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1230 SMITHSONIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO ANTHROPOLOGY VOLUME 7
her down [to Dry Bay]. But she run away from them,
from her husbands. And she ran back to the Interior,
I think. . . . They got those songs from there, that's
where that girl is from—Nuq*aqwan."
This is a short song (57 seconds), sung twice through,
except that the beginning and the ending phrases are
abbreviated. There are only meaningless vocables.
The structure is:
AV
A
A'
A'
B
B
C D
C D/
1954, 3-1-C; recorded by Emma Ellis on March 27 (a).
1954, 3-2-F; recorded by Frank Italio on May 7 (b).
1954, 6-2-E; recorded by Mr. and Mrs. Frank Dick on
May 17. (Not transcribed.)
According to Emma Ellis, this was supposed to be an
Athabaskan (Southern Tutchone) song, although the
words are Tlingit, and was originally sung by the crews
of canoes that had successfully come down the Alsek
River under the glacier (p. 87). She identified it as a
'sitting-down song' sung by Tluk*axAdi or CAnkuqedi
guests after a potlatch. Her version (a) consists of a
single stanza sung twice, and a refrain at the end.
The structure is:
Stanza:
Refrain:
A
A
B
B
C
C
(repeated)
According to Frank Italio, this song is one derived
from Nuq*ayik on the Alsek River, when some Dry
Bay men married the Athabaskan woman, Duhan. He
also identified it as a 'sitting down song' used by the
CAnkuqedi and Tluk*axAdi when feasting after a
potlatch. His version (b), with refrain, and a single
stanza (sung twice) lasts 1:21 minutes.
The structure is:
Refrain: A
Stanza: A
A
B
B
B
C
C
C
(slightly varied).
According to Frank Dick, this song was 200 or 300
years old and was associated with coming down the
Alsek under the ice bridge. He reported that he had
danced to it when he Avas a small boy, about 1910. His
version lasted 2:04 minutes. This Avas not transcribed,
since it Avas essentially simUar to that sung by Frank
Italio.
Alsek River Song: Coming Under the Ice (I)
The words, as dictated by both Emma EUis and
Mrs. Maggie Dick, have no recognizable connection
with the perUs of descending the Alsek River. They are:
du kite 'ax djit dulikAts—His wing in my hand
broke off.
du qA sAn wasa dAn qane—"I don't know what I'm
going to do for his body."
Emma EUis' version (a), as sung, is somewhat different,
especially since it ends with the refrain (1954, 3-1-C).
A
A
B
C
A
B
C
Stanza (sung twice)
he ya kite qu'a, 'as dji duligutla,
(du) [on repeat]
du kite qu'a, 'as dji duligutla,
du qa SAn qu'a, wasgi d^n qaneye,
'e ye 'e ye, 'a ha 'ay, ya ha ha,
Refrain
'ey ya 'ey ya, 'e ye 'ei ye,
ya 'a 'a 'i ya, 'e ye 'ei ya,
'e ye 'e ye, ya 'a 'ay, ya ha [laughs]
Alsek River Song: Coming Under the Ice (II)
What Avould seem to be a more "orthodox" version
(b) is represented by 1954, 3-2-F; the Avords as sung are:
A
B
C
A
B
C
Refrain
ye he ya, ye he ya,
ye he-he ya, ye he-he ye 'a-ha he ya,
ye he he ya, ye he he hye, 'a-ha hoi, ye ha ha ha
Stanza (sung tAvice)
du kite qu'a, 'ax dji duligutsa
du kite qu'a, 'ax dji duligutsa du qas An qu'a
AvasA tsu qane, ye he he ye hya ha 'oi ya ha ya 'a
(as above
) ha 'oi, ya a ho! [on repeat]
1954, 6-2-D; recorded by Mr. and Mrs. Frank Dick on
May 17. (Not transcribed.)
This is said to be a very ancient song, "pretty near two,
three, four hundred years old," and comes from the
Athabaskans at the headwaters of the Alsek River.
It is associated with the first descent of the river by
canoe, when Gutcda (a predecessor of the famous
Dry Bay shaman) discovered a way down the Alsek
under the ice bridge, after he had tested the route by
letting tAVO logs float down. Later, when canoes were
coming down, they would run under the ice, one at a
time, and this song would be sung for joy after everyone
had passed through safely and were assembled below
the glacier (pp. 87, 626).