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1168 SMITHSONIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO ANTHROPOLOGY VOLUME 7
Stanza II
Nas CAki yel 'iuAx sati—Raven-at-the-head-of-Nass
you want to be,
cay Adi yel 'aha—You (little) Raven,
'ahe 'itcide yAnde quha—Your Murrelet will come
ashore,
'a he 'aha (etc.)
The song is apparently sung by Petrel (Qanuq), a
crest of the Eagle-Wolf moiety, who was having an
argument with Raven as to which was the older.
Petrel won. (See Swanton, 1909, Tale 1, pp. 10-11.)
The Murrelet (tcit) is another crest of the Eagle-Wolf
moiety, and is mentioned here to frighten Raven.
John EUis translated the concluding remarks by
Olaf Abraham as: "The song we sing this time, it's
Teqwedi's clan song (ha nax sAtiyi). They were staying
out there at Diyaguna'Et. That's where they made
that KUlerwhale Drum, that crest ('Atu), It was square,
just like a wooden box (tlAkt), It was made out of
wood. That was the song about that drum. It was
composed many hundreds of years ago. That story
was handed down from generation to generation, just
like history, up to now. We know it also. That's the
one handed to us. Teqwedi, whenever they give a
potlatch, they use that drum. They use that drum song
just before they hand out the money," [John EUis
denied that Olaf Abraham had mentioned kiUing slaves,
as I thought he had said in Tlingit.]
For the history of the drum, see page 459.
McAllester comments on the thirds which appear
in the group rendering of the song (1954, 5-1-D),
These rarely occur in American Indian music.
Unrecorded Teqwedi Potlatch Songs
The Teqwedi house owner, Situk Jim (died 1912)
composed a song for his potlatch at Bear House at
Situk, about 1905. This made reference to the KUlerwhale
accumulating the wealth which was to be distributed
to his guests. It was sung by the Teqwedi
male hosts while the Teq"ca danced (p. 634).
I could also mention a Haida Mouth Song, composed
by the Drum House Teqwedi leader, Xeyegatqln or
Skin Canoe George (1855-1900), which was sung at a
potlatch given by the Teqwedi, whUe his nephew
danced to it (see pp. 572, 633).
Kagwantan Mourning Song, Attributed to Kacksn
1954, 3-1-D; recorded by Emma Ellis on April 1,
This song is said to have been composed by KackEn
and a companion, survivors of the battle at 'Anda,
when the CiAtqwan of Wrangell kiUed the Kagwantan
of Sitka, It would therefore date from before the middle
of the last century (see pp. 279-284).
The song was preceded by an introduction in Tlingit,
mentioning its history (45 seconds), and is followed by
an explanation in English (4:25 minutes). The song
has two stanzas, each sung twice, and lasts 3:25 minutes.
The text was dictated by the singer, who went over
it several times. In some cases new words were added
or substituted in an attempt to make clear the meaning,
so the version is confused. As dictated the words are:
Stanza I
t6A hu dutuwu 'acix tinsiti—"That's their own foolishness"
hede (or wede) gutc—"That Wolf people"
'i (da) 111 tsu ctuxidaniguq"—"They wounded themselves"
Stanza II
yi 'ide xawe djasa {or tcAsa) suk" qaltan—"They are
lonesome all the time"
'ax kak-hAS—"My uncles"
di yu yln qAdjiigu—"I want to dream"
Swanton recorded a very simUar song (1909, Song
103, p, 415), the words of which are:
Tc!ahu
Right
Lll
Never
dutuwu
his mind
q!wAn
(imp,)
uct't
to him
uslte'
was
ctu ye' daq!eq.
blame others.
yadego'tc.
this man of
Wolf [people]
"It is his own fault that this Wolf man got into that
condition (i.e,, died). Do not lay the blame on others."
Emma Ellis was interested in this when the text was
read to her, but felt that the words were wrong.
As sung, the words are: