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1158
SMITHSONIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO ANTHROPOLOGY VOLUME 7
Traditional TluknaxAdi Song: How Raven Deceived the Sea Otters
1952, 1-1-C; recorded by Charley White (song leader),
Jack Reed (drumming on banjo head), Jenny White,
and Minnie Johnson on June 21,
This is a solemn song, which the Tl'uknaxAdi were
reported to have sung at a potlatch about 1909 or
1910, although the circumstances were never made
clear.
The song is introduced by Jack Reed who tells in
Thngit the story of how Raven obtained medicinal
(aU?) plants from the Sea Otters (1:40 minutes; see
p. 864). The song consists of a single stanza sung
twice. This, however, faUs into two parts: the first at
slow tempo as far as the drum is concerned (55 seconds),
the last part or phrase with fast drumming (11 seconds).
The whole lasts 2:25 minutes, and ends with the spoken
words 'That's aU' (hutc 'awe!). On the repeat, Charley
White as song leader caUs out the words of the song.
He ends with a few remarks in Tlingit (42 seconds),
the gist of which is that the song is about the 'origin
and destiny' (cAgun) of the Tl'uknaxAdi, long ago
(teak"); 'this was Raven' ('aya sAti Yel). The words
of the song are supposed to be what the Sea Otters
told Raven (the Tlingit text and a translation were
not obtained at the time):
"Steer for that sand dune and that cix—real hard
red [alder] wood—grows there, and you'U have that
luck,"
A
B
C
D
The words of the song seem to be:
cuguni djix [cAgun 'idjix—destiny to your hands?]
naxa [?] gudi [gut—went] di yel [the Raven] he 'eya
'aga [for it] ::fea^da [around the island] tcune
[straight]
'uq'^acukudja ['uq'^acukAdja—advise]
hAS [they] tciyi [some?] cexu [hardwood] gudji [?J
'a na ha ni hi ye 'a
('a na hi ye—on repeat).
The structure of the song is simply;
A B C D
A B C D
Traditional TluknaxAdi Song, Attributed to Qakex'^tE
1952, 1-2-A; recorded by Jack Reed on July 4.
This song is one supposedly composed by the
Hoonah man, Qakex^tE, who killed his Sleep and then
came to Dry Bay and taught the Athabaskans how to
fish. The song refers to the mirages or optical iUusions
he saw on his journey. It was sung as part of the story,
told in Tlingit by Jack Reed, the total recording lasting
8:50 minutes. This is followed by a recorded translation
into English by Minnie Johnson (pp. 270-271). A more
literal translation was secured later from John Effis
(pp. 271-272).
The song, lasting 2:05 minutes, has two stanzas.
The first is sung twice, foUowed by a refrain or chorus,
and then the second stanza is sung twice. It ends with
the spoken words: hutc 'awa—'That's all.'
The text could not be transcribed accurately, and
even John Ellis was not sure of the words when he
heard the recording. However, the words of both
stanzas seem to be rather simUar to the last words of
the song recorded by Swanton (1909, Song 2, pp. 390-
391), also attributed to Qakex^tE, The text of the
latter version is:
"When he came down to the beach, his friends were
all destroyed, so that he saw no one. He saw something
just inside of LAq!A'sgt point. 'Do not let me watch
the little stones or I might get bewitched,' "
The last we would transhterate as:
lil 'ilatinqeq yu texsani
'i 'ix 'unAxlixacA
The words of the Yakutat version, as nearly as they
could be determined from the recording and from John
Ellis' explanations, are:
Stanza I (sung twice)
A, B kahlatink qeq-ci (repeated)—I was watching
C qayayi kikci [xayayik ikce]?^—(The appearance
of a man, perhaps)?
kiki (on repeat)
D, E 'ixhkaci texisani—Were bewitching (me?), the
[x]?
little stones
F, G 'iyAnaha he, 'iyAna he, ya [^l
X
'eya (on repeat)
Refrain (sung once)
A", B' 'iyAnaha he ya, 'iyAna he ya
C D 'iyAnaha he ya, 'iyAna he
F' X' 'iyAnaha he, 'eya ha
2 While this syllable (ya) corresponds to the musical phrase
X Ceya) with which the repetition of Stanza I is ended, it cannot
be considered musically as a short but independent phrase because
it is musically a part of Phrase A' on the repetition of
Stanza I.