The Osage and the Invisible World: From the Works of Francis La Flesche (Civilization of the American Indian Series)

Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1995. 1st Edition 1st Printing. Hardcover. Good/Good. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. Minor edge and corner wear to the dj; corners are lightly bumped and rubbed; lightly scuffed and scratched; some light shelf wear; ex-library with the usual library markings; overall a nice used copy! Black boards with gilt lettering on the spine. 323 informative and historical pages nicely enhanced by black and white photographs and illustrations! "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, all gathered from the most knowledgeable Osage religious leaders of their day. Yet his writings have been largely overlooked because they were published piecemeal over the course of twenty-five years and never adequately collected or analyzed. In this book, Garrick A. 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.......