Читать книгу The Osage tribe, two versions of the child-naming rite (1928 N 43 / 1925-1926 (pages 23-164)) - Francis la Flesche - Страница 40

Table of Contents

At the close of the recital of the wi´-gi-es by all the Noⁿ´-hoⁿ-zhiⁿ-ga, the Sho´-ḳa places before the head of the Ṭsi´-zhu Wa-shta-ge gens a bowl of water into which had been put fronds of the red cedar. The red cedar and the water are the life symbols of the Wa´-ṭse-ṭsi, the people who came to earth from the stars. The following is an epitome of their wi´-gi-e:

I am a person who is fit for use as a symbol,

Behold the female red cedar,

Verily, I am a person who has made of that tree his body.

When the little ones make of me their bodies,

They shall always live to see old age.

Behold the male red cedar,

The little ones shall always use this tree as a symbol.

When the little ones use it for a symbol,

They shall always live to see old age.

Behold these waters,

That we shall make to be companions to the tree.

When the little ones make use of these waters

As the means of reaching old age,

They shall always live to see old age.

—(See 36th Ann. Rept. Bur. Amer. Ethn., p. 95.)