their places the A´-ḳi-hoⁿ Xo´-ḳa (master of ceremonies) recites the wi´-gi-e relating to the symbolic articles with which the Xo´-ḳa is to be decorated. The wi´-gi-e is accompanied by certain ceremonial acts performed by an assistant. The first section of the wi´-gi-e relates to the red dawn, the beginning of the life of day. The assistant, who has put red paint on the palms of his hands, spreads them out toward the dawn that is reddening the eastern sky. When the A´-ḳi-hoⁿ Xo´-ḳa reaches the fourth line the assistant paints red the face of the Xo´-ḳa. Then, as the A´-ḳi-hoⁿ Xo´-ḳa goes on to the second section the assistant takes up a white, downy feather (pl. 3, b), taken from the under covert of an eagle’s tail, and holds it poised over the Xo´-ḳa’s head. When the twelfth line of the wi´-gi-e is reached the assistant quickly fastens the feather to the scalplock of the Xo´-ḳa. This feather symbolizes one of the two white shafts of light that may be seen at either side of the sun as it rises through the fading color of the dawn. Each of these two shafts symbolizes a never-ending life. The one at the right belongs to the Hoⁿ´-ga great division and the one at the left to the Ṭsi´-zhu great division. At the beginning of the third section of the wi´-gi-e the assistant rubs in the palms of his hands a bit of buffalo fat, then holds his outspread hands poised over the Xo´-ḳa’s head. When the twentieth line is reached he anoints the Xo´-ḳa’s hair with the oil, an act by which is expressed the wish that the child whom the Xo´-ḳa represents shall always be abundantly supplied with food of all kinds.
At the fourth section of the wi´-gi-e the assistant takes up a necklace of beads, or a narrow woven band, to which is attached a shell gorget (pl. 3, a) and holds it in readiness. When the twenty-sixth line is reached he puts the necklace upon the neck of the Xo´-ḳa so that the gorget hangs upon his breast. This gorget typifies the Sun, whose life endures forever.