Traces 400 years of Osage culture from prehistoric times to the group's current status as an officially recognized tribe. Osage traditional lands are located in mid-continental America encompassed by the present-day states of Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas, and Oklahoma.

The forty-nine traditional Osage narratives presented here, collected in Oklahoma between 1910 and 1923 for the Bureau of American Ethnology, have never before been assembled in one book. What makes these stories especially important is that they were collected in their original language, Osage, by a scholar who was a native speaker of a mutually intelligible language, Omaha, and who was also highly educated and articulate in English.

This volume supplements the work of noted ethnographer Francis La Flesche who devoted most of his professional life to recording detailed descriptions of Osage rituals. Louis Burns's unique position as a modern Osage--aware of the white culture's expectations but steeped in the traditions himself and able to write from an insider's perspective--makes this work valuable to scholar and layperson alike.

-- Presents comprehensive and honest accounts of the life and culture of American Indians -- Examines the issues and conflicts involving Native Americans today -- Discusses many lesser-known but equally important tribes -- Packed with photographs, paintings, and maps -- 8-page full-color photo essay on Indian art and relics

Drawing on new historical and biographical research, Snyder's commentaries highlight the larger stakes of Mathews's reflections on nature and culture and situate them within a fascinating story about Osage, Native American, and American life in the early twentieth century. In treating topics that range from sports, art, film, and literature to the realities and legacies of violence against the Osages, Snyder conveys the broad spectrum of Osage familial, social, and cultural history.