diff options
Diffstat (limited to '25140.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 25140.txt | 2715 |
1 files changed, 2715 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/25140.txt b/25140.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9dc3762 --- /dev/null +++ b/25140.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2715 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Indian Story and Song, by Alice C. Fletcher + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Indian Story and Song + from North America + +Author: Alice C. Fletcher + +Release Date: April 23, 2008 [EBook #25140] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK INDIAN STORY AND SONG *** + + + + +Produced by David Newman, Linda Cantoni, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net. Music +transcribed by Linda Cantoni, Espe (Nada Prodanovic), and +the PG Finale Team. + + + + + + + + + +[Transcriber's Note: This e-book contains passages in Native American +dialects; hyphenation and accents have been preserved as they appear +in the original. Italics are represented by underscores. Obvious +printer errors in English passages have been corrected, in particular +the inconsistent use of "rythm" for "rhythm."] + + + + +INDIAN +STORY AND SONG + +FROM NORTH AMERICA + + +By + +ALICE C. FLETCHER + +_Holder of the Thaw Fellowship +Peabody Museum Harvard University_ + + +Boston +Small Maynard & Company +Publishers + +_Copyright, 1900, +By Alice C. Fletcher_ + +_Entered at Stationers' Hall_ + + + + +_To_ + +MY INDIAN FRIENDS + +FROM WHOM I HAVE GATHERED + +STORY AND SONG + + + + +PREFACE. + + +_At the Congress of Musicians held in connection with the +Trans-Mississippi Exposition at Omaha in July, 1898, several essays +upon the songs of the North American Indians were read, in +illustration of which a number of Omaha Indians, for the first time, +sang their native melodies to an audience largely composed of trained +musicians._ + +_This unique presentation not only demonstrated the scientific value +of these aboriginal songs in the study of the development of music, +but suggested their availability as themes, novel and characteristic, +for the American composer. It was felt that this availability would be +greater if the story, or the ceremony which gave rise to the song, +could be known, so that, in developing the theme, all the movements +might be consonant with the circumstances that had inspired the +motive. In response to the expressed desire of many musicians, I have +here given a number of songs in their matrix of story._ + +_Material like that brought together in these pages has hitherto +appeared only in scientific publications, where it has attracted the +lively interest of specialists both in Europe and America. It is now +offered in a more popular form, that the general public may share +with the student the light shed by these untutored melodies upon the +history of music; for these songs take us back to a stage of +development antecedent to that in which culture music appeared among +the ancients, and reveal to us something of the foundations upon which +rests the art of music as we know it to-day._ + +_Many of the stories and songs in this little book are now for the +first time published. All have been gathered directly from the people, +in their homes, or as I have listened to the earnest voice of the +native priest explaining the ancient ceremonials of his fathers. The +stories are close translations, losing only a certain picturesqueness +and vigour in their foreign guise; but the melodies are exactly as +sung by the Indians._ + +_Indian myths embodying cosmic ideas have passages told in song, +tribal legends have their milestones of song, folk-tales at dramatic +points break into song; but into these rich fields I have not here +entered. This collection reveals something of the wealth of musical +and dramatic material that can be gleaned outside of myth, legend, and +folk-lore among the natives of our country._ + +_Aside from its scientific value, this music possesses a charm of +spontaneity that cannot fail to please those who would come near to +nature and enjoy the expression of emotion untrammelled by the +intellectual control of schools. These songs are like the wild flowers +that have not yet come under the transforming hand of the gardener._ + +ALICE C. FLETCHER. + +PEABODY MUSEUM, + HARVARD UNIVERSITY. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + PAGE. + +STORY AND SONG OF THE HE-DHU'-SHKA 3 + +STORY AND SONG OF ISH'-I-BUZ-ZHI 14 + +STORY AND SONG OF THE LEADER 21 + +THE OMAHA TRIBAL PRAYER 26 + +STORY AND SONG OF THE BIRD'S NEST 30 + +A TRYSTING LOVE-SONG 34 + +STORY AND SONG OF THE DEATHLESS VOICE 39 + +STORY AND SONG OF ZO_N_'-ZI-MO_N_-DE 45 + +LOVE-SONG. Poetical Transcription by Miss E.D. Proctor 49 + +STORY AND SONG OF THE WREN 53 + +THE OMAHA FUNERAL SONG 57 + +STORY AND SONG OF THE MOTHER'S VOW 61 + +A LOVE-CALL 68 + +A GAME SONG FROM THE NORTH-WEST COAST 70 + +STORY AND SONG OF THE INDIAN COQUET 74 + +AN OLD MAN'S LOVE-SONG 77 + +STORY OF THE WE'-TO_N_ SONG. 81 + +A PAWNEE LOVE-SONG 86 + +STORY AND SONG OF A WARRIOR 88 + +THE MOCKING-BIRD'S SONG 94 + +A SONG OF THE GHOST DANCE 96 + +SACRED SONGS OF PEACE 101 + +COMFORTING THE CHILD 108 + +MUSIC IN INDIAN LIFE 114 + +THE RELATION OF STORY AND SONG 120 + + + + +LIST OF SONGS. + + + PAGE. + +THE INSIGNIA OF THUNDER (Omaha) 6 + +THE WARRIOR'S PRAYER (Omaha) 9 + +THE LAUGH (Ponka) 13 + +ISH'-I-BUZ-ZHI. Dance Song (Omaha) 18 + +THE LEADER'S SONG (Omaha) 24 + +TRIBAL PRAYER (Omaha) 29 + +THE BIRD'S NEST (Pawnee) 33 + +TRYSTING LOVE-SONG (Omaha) 36 + +THE DEATHLESS VOICE (Dakota) 42 + +ZO_N_'-ZI-MO_N_-DE (Omaha) 46 + +LOVE-SONG. Poetical Transcription by + Miss E.D. Proctor (Omaha) 50 + +THE WREN (Pawnee) 54 + +SONG TO THE SPIRIT (Omaha) 58 + +THE MOTHER'S VOW (Dakota) 66 + +A LOVE-CALL (Omaha) 69 + +GAME SONG (Vancouver's Island) 72 + +THE INDIAN COQUET (Omaha) 75 + +AN OLD MAN'S LOVE-SONG (Omaha) 78 + +WE'-TO_N_ SONG (Dakota) 84 + +LOVE-SONG (Pawnee) 87 + +A WARRIOR'S SONG. Mi'-ka-thi (Ponka) 92 + +MOCKING-BIRD'S SONG (Tigua) 95 + +SONG OF THE GHOST DANCE (Arapaho) 98 + +CHORAL. Sacred Song of Peace (Omaha) 105 + +THE GIFT OF PEACE (Otoe) 107 + +KAWAS, THY BABY IS CRYING (Pawnee) 109 + +THY FATHER IS COMING (Pawnee) 111 + +LOOK UP (Pawnee) 113 + +PRAYER FOR RAIN (Mexico) 123 + +KWAKIUTL SONG (British Columbia) 123 + + + + +INDIAN STORY AND SONG + + + + +STORY AND SONG OF THE HE-DHU'-SHKA.[1] + +[Footnote 1: In the Indian words and vocables the vowels have the +continental sound. _G_ is hard, as in _go_; _dh_ is like _th_ in +_the_; _th_, as in _thin_; _n_ as in French _en_.] + + +It had been a warm September day; and I was resting in my hammock, +swung from a wide-spreading tree that stood near the tent of my Indian +host. We had partaken of our evening meal beside an outdoor fire. The +mother was busy clearing away the supper dishes, the men had gone off +to look after the horses, the children had fallen asleep, and I lay +watching the shadowy darkness come out of the east and slowly pursue +the glowing trail of the retreating sun, thinking of the Indian's +imagery of night ever haunting and following upon the track of day, +seeking to gain the mastery. I was aroused from my musings by hearing +the mother say, "It is chilly!" for the fire had died down, and the +deep blue of twilight was all about us. + +She dropped beside the embers, blew them into a feeble blaze, threw on +fresh wood, that crackled and sent up a shower of sparks and soon +bright yellow flames illumined the under side of the branches beneath +which I was swinging. + +The call of the fire summoned one tall form after another out of the +dusky surroundings, and around the blazing logs robes were spread here +and there, on which the men reclined. By and by the women came and +dropped down near the fire, and added the treble of their voices to +the deep tones of the men, as the chat of the day's occurrences went +on. + +It was a peaceful, picturesque scene upon which I looked; and by very +contrast my thoughts reverted to the preceding evening, when I had +attended a meeting of the He-dhu'-shka, society composed of warriors. +The gathering had been in a large tent; and, as the night was warm, +the bottom of the tent cover had been lifted to let the breeze blow +through. This had given an opportunity for the crowd outside to look +within and watch the ceremony and the dramatic dance. To the right of +the door, in two circles around the drum, sat the choir of men and +women, all in their gala dress. Each member of the society, wrapped in +his robe, with measured steps entered the tent, and silently took his +seat on the ground against the wall. The ceremony had opened by the +choir singing the ritual song which accompanied the act of charring +the elder wood with which the face of the Leader was afterward to be +painted. As memory brought back the scene in vivid colours,--the +blazing fire in the centre of the wide circle of muffled warriors, the +solemn aspect of the Leader awaiting the preparation of the elder +wood, and his strange appearance after the painting of his face,--I +pondered wonderingly as to what it all might signify. In my perplexity +I spoke from my hammock to one of the elder men in the group before +me:-- + +"Grandfather, I wish you would explain to me the meaning of what I saw +yesterday at the He-dhu'-shka Society. Tell me why the Leader put +black on his face." + +My friend was accustomed to my questionings, and all eyes were turned +toward him as he replied: + +"The Leader put the black cloud over his face, because the black cloud +is worn by Thunder when it comes near to man. The song sung while this +is being done tells that the Leader is making ready and impatiently +awaits the commands of the approaching god of war."... + +This is the song which accompanied the preparation and the putting on +of the insignia of the thunder god. The music is expressive of the +tremulous movement of the leaves, of the flying of the birds, of the +stir of all nature before the advancing storm, typifying the +stirring of the heart of man when summoned to fight the enemies of his +people. + +[Music: PUTTING ON THE INSIGNIA OF THE THUNDER GOD. + +_Omaha. He-dhu'-shka._ + +Harmonized by PROF. J.C. FILLMORE. + +Non-g'dhe dhe-te hi-dha-ki-un te dhon-hi-de, +Non-g'dhe dhe-te hi-dha-ki-un te dhon-hi-de, +Non-g'dhe dhe-te hi-dha-ki-un te dhon-hi-de, +Non-g'dhe dhe-te hi-dha-hi-un te dhon-hi-de, +Non-g'dhe dhe-te hi-dha-ke-un te dhon-hi-de.] + +At the close of the song and ceremony of blackening the Leader's face, +I had seen the Leader take the pipe belonging to the society, fill it, +and reverently lift the stem upward. + +"When the Leader's face is painted," continued the old man, "he offers +the pipe to Wa-ko_n_'-da (god). The words of the song then sung mean: +Wa-ko_n_'-da, we offer this pipe (the symbol of our unity as a +society). Accept it (and us). All the members must join in singing +this prayer, and afterward all must smoke the pipe." + +[Music: PRAYER OF THE WARRIORS BEFORE SMOKING THE PIPE. + +_Omaha. He-dhu'-shka._ + +Harmonized by PROF. J.C. FILLMORE. + +Wa-kon-da dha-ni ga dhe ke, +Wa-kon-da dha-ni ga dhe ke, +Wa-kon-da dha-ni ga dhe ke, +E-ha dha-ni hin ga _we dho he dho_.] + +"The He-dhu'-shka Society is very old," continued my friend. "It is +said to have been in existence at the time when the Omahas and the +Ponkas were together as one tribe. There is a song with a dance which +must be given at every meeting. It is to keep alive the memory of a +battle that took place while we were migrating westward, and where +defeat would have meant our extermination as a tribe. I will tell you +the story.[2] + +[Footnote 2: The translation given is by my collaborator, Mr. Francis +La Flesche.] + +"One morning the tribe, whose country had been invaded by the Ponkas, +made an unexpected assault upon the camp of the invaders. For a time +it seemed as though the Ponkas would fare badly at the hands of their +assailants, who were determined to drive out or destroy the intruders; +but after a desperate struggle the Ponkas pushed their enemies back +from the outskirts of the village, until finally their retreat became +a rout. Both sides suffered great loss. The ground was strewn with the +dead, and the grass stained with the blood of the warriors who fell in +the battle; but the victory was with us, and we had conquered the +right to dwell in that country. + +"At the outset of the conflict a man bent with age emerged slowly from +the door of one of the tents. The breezes played with his long white +hair as he stood leaning on his staff, shading his face with one hand +and looking intently in the direction whence came the noise of battle. +As he recognised the voice of a warrior rushing to the fray, imitating +as he ran the cry of some animal (his tutelary god), the aged man +called after him: + +"'Once more! Once more be the undaunted warrior you have hitherto +been! Utter aloud your mystic cry, and make the enemy to tremble with +fear!' + +"If a youth passed by, singing his death song, the old man would +ask:-- + +"'Who is that young man? He promises well.' Upon being told whose son +he was, the aged man shouted: 'Ho-o! You have the spirit of your +father. Be like him: turn not your face from the foe!' + +"All day the old man stood at his door as though rooted to the ground. +As the hours sped on, fainter and fainter grew the shouts and the +cries of the contending men, until finally the sounds died away. Even +then the venerable man moved not from his tent, but still stood +watching. Lower and lower dropped the sun toward the western horizon, +and all through the village anxious faces were turned in the direction +whence the last sound of the fight had been heard. Suddenly a woman +cried,-- + +"'There they come!' + +"At her words the old man leaned forward, straining his dim eyes to +discern the distant figures on the far-off hill. In single file, on +the warriors came, one preceding another, according to the grade of +the honours he had won in the battle. The Herald hastened forth from +the village to meet them and to learn their tidings. After a halt he +turned and came on in advance of the men, shouting as he came near +the village the names of those who had fallen in battle. As each name +was called, the wife or mother of the slain man rent the air with +sudden cry and wail, so that the whole village vibrated with the sound +of sorrow as the victorious warriors drew near. In the midst of all +this commotion the aged watcher remained motionless, giving no sign of +emotion as the wailing grew in volume, and stirring not even when he +heard the names of his two sons called in the long death-roll. + +"As the warriors entered the village, the Herald proclaimed the names +of those who had distinguished themselves in that memorable fight. +Slowly the men of valour approached their aged chief, who bowed +acknowledgment as each one spoke and laid at his feet a trophy of war. + +"Among the veterans came a young warrior, who, in this his first +battle, had, in a hand to hand contest, wrenched a club from the grasp +of his antagonist, and had slain the enemy with his own weapon. This +club he presented to the old man, recounting the deed. The chief, +lifting the weapon, exclaimed with a dramatic laugh: 'Ha, ha, ha! It +is thus you should treat your enemies, that they may fear you. My +exhortations to our young men have not fallen on deaf ears. Those who +sought to destroy our people lie scattered and dead on the ground. +Wherever their shadows may wander, even there the fear of you shall +be. The enemy sought to make me weep, but I laugh.' And the old man +danced to his triumphant laugh for the victory of that day." + +[Music: SONG OF THE LAUGH. + +_Ponka. He-dhu'-shka._ + +Ha, ha, ha ha ha! Ha ha! hi hi! ha ha! hi!] + +So this was the meaning of the monotonous song that had accompanied +the opening dance I had seen at the He-dhu'-shka Society, where the +dancer, with body bent and with short rhythmic steps, had kept time to +the dramatic laugh of the song,--a song that had seemed so aimless to +me only the night before. + +"Every song of the Society has its story which is the record of some +deed or achievement of its members," said another old man who was +lying beside the fire. "I will tell you one that was known to our +great-great-grandfathers," and rising upon his elbow he began:-- + + + + +THE STORY AND SONG OF ISH'-I-BUZ-ZHI. + + +"Long ago there lived an old Omaha Indian couple who had an only +child, a son named Ish'-i-buz-zhi. From his birth he was peculiar. He +did not play like the other children; and, as he grew older, he kept +away from the boys of his own age, refusing to join in their sports or +to hunt with them for small game. He was silent and reserved with +every one but his mother and her friends. With them he chatted and was +quite at ease. So queer a little boy could not escape ridicule. The +people spoke of him as one 'having no sense,' and it seemed as though +he would have no friends except his parents and a few women intimates +of his mother. + +"During the long winter evenings, when the old men who came to his +father's lodge talked of bygone times and told tales of ancient +heroes, this silent, seemingly heedless boy caught and treasured every +word. He noted that the stories said that the mighty men of early days +were armed only with clubs. He mused on this fact, and determined to +make himself such a weapon. So he fashioned a four-sided club, +practised with it in secret, and kept it constantly with him. He was +well laughed at because he clung always to his club and would not +learn the use of the bow; but he kept his own counsel, and, as the +years went on, no one knew that the Sparrow-hawk had talked to him in +a vision, and that he had become possessed of two of its sacred +feathers. + +"One day when Ish'-i-buz-zhi had grown to be a man, he heard a group +of warriors discussing plans for an expedition against a tribal enemy. +He determined to go with them; but he said nothing, and silently +watched the men depart. That night he stole away and followed the +trail of the warriors. In the morning one of the servants of the war +party discovered him and reported to the Leader, who ordered that he +be brought in. When the men saw that it was Ish'-i-buz-zhi, they joked +him, and asked why he who cared only for the company of old women had +come to them; but the Leader rebuked the warriors and received the +youth kindly, and, when he found that the young man was not properly +provided with clothing, bade his followers to fit him out from their +own supplies. They obeyed, and they also made him a bow of ash and +gave him some arrows. + +"After many days' travel the party drew near to the enemy. A scout +discovered their camp and reported having seen one of their men. At +once the warriors prepared for battle, putting on the sacred paint and +divesting themselves of unnecessary garments, which they handed over +to Ish'-i-buz-zhi to take care of during the fight. But the young man +had his own plans, and went to the Leader and asked permission to go +and look at the enemy. With many cautions not to give an alarm and +prevent surprise, the Leader consented, and off Ish'-i-buz-zhi +started. + +"Catching sight of the enemy, he threw away his bow, and, armed only +with his club, rushed suddenly upon the foremost man, overthrew and +killed him. When the war party came upon the scene, they saw with +amazement what he had done,--how by the might of his single arm he had +killed the Leader of the enemy and scattered his warriors. + +"On the return of the Omaha men to their village the Herald, according +to custom, proclaimed the deed of Ish'-i-buz-zhi. The old mother +sitting in her tent heard his words, and called to her husband: + +"'What is this that I hear? Go you out and learn the truth.' + +"'It is only their ridicule of our boy,' said the old man, loath to +stir. + +"The Herald cried again, and the old man arose and stood at the door +of the tent. Then of a truth he learned that, single-handed, his son +had vanquished the enemy. Again and again did Ish'-i-buz-zhi join war +parties, and he was always the foremost to meet the enemy and to +scatter them with his club. + +"Many tales are told of him; for he was fond of joking, and was often +absent-minded. It is said that his wife was skilled in embroidery, and +would decorate his moccasins with fine porcupine quill work; and it +disturbed her to see him put them on to go out of a morning when the +dew was on the grass. So she took him to task for his thoughtlessness. + +"'While the grass is wet,'" said she, "'carry your moccasins in your +belt.' + +"He obeyed; but he forgot to put them on when the grass was dry, and +came home with feet bruised and sore, and his moccasins still in his +belt. + +"But these peculiarities no longer provoked ridicule, as when +Ish'-i-buz-zhi was a boy; for as a man, generous and strong, he was +beloved by the people. The child who had feasted on tales of the +old heroes had in his manhood reproduced their brave deeds. So it came +to pass that, when danger threatened, it was to him that the people +ran for help; and he never failed them." + +The song refers to one of these appeals. An alarm arose, and to +Ish'-i-buz-zhi, sitting in his tent, the people cried, "The enemy +comes and calls for you, Ish'-i-buz-zhi." + +[Music: DANCE SONG. (ICHIBUZZHI.) + +_Omaha. He-dhu'-shka._ + +Harmonized by PROF. J.C. FILLMORE. + +Ni-ka wi-ta wa-gun-dha ti-be-no, +Ni-ka wi-ta wa-gun-dha ti-be-no, +Ni-ka wi-ta wa-gun-dha ti-be-no, +Ni-ka wi-ta wa-gun-dha ti-be-no, +Ni-ka wi-ta wa-gun-dha ti-be-no dho-e. +Nu-da hun-ga Ich-i-buz-zhi dha-da e dhin-ke de, +Ni-ka wi-ta wa-gun-dha ti-be-no, +Ni-ka wi-ta wa-gun-dha ti-be-no, +Ni-ka wi-ta wa-gun-dha ti-be-no.] + + + + +STORY AND SONG OF THE LEADER. + + +After many years of warfare the Omaha tribe made peace with the Sioux. +One bright autumn day it was suggested that, in order to show their +friendly feeling, a party of Omahas should visit the Sioux tribe. So +the men and women made everything ready for the long journey. + +Tent covers and camp belongings were fastened on trailing travaux, +ponies were laden with gayly painted parfleche packs, containing the +fine garments of the people and the gifts to be presented to the +Sioux. Soon the motley-coloured line could be seen winding over the +rolling prairie. The young men, mounted on their spirited horses, +dashed off, racing with each other to attract the attention of the +maidens, who could only follow with their eyes, so closely guarded +were they by the elder women. Old men jogged along in groups, talking +to each other, their lariats dragging through the grass, now and then +snapping off the head of a wild flower or catching in a tangle of +weeds. Boys made the air ring with their laughter, as they slipped off +their ponies to shoot their small arrows at some imaginary game. It +was a scene full of careless pleasure and happy movement under a +cloudless sky. + +When nearing the Sioux village, the people paused beside a stream to +wash off the dust of travel, to put on their gayest attire, and to +newly paint their hair and faces. The prairie was their vast +dressing-room, and friendly eyes were their mirrors. Young men decked +each other, and girls slyly put on touches of finery. Every one was +moving about and busy, from the oldest man to the youngster captured +from play to be washed and painted. At last the transformation was +complete, from the dun, every-day colour to the brilliant hues of a +gala time. Now messengers were despatched with small bunches of +tobacco, tied up in bits of bladder skin (in lieu of visiting cards), +to give notice of the visiting party's approach. + +Suddenly some one asked, "What if the Sioux do not believe we are +coming in peace, and should capture our messengers and attack us as we +come near with our women and children?" + +Such a reception had not before been thought of; and silence fell upon +the people as they halted, under the gloom of the apprehension. At +length the Leader stood up and said,--"We have made peace, we have +come in good faith, we will go forward, and Wa-ko_n_'-da shall decide +the issue." + +Then he struck up this song and led the way; and, as the men and women +followed, they caught the tune, and all sang it as they came near the +Sioux village. + +In the words the Leader, as representing the Omahas, speaks: "I am +advancing. I am moving toward you. Behold me, young men, warriors of +the Sioux! Here I stand. Wa-ko_n_'-da alone decides the destinies of +men." + +The visitors met with a welcome, and the breach between the two tribes +was healed for many a long day. + +[Music: SONG OF THE LEADER. A REST SONG. + +_Omaha. He-dhu'-shka._ + +Shu-b'dhe adhin-he on-don-ba i ga ho. +Shu-b'dhe adhin-he on-don-ba i ga ho. +Sha-on-zhin-ga ha, dha-dhu anon-zhin on-don-ba ga, he. +Wa-kon-da hi-dhe-g'dhon be dho he dhoe. +On-don-ba ga he. +Sha-on-zhin-ga ha dhe-dhu anon-zhin on-don-ba ga he. +Wa-kon-da hi dhe-g'dhon be dho he.] + + + + +THE OMAHA TRIBAL PRAYER. + + +According to the Omaha idea, a child during its infancy had no +recognised existence as an individual or distinct member of the tribe, +but remained as a part of its parents. When it could walk alone, at +about three years of age, it was initiated into the tribal +organisation through certain religious rites; but its responsible and +individual life did not begin until its mind had "become white," as +the Indians say. This expression referred to the dawn, to the passing +of night into day, and represented the coming of the child out of the +period where nothing was clearly apprehended into a time when he could +readily recall past events with their distinctness of detail. This +seeming mastery of the minutiae of passing occurrences indicated that a +stage of growth had been reached where the youth could be inducted +into the religious mysteries through a distinct personal experience +acquired in the rite, No_n_'-zhi_n_-zho_n_,--a rite which brought him +into what was believed to be direct communication with the +supernatural powers. + +In preparation for this rite the Omaha youth was taught the Tribal +Prayer. He was to sing it during the four nights and days of his +vigil in some lonely place. As he left his home, his parents put clay +on his head; and, to teach him self-control, they placed a bow and +arrows in his hand, with the injunction not to use them during his +long fast, no matter how great the temptation might be. He was bidden +to weep as he sang the prayer, and to wipe his tears with the palms of +his hands, to lift his wet hands to heaven, and then lay them on the +earth. With these instructions the youth departed, to enter upon the +trial of his endurance. When at last he fell into a sleep or trance, +and the vision came, of bird, or beast, or cloud, bringing with it a +cadence, this song became ever after the medium of communication +between the man and the mysterious power typified in his vision; and +by it he summoned help and strength in the hour of his need. + +In this manner all mystery songs originated,--the songs sung when +healing plants were gathered and when the medicine was administered; +when a man set his traps or hunted for game; when he desired to look +into the future or sought supernatural guidance, or deliverance from +impending danger. + +The Tribal Prayer was called in the Omaha tongue Wa-ko_n_'-da +gi-ko_n_: Wa-ko_n_'-da, the power which could make or bring to pass; +gi-ko_n_, to weep from conscious insufficiency, or the longing for +something that could bring happiness or prosperity. The words of the +prayer, Wa-ko_n_'-da dhe-dhu wah-pa'-dhi_n_ a-to_n_'-he, literally +rendered, are, Wa-ko_n_'-da, here needy he stands; and I am he. + +This prayer is very old. Its supplicating cadences echoed through the +forests of this land long before our race had touched its shores, +voicing a cry recognised by every human heart. + +[Music: THE OMAHA TRIBAL PRAYER. + +Harmonized by PROF. J.C. FILLMORE. + +Wa-kon-da dhe-dhu +Wa-pa-dhin a-ton-he. +Wa-kon-da dhe-dhu +Wa-pa-dhin a-ton-he.] + + + + +STORY AND SONG OF THE BIRD'S NEST.[3] + +[Footnote 3: An old priest of the rite gave me the story and song +through Mr. James R. Murie, an educated Pawnee, and they are here for +the first time made public.] + + +Scattered through an elaborate ritual and religious ceremony of the +Pawnee tribe are little parables in which some natural scene or +occurrence serves as a teaching to guide man in his daily life. The +following is an example. + +The words of the song ("the sound of the young") are purposely few, so +as to guard the full meaning from the careless and to enable the +priest to hold the interpretation as a part of his sacred treasure. +They are sufficient, however, to attract the attention of the +thoughtful; and such a one who desired to know the teaching of the +sacred song could first perform certain initiatory rites and then +learn its full meaning from the priest. + + * * * * * + +"One day a man whose mind was open to the teaching of the gods +wandered on the prairie. As he walked, his eyes upon the ground, he +spied a bird's nest hidden in the grass, and arrested his feet just in +time to prevent stepping on it. He paused to look at the little nest +tucked away so snug and warm, and noted that it held six eggs, and +that a peeping sound came from some of them. While he watched, one +moved; and soon a tiny bill pushed through the shell, uttering a +shrill cry. At once the parent birds answered, and he looked up to see +where they were. They were not far off, and were flying about in +search of food, chirping the while to each other and now calling to +the little one in the nest. + +"The homely scene stirred the heart and the thoughts of the man, as he +stood there under the clear sky, glancing upward toward the old birds +and then down at the helpless young in the nest at his feet. As he +looked, he thought of his people, who were so often careless and +thoughtless of their children's needs; and his mind brooded over the +matter. After many days he desired to see the nest again. So he went +to the place where he had found it; and there it was, as safe as when +he left it. But a change had taken place. It was now full to +overflowing with little birds, who were stretching their wings, +balancing on their small legs, and making ready to fly; while the +parents with encouraging calls were coaxing the fledglings to venture +forth. + +"'Ah!' said the man, 'if my people would only learn of the birds, +and, like them, care for their young and provide for their future, +homes would be full and happy, and our tribe be strong and prosperous. + +"When this man became a priest, he told the story of the bird's nest +and sang its song; and so it has come down to us from the days of our +fathers." + +[Music: SONG OF THE BIRD'S NEST. + +_Pawnee._ + +Transcribed from Graphophone and harmonized by EDWIN S. TRACY. + +Ho-o +Ha-re ha-re re ha-re +Ha-re ha-re e ha-re +Re wha-ka ha-re re ha-re, wha-ka ha-re re ha-re +Re wha-ka ha-re re ha-re.] + + + + +A TRYSTING LOVE-SONG. + + +One of the few delights of life in camp is the opportunity the tent +affords of ready access to the open air. There is no traversing of +stairways, no crossing of halls, and no opening of reluctant doors, +but only the parting of the canvas, and our world is as wide as the +horizon and high as the heavens. Even when the tent door-flap is +snugly closed, nature is not wholly shut out. Often I have lain +looking up at the stars as they passed slowly across the central +opening, and listened to the flight of the birds as they travelled +northward at the coming of spring. And I have watched the birth of +many a day, from the first quivering primrose hue to the full flush +and glow of rosy colour, and then the stirring breeze, the waking +leaves, and the call of the birds breaking into song. + +One morning I rose from my blankets and stepped out under the broad +dome of the sky, while all about me in their shadowy tents the people +slept. I wandered toward a glen, down which the water from a little +spring hurried to the brook. As I sat among the fresh undergrowth, I +watched the stars grow dim and the thin line of smoke rise from the +tents, telling that the mother had risen to blow the embers to a +blaze and to put another stick or two upon the fire. + +As I sat, thinking a multitude of thoughts, I heard a rustling upon +the hill opposite me. Then there was silence, quickly broken by +movements in another direction; while from the hill came the clear +voice of a young man singing. In a moment more two women, whom I +recognised as aunt and niece, appeared at the spring, the one elderly, +the other young and pretty; but the singer was still invisible. The +cadences of the song were blithe and glad, like the birds and the +breezes laden with summer fragrance. The words, "I see them coming!" +carried a double meaning. The girl for whom he had waited was in truth +coming, but to the singer was also coming the delight of growing love +and abundant hope. + +[Music: TRYSTING LOVE SONG. + +_Omaha._ + +Harmonized by PROF. J.C. FILLMORE. + +Hi dha ho! +Sha a-ma wi un-don-be a-me dho he, +Sha a-ma wi un-don-be a-me dho he +Sha a-ma wi un-don-be a-me dho he dhoe. +Hi dha ho! +Sha a-ma wi un-don-be a-me dho he. +Sha a-ma wi un-don-be a-me dho he.] + +The women filled their water vessels. The elder took no note of the +song, but turned steadily toward the home path. The eyes of the maiden +had been slyly searching the hillside as she slowly neared the spring +and dipped up the sparkling water. Now, as the aunt walked away, the +song ceased; and a light rustling followed, as the lover, bounding +down the hill, leaped the brook and was at the side of the girl. A +few hasty words, a call from the aunt, a lingering parting, and I was +alone again. The brook went babbling on, but telling no tales, the +birds were busy with their own affairs, and the sunbeams winked +brightly through the leaves. The little rift, giving a glimpse of the +inner life of two souls, had closed and left no outward sign; and yet +the difference! + +There was a measured thud upon the trail, and an old woman with +stooping shoulders passed down the glen. As she bent over the spring +and took her water supply, I heard the young man's voice in the +distance, singing his song as he wended his way home. The old woman +heard it, too. She straightened up and looked steadily in the +direction of the singer, slowly shook her head, picked up her water +vessel, and turned away, her crooked figure disappearing in the +shadows. Then I arose and followed the singer, trying to forget the +warning shake of the old woman's head. + + + + +STORY AND SONG OF THE DEATHLESS VOICE.[4] + +[Footnote 4: The translation of the story is by Mr. Francis La +Flesche.] + +ORIGIN OF THE MA-WA'-DA-NI SOCIETY. + + +A long, long time ago a large number of warriors, under the leadership +of a man noted throughout the warlike tribes for his valorous deeds, +started forth to harass and, if possible, to drive a powerful people +from a territory which abounded in game. This war party was out many +days, had many a weary march in search of the enemy, scouring the +country far and wide, keeping their scouts in the front, rear, and +flank; for the leader was determined not to return to his village +without the trophies of war. + +They came one day to a large grove with a clear brook running through +it. Here the Leader ordered the camp to be pitched, that his little +army might rest awhile and repair their moccasins and clothing. +Sentinels were stationed so as to guard against surprise. Hunters were +sent forth, and returned laden with game. + +Night came on. There was no moon; and it was dark, although the stars +shone brightly. A fire blazed in the open air, and the men whose duty +it was to dress and cook the meat, were moving about the burning logs; +while others sat mending their moccasins by the firelight, listening +to stories of battles, marvellous escapes, and strange adventures. + +Supper was cooked, and the meat was piled on freshly cut grass spread +upon the ground; and near by were set the pots of broth and the wooden +bowls and horn spoons. The Leader was called to perform the usual +sacred rites observed before the serving of food; and all the warriors +gathered around the fire, each one eager for his portion of the meal. +At a signal from the Leader every man bowed his head, and there was +silence. Not a breath of air was stirring. Now and then could be heard +the far-off dismal howl of the grey wolf or the cry of a strange bird +startled from its nest by a coyote. Save from these and the crackling +of the fire there was stillness in all the surroundings. The warriors +had made their silent petitions to Wako_n_'-da, the power that moves +all things. The Leader lifted his head. Then from the pile of meat he +took a bit and raised it toward the sky, as an offering to that +mysterious power, when suddenly the stillness was broken and the +ceremony interrupted by a clear voice bursting into song, the echoes +in the hills and valleys catching and repeating the strain. + +Each warrior involuntarily grasped his bow. The Leader, ever keen and +alert, exclaimed in a hoarse whisper, "The fire! the fire!" +Immediately many hands were rubbing the flaming wood into the earth. +Commands were hastily given by the Leader; and the warriors, with +palpitating hearts, started out to form a ring around the spot whence +the thrilling sounds came. The voice sang on. The ring grew smaller +and smaller until in an open space the shadowy form of a tree loomed +up before the advancing warriors. No escape was now possible for the +singer, yet the song went on without hesitancy. The tree was now +clearly visible. The song came to a close, and the echo died away in +the distance. The men kept on toward the tree, with bows drawn and +arrows strung. No form was seen running around inside the ring, +seeking an opening for escape; but, lo! at the foot of the tree lay +scattered the whitened bones and the grinning skull of a man. Death +had claimed the body of this warrior and compelled its return to dust, +but had failed to silence the voice of the man who, when living, had +often defied death. + +[Music: SONG OF THE DEATHLESS VOICE. + +_Dakota._ + +Harmonized by EDWIN S. TRACY. + +Hi dho ho hi dho ho i dho hi dho ha ha i dha +ah hi dha ha hi dha ha hi dha ha idha ha +ha hi dho i dha he e dho i. +Ah hi dho hi dho hi dho ho i dha i dho +ha ha i dha ah hi dha ha i dha ha hi dha ha i-dha ha +ha hi dha e dho he dho.] + +The Leader, looking around upon his followers, lifted his voice and +said:-- + +"This was a warrior, who died the death of a warrior. There was joy in +his voice!" + +The men to whom the strange experience narrated in this story came, +afterward banded themselves together in order the better to serve +their people, to present to the young men of the tribe an example of +generosity in time of peace and of steadfast valour on the field of +battle. They kept together during their lives and added to their +number, so that the society they formed continued to exist through +generations. + +The story and song which has been handed down through all these years +as the inspiration of the founders of the Ma-wa'-da-ni Society, +embodies a truth honoured among all peoples,--that death cannot +silence the voice of one who confronts danger with unflinching +courage, giving his life in the defence of those dependent upon his +prowess. Such a man might fall in the trackless wilderness, and his +bones lie unhonoured and unburied until they blanched with age: still +his voice would ring out in the solitude until its message of courage +and joy should find an echo in the heart of the living. + + + + +STORY AND SONG OF ZO_N_-ZI'-MO_N_-DE. + + +Victory songs, of which this is one, were sung when the people with +rhythmic steps celebrated ceremonially the return of victorious +warriors. Because of its peculiar accessory, the scalp, this ceremony +has been called by us the "scalp dance," although no Indian so +designates it. + +The contrast between the sentiment of this story, teaching respect and +honour to the old, and the ceremony, as we baldly see it, is +startling. But it is with the Indian as with ourselves: the cruelties +of war and the gentler emotions are often intertwined, the latter +surviving and lifting up a standard for emulation, the former passing +away, dying with the instigating passion. Among the many hundreds of +Indian songs I have known, none commemorate acts of cruelty. + +Years ago the Omaha tribe and the Sioux met while searching for a +buffalo herd; and, as was usual, a battle ensued, for each tribe was +determined to drive the other from the region of the game. Although +the Sioux outnumbered the Omaha, the latter remained victors of the +field. + +[Music: ZO_N_-ZI-MO_N_-DE. + +_Omaha._ + +Harmonized by PROF. J.C. FILLMORE. + +Ye ha he ya e he dha ye ha he +ya e he dha ah ha ya e he dha ye ha he +ya e he dha dha ha dhoe. +Zo_n_-zi-mo_n_-de a-ma sha e dhe. +Ah ha ya e he dha e ha he ya e ha dha dha ha dho.] + +An old Omaha, interested to observe how some of the tribe would +conduct themselves in their first battle, made his way toward the +scene of conflict. It chanced that just as a Sioux warrior had fallen, +pierced by an arrow, and the Omaha men were rushing forward to secure +their war honours, this old man was discovered coming up the hill, +aided by his bow, which he used as a staff. One of the young warriors +called to his companions:-- + +"Hold! Yonder comes Zo_n_-zi'-mo_n_-de, let us give him the honours." + +Then, out of courtesy to the veteran, each young warrior paused and +stepped aside, while the old man, all out of breath, hastened to the +fallen foe. There he turned and thanked the young men for permitting +him, whom age had brought to the edge of the grave, to count yet one +more honour as a warrior.[5] + +[Footnote 5: To be the first to touch the body of an enemy counts as a +war honour.] + +The words of the song give the exclamation of the generous youth: +"Zo_n_-zi'-mo_n_-de comes! Stand aside! He comes." + + + + +AN OMAHA LOVE-SONG. + + +The words of many love-songs refer to the dawn, the time of the day +when they are usually sung; but this reference is not a literal one. +It figures the dawn of love in the breast of the singer. The Indian +stands so close to Nature that he sees his own moods reflected or +interpreted in hers. + +The Indian words of this song, freely translated, are:-- + + As the day comes forth from night, + So I come forth to seek thee. + Lift thine eyes and behold him + Who comes with the day to thee. + +[Music: LOVE SONG. + +_Omaha._ + +Harmonized by PROF. J.C. FILLMORE. + +Fades the star of morning, +West winds gently blow, gently blow, gently blow. +Soft the pine trees murmur, +Soft the waters flow, +Soft the waters flow, +Soft the waters flow. +Lift thine eyes, my maiden, +To the hill-top nigh. +Night and gloom will vanish +When the pale stars die, +When the pale stars die, +When the pale stars die. +Lift thine eyes, my maiden, +Hear thy lover's cry.] + +Miss Edna Dean Proctor has rendered into charming verse the scene and +the feeling of the hour, giving us an Indian love-song in its +entirety. By her courtesy I am able to reproduce here her poem written +some years ago, on hearing the melody which I had then recently +transcribed during one of my sojourns among the Omaha Indians:-- + + Fades the star of morning, + West winds gently blow, + Soft the pine-trees murmur, + Soft the waters flow. + + Lift thine eyes, my maiden, + To the hill-top nigh, + Night and gloom will vanish + When the pale stars die; + Lift thine eyes, my maiden, + Hear thy lover's cry! + + From my tent I wander, + Seeking only thee, + As the day from darkness + Comes for stream and tree. + Lift thine eyes, my maiden, + To the hill-top nigh; + Lo! the dawn is breaking, + Rosy beams the sky; + Lift thine eyes, my maiden, + Hear thy lover's cry! + + Lonely is our valley, + Though the month is May; + Come and be my moonlight, + I will be thy day! + Lift thine eyes, my maiden, + Oh, behold me nigh! + Now the sun is rising, + Now the shadows fly; + Lift thine eyes, my maiden, + Hear thy lover's cry! + + + + +THE STORY AND SONG OF THE WREN.[6] + +[Footnote 6: Both story and song were recited to me by an old priest +of the rite, and were interpreted by Mr. James R. Murie.] + + +This little parable occurs in the ritual of a religious ceremony of +the Pawnee tribe. The song has no words, except a term for wren, the +vocables being intended only to imitate the notes of the bird, +nevertheless, one can trace, through the variation and repetition of +the musical motive, the movement of the gentle thoughts of the teacher +as given in the story which belongs to the song. + +"A priest went forth in the early dawn. The sky was clear. The grass +and wild flowers waved in the breeze that rose as the sun threw its +first beams over the earth. Birds of all kinds vied with each other, +as they sang their joy on that beautiful morning. The priest stood +listening. Suddenly, off at one side, he heard a trill that rose +higher and clearer than all the rest. He moved toward the place whence +the song came, that he might see what manner of bird it was that could +send farther than all the others its happy, laughing notes. As he came +near, he beheld a tiny brown bird with open bill, the feathers on its +throat rippling with the fervour of its song. It was the wren, the +smallest, the least powerful of birds, that seemed to be most glad +and to pour out in ringing melody to the rising sun its delight in +life. + +"As the priest looked, he thought: 'Here is a teaching for my people. +Every one can be happy, even the most insignificant can have his song +of thanks.' + +"So he made the story of the wren and sang it; and it has been handed +down from that day,--a day so long ago no man can remember the time." + +[Music: SONG OF THE WREN. + +_Pawnee._ + +Transcribed from Graphophone and harmonized by EDWIN S. TRACY. + +Ke-chi ra-ku-wa-ku whe ke re re we chi, +Ke-chi ra-ku-wa-ku whe ke re re we chi, +Ke-chi ra-ku-wa-ku whe ke re re we chi, +Ke-chi ra-ku-wa-ku whe ke re re we chi, +Ke-chi ra-ku-wa-ku whe ke re re we chi, +Ke-chi ra-ku-wa-ku whe ke re re we chi.] + + + + +THE OMAHA FUNERAL SONG. + + +There was but one funeral song in the Omaha tribe, and this was only +sung to honour some man or woman who had been greatly respected by the +people. + +What one would see, when this song was sung, was in violent contrast +to the character of the music. The blithe major strains suggest only +happiness. They hardly touch ground, so to speak, but keep their +flight up where the birds are flitting about in the sunshine; and, if +there are clouds in the blue sky, they are soft and fleecy, and cast +no shadows. Yet the men who sang this song were ranged in line before +the tent where the dead lay ready for burial. They had drawn the stem +of a willow branch through a loop of flesh cut on their left arm, and +their blood dripped upon the green leaves and fell in drops to the +ground. + +The meaning of this strange spectacle and its musical accompaniment, +so apparently out of keeping, must be sought for in the beliefs of the +people. It was a drama touching two worlds. + +The shedding of blood was to express how vital was the loss. This act, +visible to the mourners, was an exhibition of sympathy; but music +had power to reach the unseen world, so the song was for the spirit of +the dead, who could not see the lacerated singers, but could hear +them, as they sang to cheer him as he went forth, forced by death to +leave all who were dear to him.[7] + +[Footnote 7: It was one of the customs of the Omahas to cease wailing +at a certain stage in the funeral ceremonies, that the departing +friend might not be distressed by the sounds of sorrow, as he left his +home behind him,--a custom founded on the same belief as that +expressed by this funeral song.] + +The song was always sung in unison. The rhythm was accented by each +singer beating together two small willow sticks. + +There are no words to the song, only vocables; and these belong to the +breathing or sighing class, indicative of emotion. + +[Music: SONG TO THE SPIRIT. + +_Omaha._ + +Harmonized by PROF. J.C. FILLMORE. + +E a dha ah +E he a ha ah, he ah +E dha ah he a ha ah +E dha ah +E ah +E ah ha e ha o +E dha he he dhoe ha o o +E dha ha he a ha ah +E dha ah e ah +E ah ha e ha o +E dha he dho.] + + + + +STORY AND SONG OF THE MOTHER'S VOW. + + +It was a warm day of early spring on the Upper Missouri, when the +subtle joy of awakening life stirs the blood and rouses the fancy. The +brown outline of the bare trees was already broken by little leaves +that were shaking themselves in the bright sunlight. Flowers were +peering through the vivid green of the freshly sprung grass, the birds +had come, and the silence of the year had passed. It was a day to +enjoy outdoor life, to indulge in hope and happy thoughts. The sky was +so blue between the rolling white clouds that one forgot they could +ever become portentous of storm. The tents of the Indians, dotted +along the banks of the stream, stood like tall white flowers among the +trees. Women and children were chatting and calling to each other. Men +moved sedately about, busy with preparations for the coming summer +days. Young men and maidens were thinking of each other; for the +morning song of the lover had been heard, and the signal flash of the +mirror[8] had revealed his watching-place to the dark-eyed girl +demurely drawing water for the household in the early dawn. + +[Footnote 8: Young men carried small looking-glasses with which they +flashed signals.] + +Unheeding the passage of the hours, I wandered up the narrow valley, +noting the fading lines of aboriginal life spread out before me. All +at once I became aware that the brightness of the day was +overshadowed: a greyish hue, that rapidly deepened, pervaded the +scene. Suddenly the wind came over the hills, the birds darted about, +and the sound of thunder was heard. Everything was seeking a shelter; +and, as I turned in haste, hoping to reach the nearest tent, I saw an +old woman emerge from a lodge and in the face of the storm begin to +climb the hill, down which the wind swept, laying low the grass and +whipping the heads of the flowers. Seemingly unmindful of the storm, +on the woman went, her scant garments flapping, and her hair, seamed +with grey, tossing about her wrinkled face. The sight was so strange +that I paused to watch her, as she climbed on and on, steadfastly +breasting the storm. The lightnings flashed around her, and the +thunder echoed among the hills as she reached the top. There she +stopped and stood, a silhouette against the surging clouds, her hands +uplifted, her head thrown back; and between the thunder peals I heard +her voice ring out loud and clear in a song,--a song, I doubted not, +that carried a message to the mighty storm, in which to her the gods +were present. Many years have passed since I witnessed this scene and +learned the story of the woman's song. She is now at rest, and let us +hope her lifelong sorrow may have turned to joy. + +In the early part of the century a Dakota woman fasted and prayed, and +Thunder came to her in her vision. To the god she promised to give her +firstborn child. When she became a mother, she forgot in her joy that +the life of her little one did not belong to her; nor did she recall +her fateful vow until one bright spring day, when the clouds gathered +and she heard the roll of the thunder,--a sound which summoned all +persons consecrated to this god to bring their offerings and to pay +their vows. Then she remembered what she had promised; but her heart +forbade her to lay the infant, which was smiling in her arms, upon the +cloud-swept hill-top. She pressed the baby to her breast, and waited +in silence the passing of the god in the storm. + +The following spring, when the first thunder pealed, she did not +forget her vow; but she could not gather strength to fulfil it. + +Another year passed, and again the thunder sounded. Taking the +toddling child by the hand, the mother climbed the hill; and, when the +top was reached, she placed it on the ground and fled. But the boy +scrambled up and ran after her, and his frightened cry stayed her +feet. He caught her garments and clung to them; and, although the +thunder called, she could not obey. Her vow had been made before she +knew the strength of a mother's love. + +Gathering the boy in her arms, she hid herself and him from the +presence of the god. The storm passed, and the mother and child +returned to the lodge; but fear had taken possession of her, and she +watched her son with eyes in which terror and love struggled for the +mastery. + +One day, as the little one played beside a rippling brook, laughing +and singing in his glee, suddenly the clouds gathered, the flashing +lightning and the crashing thunder sent beast and bird to cover, and +drove the mother out to find her child. She heard his voice above the +fury of the storm, calling to her. As she neared the brook, a vivid +flash blinded her eyes. For a moment she was stunned; but, recovering, +she pushed on, only to be appalled by the sight that met her gaze. +Her boy lay dead. The thunder god had claimed his own. + +No other children came to lighten the sorrow of the lonely woman; and +every spring, when the first thunder sounded, and whenever the storm +swept the land, this stricken woman climbed the hills, and there, +standing alone, facing the black rolling clouds, she sang her song of +sorrow and of fealty. + + * * * * * + +The words of the song are addressed to the god; but the music, in its +swaying rhythm, suggests the mother's memory of the days when she +soothed her little child. + +The following is a free translation of the Indian words:-- + + E dho he![9] + Behold! On their mighty pinions flying, + They come, the gods come once more + Sweeping o'er the land, + Sounding their call to me, to me their own. + Wa-gi-u_n_![10] Ye on mighty pinions flying, + Look on me here, me your own, + Thinking on my vow + As ye return once more, Wa-gi-u_n_! + +[Footnote 9: Sighing vocables.] + +[Footnote 10: Dakota term for the thunder bird.] + +[Music: THE MOTHER'S VOW. + +_Dakota._ + +Harmonized by PROF. J.C. FILLMORE. + +E dho he! +Gi-un, gi-un a-gi-ba ha-don-be +Co-dha, gi-don-be a-me, ha-don-be a-me, +Wa-gi-un gi a-me dho he dho-e. +Wa-gi-un +gi-un a-gi-ba ha-don-be +Co-dha gi-don-be ha-we ha-don-be a-me. +Wa-gi-un gi a-me dho he dho.] + + + + +A LOVE-CALL. + + +The native flageolet has proved a trusty friend to many a youth to +whom nature had denied the power of expressing in vocal melody his +fealty to the maiden of his choice. With its woody tones he rivalled +the birds as he sounded his love-call from the hills and made glad the +heart of the girl, who, catching the signal, awaited his coming at the +spring. + +There are many bits of music composed for this little instrument, +which, in spite of its inaccuracies of pitch, arising from imperfect +construction, are not without hints of beauty. + +[Music: LOVE CALL. + +_Omaha._ + +For the Flageolet.] + + + + +A GAME SONG FROM THE NORTH-WEST COAST. + + +It is well known that the serious avocations of the fathers often +serve as games for the children. So it comes about that in the games +of chance we have a survival of the ancient custom of divination. As, +according to Indian belief, song was the medium through which man +communicated with the mysterious powers, we find all his games of +chance accompanied by melodies. + +One autumn evening many years ago I was walking along a stretch of the +Pacific shore. The westerning moon flooded the water with light, and +lit up the edge of the dense forest that formed the background of an +Indian village. From one of its great square wooden dwellings came the +sound of singing, and the ruddy firelight shone through the cracks of +the plank door as I approached. + +Entering, I saw that the central fire had just been lighted. The four +families, which had each their particular portion of the communal +house, had suffered their separate fires to burn to ashes, and had +pushed back their various belongings to give more room for the +gathering crowd. + +I lingered at the door, looking on the motley scene: the women and +children in the background; the old men in groups, talking over their +younger days; the line of men singers, each with his piece of board +with which to strike the floor in lieu of a drum; the young men who +were to play, ranged in two opposite rows; and others standing about, +watching their friends and eager for the game to begin. + +When all was ready, the leader of one side held up for a moment in one +hand a small piece of bone, then began tossing it secretly from one +hand to the other, moving the closed fists rapidly past each other to +the rhythm of the song sung by the singers, the opposite side keeping +sharp eyes on the moving fists, to be ready, when the signal should be +given, to detect, if possible, the hand to which the bone had finally +been passed. + +Heavy stakes were put up, and there was every sign that song after +song would follow each other as the night wore on. + +The song which follows is sung when playing a game of chance:-- + +[Music: GAME SONG. + +_Vancouver's Island._ + +Transcribed and Harmonized by PROF. J.C. FILLMORE.] + + + + +STORY AND SONG OF THE INDIAN COQUET. + + +In the last century there lived a man who, in his young days, was a +desperate coquet. He played havoc with the plans of many a young man, +robbing him of the fancy of his sweetheart, and then leaving the +maiden all forlorn. His behaviour aroused the anger and jealousy of +both sexes, but he seemed as impervious to the contempt of his fellows +as he was callous to the woe of his victims. The whole village buzzed +with the gossip of his adventures, and every one wondered how he +managed to escape punishment. + +After the manner of the people, a song was made about him and his +career, that has outlasted his vain victories. + +It is difficult to convey in concise English the sarcastic humour of +the original. The words picture this young man as sitting on a hill, +near the village where he lived and achieved so many conquests. The +warm summer breeze wafted up to him the hum of the people as they +talked, blaming him for his actions. "But why blame me?" says the +irresistible youth, stretching himself at full length in the +sunshine. "It was the gods that made me as I am: blame them, if you +will!" And he gave a sigh of satisfaction, "Hi!" + +The music carries the story well. The swing of the last six bars +suggests his shrug of irresponsibility. + +[Music: SONG OF THE INDIAN COQUET. + +_Omaha._ + +Harmonized by PROF. J.C. FILLMORE. + +Ta won gdhon dhe-nun-ye de +Un-dhon-ge-a dhon-ke dhe +wa-kon-da he-gi-mon-te in-dhin-ga-ye ga-ma hi-a me +Hi!] + + + + +THE OLD MAN'S LOVE-SONG. + + +Early in the century there lived an Omaha Indian, a tall and comely +man, gifted with a fine voice and a good memory, and who was greatly +admired by the men and women of the tribe. Although genial with every +one, he was reserved; and none knew all that had transpired in his +life or that occupied his thoughts. He was a prosperous man. His lodge +was well supplied, for his skill as a hunter was equal to his valour +as a warrior. + +Years passed; and here and there a silver thread glistened in his +black hair, the furrows deepened in his handsome face, and more and +more his thoughts seemed to dwell on the past. One day he was heard +singing a love-song of his own composition, and gossip became busy as +to what this song might mean. His actions threw no light on the +mystery. He was the same kind husband and father, the same diligent +provider, and he sought no new companionship. Nevertheless, at every +dawn he went upon the hill near his lodge; and, while the morning star +hung like a jewel in the east, he sang the melody carrying the +words,-- + + "With the dawn I seek thee!" + +[Music: THE OLD MAN'S LOVE SONG. + +_Omaha._ + +Harmonized by PROF. J.C. FILLMORE. + +Ha he ha ha he ha he ha we dhe ha dha e ha dhoe, +Um-ba e-don ha-i-don, hu-wi-ne ha, ho e ho wa dho he dhe, +I ha, ha he ho, ho he ho, he ha we dhe dhoe. +Un-ba i-don ha-i-don, hu-wi ne ha, ho e ho ne dho he.] + +The young men caught the tune, and sang it as they wooed the maidens; +and the old man smiled as he heard them. "Yes, they are right," he +said. "It is a love-song." + +He grew to be a very old man, an old man with a love-song, until it +was only when the warm days came that he could slowly climb the hill +at dawn, and, alone with the breezes and birds, greet the new day with +his song, that both kept and revealed his secret,--the secret of a +love, like the radiant bow, spanning the whole horizon of his life. At +last a time came when his voice was no longer heard. + +The tender cadences of his song, fraught with human hope and human +feeling, still linger, and to-day awaken echoes across the barriers of +time and race. + + + + +STORY OF THE WE-TO'_N_ SONG. + + +Many Indian tribes believed it possible for one person to affect +another through the power of the will. This belief gave rise to +peculiar customs and to a class of songs called, in the Omaha tongue, +We'-to_n_, composed and sung by women for the sole purpose of exerting +this power for the benefit of absent warriors. + +Unless the village was attacked, women did not take active part in +war. When the men went forth on a long journey to meet the enemy, the +women remained at home, attending to domestic duties. Their thoughts, +however, were with the absent ones; and, under the incentive of the +belief in will power, they would gather in groups at the lodge of the +Leader of the war party, and in the hearing of his family would sing a +We'-to_n_ song, which should carry strength to the far-away warriors +and help them to win the battle. + +The words of these songs do not reveal the purpose for which they were +sung, it being one of the peculiarities of the Indian never to +expatiate upon that which to him is apparent. The gathering of the +women at the lodge of the Leader of the war party, the united action +in singing a song never used but for one purpose, made any explanatory +words seem unnecessary. The distinctive mission of the song was to +reach the absent man, who, far from home, was suffering hardship and +facing danger. Upon him the singers fixed their thoughts, and to him +sent strength by their power of will. The words always referred to the +difficulties that confronted the warrior, and promised him success and +victory. They were not addressed to any visible audience. + +The We'-to_n_ song here given was composed by a Dakota woman. + + * * * * * + +Many years ago a large party of warriors were out on a dangerous +expedition for the purpose of recapturing some property stolen by an +implacable enemy. There seemed little hope for their safe return, and +great apprehension was felt in many a tent. One evening, as the moon +rose, round and clear, over the wide rolling prairie, a group of women +moved in single file to the lodge of the Leader of the war party, upon +whom rested the responsibility of the expedition. + +The tent stood dark against the evening sky, revealing the anxiety +within, which had let the blazing fire die to smouldering embers. At +the door the women paused, and across the stillness of the night they +sent forth this song, fraught with their united determination to +compel victory for the absent men. + +"All the tribes shall hear of you," they sang. "Put forth your +strength. Truly this shall come to pass." + +Out of the silent tent emerged the Leader's wife, bearing in her arms +gifts in acknowledgment of sympathy given and of succour sent. + + * * * * * + +And, as the women sang, "truly it came to pass." In due time the men +returned triumphant, after many hair-breadth escapes, with not one of +their number missing. + +[Music: WE-TO_N_ SONG. + +_Dakota._ + +Harmonized by PROF. J.C. FILLMORE. + +E ya-a he! +ah he dhe he dhe ah he dhe he dhe e-ya he! +ah ye dha he he ah he dha he dhoe, +ou-ki-a-ma dhi nun-un-ta-ye wa-skon-e-gun ya he +E ya he! +ah he dhe he he ah he dhe he dho.] + + + + +A PAWNEE LOVE-SONG. + + +There is no dalliance in this Pawnee love-song. It has no words, but +the music tells the story,--the insistent call of the lover to the +maiden to fly with him, the wide sweep of the prairie, the race for +cover, and the dauntless daring that won the girl from rival +pursuers. + +[Music: LOVE SONG. + +_Pawnee._ + +Transcribed by E.S. TRACY.] + + + + +A WARRIOR'S STORY AND SONG. + + +The Mi'-ka-thi songs are sung by warriors as they leave the village on +their way to battle. They all originate in some personal experience, +and both story and song are handed down with care and precision. + + * * * * * + +A Ponka war party once camped near the enemy. The usual sentinels had +been stationed, with special injunctions to be vigilant, that the camp +might not be discovered and surprised. Among those assigned to duty as +sentinel that night was a young man ambitious to win preferment and +honour in the tribe. His career was yet all to make, and he was on the +alert for opportunity to distinguish himself. + +There was no moon, and only the keenest eye could discern any distant +object in the darkness. The silence was unbroken save by the +occasional cry of the wolf, the creaking of a cricket, or the rustle +of a passing breeze. + +The young man, intently on the watch, scanned the country from right +to left, searching through the dimness for any moving thing; but all +was motionless beneath, while overhead the stars moved slowly through +the heavens, as the night wore on. + +At a little distance from the watcher was a clump of trees. Upon this +he kept a steady eye, only turning now and then to sweep the horizon. +Once, as his eye returned to the trees, he beheld a shadow unnoticed +before. It moved; and, without waiting to see more, he sped +noiselessly as an arrow to wake the Leader and report that he had seen +the enemy creeping toward the sleeping warriors. + +The Leader, an old and experienced man, made no reply, but rose +quickly and silently, and taking his bow in his hand, motioned the +sentinel to lead the way. + +With rapid, muffled steps, they reached the place where the young man +had stood when he had seen the moving shadow. The Leader looked +intently in the indicated direction, bent his ear to the ground and +listened, then rose and looked again. + +A faint gleam of light in the east gave sign of the approach of day, +as the Leader stepped cautiously toward the group of trees, followed +by the young warrior, whose heart beat high with hope that the time +had at last come for him to show his valour and win a war honour. A +greyish hue was spreading over the land as they neared the place. The +young man's eyes sought among the trees the hidden enemy, but the +Leader paused and addressed the youth:-- + +"Was it here that you saw the enemy?" + +"Yes." + +"Look on the ground and tell me what you see?" + +Surprised at the words, yet obedient, he turned his scrutiny from the +trees to the grass upon which they stood, and detected there the +traces of the feet of an animal. As he gazed silently at the tracks, +absorbed in his thoughts, the dawn came slowly on. The Leader was the +first to speak:-- + +"I had seen a wolf pass here when I was going the rounds of the camp, +and when you reported to me I had but just returned to my bed. I arose +and came with you, to be quite sure that we had both looked in the +same direction and had seen the same thing. A warrior must learn to +distinguish a man from a wolf, even in the darkness of midnight." + +The youth heard the words in silence. At last he said, "A warrior has +much to learn; and it is well if, while he learns, he brings no +trouble to his friends." Then, standing beside the veteran Leader, in +the light of the coming day, he suddenly broke into song, voicing +there on the instant the feeling born of his night's experience. + +This story and song he gave to others, that it might be as a voice of +warning to young and eager warriors, and help them to guard against a +misadventure like his own. + +Although the young man in after years became noted in the tribe for +his prudence and valour, this story and song of his youth have +survived the memory of his later deeds. + +The words give the pith of the adventure: "I did not report aright +when I went to the Leader and bade him arise. It was a wolf that was +moving." + +The spirited music breathes the impatient eagerness of youth. The +haste and insistence of the young warrior are heard in the phrase +where he addresses the "Nu-don hon-ga," or Leader. The song is a great +favourite among the young men of several Indian tribes in our +country. + +[Music: MI-KA-THI. + +A WARRIOR'S SONG. + +_Ponka._ + +Hi a ha ha ha a he a-we dho he +e hu he a he dhe ya a ho e dho he +e hu e a-he ya a ha e dho he he dho-e. +Nu-don hon-ga ni-a-shi-ga bi-e he mia ka non-zhi-a he e +Mi-ka-thi-a-ma ha dhea a-me dho he e +Hon-ga dhe-te non zhin-ge dho he e.] + + + + +THE MOCKING-BIRD'S SONG. + + +This little song of springtime was noted from the singing of a Tigua +girl of the pueblo of Isleta, N.M., by my honoured and lamented friend +and co-worker, Professor John Comfort Fillmore. It tells the story of +the semi-arid region where it was born. + + Rain, people, rain! + The rain is all around us. + It is going to come pouring down, + And the summer will be fair to see, + The mocking-bird has said so. + +[Music: MOCKING BIRD SONG. + +_Tigua._ + +Transcribed and harmonized +by PROF. JOHN COMFORT FILLMORE. + +Hla-chi dai-nin, hla-chi dai-nin, i-beh ma kun whi ni weh, da win gu ba + hin ah. +Ah hlun hla hlue i hi ei-ah whi no ei-ah whi no i-ah ei-ah hi-ah hin ni + ni ah. +Tur wey u tur p'hoa whe na he de a na lhen h'li he pun hi ni ni ah +Li u yu sa na a a a ya he wa a hi ni ni a hi ni ni a ni a a ha i hi.] + + + + +A SONG OF THE GHOST DANCE. + + +There are few more pathetic sights than that of an Indian ghost +dance,--pathetic in itself, not to consider the gloomy background of +fear inspired by it in the minds of so many of our own race who have +so widely misunderstood its meaning. The ceremony is but an appeal to +the unseen world to come near and to comfort those who have been +overtaken in the land of their fathers by conditions both strange and +incomprehensible. + +The ghost or spirit dance is a modified survival of several ancient +ceremonies, blended into one and touched here and there with ideas +borrowed from our own race. + +In the hypnotic vision which follows the monotonous dance, the +landscape of his former days, untouched by the white man, appears to +the "controlled" Indian: the streams wander through unbroken prairie; +no roadways, no fields of wheat, intrude upon the broad stretches of +native grasses; the vanished herds of buffalo come back to their +grazing-grounds; the deer and the antelope, the wolf and the bear, are +again in the land; and the eagles look down on the Indian villages, +where are to be seen the faces of old friends returned from the +spirit realm. These are the scenes which come to the homesick Indian, +who is stranded in his native land, his ears filled with foreign +sounds, his old activities gone, and his hands unskilled and unable to +take up new ones. + +The ghost dance is the cry of a forsaken people, forsaken by the gods +in which they once trusted,--a people bewildered by the complexity of +the new path they must follow, misunderstood by and misunderstanding +the race with whom they are forced to live. In this brief ceremony of +the ghost dance the Indians seek to close their eyes to an unwelcome +reality, and to live in the fanciful vision of an irrecoverable past. + + * * * * * + +This song was given me by a ghost dancer, a leader in the Arapaho +tribe. Before he sang, he explained to me the ceremony, its peaceful +character, and, all unconsciously, made apparent its expression of a +pathetic longing for a life that can never return. Standing before the +graphophone, he offered an earnest prayer, then, with his companions, +sang this song. + +The simple pathos of the words cannot be reproduced in English. +They carry a meaning beneath their literal sense that appeals like the +cry of a child. + + Father, have pity upon me! + I am weeping from hunger (of the spirit): + There is nothing here to satisfy me! + +The music tells the story of the cry. Its cadences are antiphonal, as +between the two worlds. + +[Music: GHOST DANCE SONG. + +_Arapaho._] + + + + +SACRED SONGS OF PEACE. + + +When the white race first visited the Indians in the Mississippi +valley, they found among them a ceremony common to a large number of +tribes; and it was observed that, whenever the symbolic objects +peculiar to this ceremony were displayed, they were treated with +profound respect. + +These sacred objects were two perforated sticks, like pipe stems, one +painted blue to represent the sky, and the other green to typify the +earth; and among their bright-coloured decorations were the plumages +of particular birds and wing-like pendants of eagle feathers. They +symbolised the heavens and the earth and the mysterious power that +permeates all nature. In their presence the Indians were taught that +they should care for their children, think of the future welfare of +the people, put aside personal grievances, repress anger and warlike +emotions, and be like kindred, at peace with one another. Different +names were given to these peculiar objects by the different tribes; +and they were classed by our early travellers with the "calumets," or +pipes of peace, although they were not pipes, for they had no bowl and +could not be smoked. + +It was due to the presence of one of these so-called "calumets" in +Marquette's frail canoe that made possible his peaceful descent of the +Mississippi River on his voyage of discovery. He writes that the +"calumet is the most mysterious thing in the world. The sceptres of +our kings are not so much respected; ... for one with this calumet may +venture among his enemies, and in the hottest battles they lay down +their arms before this sacred pipe." + +The "calumet" ceremony has, therefore, an historic interest for us, +apart from its revelation of the religious beliefs and social ideals +of the Indian. To explain the symbolism, the teachings, and the +observances which make up this complex rite would fill a volume; but, +that something of the dignity and beauty of the thoughts expressed in +it may be known, two of its numerous songs are here given. + +To understand the significance of these songs, it should be known that +two distinct groups or parties were indispensable to the performance +of the ceremony; namely, they who brought the "calumets" and they who +received them. As it was imperative that there should be no blood +relationship between these two parties, they always belonged to +different tribes or to two distinct kinship groups within the tribe. +The party bringing the "calumets" was called "the father," while those +receiving them were "the children." These terms refer to the tie about +to be formed between the two unrelated parties by means of this sacred +ceremony. This tie was esteemed more honourable and binding than the +natural bond of father and son. + +The ceremony generally took place in a circular dwelling known as an +"earth lodge." The occasion drew together a large concourse of +people,--men, women, and children; and the gay costumes, the glinting +of ornaments, the picturesque groups, and the happy, smiling faces of +old and young made a scene full of colour and motion. Many times I +have witnessed this ceremony and joined in its beautiful chorals, led +by the bearers, who swayed the "calumets" to the rhythm of the song, +wafting over the heads of the people the blessing of peace. + +The following choral was sung immediately after the "calumets" had +been ceremonially taken from their resting-place, with movements that +simulated the eagle rising from its nest. The bearers then faced the +people, seated on the ground against the wall of the lodge, and with +slow rhythmic steps moved around the circle, waving the "calumets" +over the heads of the multitude. As the "calumets" passed slowly by, +the people took up the choral, until at last the great lodge resounded +with its majestic cadences. The leaping flames from the central fire +lit up the faces of the hundreds of men and women; while the swaying +feathers of the "calumets" cast great wing-like shadows on the +glistening roof, and seemed to make real the symbolic presence of the +mighty eagle himself, circling over the people as he sped on his +mission, bearing the benediction of good will among men. + +Once, at the close of this song, an old Indian turned to me and said, +"The 'calumets' are of God." + +The words of this choral refer to the blessing of peace given to "the +fathers" in ancient days, and now brought by the symbolic "calumets" +to "the children." + + Down through the ages vast, + On wings strong and true, + From great Wa-ko_n_'-da comes + Good will unto you,-- + Peace, that shall here remain. + +[Music: CHORAL. + +_Omaha._ + +Harmonized by PROF. J.C. FILLMORE. + +Dha ke-de hia u-dha ho-dha +ke-de ho-dha dha ke-de +ha dhe he hia dha ke-de hia +dha ke-de ha dhe he.] + +After the bearers, or "the fathers," had ceremonially borne the +"calumets" four times around the lodge, singing as they went and +waving the blessing of peace and fellowship over the heads of "the +children," they paused as they reached a consecrated place at the back +of the lodge, facing the entrance to the east. Here the ground had +been specially prepared, and a wildcat skin spread upon it for the +reception of the "calumets." Over this skin, which had its symbolic +meaning, the bearers waved the "calumets," imitating the movements of +the eagle, sweeping lower and lower, rising and circling again, and +then dropping lightly upon its nest. + +The song is one of those sung to accompany the movements of the +"calumets" as they are thus lowered to rest. The words refer to the +search of "the fathers" for "the children," to bring them peace, as +the eagle soars abroad and returns to its nest. + + Far above the earth he soars, + Circling the clear sky, + Flying over forests dim, + Peering in shadows, + Seeking far and wide his child, + To give him peace. + +[Music: THE GIFT OF PEACE. + +_Otoe._ + +Harmonized by PROF. J.C. FILLMORE. + +Zhin-ga dha-we dho dho we he ho-i ne +Zhin-ga dha-we dho dho we he ho-i-ne +Zhin-ga dha we dho dho we ha je dha we.] + + + + +COMFORTING THE CHILD. + + +The three following songs have a common motive, and are parts of one +ceremonial action; but the motive is treated differently in each song, +so as to conform to the movements of the ceremony.[11] An unconscious +art is here shown, which is interesting as a bit of musical +archaeology. During the "calumet" ceremony among the Pawnees, if a +child cried and would not be comforted, its parents were permitted to +appeal to the "calumets" for help. + +[Footnote 11: These songs were never before noted, and have hitherto +been sealed from the knowledge of the white race. They were given and +explained by a priest of the rite, through Mr. James R. Murie.] + +The fan-shaped pendant of one of these "calumets" was made of the +feathers of the golden eagle. This bird in the ceremony was called +Kawas, and symbolised the peaceful and conserving power, the giver and +preserver of life, the parent of all things. It was to the priestly +bearer of this particular "calumet" that the parents appealed. On +receiving the appeal, the priest and his assistants arose, and, +standing beside "the holy place,"--the consecrated space where the +"calumets" were laid at ceremonial rest,--they sang this song, thus +passing on to Kawas the appeal of the parents. + +[Music: KAWAS, THY BABY IS CRYING. + +_Pawnee._ + +Transcribed from Graphophone record and Harmonized by E.S. TRACY. + +Ho o Kawas ta wha-ka ra-tsa we +Kawas ta wha-ka ra-tsa we +Ah he-wi! wha-ka ra-tsa we, +Kawas ta wha-ka-ra tsa we.] + +The words are in the nature of a prayer, the music has the swing of a +lullaby. + + Kawas, thy baby is crying! + Grieving sore, wailing, and weeping. + Aye, forsooth! wailing and weeping, + Kawas, thy baby is crying! + +Then the bearers took up the "calumets" and moved with slow rhythmic +steps toward the crying child, singing as they went and swaying the +sacred symbols to the measure of this song. Its meaning was explained +to me as follows:-- + +"Hah-ars (a contraction of the word meaning father) signifies +Ti-ra'-wa, the power that animates all things, all animals, all men, +the heavens, and the earth. Ti-ra'-wa is represented by the Hako (the +'calumets'), and it is this power which now approaches to console the +child." + +In the music one hears the coming of Ti-ra'-wa in the footsteps of his +creatures, both great and small. + + Thy father is coming, + E'en now he is near thee; + Cry no more: the mighty one, + Thy father, is coming! + +[Music: THY FATHER IS COMING. + +_Pawnee._ + +Transcribed from Graphophone record and Harmonized by E.S. TRACY. + +Ho Hah-ars si-rah ti we-ra, +Hah-ars si-ra ti we-ra +Re-ko ji! +He ti we-ra, +Hah-ars si-ra ti we-ra.] + +Upon reaching the child, the golden eagle "calumet" was gently swayed +above it, while in the background the other "calumet" was waved to +ward off disturbing influences, and the priests sang this song. It is +said that on hearing it "the child always looks up and ceases its +crying." + +The caressing, almost playful rhythm of the music twines about the +deep religious feeling expressed in the words, like the arms of an +infant about the neck of its thoughtful, reverent parent. + + Lift thine eyes, 'tis the gods who come near, + Bringing thee joy, release from all pain. + Sending sorrow and sighing + Far from the child, Ti-ra'-wa makes fain. + + Ah, you look! Surely, you know who comes, + Claiming you his and bidding you rise, + Blithely smiling and happy, + Child of Ti-ra'-wa, Lord of the skies! + +[Music: LOOK UP! + +_Pawnee._ + +Transcribed from Graphophone record, and Harmonized by E.S. TRACY. + +Ho Ha! +Is-te wa-ta si wi-ta ha, +Ha! Is-te wa-ta si wi-ta ha +Hah-ars hi re wa-ha-ki, +Ha! Is-te wa-ta si wi-ta ha.] + + + + +MUSIC IN INDIAN LIFE. + + +Music enveloped the Indian's individual and social life like an +atmosphere. There was no important personal experience where it did +not bear a part, nor any ceremonial where it was not essential to the +expression of religious feeling. The songs of a tribe were coextensive +with the life of the people. + +This universal use of music was because of the belief that it was a +medium of communication between man and the unseen. The invisible +voice could reach the invisible power that permeates all nature, +animating all natural forms. As success depended upon help from this +mysterious power, in every avocation, in every undertaking, and in +every ceremonial, the Indian appealed to this power through song. When +a man went forth to hunt, that he might secure food and clothing for +his family, he sang songs to insure the assistance of the unseen power +in capturing the game. In like manner, when he confronted danger and +death, he sang that strength might be given him to meet his fate +unflinchingly. In gathering the healing herbs and in administering +them, song brought the required efficacy. When he planted, he sang, +in order that the seed might fructify and the harvest follow. In his +sports, in his games, when he wooed and when he mourned, song alike +gave zest to pleasure and brought solace to his suffering. In fact, +the Indian sang in every experience of life from his cradle to his +grave. + +It would be a mistake to fancy that songs floated indiscriminately +about among the Indians, and could be picked up here and there by any +chance observer. Every song had originally its owner. It belonged +either to a society, secular or religious, to a certain clan or +political organization, to a particular rite or ceremony, or to some +individual. + +Religious songs were known only to the priesthood; and, as music +constituted a medium between man and the unseen powers which +controlled his life, literal accuracy was important, otherwise the +path between the god and the man would not be straight, and the appeal +would miscarry. + +In every tribe there were societies having a definite membership, with +initiatory rites and reciprocal duties. Each society had its peculiar +songs; and there were officials chosen from among the members because +of their good voices and retentive memories, to lead the singing and +to transmit with accuracy the stories and songs of the society, which +frequently preserved bits of tribal history. Fines were imposed upon +any member who sang incorrectly, while ridicule always and everywhere +followed a faulty rendering of a song. + +The right to sing a song which belonged to an individual could be +purchased, the person buying the song being taught it by its owner. + +These beliefs and customs among the Indians have made it possible to +preserve their songs without change from one generation to another. +Many curious and interesting proofs of accuracy of transmittal have +come to my knowledge during the past twenty years, while studying +these primitive melodies. + +Indian singing was always in unison; and, as the natural soprano, +contralto, tenor, and bass moved along in octaves, the different +qualities of tone in the voices brought out the overtones and produced +harmonic effects. When listening to chorals sung by two or three +hundred voices, as I have many times heard them in ceremonials, it has +been difficult to realise that all were singing in unison. + +Close and continued observation has revealed that the Indian, when he +sings, is not concerned with the making of a musical presentation to +his audience. He is simply pouring out his feelings, regardless of +artistic effects. To him music is subjective: it is the vehicle of +communication between him and the object of his desire. + +Certain peculiarities in the Indian's mode of singing make it +difficult for one of our race to intelligently hear their songs or to +truthfully transcribe them. + +There is no uniform key for any given song, for the Indians have no +mechanical device for determining pitch to create a standard by which +to train the ear. This, however, does not affect the song; for, +whatever the starting note, the intervals bear the same relation to +each other, so that the melody itself suffers no change with the +change of pitch. + +Again, the continual slurring of the voice from one tone to another +produces upon us the impression of out-of-tune singing. Then, the +custom of singing out of doors, to the accompaniment of the drum, and +against the various noises of the camp, and the ever-restless wind, +tending to strain the voice and robbing it of sweetness, increases the +difficulty of distinguishing the music concealed within the noise,--a +difficulty still further aggravated by the habit of pulsating the +voice, creating a rhythm within the rhythm of the song. + +Emotion also affects the rendering of Indian music. This is especially +noticeable in solos, as love-songs, where the singer quite +unconsciously varies from a quarter to a whole tone from the true +pitch. On the contrary, emphasis sharps the tone. If, however, these +peculiarities are imitated to him, the Indian immediately detects, and +declares them to be wrong, thus betraying his unconsciousness of his +own inaccuracies in endeavouring to strike a plain diatonic interval. + +Our difficulty in hearing the music of the Indian is equalled by the +trouble he has with our instruments. His attention is engaged by the +mechanism. He hears the thud of the hammer, "the drum inside" the +piano, the twanging of the metal strings, and the abrupt, disconnected +tones. Until he is able to ignore these noises he cannot recognise the +most familiar tune. Even then, if his songs are played as an +unsupported aria, they are unsatisfactory to him. His ear misses +something it heard in the unison singing of his people, and which the +addition of a simple harmonic accompaniment supplies, making the +melody, as he says, "sound natural." The discovery of the Indian's +preference in the rendition of his songs upon the piano led to many +experiments, in which Professor Fillmore took part, and that brought +to light many interesting facts. Among these facts may be mentioned +the complexity of rhythms, one played against the other; the +modulation implied in some of the melodies; the preference for a major +chord in closing a minor song; and the use of certain harmonic +relations which have been deemed peculiar to the modern romantic +school. + +As these melodies are the spontaneous utterances of a people without +any theory of music or even a musical notation, they throw light upon +the structure, development, and freedom of natural expression in +music. + + + + +THE RELATION OF STORY AND SONG. + + +The rise of our music and poetry is lost in an irrevocable past; but, +as the operation of psychical laws is universal, it may be that some +of the influences that have been operative in the growth of these arts +can be discovered through the study of native American story and song, +born of a race living in a state of culture antecedent to that in +which our earliest literature and music flourished. + +Within a generation diligent search has begun among some of the Indian +tribes, to ascertain, through a sympathetic study of rites, +ceremonies, and customs, what were the red man's ideals, what his +beliefs, and what his actual attainments. Already this labour is +bearing fruit. Scholars are recognising that the aboriginal conditions +on this continent throw light on the slow development of human society +and its institutions; and the time seems not distant when students of +man's culture will turn hither for evidence needed to fill gaps or to +explain phases in the development of art,--art in form, in colour, and +in melody,--for, it has been well said, America is the "fossil bed" +where are preserved stages of progress unrecorded in written history. + +In Indian story and song we come upon a time where poetry is not yet +differentiated from story and story not yet set free from song. We +note that the song clasps the story as a part of its being, and the +story itself is not fully told without the cadence of the song. Yet in +even the most primitive examples a line of demarcation can be +discerned; and when this line has deepened, and differentiation has +begun, we are able to trace the formative influence exerted by story +upon song and by song upon story, and can observe what appear to be +the beginnings of musical and poetical structure. + +The brevity of Indian songs at once arrests attention. They begin +without introduction, almost abruptly, breaking out upon us as though +surcharged. This peculiarity arises from the relation of the song to +the story. The story is always founded upon a dramatic circumstance, +in which at some point the emotion is forced to find a means of +expression beyond the limitation of words alone; and the song is the +result. This dramatic circumstance may be a danger confronted or +averted, a valorous deed achieved or a difficulty surmounted, a +religious experience or an ardent craving for supernatural aid. The +Omaha tribal prayer will serve as an illustration, where the cry to +Wa-ko_n_-da is the climatic voicing of the youth's desire in the midst +of his weary vigil and fasting. His long preparation for the rite, the +solitude of his surroundings, the suffering of mind and body as alone +he faces nature and the supernatural,--all these conditions make the +story, and, to the Indian, form the true setting of the song. + +The motive of a song and its distinctive rhythm were determined by the +emotion evoked by the dramatic circumstance. The simplest resultant of +this directive emotion in music is a pulsating rhythm on a single +tone. Such songs are not random shoutings, but have a definite meaning +for those who sing and for those who listen, as in this Navaho ritual +song. + +[Music] + +From this extremely simple expression the growth of the musical motive +can be traced in these Indian songs through the use of two or more +tones up to the employment of the full complement of the octave.[12] + +[Footnote 12: A careful analysis of hundreds of aboriginal songs, +gathered from the arctic seas to the tropics, shows that in every +instance the line taken by these tones is a chord-line where the tones +are harmonically related to each other. Out of these related tones the +untutored savage has built his simple melodies. The demonstration of +the interesting fact that "the line of least resistance" in music is a +harmonic line was made by my late associate, Professor John Comfort +Fillmore.] + +[Music: A PRAYER FOR RAIN. + +_Mexico. Tarahumare._ + +From DR. CARL LUMHOLTZ.] + +[Music: SONG. + +_British Columbia. Kwakiutl._ + +PROF. J.C. FILLMORE.] + +The creation of that which we know as musical form seems also to be +due to the influence of story upon song. We have already noted how the +directive emotion started the distinctive rhythm and determined the +order of the related tones, and so constructed the motive or theme. +But neither the rhythm nor the simple motive could express the +_movement_ of the dramatic story: hence we find this expressed by the +repetition, modification, and variation of the motive, the growth of +the phrase, the formation of the clause, and the grouping of clauses +into a period,--in fact, the outline of the form upon which all our +culture music is built. Culture music, however, shows an intellectual +control of emotion, a power of musical thinking, the enlarging and +embellishing of musical form,--a form, nevertheless, which we find +outlined, more or less clearly, in the songs of the untutored red man. +The difference between these spontaneous Indian melodies and the +compositions of the modern masters would seem to be not one of kind, +but one of degree. + +As these songs are from a race practically without musical +instruments,--for the drum and rattle were used only to accentuate +rhythm,--they are representative of the period when the human voice +was the sole means of musical expression,--a period which antedated +the invention of instruments by an immeasurable time. They prove, +therefore, that musical form was not developed, as has sometimes been +stated, by the use of instruments, but that it took its rise in a +mental necessity similar to that which gave structure to language. + +The influence of song upon story is seen in the attempt to bend prose +to a poetic form. + +Many Indian songs have no words at all, vocables only being used to +float the voice. On classifying these wordless songs, we discover that +those which are expressive of the gentle emotions have flowing, +breathing vocables, but, where warlike feelings dominate the song, the +vocables are aspirate and explosive. In this determinate use of +vocables we happen upon what seems to represent the most primitive +attempt yet discovered to give intellectual definition in verbal form +to an emotion voiced in rhythm and melody. + +In songs where words are employed, we also find vocables which are in +accord with the spirit of the song, used to make the words conform to +the musical phrase. These vocables are either appended to the word or +else inserted between its syllables, to give length or added euphony. +We also note a desire for rhyming, since vocables similar in sound +frequently occur at the end of each musical phrase. + +It would lead into too many details to present the various devices +discernible in this aboriginal material by which the Indian sought +euphony and measure. Nor can it be easily illustrated how words of +many different languages were bent by elisions or stretched by +vocables, that they might conform to the musical phrase. There is +abundant evidence that the ear, accustomed to the pleasure of the +rhythmic cadence of the song, was beginning to demand a corresponding +metrical use of words in expressing the poetic thought involved in the +dramatic story which gave birth to the music. + +The art of poetry is here in its infancy, giving even less sign of its +future development than music, which had already acquired the outline +of that form which has since crystallised into the art of music. +Notwithstanding, we find that words were chosen for their descriptive +power, and that they were made rhythmical to fit the melody. Like the +swelling buds on the bare branch, which hint the approach of summer's +wealth, so these little vocables and rhythmic devices whisper the +coming of the poets. + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Indian Story and Song, by Alice C. Fletcher + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK INDIAN STORY AND SONG *** + +***** This file should be named 25140.txt or 25140.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/5/1/4/25140/ + +Produced by David Newman, Linda Cantoni, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net. Music +transcribed by Linda Cantoni, Espe (Nada Prodanovic), and +the PG Finale Team. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. |