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1166 SMITHSONIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO ANTHROPOLOGY VOLUME 7
A
B
C
Stanza I (sung twice)
gun AX SA yandwu q"Ah 'a-de
yag"i-he yix-qa-ha-gudiya,
tcA xa-ax g"adi {hui!) 'i-ya,
g"ahadi(/i,ae.') [on repeat]
D 'i-hi 'i-ya-ha {tcuyel) a, 'iya, um hya, {"again!")
(•••'a ha 'i-ya, 'a ha {hutcA.')
—C That's all!")
The words in italics are the cries of the song-leader.
Teqwedi Song of the Golden Eagle
1954, 1-1-F; recorded by Olaf Abraham, Charley White,
and Sheldon James, Sr., on AprU 8.
This is the most important traditional potlatch song
belonging to the Drum House lineage of the Teqwedi.
It was given to them by the Golden Eagle, at the time
that they acquired this bird as their crest (p. 253).
As an introduction to the song, Olaf Abraham told
the story of the Golden Eagle in Tlingit (2:40 minutes).
Later, a translation of this (not recorded) was obtained
from John EUis. After the song, Olaf Abraham retold
the story in Tlingit, paragraph by paragraph, so this
could be translated by his "nephew," Sheldon James,
Sr. This was also recorded.
The song itself, consisting of a Refrain, Stanza I
(sung twice), and an almost identical Stanza II (sung
twice), lasted 4:25 minutes. During the singing, Olaf
Abraham, as song leader, called out a number of words,
directing the singers to repeat the melody or announcing
the words they were to sing. All of the words in the song
were greatly drawn out with many extra syUables, so
that it was impossible to obtain a good transcription at
the time. Charley White beat the drum.
The only words which were recognized at the time as
belonging to the song were:
haguni-kauAx daqena 'EU—'From-where-the-sun-rises-itbegins-to-dawn.'
A free translation of the song is:
"I come from the other side of the mountain."
"Now the dawn of morning is coming from the other side
of the mountain," It is the Golden Eagle singing.
As sung the words seem to be:
Refrain
A yaha 'anehe,
B 'iyehehe yaha, 'anehe,
C 'ehehe ' yaha hanehe,
D 'iyehehe yaha hanehe,
E 'ahaha, 'a [hagu!] 'ahaha, ["comeV]
Stanza I
A hadaha', naxahaha—(hada) interior (UAX) out of
B'"^ dagihidi qihihin yaha 'anehe,—(dak) seaward (di) ?
(qin) fly
C 'ehehe ' yaha hanehe,
D 'iyehehe, yaha 'anehe,
E 'ahaha [ha tcuyel], 'ahaha. ["again!"]
Stanza I (repeated)
A hagu {or hada), nikaha naxahaha,—[(CW and
OA sang different words,)]
B'+, C, and D as above
E/ he ya [tie hede\ hede\] -am nahaha—[(CW:
"Then to the beginning!" OA: "To the beginning!")]
Stanza II
A haguhu, nikahanaxahaha—(hagunikauAx) from
where the sun rises
[daqena 'sn!] ["it begins to dawn!"]
B'"*" dagihi qe'ahaha yaha, 'anehe,^—(dak) seaward
(qe'a) daylight
C 'ehehe ' yaha hanehehe,
D 'iyehehe yaha, 'anehe [tcuye!]—["again!"]
E// 'ahaha.
Stanza II (repeated)
A and B'"*" as above, including the song leader's caU
C 'ehehe 'yaha, 'anehehe,
D 'iyehehe yaha, 'anehe,
E// 'ahaha [hutcawA!]—["That's all!"]
McAllester comments that the first "B" (in the
Refrain) seems to be introductory or tentative, "B"'
in the stanzas seems to represent the full "B," The
Refrain itself appears to be a warmup, a somewhat
reduced version of the music used in the stanzas. He
also notes that the pitch gradually rises, and that the
last phrase (E) gets progressively shorter in successive
repetitions.
The structure of the song is:
Refrain:
Stanza I (1st):
(2d):
Stanza II (1st):
(2d):
A
A
A
A
A
B
B'+
B'+
B'+
B'+
C
C
c
D
D
D
D
D
E
E
E/
E//
E//
The caUs of the song leader tend to occur in exactly
the same places in the refrain and stanzas.