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1314 SMITHSONIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO ANTHROPOLOGY VOLUME 7
B
C
'ate lil tlal qudAx—Therefore let us not
ctusxeniq—Love ourselves [too much].
[xaniq]?
'ehe 'a 'e 'i ya hay-ne
'a he ya ya ha-ni hay-ya,
"The world is roUing around for aU the young people,
so let's not love our life too much, hold ourselves back
from dying."
Stanza II (sung twice)
A
yidAt 'uc Tl'uknaxAdi-yAtxi—Now if Tl'uknaxAdichUdren
'uc Iqustin 'ax tutina—If they were not alive,
[nuxtc]? I (always?) think.
B
C
'a kAtya 'ax tuxdatantc kAt—That's why I do
not die.
yeu he 'a 'i, 'e ya hay-nay
'e he ye, ya ha-ni hay-ya,
('a he) [on repeat at end]
"If it wasn't for Tl'uknaxAdi-chUdren, if they're
not alive—that's what I'm thinldng of. That's why I
never die."
The structure of the song is:
Refrain:
Stanza I: A B C (repeated)
StanzaH: A B C
A B C / (last phrase is not completed).
Sarah William's Song for a Dead Soldier
1954, 6-1-D (a); recorded by Sarah WiUiams on May 10.
The composer, a K'^ackqwan woman (born 1910),
is the widow of B. B. WiUiams, Jr., Teqwedi. The song
was composed during World War II when a soldier
whom she had known at Yakutat was transferred to
the Aleutians. She did not hear from him again, and
supposed he was dead. This song is quite unlike other
Tlingit songs in style, and lacks a refrain. The single
stanza is sung through only once. It is of interest in
its fuU tonal range, and in exhibiting the typical swing
of rhythm. McAllester comments that it is "perhaps
the only example of an informal little Tlingit song."
The words were dictated by the composer and checked
with the recording:
A
B
C
t6A was 'aya dJA tux k'^Atuxanuk" yayidAt,
detcA 'ax soldji [soldier] tuwu cAk deya,
'ayAX g^'AstcAx yAx yel
hutc 'AWE! ("That's aUI") laughs.
"Just like somebody saw him—and just my soldier—
and maybe it's not him. Maybe just like my relations,
Raven."