Wah' Kon-Tah

Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1932. First Edition. 359pp. Octavo [23.5 cm] Orange boards with the title on the front board and backstrip. Pictorial map endsheets and pastedowns. Very good/Near fine. Jacket is price clipped. History of the Osage by a member of the Osage tribe. In this work the author stresses the spirituality, dignity, and humor of the Osages as they acculturated to the non-Indian world and adapted some of its aspects for their own use. Osage religious beliefs are based on Wah-kon-tah, the great mystery spirit or power. In Osage oral traditions, the People of the Sky (Tzi-sho) met with the People of the Earth (Hun-Kah) to form one tribe, the Children of the Middle Waters (Nee Oh-kah-shkahn). The ancestral Osage were excellent hunters and powerful nation. They originally lived in villages primarily along the Osage River, the Osage Indians roamed the land between three great rivers, the Missouri to the north, the Mississippi to the east, and the Arkansas to the south. (Inventory #: 10090)