The Osage and the Invisible World

Francis La Flesche (1857-1932), Omaha Indian and anthropologist with the Bureau of American Ethnology, published an enormous body of work on the religion of the Osage Indians. His informants were among the most knowledgeable Osage religious leaders of their day, and La Flesche could speak fluently with them in their own language. His goal in writing was remarkably different from that of most of his Anglo-American colleagues: rather than simply describe Osage religion, he wanted to explain it in order to demonstrate to the academic world the true intellectual achievements of the American Indian. Consequently he left a unique record of the once-secret initiation rituals of the last functioning Mississippian priesthood. In this book, Garrick Bailey brings together in a clear, understandable way La Flesche's data for two important Osage religious ceremonies - the "Songs of Wa-xo'-be", an initiation into a clan priesthood, and the Rite of the Chiefs, an initiation into a tribal priesthood. To put La Flesche's work into perspective, Bailey offers a short biography of this prolific Native American scholar and an overview of traditional Osage religious beliefs and practices - in effect, a synthesis of La Flesche's work.