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IN THREE PARTS APPENDIX 1295
Stanza 11 (sung twice)
A de yacnasgax ya 'igutci, Kagwantani-yAtxi tcAs
'iyaqayyi,
B t6a 'aclACAt ya 'igutci xa heu yaha(na)
C 'a yeyu 'eyeya 'eyu, 'awe, 'ayu haya, 'ani 'aya
McAUester remarks that the beginning of the song
resembles the beginning of 1954, 5-1-A; B. A. Jack's
Song for Mount Saint Elias. The initial octave jump
is a stylistic feature common to many of these songs.
The structure is obvious.
Blind Dave Dick's Deathbed Song for Kagwantan-Children
1954, 3-1-E; recorded by Emma ElUs on March 21.
This song was composed ("dreamed") by Dave Dick,
when he was an old man, supposedly on his deathbed.
It is addressed to his young wife, who must have been
the daughter of a Kagwantan man. It was recorded by
Emma Ellis, Kagwantan, to console me for the fright
caused when the space heater nearly set my house on
fire. As the namesake of Mrs. Katy Dixon Issac, I am
considered to be the chUd of Qalyix-Kagwantan.
The song was introduced in Tlingit: "It's Qacdjaq's
song" (Qacdjaq daciyi 'aya). With Stanza I (sung
twice), Refrain, and Stanza II (sung twice), the song
lasts 2:15 minutes, and the recording ends with a few
words in conclusion. The pitch (probably due to faulty
electric current) fluctuates during the recording.
The words on the tape were checked with a dictated
version and free translation:
Stanza I (sung twice)
A hac kande 'i djin—"Shake hands"
t6A hutcinyis xa—Just for the last time
tcA qa-qalis tea-—Just -?-
B -di S-Kagwantani-yAtxi—Kagwantan-children
[his wife]
'inaq xat nanani—For you, when I die,
'ax tu[wu] [keg]xisinik^—My mind will be sad.
C 'a ye yu 'a ye, 'a ye yu ha ye,
'a ye yu ha ye, 'a yay ha-ni 'aya
"Shake hands. I want to hold your hand before I
die. I'm going to be sorry about you when I die."
Refrain
A 'au 'e yu 'a 'e 'a yu 'iyu 'a 'a ye 'i ye han,
B 'a yu 'i ye ha-u ha, 'e ya ha ye ha 'a we yu 'a ye,
C
A
B
C
'a ye yu 'a ye 'a ye yu ha ye, 'a ye yu ha ye, 'a
yay ha-ni 'ay-ya.
Stanza II (sung twice)
qatiyu wA'E[tc]—(?) by you
[tlel] ckuxde qisagax—WiU [not] be caUed back (?),
Kagwantani-yAtxi—Kagwantan-chUdren.
'Ate xayayi dat de—Because of that,
'uxawxhxatca—I give up
tcus dade dagax—Crying about them.
'a ye yu 'a ye, 'a ye yu ha ye, 'a ye yu ha ye, 'a
yay 'ani 'a-ya
"Even you, you are not going to take it back. That's
why I give up to cry about my people [dead brothers
and unclesl."
The meaning, I believe, is that not even KagwantanchUdren,
or the wife, can caU the dead back to life
again. Therefore, the composer gives up weeping for
them.
The structure is simple, consisting of three phrases
(A, B, and C) repeated for each stanza and for the
refrain.
Minnie Johnson remembered a different version of
the words for the first stanza, but forgot those for the
second. It should be noted that, in her version, the wife
is addressed as a chUd of Teqwedi:
t6u 'Ix SA xAni, 'intjq xAt qugAna, Teqwedi-yAtxi.
hAnd6 'i djfn hutcin-yis UA qa-lA-degu.
"Come here to me. Let me love you for the last
time. I hate to leave you behind, Teqwedi-chUdren . . .
I'm going to die. Come here and let me love you for
the last time."
Hilda Dick's Song for Kagwantan-Children and CAnkuqedi-Children
1954, 6-2-F; recorded by Mrs. Frank Dick on May 17.
The composer was the first Mrs. Frank Dick, Hilda,
a Qalyix-Kagwantan woman named NexlinAx. She
was said not to be able to siog weU, and could learn
a song only with great difficulty. Yet she composed
this song by dreaming it. In her dream, Frank Italio
(CAnkuqedi) was singing the song and playing the
guitar at the same time. It is not clear for whom Frank
Italio was supposed to have been singing, but it would
have been someone in the opposite moiety from him
and from the composer. Hilda Dick had this dream
when she was rather a young woman. She died in 1934.
Maggie, Frank Italio's sister and Frank Dick's wife