Many tribes and localities are represented in the present work, which differs from the author's previous books,^ which have generally considered the music of only one tribe. Courtesies were also extended by municipal officers in Chilliwack and by the executive office of the Columbia Hop Co., in whose camp the work was performed.
Arranged in Order of Catalog Xumber — Continued
NAMES OF SINGERS, NUMBER OF SONGS TRANSCRIBED, AND HOME OF SINGER
MUSIC OF THE INDIANS OF BKITISH COLUMBIA
INTRODUCTION
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This contained a small stove and one small window on each side, not shown in the illustration. When the hops are ripe, these wires are lowered to allow the hops to be harvested (pi.
TREATMENT OF THE SICK
When the purpose of the current work was explained to Tasalt, he said that he would record his songs for the treatment of smallpox, fever, paralysis, pulmonary hemorrhage and pneumonia. The sources of the songs for the treatment of smallpox, fever, and pneumonia were not mentioned, but the other two were received from spirits hitherto unmentioned in connection with the treatment of the sick.
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Analysis. – The most prominent note in this song is B, and the melody progresses mainly between B and A sharp, with a few occurrences of G sharp and sharp. Analysis. – The gramophone record of this song lasts about two minutes, without repetition of the series of phrases presented here.
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Analysis.—This is a melody of unusual simplicity, containing only the tones of the major triad. In its emphasis on the first count of the measures and in its general effect of sustain, it resembles most of the other songs attributed to T'ak.
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Analysis. A clear contrast is noted between this and the four previous songs attributed to the same man. Analysis. The last thing that occurs in the rhythmic unit of this song is always preceded by an ascending interval and followed by a descending interval.
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The intonation in the tone transcribed as D sharp in the opening measures was somewhat uncertain, approaching E if the plionograph was freshly wound, thereby increasing his speed and raising his voice slightly. Analysis.- An alternation of double and triple measures characterizes this song, the first of each measure being strongly emphasized, except in the third and seventh measures. The first phrase contains four and the second phrase contains five measures, the additional length being provided by a change of accent to a quarter note at the end of the phrase.
This may be due to the importance of the subdominant in the eight measures that precede closure.
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Attention is drawn to the section of the song beginning with the seventh measure. There was little emphasis in this section and the division into bars is somewhat arbitrary, but the time value of the eighth note was retained. This and the often occurring descending minor third were sung somewhat glissando, creating a soothing effect.
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Analysis.– Drum and voice were in sync in all renditions of this song, with the drum beats clearly indicated. This doctor danced for about three hours before he was able to locate the man. Then he told the people where they would find the hunter. The people went to the place indicated by the doctor and there they found the man.
Eight renditions of this song have been recorded, with the first phrase showing three variations, as indicated in the three renditions presented.
WAR SONGS
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The melodic trend is similar to that of the previous sougue, and as in that song, D is considered the main note. Six renditions of this song were recorded and show minor differences that occur more frequently in melodic progressions than in rhythm. The drum beat was in quarter notes during the earlier rendition,* switching to the triplet rhythm in the third rendition, but showing occasional quarter note beats.
In the dance that followed a war expedition, each warrior held his spear diagonally across the front of the body, and as he danced thrust the spear point up over his left shoulder, making a gesture of the dance.
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C.— DENSMORE 45 The heads of the enemy were carried on poles in the dances that followed the music. Analysis.—This song is characterized by a slow drum beat similar to that in the preceding uext song. This song was sung in such a dance, men holding a knife in one hand and a gun in the other.
Analysis.-The two ascending progressions in the opening of this song are aggressive and are followed by a continuous descent of six tones.
POTLATCH SONGS
Analysis.—The ease with which "parts" could be added to this poem is shown by its tonal material. The melody contains the notes of a major triad, and the sixth appears three times. The next song was inherited in the singer's family and was sung by the host before the distribution of gifts on the print.
Dennis Peters recorded the potlatch host song, but it was not transcribed as similar songs had already been featured.
DANCE SONGS
The host would then stop singing and give the person the blanket or other gift he had in his hand, after which he would take another item and resume his song.
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The next song is the quick dance, in which the people sprang from the ground, and in -where "the dance was even with the drum." The movement change happens "after they've been around two or three times." The next song provides an example of two interesting customs, the insertion of new words into an old song and the use of mispronounced English words. The song was sung for Christmas, and the words are easily identified as "Christmas presents." The frequent high notes suggest eagerness.
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Five renditions were recorded and show no differences except for the omission in two renditions of the eighth and ninth bars. Analysis. - As this is the only song obtained from Indians living in Babine it. is interesting to find it a melody with so much individuality. Analysis.-The melodic structure of this song is based on two whole notes with a larger connecting interval.
The third occurrence of rhythmic unity is followed by a succession of measures in quarter and eighth notes, without the dotted eighths that occurred in the preceding sections of the song.
SOCIAL SONGS
Attention is then directed to the similarity between the first phrase of the song and the connecting phrase in which the words occur. It is a pleasant melody, large in key, and containing all the tones of the octave except the seventh. The last part of the song is characterized by a continuous descent in each phrase.
The melody has a compass of 10 notes and contains all notes of the octave except the fourth.
SLAHAL GAME SONGS
The implements of the slahal game are two legs, marked differently, and the action consists in hiding the legs in a player's hands, the opponents guessing their position. Age and long use have yellowed and polished these bones, which are made from a bone from the hind leg of an ox, the ends of which are tipped with copper. In these games, the guessing was done by the opposing leader, who sat in the middle of the line, while others guessed just along the line.
It was said that facial expression, which, in some games, can betray the location of a hidden item, was not a factor in slahal, but that divination "depends on the diviner's good judgment," according to this informant, the relative location of bones "will go in one direction for a while" and skill depends largely on a study of averages and probabilities, making.
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The dream may have been about the origins of the game, or it may have been a dream within it. About the next song, the singer said it was used "before Christ turned some people into animals." He said his stepfather sang it to him when he was a child. There is no change in bar length in the melody. This peculiarity, together with the prominent note of the tonic, gives a solidity to the song that would facilitate its use in the game.
Ajialysis.—This interesting melody contains the keys of the second (minor) 5-tone scale.* The intonation was excellent, and drum and voice coincided throughout the performance.
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GAMBLING SONGS
CANOE SONGS
Analysis.—The peculiar rhythmic effect of this song is partly due to the continuous double time, the character of the two rhythmic units, and the decided accent on the first of the measures in which the units do not occur. Analysis.—^The structure of this melody resembles that recorded at Neah Bay and differs from other songs in this group and from songs of the Indians living at Powell River. The tone E, which is considered the main tone, occurs in more than half the measure and is usually on an accent score.
Ascending and descending intervals are approximately equal in number, and the song contains only one interval (a minor third) that is greater than a whole tone.
STORIES AND THEIR SONGS
It has a compass of four notes, consisting of a root note with the note below and two notes above it.
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I don't know where I'm going." Probably this is contained in the words of the song. Analjisis. -The series of notes that appears most often in this song is the descending series B-C sharp-B-G sharp, which forms a minor. sixth .In each rhythmic unit there is a triplet of eighth notes, which appear in the middle of one unit and at the beginning of the other.
This very complex rhythm is an appropriate expression of the fragmentary ideas that form the basis of the poem.
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It is impossible to mark the progression of the glissando with conventional notation, but the pitches of the highest and lowest notes were clearly sung.
LOVE SONGS
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The tonal material is the same in the two renditions, but the first has the larger compass, using C in the upper as well as the lower octave.
DIVORCE SONGS
The man who recorded the next song is the chief of the O'Hammon Band of Indians who live on the Squamish River. Analysis. – The tempo of this song is slow and it was sung with the wailing tone that Indians use in songs of sorrow. Analysis. – The repetition of the phrases in this song is an example of variational inversions.
The song has a compass of nine notes and contains all notes of the octave except the fourth.
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Attention is drawn to a comparison between rhythmic units, where a quarter note has no accent in the first unit and has an accent in the second unit. The downward trend is gradual and the lowest note only occurs in the last bars. Analysis. – There is an attractive quality to the rising and falling quarters that open this song.
There is an element of humor in the next song, which was said to be very old.
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Analysis. - Six consecutive renditions of this song were recorded, and the first half of the performance showed a steady rise in pitch. The first rendition began on E flat, the second on Fnatural, and the fourth rendition began on F sharp, where this pitch level is continued until the end of the performance. The latter part of this song is in the lower part of its compass, necessitating an ascent of an octave to the first note of the repetition.
The dotted quarter note (B flat) that occurs about halfway through the melody gives strength to the rhythm.
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
SUMMARY OF ANALYSES
Mention has been made of the triad formation, which does not often occur in the current song series. Several songs from the current series end with two whole-tone progressions descending to the root note. An irregular drum beat was transcribed with six songs recorded in Neah Bay, including one dream song and one song from the Homatsa.
They have appeared in the examination of melodies, which have been transcribed, as closely as possible, into ordinary musical notation.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
STREET IN HOP-PICKERS' CAMP
