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IN THREE PARTS APPENDIX 1171
iBreaks off to speak,]
Y ya, 'ahi ya 'a",
Z ya 'uhi hya 'a.
Stanza II
/A 'ucgi,
B da ha qulAtsaq de-ya
C 'ihiy 'ixfi nAna hiyini
D di wAx-tlA-k"a nex ta
Y ya, huwi yaha",
Z ya, 'uhi ya ha" hutc 'AWE! That's all!
[Frank Itaho continues to talk about the story.
The structure of these songs is:
Song I
Introduction: W X Y Z
Stanza (1st): A B O D E F [speaks]
Stanza (2d): A B C D E F
End: A B/ [That's aU]
Song II
Introduction: X Y Z [That's aU, etc]
Stanza (1st): A B C D[speaks]Y Z
Stanza (2d): /A B C D Y Z [That's aU]
McAUester comments that it is "surprising how
these seemingly meandering songs are reaUy wellstructured.
The drum beats are not haphazard, but
emphasize long notes, usuaUy o_ff heat—a strong Yakutat
characteristic."
Traditional CAnkuqedi Mourning Song: Lament for GosnA''
1952, 2-1-B; recorded by Frank Itaho on July 30.
This is the lament, with Southern Tutchone words,
for GOSUA'", the CAnkuqedi boy who was left behind
when his people were descending the Alsek River, and
who was adopted by the Thunderbirds (pp. 249-250).
It is now sung by the CAnkuqedi when they give a
potlatch.
The song is preceded by the story, told inTlingit by the
singer (2:45 minutes). The song itself lasts 1:47 minutes.
It is followed by the recorded explanation in English
by Minnie Johnson.
Two versions of the song were recorded. The first (B)
and the most complete was sung "for practice," and
consists of three stanzas (with almost identical words),
each sung once. It ends with the initial phrases of what
may be a fourth stanza or a repetition of an earlier one.
Minnie Johnson interrupts and speaks while Frank
Italio is ending the second stanza, so that it is almost
impossible to distinguish the words of phrase G. (They
may have been the same as those of phrase G in Stanza
III.) The last stanza is interrupted by an explanation
given by Frank Italio: "di xetlE duwasak" [It was
caUed the Thunderbird]," possibly offered as a translation
of some Athabaskan word.
In the second version of the song (2-1-C), Frank
Italio sang as the last line of Stanza I what seems to be
the last line of Stanza III (or II) of the first version;
and for the last line of Stanza II substituted the last
line of Stanza I of the first version. He sang only through
phrase F of Stanza III, ending abruptly with "hut6!
[the end],"
Possibly he was overcome by grief and therefore
could not continue, for Minnie Johnson explained later
in the recording session: "Frank Italio himself—it just
hurt like anything, but anyhow he carried it out. It
was to remind him of his old people that's died off.
WeU, he done pretty good by singing that because he
can't understand a word of "Eyak" language [sic:
yAtqwan ^euAx, 'local people's speech,' in this case
Southern Tutchone of Dry Bay], but from generation
to generation they practice to the next one is going to
take the place. And that's aU!"
Traditional CAnkuqedi Song for the Thunderbird Screen
1952, 2-1-F; recorded by Frank Italio, on July 30.
This song was supposedly composed by the boy who
had been saved (or captured) by the Thunderbirds,
when he returned to his people and buUt a house
decorated like the cave of the Thunderbirds in the
mountains, Frank Italio explained in the Tlingit
introduction to the song that it was for the Thunderbird
screen.
It may be sung by either the CAnkuqedi or the Kagwantan
of Dry Bay when they are giving a potlatch
to mourn a close relative, because it reminds them of
the little boy who was given up for dead.
The song is preceded by an explanation in Tlingit
by the singer (40 seconds), and is foUowed by an
explanation and translation of the words by Minnie
Johnson (pp, 250-251), The song itself has a refrain,
followed by two stanzas, each of which is sung only
once. The whole lasts 1:46 minutes. The text was not
transcribed at the time or dictated, but has subsequently
been transcribed from the tape. The spoken ejaculations
are those characteristic of a song leader.