The Osage tribe, two versions of the child-naming rite

INTRODUCTION

The two versions of the Osage Child-naming Rite recorded in this volume were obtained with considerable difficulty, owing to the reluctance of the people to speak of the sacred rites that were formulated by the Ni´-ḳa Xu-be, Holy Men, of long ago. This unwillingness to speak of the tribal rites, excepting in the prescribed ceremonial way, arose from a sense of reverence...