SHELL GORGET AND DOWNY PLUME (LIFE SYMBOLS)]
WA-SHO´-SHE (HO^N´-GA A-HIU-TO^N (EAGLE) GENS)]
The first seven lines of the wi´-gi-e refer back to the time when “the Hoⁿ´-ga who possess seven fireplaces” chose for one of their life symbols the “Stainless Bird,” the mottled eagle. The people who are here spoken of as the Hoⁿ´-ga having seven fireplaces are those who compose the seven gentile groups that represent the land portion of the earth in the two great tribal divisions symbolizing the cosmos. These seven gentile groups (seven fireplaces) are, as given by Black-dog. (See 36th Ann. Rept. Bur. Amer. Ethn., pp. 52-53.)
1. Wa-ça´-be-ṭoⁿ, They-who-own-the-black-bear. 2. Iⁿ-gthoⁿ´-ga, Puma. 3. O-poⁿ, Elk. 4. Moⁿ-iⁿ-ḳa-ga-xe, Makers-of-the-earth. 5. Hoⁿ´-ga gthe-zhe, The-mottled-sacred-one. 6. Xu-tha´, Eagle (the adult golden eagle). 7. Hoⁿ´-ga zhiⁿ-ga, The-little-sacred-one.
When the “Hoⁿ´-ga, a people who possess seven fireplaces” went to the “Stainless Bird” and said to him (lines 5, 6, and 7): “The little ones have nothing of which to make their bodies,” meaning that they have no symbol for the long life which they crave, he replied in the words as given in the wi´-gi-e, from line 10 to the end:
1. Verily, at that time and place, it has been said, in this house, 2. The Hoⁿ´-ga, a people who possess seven fireplaces, 3. Spake to one another, saying: Lo, we have nothing of which to make our bodies. 4. Then, at that very time, 5. They spake to the bird that has no stains (evil disposition), 6. Saying: O, grandfather, 7. The little ones have nothing of which to make their bodies. 8. Then, at that very time, 9. The bird that has no stains (evil disposition) 10. Spake, saying: When the little ones make of me their bodies, 11. They shall always live to see old age, as they travel the path of life. 12. Again the bird spake: 13. Behold my toes that are gathered together in folds, 14. Which I have made to be the sign of my old age. 15. When the little ones make of me the means of reaching old age, 16. They shall always live to see old age, as they travel the path of life. 17. Behold, also, the wrinkles upon my shins, 18. Which I have made to be the sign of my old age. 19. When the little ones make of me the means of reaching old age, 20. They shall always live to see old age, as they travel the path of life. 21. The bird that has no stain 22. Again spake, saying: Behold the wrinkles upon my knees, 23. Which I have made to be the sign of my old age. 24. When the little ones make of me the means of reaching old age, 25. They shall always live to see old age, as they travel the path of life. 26. Behold the flaccid muscles of my inner thigh, 27. Which I have made to be the sign of my old age. 28. When the little ones make of me the means of reaching old age, 29. They shall always live to see old age, as they travel the path of life. 30. Behold the muscles of my breast, gathered together as in a fold, 31. Which I have made to be the sign of my old age. 32. When the little ones make of me the means of reaching old age, 33. They shall always live to see old age, as they travel the path of life. 34. Behold the flaccid muscles of my arms, 35. Which I have made to be the sign of my old age. 36. When the little ones make of me the means of reaching old age, 37. They shall always live to see old age, as they travel the path of life. 38. Behold the bend of my shoulders, 39. Which I have made to be the sign of my old age. 40. When the little ones make of me the means of reaching old age, 41. They shall always live to see their shoulders bent with age, as they travel the path of life. 42. Behold the flaccid muscles of my throat, 43. Which I have made to be the sign of my old age. 44. When the little ones make of me the means of reaching old age, 45. They shall always live to see old age, as they travel the path of life. 46. Behold the folds in the corners of my eyelids, 47. Which I have made to be the signs of my old age. 48. When the little ones make of me the means of reaching old age, 49. They shall always live to see the corners of their eyelids folded with age, as they travel the path of life. 50. Behold my eyelids that are gathered into folds, 51. Which I have made to be the signs of my old age. 52. When the little ones make of me the means of reaching old age, 53. They shall always live to see their eyelids gathered into folds with age, as they travel the path of life. 54. Behold the hair on the crown of my head, now grown thin, 55. Which I have made to be the sign of my old age. 56. When the little ones make of me the means of reaching old age, 57. They shall always live to see the hair on the crown of their heads grown thin with age, as they travel the path of life.