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1310 SMITHSONIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO ANTHROPOLOGY VOLUME 7
B c-Tl'uknax/ di-yAtxi—Tl'uknaxAdi-chUdren,
kel 'ulsi kAt de—^It's not hard
C wireless tuuAx yuiatange—Through the wire--
less to talk.
yu 'a 'e-ye 'i-ya 'an
X wu 'a-ya 'a-ni 'a-yA
A
Stanza III (sung twice)
'i 'ij^de ye xawes—For you, thus,
'ax tuwu wanik,—I feel sad,
c-Gine?qwani-yAtii—Ginexqwan-children.
B tlex dak'^et yAx SAkce—Never-?-
ke 'ade citsiyixe—Do you want [citsixAn ?]
C 'i yeli tin WAna—To die with your Raven,
yu-ha 'e-ye 'i-ya 'an
(-a) [at end]
X yu 'a-ya 'a-ni 'a-ya, [Omitted on repeat]
The structure of the song is:
Stanza I: A B C X (sung twice)
StanzaH: A B C X
Stanza III: A B C X
A B C
Natskik's Suicide Song
1952, 6-1-A; recorded by Minnie Johnson on
September 9.
This song was composed before 1884 by the singer's
mother's mother's younger brother, Natsliili:, the
Tl'uknaxAdi man who buUt Boulder House on Johnson
Slough, and was the father of Situk Jim (pp. 317, 321).
When he was putting on his sealsldn boots to go out
to chop wood, he got into an argument with his Teqwedi
brother-in-law, Lkutke'ux'^itc ('Never gets
Lost'). He composed this song, wishing for his death,
and left the house. This was the end of his life, for he
chopped a tree down on himself.
The singer learned the song as a little girl, when her
grandmother used to take her on her lap whUe she
sang and wept for her dead brother. The song is now
used by the Tl'ulmaxAdi as a mourning song at potlatches.
There is an introduction, mostly in Tlingit (3:24
minutes), and a conclusion, partly in English (5:04
minutes). The song itself has two stanzas and lasts
2:23 minutes. It was not possible to secure a transcription
of the text. A free translation would be:
Stanza I
How I wish I were up among the ghosts among the
Northern Lights. Because then I won't have to face
that WoK any more.
Stanza II
Your words. Wolf, are hurting me so badly. The
words of the Wolf are enough to kill anyone.
It was impossible to fit the words as heard on the
tape to this free translation, or to transcribe them
accurately. Each stanza is sung twice; there is no
refrain.
Stanza 1 (sung twice)
A wASA('A)sgi 'at quq'^asni—How if I were (?)
B kina- he cehewedi gutca—Up above, those wolves
C 'ada xa le-naxdustintc-ayi—I not always-to-see
X 'ahe-'a°
tl'e hedef-—"to the beginning" (at end of
repeat).
A
B
C
X
Stanza II (sung twice)
wani qa 'ey-wana qa-(yi)—?-
[q-a]?
de gutce xa-hat quq'^adjaq-a—The wolves me will
kiU
wani qa tie quq'^adjaq-ayi yi-(a)—?-
[yan 'iqa]?
'a he'a
The structure of the song is:
Stanza I: A B C X (repeated)
Stanza II: A B C X (repeated)
John Nishka's Love Song for Tl'uknaxAdi-Children
1952, 3-1-A; recorded by Annie Johnson on August 13.
The song was composed by the singer's mother's
brother, a K^'ackqwan man named Nicga or TauAxAci.
The -song was composed when he was leaving Yakutat
to go sea otter hunting off Icy Bay. It has since been
sung at a potlatch by the K^'ackqwan, perhaps as a
mourning song in his memory, because Minnie Johnson
explained before the recording that "They spend a lot
of money on the song when they sing it."
The song is preceded by a short introduction in
Tlingit by the singer (55 seconds), and is followed by an
explanation in English by Minnie Johnson. The song
has two stanzas (1:15 minutes). No text was transcribed
but the words mean: