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IN THREE PARTS APPENDIX 1167
Teqwedi Mourning Song, Composed by Jim Kardeetoo
1954, 5-1-C; recorded by Nick Milton and Mary
Thomas on AprU 25.
This song was composed by Jim Kardeetoo (1862-
1937) for the potlatch which he gave in 1918 when
dedicating Bear Paw House at Lost River Landing
in memory of his "uncles" or ancestors who had hved
at Diyaguna'Et, an abandoned viUage site near by.
The song was rehearsed with considerable weeping
before it was recorded. There is a refrain, and two
stanzas (each sung twice), the whole lasting 2:02 minutes,
Nick MUton, Teqwedi, beat the drum and said a
few words in Tlingit as a conclusion.
The words to the song were checked with several
informants, both at the time of singing and later. The
composer's daughter, Mary Thomas, remarked that
one could tell that her father was not a song composer.
She was probably referring to the variations between
the musical phrase B in the Refrain, Stanza I, and
Stanza II, and the slightly awkward fit between the
words and the music. The words as sung are:
A
B
X
Refrain
ha 'a 'i-ya 'a 'e ye,
'a ha 'i-ya ha, 'e ye 'a 'e, ya 'a ey-ya,
'a he— yu 'a na.
Stanza I (sung twice)
A tcu 'ade 'unxadjitca—StiU there, I imagine
[mistakenly]
B Diyaguna'Et de—At Diyaguna'Et
'ax kagi hAs—My uncles,
tcu 'ade sAxsit!ana—"I'm stUl expecting them"
there.
X ha 'ey ya hu 'a na [After second repeat, there
is a period of hesitation]
A
B
X
Stanza II (sung twice)
t6ad]ayi hidi yis—Nevertheless, for your house,
yi 'iqatuxditana—I wish you were here [to help
me],
'ax kagi hAs 'eye—My uncles,
'a 'e ya hu 'a na
It was explained that the Teqwedi leader, Jim
Kardeetoo, wanted to rebuUd his sib's houses at
Diyaguna'Et, but was unable to do so because so many
of his sib had died off.
The structure of the song is:
Refram: A B X
Stanza I: A B X (repeated)
Stanza II: A B X (repeated)
Teqwedi Dance Song: Killerwhale Drum Song
1954, 5-1-D; recorded by Olaf Abraham, Nick MUton,
Katy Dixon Isaac, and Louise Peterson on AprU 25.
1954, 6-1-F; recorded by Nick MUton on May 12.
This is a traditional Teqwedi song, which would be
sung by the Teqwedi men when they were hosts at a
potlatch, whUe the Teqwedi women danced. It would
be proposed by the chief at the end of the mourning
songs, as a happy song, and he would put up a great
deal of property when it was sung. It was customary to
ask one of the guests to beat the big box drum (see pp.
632, 634).
In the first recording (5-1-D), Olaf Abraham acted
as song leader and Nick MUton as drummer. The song,
with Refrain, Stanza I (sung twice) and Stanza II
(sung twice), lasted 2:13 minutes. Olaf Abraham spoke
in Tlingit after the song (1:55 minutes), and this was
translated and recorded by Helen Bremner (about 1
minute). The translation was later checked with John
EUis, It is this recording which has been transcribed.
The second recording was made by Nick MUton alone,
because he said they had made a mistake in the words
for the second stanza. Specifically, they repeated the
words for Phrase B of Stanza I, instead of the words
for that phrase for Stanza II. In Nick MUton's recording,
he sang the refrain and both stanzas twice, lasting a
total of 2:20 minutes, and added a few words of Tlingit,
Although singing alone, he did his best to imitate the
group and also the song leader, caUing out such expressions
as 'to the beginning' (hed6!), to indicate that the
melody should be repeated. He also made various cries:
hiiii, wuuuu, or h"iui, at the end of each stanza, which
sounded like a whale spouting. When the recording was
played back, Nick MUton sang with it, accompanying
himself several tones higher, and said that there should
be two or three different voices, as on the earlier
recording.
The correct words of the song were dictated by
Mrs. Frank Dick, and checked with those sung by
Nick MUton. They are apparently very difficult for
the present Thngit to translate or explain:
Stanza I
wa'e' agi tlXk" qudziti—Were you "born long ago"?
(living always)
cay Adi yel aha—You (little) Raven?
'ahe 'iuAx du tlagut tsu sidi he 'aha—"They're
teUing a myth about you,"