PDF Lo-Res - Smithsonian Institution Libraries

1226 SMITHSONIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO ANTHROPOLOGY VOLUME 7
Tsimshian Dance (?) Song: "Seltin's JVCarriage Song"
1954, 3-1-B; recorded by Emma EUis on March 27.
The proper name for this song is 'Seltin's Footprints'
(Seltin xtjsiyedi). According to Swanton (1909,
Song 47, p. 401), it was composed for and given to
Gonahi'n (Gunahin, 'Other Water') a Kagwantan man,
at the time of his marriage to Seltin of Prince of Wales
Island. Her father sang this song as his daughter
walked over a row of coppers to her husband. In her
short introduction (26 seconds), Emma Ellis mentioned
this story. The song seems to have been used by the
Kagwantan of Dry Bay for dancing after a potlatch.
The words are in Tsimshian, and as recorded by
Swanton are: xelgayuwa heyuwa' hayA'cgllnaxa, hayu'
wacgllnAxa.
A
B
As sung by Emma EUis, they are:
heyuwa, hetqeyuwa,
'i, 'i, 'i, 'i 'i (repeated)
This was repeated three times completely, but on
the fourth repetition, Emma EUis ended the song with
a word and a laugh just after the beginning of the
second B phrase. The whole lasted 48 seconds. McAllester
comments that this "shows Thngit casualness
about finishing the last phrase. The fluctuating pitch
has a regular pattern. Most phrases go down in the
second half."
The structure is:
A B B (3 times)
A B B /
Atna Marching Song
1954,4-1-B; recorded by Katy Dixon Isaac on March 24.
This is one of the eight traditional songs in Atna
Athabaskan, supposedly sung by the Gmexqwan
ancestors of the K*ackqwan as they walked over the
glaciers from the Copper River country to the coast
(see p. 239). Although the tempo is so lively as to
suggest a happy dancing song, the singer explained
that it was a "song on the heavy side" (yAdAl 'heavy'),
because the people were sad at leaving their relatives
behind in Chitina. I believe that it is now sung by
the K*ackqwan when they are marching to a house as
potlatch guests.
The simple melody is sung through four times, except
for the final syUable at the end, and lasts for 1:40
minutes, although it is interrupted by a remark near
the end of the second time.
The words are:
A
B
C
X
A
A
A
A
he djuci ye, he djuci ye,
'eci ye 'eci ye 'a yaci ye
'e he, da da da-u cegedi lie dadike [Fine]
'e
'e [speaks] ya (on 2d time)
The structure is:
B
B
B
B
C
C
C
c
X
X'
X
Atna IVIarching Song
1954, 7-2-A; recorded by Maggie Harry and Jenny
Jack on May 27.
This is said to be the first song composed and sung
by the Gmexqwan as they began theu- journey over
the ice. The words are in Atna. It is now sung by the
K*acliqwan when walking to the house where they are
to be guests at a potlatch. Their ancestors held a
feather in each hand as they marched along, so the
K*ackqwan, men and women in a line, march back
and forth, waving both hands with feathers from left to
right (p. 240).
The song was introduced by a few words in Tlingit
by Maggie Harry. Jenny Jack beat the drum and
Maggie Harry waved a seagull wing in time to the
music. The song appears to have a refrain and two
stanzas, each sung once, and lasts 1:20 minutes.
McAUester comments that the song is unusual in
that "the first phrase of Stanza II is taken (textually)
from tlie refrain. The song has an unusually European
quality. There is a simple development of the melody
in European style." Nevertheless, it is hard to see how
European influence could have been effective among
the Atna of the Copper River valley at the time of the
migration, unless it was brought to them through
contacts with the Russians at Nuchek.
The words of the song are: