• Home
  • About
    • About Us
    • Laura Ingalls Wilder
    • The Ingalls Family
    • The Historic Sites
    • The Books
    • The TV Show
    • The Mini-Series
    • The Musical
    • The Documentary
  • Lifestyle
    • Recipes
    • Crafting
    • Gardening
    • Family Fun
  • Learning
    • History
    • Recommended Reading
    • School House
  • Community
    • Share Your Story
    • Your Stories
    • Inspirations
    • Meet Our Contributors
  • Store
  • Search

Little House on the Prairie

Navigation
  • Home
  • About
    • About Us
    • Laura Ingalls Wilder
    • The Ingalls Family
    • The Historic Sites
    • The Books
    • The TV Show
    • The Mini-Series
    • The Musical
    • The Documentary
  • Lifestyle
    • Recipes
    • Crafting
    • Gardening
    • Family Fun
  • Learning
    • History
    • Recommended Reading
    • School House
  • Community
    • Share Your Story
    • Your Stories
    • Inspirations
    • Meet Our Contributors
  • Store
  • Search

Osage Indian Customs and Myths

July 11, 2022 By Little House on the Prairie
This may contain affiliate links and we may receive a small commission on purchases.

As the Osage tribe did not did not possess a written language, their myths and cultural traditions were handed down orally through many generations.  Osage Indian Customs and Myths successfully conveys the richness of Osage beliefs and associated ceremonial practices. Here is a brief overview of Osage Indian Customs and Myths.

Buy Now!

Author: Louis F. Burns
Publisher: Fire Ant Books (January 2, 2005)

Synopsis:

Siouan peoples who migrated from the Atlantic coastal region and settled in the central portion of the North American continent long before the arrival of Europeans are now known as Osage. Because the Osage did not possess a written language, their myths and cultural traditions were handed down orally through many generations. With time, only those elements deemed vital were preserved in the stories, and many of these became highly stylized. The resulting verbal recitations of the proper life of an Osage—from genesis myths to body decoration, from star songs to child-naming rituals, from war party strategies to medicinal herbs—constitute this comprehensive volume.

Osage myths differ greatly from the myths of Western Civilization, most obviously in the absence of individual names. Instead, “younger brother,” “the messenger,” “Little Old Men,” or a clan name may serve as the allegorical embodiment of the central player. Individual heroic feats are also missing because group life took precedence over individual experience in Osage culture.

Supplementing 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 is able to write from an insider’s perspective.

About the Author: Louis F. Burns

Louis F. Burns was a historian, author, and teacher, known as a leading expert on the history, mythology, and culture of the Osage Nation. Burns wrote more than a dozen books and scholarly works on the Osage people. He was born in Elgin, Kansas in 1920 and was a member of the Osage tribe’s Mottled Eagle Clan. In 2002 he was inducted into the Oklahoma Historians Hall of Fame.

Pick up your own copy of Osage Indian Customs and Myths here.

Check out our Recommended Reading for Adults and Recommended Reading for Children & Young Adults for more great books and be sure to subscribe to our newsletter for information and recommendations about interesting reading and activities.

Filed Under: Books, Learning Tagged With: Books by the Cast, Cast, Little House on the Prairie, Non-fiction Books

« A History of the Osage People
The Imperial Osages: Spanish-Indian Diplomacy in the Mississippi Valley »

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Connect Facebook Pinterest Twitter YouTube Instagram

Little House on the Prairie Newsletter

Perfect ideas for any Little House fan!

LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE® and associated character names, designs, images and logos are trademarks or registered trademarks owned and licensed by Friendly Family Productions, LLC. All rights reserved. Copyright © 2015-2022 Friendly Family Productions, LLC

Contributors | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Licensing | Newsletters