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1296 SMITHSONIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO ANTHROPOLOGY VOLUME 7
at the time of the recording, herself suggested that she
sing this song, and explained that it was a Haida Mouth
Song. Frank Dick, who is Tl'uknaxAdi and son of
Kagwantan, interpreted the song as addressed to himself.
I do not know who was intended by the second
stanza.
The song was introduced in Tlingit (45 seconds) and
lasted 3 minutes. The words were dictated by the singer
and explained by her husband. Later Helen Bremner
checked my translation, but it is not very accurate.
The song has a Refrain (sung twice). Stanza I (sung
twice), Refrain, and Stanza II (sung twice). McAllester
comments that it is one of the best examples of a song
with steadUy rising pitch (up 1% tones by the end of
the last stanza). The first and last phrases are both
rather casual. It is very unusual to sing the refrain
twice at the beginning.
Refrain (1st)
A/ 'a he ya 'a 'e ni ha wa ya, 'a 'e ni ha,
B 'e ye ha-u he ye he, 'u 'e ni ha ya 'e ya,
C 'e ya he ye ye ne ha ya, 'e yay ha ni ha ya.
A
B
C
A
Refrain (repeated)
ya ha 'e ni ha wa ya, 'a 'e ni ha wa ya, 'a 'e ni ha ya
'e ye ha-u he ye he, 'u 'e ni ha ya 'e ya,
'e ya he ye ye he ha ya, 'e yay ha ni ha ya.
Stanza I (sung twice)
yas WA'E 'i tuwu yex—You, your feelings, (like?)
I'ayAx?]
B
C
yAkAnaceyena—"Nothing to help"
'i gutciyi—Your Wolf,
'e-ni ha-u he ye ye,—'E-ni, etc.,
Kagwantani-yAtxi ya—Kagwantan-chUdren.
'e ya he ye ye ni ha ya,
'e yay ha ni ha ya
"It's your own fault, Kagwantan-chUdren, that your
Wolf is havmg a hard time."
As on the repeat.
Refrain
Stanza II (sung twice)
A yas wanawu qa yex—As if someone had died (?)
t6u yis 'ida yagax—Because, for you wiU weep
yi gutci—Your Wolf,
B 'e ni ha-u he ye ye,—'E-ni etc.
CAnkuqedi-yAtxi ya—CAnkuqedi-chUdren
C 'e ya he ye yen 'i ha ya,
(me) 'a ni ha, ya
"As if it were because someone had died, your Wolf
wiU weep for you, CAnkuqedi-chUdren."
The structure is:
Refrain: A/ B C
A B C
Stanza I: A B C (repeated)
Refrain: A B C
Stanza II: A B C (repeated)
Emma Ellis' Mourning Song
1954, 3-1-F; recorded by Emma EUis on May 11.
Emma EUis, born at Dry Bay in 1896, is Kagwantan
and the daughter of a Tluk'^axAdi man. Her first husband
was Dick Peterson, Tl'uknaxAdi and son of a
CAnkuqedi man. Her second husband was John EUis,
also Tl'uknaxAdi and son of a White man. She composed
the first stanza in 1907 when her father, mother,
and grandfather drowned, and she was only 11 years
old. The second stanza was composed about 1915 after
the death of her first husband, although it is addressed
to Teqwedi-chUdren. The third stanza was made up
on the spot and addressed to FdeL as the namesake of
Katy Dixon Isaac, and therefore daughter of a Galyix-
Kagwantan father.
The song is explained: "This song over here, I hear
when I was 11 years old, after my mother drowned.
That same night when we go around looking for somebody
to help us, I hear it in the waves. ... I hear it.
I don't want to hear that song. I try to forget that song.
And next day I hear it again, that song. And for three
days afterwards I hear it. StiU I hear it. Then I sing
it right in front of my aunt. And my aunt, my father's
sister, I told her, 'What song I hear it? It's in my ear
aU the time.' [She said:] 'My goodness, that's your
people sing it for you, so you can be happy about it.'
"This second one [stanza], after my husband died,
you know, I sing it hke that. It's just hke my husband.
I sing about my husband. . . . That's when my husband
died—about one month after, I guess. When
eleventh month, I always think about it, what he told
me. That's the time I sing that song Hke that, about
my husband."
The song is introduced in Enghsh: "I'm going to
sing this song. When my father and grandfather
drowned I heard it through the waves. That's the one
I'm going to sing it."
It has a Refrain, Stanza I (sung twice). Stanza II