Francis La Flesche
Francis La Flesche was the first professional Native American ethnologist; he worked with the Smithsonian Institution. He specialized in Omaha and Osage cultures. Working closely as a translator and researcher with the anthropologist Alice C. Fletcher, La Flesche wrote several articles and a book on the Omaha, plus more numerous works on the Osage. He made valuable original recordings of their traditional songs and chants. Beginning in 1908, he collaborated with American composer Charles Wakefield Cadman to develop an opera, Da O Ma (1912), based on his stories of Omaha life, but it was never produced. A collection of La Flesche's stories was published posthumously in 1998.
The Middle Five: Indian Boys at School
Witness the heartwarming and poignant journey of young Native American boys navigating friendship, identity, and cultural clashes within the walls of a mission school.
By Francis La Flesche
The Osage tribe, two versions of the child-naming rite (1928 N 43 / 1925-1926 (pages 23-164))
Witness the sacred traditions and intricate ceremonies in the early 20th century as a tribe bestows names upon its children, connecting them to their heritage and the cosmos.
By Francis La Flesche