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IN THREE PARTS
APPENDIX
CAnkuqedi Song for the Thunderbird Blanket (II)
1173
1954, 5-2-F; recorded by Mrs, Chester Johnson,
assisted by Jenny White, on June 10,
This song, like the preceding, was also entitled 'Song
for the Thunder Blanket' (xetl xu daciyi). One or the
other, or both, was sung at the peace ceremony of 1907
(Case 12, p, 604), The singers, who were the daughters
and nieces of the two CAnkuqedi hostages of that
ceremony, wished to have recordings of these two songs
to play at a funeral potlatch in memory of Mrs, Martha
Converse, a Qalyix-Kagwantan woman who died
tragicaUy during the winter of 1954,
The song is introduced by a few words in Thngit,
and there is also a brief conclusion, spoken by Mrs.
Chester Johnson, The song itself, with refrain and two
stanzas sung twice, lasts 2:17 minutes. The words were
dictated by Mrs. Chester Johnson, were later translated
by Helen Bremner, and have been checked with the
recording.
Refrain
A
A'+
B
'a(aha)hu wa ha hu wa ha 'e
'a(aha) hu wa ha hu wa 'e, 'a 'e hu wa ha,
'u wa(ha) 'e yu 'a ha, 'u wa 'a.
A
A'+
B
Stanza I (sung twice)
haguni kade du kayek—Over there [southeast,
out to sea], invisible,
t6A duwa 'axtca di xetle ya,—It sounds, the
'e hu wa ha
Thunder,
'u wa ha 'e ye hu 'a ha yu wa 'a
Stanza II (sung twice)
A hadaha-dehe 'uq"a(ha) 'ina—Behind the mountains,
you help us
A'"*" -suwu de 'ix"aye di xetle ya,—I beg you (?), the
Thunder
-(suwu deye 'i x"ayi ya) [on repeat]
B hu wa ha, 'e ye hu 'e ye, 'u wa 'a
(as above) 'a ha [on repeat]
The structure is:
Refrain: A A'+ B
Stanza I: A A'+ B (repeated)
Stanza II: A A'+ B (repeated)
Omission of the words 'the Thunder' (di xetl) in the
repetition of Stanza II is the only unusual feature.
Three (?) Traditional CAnkuqedi Songs in Yukon Athabaskan
1952, 4-1-A (a, b, c); recorded by Frank Itaho on
August 29.
Minnie Johnson, who acted as interpreter, gave me
to understand that these were three of the four potlatch
songs given by the Aiyan chief (of Fort Selkirk on the
Yukon) because the CAnkuqedi were drowned when
going to his potlatch (pp. 248-249). These are now used
by the CAnkuqedi as potlatch mourning songs. The
singer had forgotten the fourth. The words are in
Athabaskan and were not transcribed at the time, nor
could they be explained.
The recording begins with Minnie Johnson urging
Frank Itaho to sing: 'Begin!' (gukde). (A) He sings the
first song: 'o ya ha we-eh ya ha , . , (45 seconds),
ending with 'the end!' (hut6!), (B) He speaks a few
words, and sings the second song (1 minute), (C) He
again speaks and sings the third (45 seconds), ending
with hut6! He speaks a few words, concluding with
'thank you' (gunatltcic).
A transcription of the "words" and music from the
tape would indicate, however, that there are here
only two different songs, or at least only two melodies.
The "third song" is virtuaUy a repetition of the first
with only minor variations on the "words" and in the
tune: the J5's of Song A are all Cs in Song C. The first
and third song are sung to a very slow beat of the
drum; the drumming for the second is much faster.
Each song is sung only once.
The whole composition may, however, be analyzed as
a single song, consisting of a Refrain (Song A), Stanza I
(Song B), the Refrain (Song C) again, and the last
Stanza II, forgotten. This is evidently not the singer's
interpretation, since he exclaimed 'the end' (hutc!) at
the end of each "refrain."
The "words" of these songs or parts seem to be:
A
A
A
Song A (Refrain)
'o ya ha, we-eh ya ha,
[ye-eh]
'o-ho, ya ha, we-he y a-a,
'o ya ha, we-eh, ya ha,
'o-ho, yaha,we-hey a-a,
'o yaha, we-he, ya ha,
'o-u, ya ha, we-he yaha
hutc!
Song C (Refrain repeated)
'ahayi ya ha, we-eh ya ha,
'o-o, ya ha, we-he, ya ha-a
'aya ya ha, we-eh, ya ha,
'o-o, ya ha, we-he ya ha-a
'ahay ya ha, we-eh, ya ha,
'o-ho, ya ha wehe, heya yu
hutc!