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IN THREE PARTS APPENDIX 1157
moiety,) The places mentioned in the song are those
"where they never find the bodies,"
The introduction (27 seconds) by Maggie Harrybegins
in Tlingit and ends: "It's a pretty sad song,
this one. I always cry when I sing it, but I'm going to
try to be brave enough to sing it." Jenny Jack beat
the drum. The entire song with Refrain, Stanza I
(sung twice), Refrain again, and Stanza II (sung twice)
lasts 4:45 minutes.
The words as dictated and translated by the singers
are:
Stanza I
segunde sa 'ayaxa 'ax yit?^—Where is my son paddhng?
'Antlen yikde gwa 'anaxa—Into Arhnklin River
perhaps.
Stanza II
gudesa 'ayaxa, gudesa 'ayaxa—Where is he paddling?
(repeated)
hedi yu'ak'^ce ax yit—Perhaps hither my son
Tlaxayik de ce . , . .—Into Yakutat Bay , . , .
Stanza III
tsuyat qaqEnqa'Ena—Already another dawn,
'ax tuwu CAnastitc—Longing for hun.
'ahte ya—"There's another night that
de xa tsu wuxi—I was wishing for him."
As sung, however, the words are:
A
B
C
D
E
F
Refrain
hine he ya ha ha,—("These are sorrowing
words.")
'ine he ya ha,
'a hine ya-ya 'a ha,
'ine he-ya 'a ha,
'a hine he-ya 'a ha,
ya 'a hine ya, 'ahaha.
A
B
C
D
E
F
A
B
C
D
E
F
Stanza I
gudesa 'axaha—Where does he paddle?
gudesa 'ayaxa—Where does he paddle?
hedi yu 'ak^ce 'ax yide—Hither, perhaps, my
son,
'Antlen xeyikde—Into the mouth of Ahrnklin
River
'a hine ya, 'aha—(Alas, etc)
ya 'a hine ya 'a ha
Stanza I (repeated)
gudesa 'ayaxaha—Where does he paddle?
gudesa 'ayaxa—Where does he paddle?
hedi yu 'ak'^ce 'ax yide—Hither, perhaps, my
son.
Tlaxayik de ['a]kce—Into Yakutat Bay perhaps,
'a hine ya, 'a ha,
ya 'a hine ya 'a ha ha,
(As above,)
Refrain
Stanza II (sung twice)
A tsuyat qaqEnqa'Ena—Already another dawn
B tsuya qaqEnqa'Ena—Already another dawn
C 'ax tuwu cunastidja—My feelings (longing?)
D 'ahte ya, 'a ha—(?)
C? de xa tsu waxe—(?) very much wish
E 'a hine he-ya,
F ya 'a hine ya, 'a ha ha
'a ha [at end]
The structure is:
Refram: A B C D E F
Stanza I: A B C D E F (repeated)
Refrain: A B C D E F
Stanza II: A B C D C? E F (repeated)
Other Traditional K'^actqwan Songs
Other traditional songs with Atna words are connected
with the migration of the Gmexqwan from
Copper River to Yakutat, but were not recorded. One
is a mom-ning song, supposedly composed by a woman
who stayed behind at Icy Bay when some of the
Gmexqwan began to regret that they had left Chitina
and went back again. The mountain was so steep that
they had to walk in zigzags up the snow. The woman
who was left behind was so sad that she was weeping
and composed this song. It is not known whether the
others ever reached Chitina (p. 232).
Another song is attributed to the woman who lost
her son in a crevasse in the glacier, and whose seagull
(adopted later as a son) was driven away (p. 238).
There are also Atna Walking, Resting and Dancing
songs (pp. 1226-1227) which were composed and sung
by the Gmexqwan,
Another song, mentioned but not recorded, is a sib
mourning song of the Chilkat Kagwantan. It was given
to the K^'ackqwan as do^^Ty, along with a wife for Cada.
Blind Sampson composed an unrecorded sib mourning
song in 1896 when John Nishka (Nicqa) was drowned
sea otter hunting.