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1272 SMITHSONIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO ANTHROPOLOGY VOLUME 7
KA'cde gux degu't
I thought he
would jump up
he' dudtkaxec.
and I should
be
very much
ashamed.
An
Town
dat
around
nAXASge' ttc.
I always
tramp.
Traditional Teasing Song for a Little Girl
1954, 3-2-J; recorded by Minnie Johnson on May 25.
This song may either be sung to a little girl, or be sung
for fun at a peace ceremony. As the singer translated
her Tlingit introduction: "Oh, I just explained that
this is no song composed for special-like, you know, a
potlatch and stuff. This is just a pet song, because I
used to sing it for my grandchildren, and the reason I
mention that Susie's name [Susie Abraham] in it is
because they all belong to the Kagwantan-yAtxi—so's
Susie. [I.e., their fathers are all Kagwantan men.]
This song is made up and any body can sing it—grandmother
or mother or anybody who loves the child can
sing that song. I used to sing it for mine. I mention
Leslie's name [Mrs. Nick Milton] because they all belong
to Kagwantan-yAtxi."
When the words were dictated, the name of Mrs.
Annie Johnson, Qelcake, was used as that of the jokingrelative
of the singer's granchildren, Becky and Beverly
Bremner, because they are all Qalyix-Kagwantanchildren.
Fearing that the old lady might be offended,
however, the song as recorded referred to Susie Abraham
and Leslie Milton.
The name of the little girl to whom the song is sung
is not mentioned because this is "just a hinting song."
The inference is that she, too, is guilty of destroying the
berry bushes, "so her little husband can eat the berries."
Or, perhaps we are to imderstand that she can take delight
in hearing her joking-relatives scolded in song for
this breach of taboo.
Presumably, when sung at a peace ceremony, no
names would be used, but reference would simply be
made to Kag wan tan-children in general.
When recording the song, the singer was interrupted
after singing the stanza the first time, so sang it over
twice. There is apparently only a single stanza which
may be repeated any number of times, each time
inserting the name of another joking relative of the
little girl. As sung:
A 'adusAwe 'adusAwe—Who is that? Who is that?
B
C
D
qacuwayi tcu qawliliAa—"Breaking the berry
bushes ahead of me?"
Susie [or Leslie, etc.]—Susie
xawe[s] yaquwanuga du xuxkuies—It is. She did it
[uk] for her little husband.
du xuxkuies ya 'a na—For her little husband,
'e ya ya 'a na 'i
'e ya 'a na 'i [de wa!] (at end)—"That's it!"
Pet Song for a Little Girl, by Sam and Annie George
1954, 3-2-L; recorded by Annie George on May 23.
This song was composed (about 1920?) by the singer
and her late husband for their daughter, Jessie, when
she was small. It lasts 1 minute.
The words, as dictated and checked with the tape,
seem to be:
CAt kAtskux t6iiki—"Little girl stinker."
CAt kAtskux t6ii-tlena—"Stink bigger."
The verb is probably Ue± 'dirty' (Boas, 1917, p. 141),
and a more accurate translation would be: The tiny
girl is a little dirty; the tiny girl is 'big' dirty.
A
A+
A/
The structure of the song is:
B
B
C
C
A+
A+
C
c
Pet Song for a Little Boy, by Minnie Johnson
1952, 5-1-A; recorded by Minnie Johnson on
September 9.
This song was composed by Minnie Johnson (in
1922 or 1923?) for her son, Howard Gray, whom she
affectionately called 'Stinker' or TcAnAyu. She later
sang it for his son and namesake. The song lasts 25
seconds in the recording and is preceded and followed
by explanations in English.