{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_17997/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_17997","id":"gutenberg_17997","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/17997","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Archaeology & Anthropology","Category: History - Other","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Native America","Passamaquoddy Indians -- Folklore"],"text":"E-text prepared by Thierry Alberto, Linda Cantoni, and the Project\nGutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team (https://www.pgdp.net/)\n\n\n\nNote: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this file\n      which includes the original illustrations and sound clips.\n      See 17997-h.htm or 17997-h.zip:\n      (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/7/9/9/17997/17997-h/17997-h.htm)\n      or\n      (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/7/9/9/17997/17997-h.zip)\n\n\n\nTranscriber's note:\n\n      The symbol [=] followed by a vowel represents a macron.\n      The symbol [)] followed by a vowel represents a breve.\n\n\n\n\n\nHemenway Southwestern Archaeological Expedition\n\nCONTRIBUTION TO PASSAMAQUODDY FOLK-LORE\n\nby\n\nJ. WALTER FEWKES\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nReprinted from the Journal of American Folk-Lore,\nOctober-December, 1890\n\n\n\n\n\nA CONTRIBUTION TO PASSAMAQUODDY FOLK-LORE.\n\n\nThe study of aboriginal folk-lore cannot reach its highest scientific\nvalue until some method is adopted by means of which an accurate\nrecord of the stories can be obtained and preserved. In observations\non the traditions of the Indian tribes, the tendency of the listener\nto add his own thoughts or interpretations is very great. Moreover, no\ntwo Indians tell the same story alike. These are sources of error\nwhich cannot be eliminated, but by giving the exact words of the\nspeaker it is possible to do away with the errors of the translator.\n\nI believe that the memory of Indians for the details of a story is\noften better than that of white men. There may be a reason for this,\nin their custom of memorizing their rituals, stories, and legends. The\nK[=a]klan, a Zuni ritual, for instance, which is recited by the priest\nonce in four years, takes several hours to repeat. What white man can\nrepeat from memory a history of equal length after so long an\ninterval?\n\nPhonetic methods of recording Indian languages are not wholly\nsatisfactory. It is very unlikely that two persons will adopt the same\nspelling of a word never heard before. Many inflections, accents, and\ngutturals of Indian languages are difficult to reduce to writing.\nConventional signs and additional letters have been employed for this\npurpose, the use of which is open to objections. There is need of some\naccurate method by which observations can be recorded. The\ndifficulties besetting the path of the linguist can be in a measure\nobviated by the employment of the phonograph, by the aid of which the\nlanguages of our aborigines can be permanently perpetuated. As a means\nof preserving the songs and tales of races which are fast becoming\nextinct, it is, I believe, destined to play an important part in\nfuture researches.\n\nIn order to make experiments, with a view of employing this means of\nrecord among the less civilized Indians of New Mexico,[1] I visited,\nin the month of April, the Passamaquoddies, the purest blooded race of\nIndians now living in New England. The results obtained fully\nsatisfied my expectations. For whatever success I have had, I must\nexpress my obligation to Mrs. W. Wallace Brown, of Calais, Me., whose\ninfluence over the Indians is equalled by her love for the study of\ntheir traditions.\n\n[Footnote 1: This work was undertaken as a preparation for similar\nobservation in connection with the Hemenway Archaeological Expedition.\nI am indebted to Mrs. Mary Hemenway, of Boston, for opportunities to\nmake these observations.]\n\nThe songs and stories were taken from the Indians themselves, on the\nwax cylinders of the phonograph. In most cases a single cylinder\nsufficed, although in others one story occupied several cylinders.\nNone of the songs required more than one cylinder.\n\nI was particularly anxious to secure the songs. The Passamaquoddies\nagree in the statement that their stories were formerly sung, and\nresembled poems. Many tales still contain songs, and some possess at\nthis day a rhythmical character. I am not aware that any one has tried\nto set the songs to music, and have had nothing to guide me on that\nhead.\n\nIn sacred observances it is probable that the music of the songs\npreserves its character even after other parts have been greatly\nmodified, while the song retains its peculiarity as long as it\ncontinues to be sung. The paraphernalia of the sacred dance may be\nmodified, as in the case of many New Mexican pueblos, into church\nfestivals, but the songs must remain unchanged until superseded. It is\nnoteworthy in this connection that in many of the songs archaic words\noccur.\n\nThe following list indicates the variety of records which were made:--\n\n     1-3. The story of how Glooscap reduced the size of the\n     animals. These cylinders give the story in substantially the\n     same way as published by Leland in his \"Algonquin Legends.\"\n\n     4. A collection of Indian words corresponding with those\n     found on page 82 of the schedule of the United States Bureau\n     of Ethnology.\n\n     5. English words with Passamaquoddy translations.\n\n     6, 7. An old tale of how Pookjinsquess stole a child.\n\n     8. Song of the \"Snake Dance.\"\n\n     9. \"War Song.\"\n\n     10. Song sung on the night when the governor's election is\n     celebrated. This song was sung by proxy, and contains\n     compliments to the feast, thanks to the people for election,\n     and words of praise to the retiring chief. It is a very old\n     song, unknown to many of the younger Indians.\n\n     11. Numerals from 1 to 20; the days of the week; also, a\n     \"counting-out\" rhyme.\n\n     12-14. Tale of Leux and the three fires.\n\n     15. Tale of Leux and Hespens.\n\n     17. An ancient war song, said to have been sung in the old\n     times when the Passamaquoddies were departing for war with\n     the Mohawks. A second part contains a song said to have been\n     sung in the \"Trade Dance,\" as described below.\n\n     18. War Song.\n\n     19. Pronunciation of the names of the fabulous personages\n     mentioned in Passamaquoddy stories.\n\n     20-22. Story of the birth of a medicine-man who turned man\n     into a cedar tree.\n\n     23. An ordinary conversation between the two Indians, Noel\n     Josephs and Peter Selmore.\n\n     24-27. Modern Passamaquoddy story, introducing many\n     incidents of ordinary life.\n\n     29-35. Story of Pogump and the Sable, and of their killing a\n     great snake. How the former was left on an island by\n     Pookjinsquess, and how the Morning Star saved him from\n     Quahbet, the giant beaver.[2]\n\n[Footnote 2: I have given below English versions of these, or the\nIndian stories told in English.]\n\nIt appears to me that the selections above given convey an idea of\nsome of the more important linguistic features of the Passamaquoddy\nlanguage, but it is needless to reiterate that these results and\nobservations are merely experimental. In another place I hope to\nreproduce the stories in the original, by phonetic methods. I have\nhere given English versions of some of the stories recorded, as\ntranslated for me by the narrator, or by Mrs. Brown, and added some\nexplanations which may be of assistance to a person listening when\nsongs or stories are being rendered on the phonograph.\n\nThe majority of the remnants of the Passamaquoddy tribe are found in\nthree settlements in the State of Maine,--one at Pleasant Point, near\nEastport; another at Peter Dana's Point, near Princeton; and a third\nat a small settlement called The Camps, on the border of the city of\nCalais.\n\nThe manners and customs of this people are fast dying out. The old\npointed caps, ornamented with beads, and the silver disks, which they\nonce wore, are now rarely seen except in collections of curiosities.\nThe old games, dances, and songs are fast becoming extinct, and the\nPassamaquoddy has lost almost everything which characterized his\nfathers.\n\nThere still remain among the Passamaquoddies certain nicknames borne\nby persons of the tribe. These nicknames are sometimes the names of\nanimals, and in older times were more numerous than at present.\nPossibly these names are the survivals of the gentile or clan name\nonce universal among them as among other Indian tribes.\n\nI spent several days at Calais, while collecting traditions with the\nphonograph, and also visited Pleasant Point, where I made the\nacquaintance of some of the most prominent Indians, including the\ngovernor. Most of them speak English very well, and are ready to grant\ntheir assistance in preserving their old stories and customs. The\nyounger members of the tribe are able to read and write, and are\nacquainted with the ordinary branches of knowledge as taught in our\ncommon schools. I should judge from my own observations that the\nlanguage is rapidly dying out. The white women who have married into\nthe tribe have generally acquired the language more or less perfectly.\nIn their intercourse with each other, Indians make use of their own\nlanguage.\n\nIn taking these records with the phonograph I had an interesting\nexperience. The first time I met Noel Josephs, I greeted him after the\nZuni fashion. I raised my hand to his mouth, and inhaled from it. He\nfollowed in identically the same manner in which a Zuni Indian would\nrespond. I asked him what it meant. He said that it was a way of\nshowing friendship. He remembered that, when he was a boy, a similar\nmode of greeting was common among Indians.[3] Mrs. Brown recalled\nhaving seen a similar ceremony after she was received into the tribe.\nThe meaning of this similarity I leave to others to conjecture.\nIn a legend mentioned by Mrs. Brown concerning a game of\n\"All-tes-teg-enuk,\" played by a youth against an old man, the latter,\nwho has magic power, has several times regained his youth by inhaling\nthe breath of his young opponent.[4]\n\n[Footnote 3: My surprise at this coincidence was very great, but I\nconfess that I was also interested to hear from the lips of my Indian\nfriend, at parting, the familiar Italian word, \"Addio.\"]\n\n[Footnote 4: _Some Indoor and Outdoor Games of the Wabanaki Indians_,\nTrans. Roy. Soc. Canada, Section II. 1889.]\n\n\nTHE SNAKE DANCE.\n\nThe Passamaquoddies, no doubt, in old times, had many dances, sacred\nand secular. Some of these were very different from what they now are,\nand in consequence it is not easy to recognize their meaning. Indians\ndeclare that in their youth dances were much more common. Possibly\nsome of these will never be danced again. That the Micmacs, neighbors\nof the Passamaquoddies, had dances in which elaborate masks were worn,\nseems to be indicated by pictographs found on the rocks in Nova\nScotia. Mrs. Brown has in her possession a head-band made of silver,\nsimilar to those worn in ancient times on festive occasions, and\nprobably at dances. It was not necessarily a badge of a chief. In\nexcavations made at East Machias, an Indian was found with a copper\nhead-band and the remnant of a woven tiara. These relics are now in\nthe hands of Dr. Shehan, of Edmunds, Maine. Copper head-bands have\nrepeatedly been found on the skulls of Mound Indians. When a boy, I\nmyself was present at the work of excavating an Indian burial place on\nthe banks of Charles River, near the end of Maple Street, Watertown.\nWith one of these skeletons a turtle shell was found, which was\npossibly an old Indian rattle.\n\nOne of the most interesting of the selections mentioned is the Song of\nthe Snake Dance, No. 8. Although the ceremonial element has now\ndisappeared from this song, it may be presumed that it originally had\na religious importance similar to that of the Snake Dances of the\nSouthwest, since the extent of the worship of the snake among North\nAmerican Indians is known. The same dance is also celebrated by the\nMicmacs, having been performed by them during the past year. In both\nnations, it is generally united with other dances, and seems to be an\nappendage to the more formal ones.\n\nThe general impression among the Passamaquoddies is that this dance\nnever had a sacred character. The name is said to have been derived\nfrom the sinuous course of the chain of dancers, and from its\nresemblance to the motion of a snake. While there is nothing to prove\nthat it is a remnant of an ancient snake worship, still it is natural\nto presume that such is really the case. There are several tales\nrelating to the manner in which men were turned into rattlesnakes, and\nhow the noise of the rattlesnakes has its lineal descendant in the\nrattles of the dancers. The Indians told me of several songs used for\nsnake dances, but in those which were sung I think I detected the same\nmusic, and am confident that the words as given occur in most of them.\nThe discord at the end of the first line is also a feature of the\nsnake dances which I have heard.[5]\n\n[Footnote 5: I myself have never witnessed the snake-dance. The\ndescription which follows was obtained from Mrs. Brown, who has seen\nit performed twice, as well as from Peter Selmore, Noel Josephs, and\nother Indians who have frequently taken part in it. The song was\nrecorded on the phonograph from the lips of Josephs, who is recognized\nby the Indians themselves as one competent to sing the song. Josephs\ntold me that he remembered when this and other dances took place in a\nlarge wigwam made of bark.]\n\nThe dance is performed at weddings and other festive occasions. It is\nnot used alone, but only with others, and, as I am told, is employed\nat all times of festival.\n\n\nSNAKE SONG.\n\nThe words of the first strain are as follows:--\n\n    W[)a]y' ho y[=a]rhnie, way ho y[=a]rhnie.\n\nThe words of the second strain are as follows:--\n\n    Hew nay ie h[=a]h, hew n[)a]'y ie h[=a]h, hew n[)a]'y ie h[=a]h,\n    Hew nay ie h[=a]h, hew nay ie h[=a]h, hew nay ie h[=a]h.\n\nWhen the strain changes from the first to the second, the words _ho\nyar'h nie_ become a discord like _noy[=a]h_.\n\nThe first part of the song is sung alone, by the conjurer, as he moves\nabout the room in search of the snake. In the second part all in the\nchain of dancers join in with him in the song. The description of the\nsong in Passamaquoddy, including the invitation to take part in the\ndance, is given on the first part of the cylinder. Calls to the\nassembly to join in the dance are interpolated in the second strain.\n\n[Music illustration:\n\nWay ho yah-nie, way ho yahnie, way ho yahnie, way ho yahnie, way ho\nyah-nie, way ho-yah.\n\nHew na-yie hah, hew na-yie hah, hew nayie hah, hew nayie hah, hew\nnayie hah.]\n\nThe leader or singer, whom we may call the master of the ceremony,\nbegins the dance by moving about the room in a stooping posture,\nshaking in his hand a rattle made of horn, beating the ground\nviolently with one foot. He peers into every corner of the room,\neither seeking the snake or inciting the on-lookers to take part,\nmeanwhile singing the first part of the song recorded on the\nphonograph. Then he goes to the middle of the room, and, calling out\none after another of the auditors, seizes his hands. The two\nparticipants dance round the room together. Then another person grasps\nthe hands of the first, and others join until there is a continuous\nline of men and women, alternate members of the chain facing in\nopposite directions, and all grasping each other's hands. The chain\nthen coils back and forth and round the room, and at last forms a\nclosely pressed spiral, tightly coiled together, with the leader in\nthe middle. At first the dancers have their bodies bent over in a\nstooping attitude, but as the dance goes on and the excitement\nincreases they rise to an erect posture, especially as near the end\nthey coil around the leader with the horn rattles, who is concealed\nfrom sight by the dancers. They call on the spectators to follow them,\nwith loud calls mingled with the music: these cries now become louder\nand more boisterous, and the coil rapidly unwinds, moving more and\nmore quickly, until some one of the dancers, being unable to keep up,\nslips and falls. Then the chain is broken, and all, with loud shouts,\noften dripping with perspiration, return to their seats.[6]\n\n[Footnote 6: The last part of this dance somewhat resembles a play\namong boys, known as \"Snap the whip.\"]\n\nIn this dance all present take part; it always occurs at the end of\nthe Passamaquoddy dances, though it may be followed by a dance of the\nMicmacs, or other foreign Indians. There was, when last presented, no\nspecial dress adopted for the snake-dance, and the horn rattle is used\nalso in other dances. It seems probable that everything used in the\nold times has disappeared, with the exception perhaps of the\nlast-named implement, yet the song resembles closely that of the olden\ntime. The invitations to dance are possibly introduced, and the\nboisterous finale may be of modern date. There is recorded also on the\nphonograph, with the song, the invitation to the dance in the\nPassamaquoddy language. An invitation is extended to all to come to\nthe dance. It is a proclamation that there will be a good time, much\nto eat, \"Indian dances,\" snake dance, and Micmac dances. The shell of\nthe turtle was used in old times for a rattle, in place of the horn,\nand in a story of the origin of the rattlesnake the conqueror is said\nto use a rattle of this kind. In the Zuni dances, and in the Moqui\nsnake-dance, a turtle rattle is tied to the inside of the left leg.\nThe rattle, carried in the hand by the Moqui snake dancer, is a gourd,\nbut the Passamaquoddies seem to find the horn better adapted for their\npurpose. The almost universal use of the rattle among the Indians in\ntheir sacred dances is very significant. The meaning of the snake song\nis unknown to the Indians who sing it. The words are probably either\narchaic or remnants of a sacred language or mystic words of an\nesoteric priesthood.\n\nThe Indian dances held in honor of the chief (governor) and other\nofficers continued for several days. On the first night the newly\nelected chief sang a song complimentary to the food, thanking the\ntribe, greeting the past governor, etc. Noel Josephs, at the last\ncelebration, sang this song by proxy, as the newly elected chief could\nnot sing. When sung by proxy, the song is called by another name than\nwhen sung by the person elected. This song is preserved on one of the\ncylinders.\n\n\nTRADE DANCE.\n\nI have been told that there is an old custom among the Micmacs, still\nremembered by many now alive, which is probably a remnant of a\nceremony with which was connected an old dance. To this custom is\ngiven the name of the \"Trade Dance,\" for reasons which will appear.\nThe account of the custom was given by Peter Selmore, who witnessed it\nnot many years ago. It is said to be more common among the Micmacs\nthan among the Passamaquoddies.\n\nThe participants, one or more in number, go to the wigwam of another\nperson, and when near the entrance sing a song. The leader then\nenters, and, dancing about, sings at the same time a continuation of\nthe song he sang at the door of the hut. He then points out some\nobject in the room which he wants to buy, and offers a price for it.\nThe owner is obliged to sell the object pointed out, or to barter\nsomething of equal value. The narrator remembers that the dress of the\nparticipants was similar to that of the Indians of olden times. He\nremembers, in the case of women, that they wore the variegated,\npointed cap covered with beads, the loose robe, and leggings. The face\nof the participant was painted, or daubed black with paint or powder.\n\nThis song is recorded on cylinder 17.\n\nThe singer told me, and I can well believe it, that the song is very\nancient. I have little doubt that in this ceremony we have a survival\nof dances of the olden times, when they assumed a significance now\neither wholly lost or greatly modified.\n\nIt is not without probability that the songs sung as ancient songs may\nhave modern strains in them, but as a general thing I think we can say\nthat they are authentic. I do not think I draw on my imagination when\nI say that one can detect a general character in them which recalls\nthat of Western Indians. In order to experiment on this, I submitted\nthe records to a person who had heard the songs of the Plain Indians,\nand who did not know whether the song which she heard from the\nphonograph was to be Indian or English. She immediately told me\ncorrectly in all cases which was the Indian, although she had never\nbefore heard the Passamaquoddy songs.\n\nThe folk stories of the Passamaquoddies are but little known to the\nyoung boys and girls of the tribe. It is mostly from the old and\nmiddle-aged persons that these stories can be obtained. I was told by\none of these story-tellers that it was customary, when he was a boy,\nfor the squaws to reward them for collecting wood or other duties with\nstories. A circle gathered about the fire after work, and listened for\nhours to these ancient stories, fragments no doubt of an ancient\nmythology, upon which possibly had been grafted new incidents derived\nby the Indians from their intercourse with the various Europeans with\nwhom they had been brought in contact.\n\n\nWAR SONGS.\n\nI succeeded in getting upon the phonograph several war songs, typical\nof a large number known to the Passamaquoddies. The words of many are\nimprovised, though there is no doubt that the tunes are ancient. The\nwords of one of these songs are given below.\n\n     I will arise with tomahawk in my hand, and I must have\n     revenge on that nation which has slain my poor people. I\n     arise with war club in my hand, and follow the bloody track\n     of that nation which killed my people. I will sacrifice my\n     own life and the lives of my warriors. I arise with war club\n     in my hand, and follow the track of my enemy. When I\n     overtake him I will take his scalp and string it on a long\n     pole, and I will stick it in the ground, and my warriors\n     will dance around it for many days; then I will sing my song\n     for the victory over my enemy.\n\n\n\"M' TOULIN.\"\n\nPassamaquoddy Indians are believers in a power by which a song, sung\nin one place, can be heard in another many miles away. This power is\nthought to be due to _m' toulin_, or magic, which plays an important\npart in their belief. Several instances were told me, and others have\npublished similar observations. Leland, in his \"Algonquin Legends of\nNew England,\" pp. 517, 518, gives a weird account of an Indian who was\nso affected by _m' toulin_ that he left his home and travelled north\nto find a cold place. Although lightly clad and bare-footed, he\ncomplained that it was too hot for him, and hastened away to find a\nclimate more congenial to his tastes. In this account one is led to\nbelieve that the man was insane, and that to the Indian insanity is\nsimply the result of _m' toulin_.\n\n\nTHE ORIGIN OF THE THUNDER-BIRD.\n\nIn a very interesting paper of A.F. Chamberlain, on \"The Thunder-Bird\namong the Algonquins,\" in the \"American Anthropologist,\" January,\n1890, reference is made to the belief in this being among the\nPassamaquoddy Indians. On my recent visit to Calais I obtained from\nPeter Selmore a story of the origin of the Thunder-Bird, which is\ndifferent from any mentioned by Leland. This story, I regret to say, I\nwas unable to get on the phonograph.\n\nA story of the old times.[7] Two men desired to find the origin of\nthunder. They set out and travelled north, and came to high mountains.\nThese mountains drew back and forth, and then closed together very\nquickly. One of the men said to the other, \"I will leap through the\ncleft when it opens, and if I am caught you can follow and try to find\nthe origin of thunder.\" The first one passed through the cleft before\nit closed, and the second one was caught. The one that went through\nsaw, in a large plain below, a group of wigwams, and a number of\nIndians playing ball. After a little while these players said to each\nother, \"It is time to go.\" They went to their wigwams and put on\nwings, and took their bows and arrows and flew away over the mountains\nto the south. The old men said to the Indian, \"What do you want? Who\nare you?\" He told his mission, and they deliberated what to do.\nFinally they took him and put him in a mortar and pounded him up so\nthat all his bones were broken. Then they took him out and gave him\nwings and a bow and arrows, and sent him away. They told him he must\nnot go near the trees, for if he did he would go so fast that he could\nnot stop, but would get caught in the crotch of a tree.\n\n[Footnote 7: The Zuni folk-tales always begin with a similar\nintroduction, which may be translated, \"In the time of the ancients.\"\nThe Passamaquoddies often end a story by the words which, being\ntranslated, mean \"this is the end.\" The same occurs in other Indian\nstories.]\n\nHe could not get to his home because the bird Wochowsen blew so hard\nthat he could make no progress against it. As the Thunder-Bird is an\nIndian, the lightning from him never strikes one of his kind.[8]\n\n[Footnote 8: The wind (Wochowsen) is represented as resisting the\nThunder-Bird. According to Chamberlain and Leland, \"thunder beings are\nalways trying to kill a big bird in the south.\" It is said by the\nPassamaquoddies that Wochowsen is the great bird which overspreads all\nwith his wings and darkens the sky. Often when he passes by, the glare\nof the bright sun is ample to blind them.]\n\nThis is the same bird one of whose wings Glooscap once cut when it had\nused too much force. There was for a long time, the story goes, no\nmoving air, so that the sea became full of slime, and all the fish\ndied. But Glooscap is said to have repaired the wing of Wochowsen, so\nthat we now have wind alternating with calm.\n\n\nBLACK CAT AND THE SABLE.\n\nThe translation of the following tale of Pogump, or Black Cat and the\nSable, was given me by Mrs. W. Wallace Brown.[9] The original was told\ninto the phonograph in Passamaquoddy by Peter Selmore, in the presence\nof Noel Josephs. A bark picture of Pookjinsquess leaving the island,\nrepresenting the gulls, and Black Cat on the back of the Snail, was\nmade by Josephs. A copy of this picture is given at the end of this\npaper.\n\n[Footnote 9: The version gives only the incidents as remembered, and\ncan hardly be called a translation.]\n\nMrs. Brown tells me there is a story which accounts for the hump on\nthe back of Pookjinsquess, as follows: While leaning against a tree,\nsome one cut off the tree above and below her shoulders, and she\nconsequently carries the hump on her back.\n\nCooloo, the great bird that overspreads all with his wings, was a\nchief. His wife was named Pookjinsquess. The Sable and the Black Cat\nwent in a stone canoe to a place where they make maple sugar. In this\njourney they were lost, and separated from each other. Sable in his\nwanderings came to a peculiarly shaped wigwam. He went in and found\nwithin a large Snake. The Snake said he was glad the Sable had come,\nas he was very hungry. The Snake told him to go into the woods and get\na straight stick, so that when he pierced him he would not tear open\nhis entrails. Sable then went out and sang in a loud voice a song\nwhich he hoped his brother the Black Cat would hear and come to his\naid.[10] The Black Cat heard him and came to him. Then the Sable told\nthe Black Cat the trouble he was in, and how the Snake was going to\nkill him. The Black Cat told Sable not to be afraid, but that he would\nkill the big Snake. He told him that he would lie down behind the\ntrunk of a hemlock tree which had fallen, and that Sable should search\nout a stick that was very crooked, obeying the commands of the big\nSnake. When he had found a stick, he should carry it to the Snake, who\nwould complain that the stick was not straight enough. The Black Cat\ninstructed Sable to reply that he would straighten it in the fire,\nholding it there until the steam came out of the end.[11] While the\nSnake was watching the process of straightening the stick and the exit\nof the steam, Black Cat told Sable that he should strike the Snake\nover the head. The Sable sought out the most crooked stick he could\nfind, and then returned to the wigwam where the Snake was. The Snake\nsaid the stick was too crooked. The Sable replied, \"I can straighten\nit,\" and held it in the fire.[12] When it was hot he struck the Snake\non the head and blinded him.[13] The Snake then followed the Sable,\nand, as he passed over the hemlock trunk, Black Cat killed him, and\nthey cut him in small fragments. Black Cat and Sable called all the\nanimals and birds to the feast; the caribous, wild horses, and swift\nanimals and birds were first to arrive at the feast. The Turtle was\nthe last, and got only the blood. Then the Black Cat and Sable\nreturned home to Cooloo, whose wife was Pookjinsquess. She thought she\nwould like to have for her husband Black Cat if she could get rid of\nCooloo. But Black Cat offended Pookjinsquess and made her angry. To\nmake way with him she invited him to go with her for gulls' eggs. She\ntook him across the water in a canoe to an island which was very\ndistant. There they filled baskets with eggs and started home in the\ncanoe. A large, very beautiful bird flew over them. They both shot\ntheir arrows at it. The bird fell, and Black Cat jumped into the\nwater to get what they had shot. When he got to where the bird fell he\ncould not find it. Pookjinsquess went off, singing as she went the\nfollowing song, which has been written out from the phonographic\nrecord by Mr. Cheney, and left Black Cat on the island.\n\n[Footnote 10: Probably Sable had a _m' toulin_, or magic power, and\nhis song was heard by Black Cat, although miles away beyond hills and\nmountains.]\n\n[Footnote 11: Evidently to excite the curiosity of the Snake.]\n\n[Footnote 12: The fire was outside the wigwam, and the Snake put his\nhead out of the wigwam, when he was struck. Possibly the Snake watched\nthe process of straightening the stick through curiosity, and was off\nhis guard.]\n\n[Footnote 13: In another story which was told me, Glooscap turned the\neyes of the Snake white in the following manner:--\n\n\"Once on a time Glooscap was cooking something in his wigwam, and the\nSnake wished to see what it was. So the Snake crawled up the outside\nof the wigwam and looked down through the smoke-hole into the cooking\nvessel. But Glooscap, who was stirring the pot of cooking food, held\nin his hand a great ladle. He noticed the Snake peering in at the\nsmoke-hole, and, filling the bowl of the ladle full of the hot food,\nthrew it into the eyes of the Snake. From that time the eyes of the\nSnake have been white.\"]\n\n[Music illustration:\n\nEr tim lee ber nits nah o o o o Wait for me.\n\nNick ne ar ber yer nay ey.--]\n\nI think there are internal evidences of the antiquity of this song,\nalthough the English sentence, \"Wait for me,\" shows the modern\ncharacter of certain of the words. This sentence seems to supply the\nplace of unknown Indian words. Several Indians assured me that the\nsong was old. According to Leland, Pookjinsquess sang the following\nwords when she left Black Cat:--\n\n    Niked ha Pogump min nekuk\n    Netsnil sagamawin!\n\nWhich he translates,--\n\n    I have left the Black Cat on an island;\n    I shall be the chief of the Fishers now.\n\nThe best I can make out of the phonographic record given me by Peter\nSelmore of the words which she sang is,--\n\n                           > > > >\n    Er tin le ber nits nah o o o o.\n    Wait for me.\n    Nick ne ar ber yer hay ey.\n\nThe second line sounds like the English \"Wait for me,\" but is not\ndistinct. The end of the first line is violently explosive. The third\nline ends in a word expressive of strong feeling, possibly revenge.\n\nIn a version of this story by Leland, Pookjinsquess leaves Black Cat\non the island, and paddles away, singing songs. In his story, Black\nCat was carried off from the island by the Fox, who swam out to get\nhim.\n\nBlack Cat called to the gulls to defile Pookjinsquess with their dung.\nThey flew over her, and as she looked up they covered her face with\nbird-lime.[14] They then burst out in a laugh, which they still have,\nwhen they saw how changed her face was.\n\n[Footnote 14: According to the narrator, the bird that did this was a\nvery large one. Possibly it was Cooloo, the offended husband of\nPookjinsquess.]\n\nBlack Cat wandered about the island, until at last he found a wigwam\nof the grandfather, the \"Morning Star,\" who told him he was on a very\ndangerous island. He told him it was the habit of the Great Beaver to\ndestroy every one who came to the island.[15]\n\n[Footnote 15: Quahbet, or the Giant Beaver, was not on the best of\nterms with Black Cat, for Glooscap had slain many of the beavers,\nwhose bones still exist, and are of giant size. This hatred probably\narose, says Leland, from the time when Quahbeetsis, the son of the\nBeaver, inspired Malsumsis to kill Glooscap.]\n\nHe told the Black Cat to climb a tree, and when he needed help to call\nout for him. Night coming on, water began to rise about the base of\nthe tree, and the Giant Beaver came and began to gnaw at its base. The\nfriendly ants[16] tried to keep the tree upright, but the water\ncontinued to rise and the Beaver kept on gnawing. Then the Black Cat\nin his sore dilemma called out, \"Grandpa, come!\" The grandfather\nresponded, \"I am coming; wait till I get my moccasins.\" The water rose\nhigher. Again Black Cat called out, \"Come, grandpa, come!\" \"I am\ncoming,\" his grandfather said; \"wait till I get my cap.\" Again Black\nCat called, \"Hurry, grandpa!\" \"Wait until I get my pipe,\" said the\ngrandparent. But the waters had reached him. The tree swayed to and\nfro. \"Come, grandpa, come!\" said Black Cat for the last time. Then he\nsaid, \"I am coming; wait till I open my door;\" and then he opened the\ndoor of his wigwam and the Morning Star came forth, the water began to\nrecede, and the Beaver swam away.[17] Then Black Cat's grandfather\ntold him to come down, and he would send him over the water to the\nother shore on the back of the Wewillemuck. Black Cat thought that\nWewillemuck was too small to carry him over, but his grandfather told\nhim to seat himself between his horns, and when he wished\nWewillemuck[18] to go faster he should tap him on the horns. The\ngrandfather then gave his grandson a small bow and arrows, and put him\non the snail's back between his horns.\n\n[Footnote 16: The ants assisted Black Cat in many ways. They were also\nfriendly to Leux, and on one occasion are said to have gathered the\nbones and fragments of the \"Merry God\" together and restored his life.\nWhether in the present instance they tried to keep the tree upright by\npiling the earth about its trunk or not, the narrator does not say.]\n\n[Footnote 17: Possibly the gnawing of the Beaver is the ripple of the\nwaves around the base of the tree.]\n\n[Footnote 18: Mrs. Brown has identified Wewillemuck as the snail. Some\nof the Indians say that it is a large lizard like an alligator. The\nbark picture of this creature, made by Noel Josephs, is that of a\nnondescript difficult to identify.]\n\nAs they were crossing the channel, Wewillemuck said to the Black Cat,\n\"When we get near shore tell me.\" But Black Cat gave Wewillemuck a\nsharp rap on the horns, and the snail jumped forward and went so far\nthat both went a far distance inland. Wewillemuck said, \"Why did you\nnot tell me we were near the land? Now I cannot get back to the water\nagain.\" But Black Cat took his small bow and arrows, and with them\ncarried Wewillemuck back to the water. So pleased was he that he said,\n\"Scrape from my horns some fine dust, and, whatever you wish, put this\npowder upon it and it is yours.\" So Black Cat scraped off some powder\nfrom the horns of Wewillemuck.\n\nThe Raven was told to build a wigwam for Cooloo, who was chief. Pogump\n(Black Cat) went to see the chief, and killed him with the powder.\nBlack Cat went to see Pookjinsquess; he scattered a ring of powder\naround her wigwam, and then set it on fire. It blazed up and ignited\nthe wigwam, burning up the old woman Pookjinsquess; whose ashes, blown\nabout by the winds, made the mosquitoes.[19]\n\n[Footnote 19: In this manner he obtains his revenge. Dr. Boas tells me\nhe has heard a similar story of the origin of the mosquitoes on the\nWest Coast.]\n\nLeland, in his version of this story, represents the Black Cat as\nidentical with Glooscap,[20] and the Sable as a boy who had a flute by\nwhich he could entice to himself all the animals. The story of the\nsticks is similar, but the cutting up of the serpent is not mentioned.\nHe says that Black Cat, who is preparing his arrows, and will return\nand destroy all, is Glooscap, who in another story kills the Snake,\ncuts him in fragments, and invites all the animals to eat him. The\nTurtle, the grandfather (adopted), arrives last, and only gets the\nblood for his share.\n\n[Footnote 20: Mrs. Brown writes me that the Black Cat referred to is\nnot identical with Glooscap. \"There were very many of these\nmythological personages,\" she says, \"who were able to do things as\nwonderful as Glooscap, but they were not of his nature. He worked for\ngood, they for selfish purposes.\"\n\nMr. Leland's work exhibits throughout want of exactness in recording\njust what the Indians told him. It is in deductions and explanations\nthat error is liable to arise. A story made up from the recital of\nseveral Indians is likely to exhibit their attempts to explain\ndoubtful parts of the story.]\n\n\nA STORY OF LEUX.\n\nA story of the old time. In winter, while travelling, Leux met a\nnumber of wolves, which were going in the same direction that he was.\nAt nightfall the old wolf built a fire and gave Leux supper. He gave\nhim skins to cover himself while he slept, but Leux said that the fire\nwas so warm that he did not need or wish a covering. At midnight Leux\nawoke and was almost frozen with cold. The next morning Leux was\nobliged to part with the wolves.[21]\n\n[Footnote 21: It would seem, from Leland's account, that the wolf\nadmired Leux greatly because he cared so little for the cold or their\ncare.]\n\nThe old wolf said, \"How far are you going?\" Leux answered, \"Three\ndays' journey.\" The wolf said then, \"I will do for you the very best\nthing I can. I will give you three fires, one for each night.\" The\nwolf told him to gather some dry wood, put it in a pile, jump over it,\nand it would burn.[22]\n\n[Footnote 22: It was possible that the wolf gave him some charm or\nmedicine with which to accomplish this.]\n\nLeux parted from the wolf, and as soon as he was out of sight he\nthought he would try to make a fire as directed by the wolf, remarking\nthat he did not think it would burn. So he gathered some dry wood,\nmade a little pile, and jumped over it, as he had been directed. The\nwood was ignited, as the wolf had predicted, much to the surprise of\nLeux. Leux then put out the fire. After walking a short distance he\nkindled another in the same way. This he put out as before, and at\nnoon tried again, kindling the fire as before and putting it out\nimmediately after. Now when night came Leux made a camp and collected\na pile of good dry wood and jumped over it, as he had done previously,\nand as he had been directed by the wolf. But this time the wood did\nnot burn. He repeatedly jumped over the wood, but in vain. The wood\ngave off a cloud of smoke, but no blaze appeared. That night it was\nbitter cold,--so cold that Leux was nearly frozen to death.[23]\n\n[Footnote 23: The above story is told substantially as here given by\nLeland, but with many additions. The source from which Leland obtained\nhis account is not given. The account which I give is from Noel\nJosephs. In Leland's account Leux froze to death.]\n\nOne day two young girls (in Leland's account the two girls are\nweasels) were walking along, and k'Cheebellock came to them and\ncarried them to his home in another world high up in the sky. The\ngirls became homesick in the strange place, and every day they longed\nmore and more to get back to the earth. Every day they cried for their\nhomes. At last k'Cheebellock offered to carry them back to the earth,\nand took them up to transport them to their native land. But\nk'Cheebellock's wings were so large that he could not get to the\nground on account of the high trees. So he left them in the top of a\nvery high hemlock in the midst of the forest.[24]\n\n[Footnote 24: Notice, also, that the thunder-birds were not able to\napproach the trees, and the Indian who was turned into a thunder-bird\nwas warned not to approach the forest, for he moved so rapidly that he\nwould get caught in the crotch of a tree.]\n\nThe girls could not get down out of the tree. As time passed on, after\na long time they saw a young man walking in the woods. They cried out\nto him to come and take them down. The first time they called, the\nyoung man did not look up. Now this man was Leux: they called again,\nand he replied that he was very busy building a road [trail], and he\nsaid he could not take them down he was so occupied. After a long time\nthe girls saw Leux pass by again, and they begged him to take them\ndown from the tree. This time Leux replied that he would take them\ndown if one of them would consent to become his wife. To this they\nagreed.\n\nNow these girls had their hair tied with long shreds of eelskins. They\ntook off these strings, which bound their hair behind, and securely\ntied them in hard knots on the top branches of the tree upon which\nthey were. Leux climbed the tree and brought the girls down safe and\nsound. He then demanded one of them for his wife.[25]\n\n[Footnote 25: It would be more in accord with the Indian words to say\n\"have one of them\" instead of \"have one of them for a wife.\"]\n\nBut the girls said, \"First, it is necessary for you to untie and bring\ndown our hair bands for us.\" Leux climbed the tree to get the eelskin\nhair bands, but they had tied them so securely that it took him a long\ntime to loosen the knots. When he came down the girls had built a\nlarge and beautiful wigwam. They then made Leux blind[26] [how, the\nnarrator did not know].\n\n[Footnote 26: The wigwam may have been so dark that he could not see\nanything, or perhaps he was blinded by his admiration for the girls.]\n\nThen the maidens call out to him, and now one and now the other\ninvites him to come to her. As he follows their voices one of them\nleads him to fall into the water, and the other makes him stumble on\nporcupine quills. Exhausted, Leux then goes to sleep, wearied out with\nhis exertions, but when he awoke the maidens had vanished.\n\nThe story of the Indian maids who were loved by k'Cheebellock, the\nspirit of the air, is told in another way by Leland, although that\npart of the story which pertains to Leux and the hair bands is the\nsame in both accounts. In Leland's account we have a beautiful legend,\nMicmac and Passamaquoddy, in which two maids, called the weasels, are\nloved by the stars, not by k'Cheebellock. It is interesting also to\nnote that the hair bands in this variant of the story were of eelskin,\na fact which is not brought in Leland's account. k'Cheebellock is a\nsuperhuman deity of the Passamaquoddies, and is represented as a being\nwithout body, but with heart, head, wings, and long legs. He is\nstronger than the wind, and is the genius of the air. k'Cheebellock\nhas sometimes been confounded with Kewok, but Kewok is the cannibal\ndeity, or a cannibal giant. He is said to have a heart of ice, and to\nafflict the Indians in many ways. It is he who tears the bark from the\nwigwam, and who frightens men and women. Kewok is the being in whom a\nNorse divinity has been recognized by one or two well-known scholars.\n\nIn olden times the hair of women was tied with hair strings which were\nsecurely bound to a flat plate on the outside. This plate was formerly\nof shell, or later of metal. To this hair string was ascribed certain\nmagic powers, especially in love affairs, and the possession of it was\na potent spell.\n\n\nHOW A MEDICINE MAN WAS BORN, AND HOW HE TURNED MAN INTO A TREE.\n\nA story of old times. There was once a woman who travelled constantly\nthrough the woods. Every bush she saw she bit off, and from one of\nthese she came to be with child. She grew bigger and bigger until at\nlast she could travel no longer, but built a wigwam near the mouth of\na stream. The woman gave birth to a child in the night. She thought it\nbest to kill the child, but did not wish to murder her offspring.[27]\n\n[Footnote 27: By combining this story with some given by Leland it\nwould seem that the child was Glooscap. If that is so, this is the\nonly account in Passamaquoddy lore in which his parthenogenetic origin\nis traced. Mrs. Brown insists, however, that the medicine man was not\nGlooscap.]\n\nAt last she decided to make a canoe of bark, and in it she put her\nchild and let it float down the river. The water of the river was\nrough, but the child was not harmed, or even wet.[28] It floated down\nto an Indian village, and was stranded on the shore near a group of\nwigwams. A woman of the village found the baby on the shore and\nbrought it to her home. Every morning, after the baby had been brought\nto the place, a baby of the village died. The Indians did not know\nwhat the matter was until they noticed that the waif which the woman\nhad found in the bark on the river bank went to the river every night\nand returned shortly after. A woman watched to see what this had to do\nwith the death of the babes, and she saw the child, when it returned\nto the wigwam, bring a tongue of a little child, roast and eat it.\nThen it laid down to sleep. The next morning another child died, and\nthen the Indian knew that its tongue had been cut out. It was\ntherefore believed that the strange child had killed the baby. They\ndeliberated as to what they should do with the murderer. Some said,\ncut him in pieces and cast the fragments into the river. Others said,\ncut him up and burn the fragments. This, after much consultation, they\ndid. They burnt the fragments of the child until nothing but the ashes\nremained. Everybody thought it dead, but the next morning it came back\nto camp again, with a little tongue as before, roasted and ate the\nmorsel. The next morning another child was found to have died the\nnight before. After the weird child had roasted and eaten the tongue\nof its victim he laid down to sleep in the same place he had laid\nbefore he had been cut up into fragments and cremated. But in the\nmorning the child said that it would never kill any more children. He\nhad now, in fact, become a big boy. He said he would take one of his\nbones out of his side. This he tried to do, and as he did it all the\nbones came out of his body at the same time. Then he closed his eyes\nby drawing his fingers over his eyelids so that his eyes were hidden\n(not necessarily blind). He could not move, because he had no bones\nand had grown very fat. He became a great medicine man, and told the\nIndians that whatever they asked of him he would grant them. Then the\nIndians moved away from the place and left the medicine man behind in\na nice wigwam which they built for him. But they were accustomed to go\nback when they wished anything, and to ask the conjurer for it. The\nIndians used to go to him for medicine of all kinds. When he granted\ntheir request he said, \"Turn me over and you will find the medicine\nunder me.\"[29]\n\n[Footnote 28: The resemblance of this story to the tale of Moses is\nvery great. Whether or not it is derived from the early teaching of\nthe church through Catholic priests, or from still earlier Norse\nlegends, I leave others to decide.]\n\n[Footnote 29: Dr. Rand (_American Antiquarian_, p. 8, vol. xii. No. 1)\nmentions a personage (Koolpejot) as \"rolled over by means of a\nhandspike.\" He is a great medicine man: he has no bones, always lies\nout in the open air, and is rolled over from one side to the other\ntwice a year, during spring and fall. He adds that an intelligent\nIndian once suggested that this was a figurative representation of the\nrevolution of the seasons.]\n\nOnce upon a time a young man who wished the love of women went to him\nand asked for a love potion. The old man said, \"Turn me over.\" The\nyoung man turned the conjurer over and found under him an herb. The\nold man told him he must not give this away or throw it away. The\nyoung man went home to his wigwam. On his return home all the women of\nthe place followed him, everywhere and at all times. He longed to be\nalone, and did not like to have the women so much about him. At last\nhe was so much troubled by them that he went back to the conjurer and\ngave back the medicine to the medicine man, who took the herb, and the\nyoung man went away without it. Another man went to the conjurer for\nmedicine. The old man said, \"What do you want?\" He said, \"I want to\nlive as long as the world stands.\" The old man said the request was\nhard to grant, but he would try to answer it. The conjurer, as was his\nwont, said, \"Turn me over,\" and underneath his body was the herb. Then\nthe conjurer told the man who wished to live forever to go to a place\nwhich was bare of everything, so bare indeed that it was destitute of\nall vegetation, and to stand there. He pointed out the place to him.\nThis the man did, and, looking back at the conjurer, branches grew out\nall over him, and he was changed into a cedar tree. He is useless to\nevery one, and there he will stand forever.\n\nThe first part of this story strongly reminds one of the story of\nMoses, and may have been due to contact with Europeans. It is to be\nremarked that the mother of the child became pregnant by eating an\nherb. The child is therefore parthenogenetic. According to Leland, the\nmedicine man who turned the man into a cedar tree is Glooscap.\nGlooscap performed many such miracles, as in the case of the story of\nthe animals. In another story the father of Glooscap is mentioned as a\nbeing who lives under a great fall of water down in the earth. His\nface is half red, and he has a single eye. In another he can give to\nany one coming to him medicine to grant him whatever he wishes, and in\nstill another Glooscap is now sharpening his arrows way off in some\ndistant place. He will return to earth and make war.\n\n\"On whom will he make war?\" \"He will make war on all, kill all: there\nwill be no more world; world all gone. Dunno how quick,--mebbe long\ntime: all be dead then, mebbe--guess it will be long time.\"\n\n\"Are any to be saved by any one?\" \"Dunno. Me hear some say world all\nburn up some day; water all will take fire. Some good ones be taken up\nin good heavens, but me dunno; me just hear that. Only hear so.\"[30]\n\n[Footnote 30: Quoted from Leland's _Algonquin Legends_.]\n\nIn their stories the Passamaquoddies tell the old stories as true; but\nthey speak of other stories as what they hear. The part of the above\naccount, of the return of Glooscap and the destruction of the world,\nthey say is true. The last portion shows its modern origin in the\nstatement that they hear that it is so.\n\nThe stories of the birth of Glooscap,[31] his power to work miracles,\nand his ultimate return to earth, are very suggestive.\n\n[Footnote 31: According to Leland's story.]\n\nThe belief of the Indians in a Great Spirit is a figment of the\nimagination on the part of the whites. It is now extremely difficult\nto discover what the original belief of the Passamaquoddies was, as\nthey are now Christianized and have been for many years.\n\nFrom a scientific standpoint much has been lost by this change. There\nare several customs which are undoubtedly modifications of older\nobservances which they probably replace. That these customs are\nsecondary modifications, their general character seems to demonstrate.\nStill they have certain Indian features, and as such merit record.\nThere are doubtless certain religious observances which have been\nchanged by the influence of the whites. If these were rightly\ninterpreted they might tell some very interesting story of the ancient\nbeliefs of this people, but many of these observances have been so\nmodified that their meaning, if they have any, is wholly obliterated.\n\nAmong these might be mentioned a common burial custom, an account of\nwhich has never been recorded. I am informed by Mrs. Brown that when\nan Indian dies a gun is fired. The coffin is enveloped with fine white\nsheeting, and cords are tied around the sheeting to keep the cotton in\nplace. When the coffin is lowered into the grave the cords are\nremoved, and the cotton is given to the grave-digger. Possibly this\ncustom may have been derived from some older one, or may have\noriginated from contact with the whites. The mode of burial in coffins\nand the use of cotton sheeting are certainly modern customs, but may\nbe modifications of some older ceremonial when other material was\nused.\n\nThe counting-out rhyme which is given on the cylinder is as follows:--\n\n    Hony, kee bee, l[=a] [=a]-weis, ag-les, huntip.\n\nThe inflection on the last word is always a rising one. This is\nespecially true on the last syllable of the last word, \"tip.\" The\ncounting out is not very different from that of white children. They\nall place two fingers of each hand in a circle; the one who repeats\nthe doggerel, having one hand free, touches each finger in the circle\nsaying, _Hony, kee bee, l[=a] [=a]-weis, ag-les, huntip_. Each finger\nthat the _huntip_ falls on is doubled under, and this is repeated\nagain and again until there are but three fingers left. The persons\ncorresponding to these start to run, and the one caught has to play as\n_Squaw-oc-t'moos_.[32] To the Indian mind \"counting out\" has a\nsignificance, and even the simple _huntip_ is a magic word, bringing\ngood luck, as it lessens the chance of being \"_squaw-oc-t'moos_.\"\n[\"Journal of American Folk-Lore,\" vol. iii. No. 8, pp. 71, 72.]\n\n[Footnote 32: The word \"squat\" in Passamaquoddy means fire. Mrs. Brown\nspells the name of the swamp woman as follows: _Squaw-oc-t'moos_. The\n_a_ is very long, and possibly can be best represented by _aw_.]\n\nOne of the songs, said to be a salutation, which was sung on the\ncylinders, has been written out from the phonograph by the late Mr.\nS.P. Cheney. The words, as nearly as I can make them out, are as\nfollows:--\n\n    T'w[=a] too boo hen ee too boo ho [to be way] bla\n    Tel ey wees ee lu\n    Hoi kay yu kar, heno yah ha,\n    Kaye yu kar, hen o yar-hah,\n    Kay yu kar, hen o yah-hah, kay yu kar, hen o yar-hah.\n\nThe first two lines are sung first to the upper staff, then repeated\nto the music on the second, which differs somewhat from the first.\nThen follows the third and fourth lines, which are sung to the third\nstaff, and repeated with slight variation from the fourth.\n\n[Music illustration:\n\nT'w[=a] too boo hen ee too boo ho bla tel ey wees ee lu\n\nHoi kay yu kar, hen-o yah ha, kay e yu kar hen o yar-hah.]\n\nThe question of whether the Indians originally had characters to\ndesignate tones has been discussed by Theodor Baker (\"Ueber die Musik\nder Nord Amerikanischen Wilden\"). Although the Micmacs seemed to have\nhad an elaborate system of hieroglyphics[33] to designate sounds,\nneither they nor their immediate neighbors, according to Vetromile,\nhad characters to designate tones. The songs were probably committed\nto memory, and possibly on that account were often somewhat modified.\n\n[Footnote 33: Pictographic writing, which is so well known among the\nMicmacs, was also practised by the Passamaquoddies. The sign of the\nPassamaquoddies is a canoe with two Indians in it and a porpoise. This\nsign appears on rocks in certain places. The design for the present\nflag of this tribe is of late conception, and shows the Christian\ninfluence.]\n\nThe cylinder with Passamaquoddy words and the English equivalents has\nthe following records, which I have written down as nearly as I could\nfrom the phonograph, and verified by repeating them from my spelling\nto the Indians. With two exceptions, the Indians, were able to\nunderstand the word meant, and to give me an English equivalent\nidentical with that originally recorded. I have made these experiments\nof verification in order to test the capabilities of the phonograph.\nIn the cases where my spelling of the word has failed to convey the\nsound of the word, the phonograph was perfectly understood by the\nIndian interrogated. This fact seemed to me to bring out a serious\ndefect in the use of the phonetic method, which may not be confined to\nme alone. I doubt very much if the Indians could understand many of\nthe words in some of the vocabularies of other Indians which have been\npublished, if the words were pronounced as they are spelled. The\nrecords of the phonograph, although of course sometimes faulty, are as\na general thing accurate. When I wrote out the Passamaquoddy words\ngiven below, I was wholly ignorant of their meaning. I wrote them as I\nheard them on the cylinder, placing at their side the English\nequivalent. I then pronounced the word to an Indian, and he gave the\nsame English word which I had myself written from the phonograph:--\n\n     k't[=a]lgus (gin), _ear_.\n     Wee tin, _nose_.\n     Huek, _body_.\n     K'telob[=a]gen, _arms_.\n     Sq[)a]t, _fire_.\n     K't[=a]gen, _foot_.\n     Wittuk, _forehead_.\n     (Puks que nor w[=u]k), Pugorken, _blood_.\n     Tups kuk, _neck_.\n     Wusqu[=a]n, _elbow_.\n     Kort, _leg_.\n     Q[=u]tque, _knee_.\n     Wukum, _heel_.\n     Wus quout, _liver (heart)_.\n     Wee bee, _tooth_.\n     p'k[)u]tt, _smoke_.\n\nThe object of the above list is simply to show how nearly one can\nobtain the sound of the word phonetically by the phonograph. It is\nthought to illustrate a possible use of this instrument.\n\nVocabularies of Passamaquoddy words have been published, but as a\ngeneral thing they are very incomplete. Miss Abby Alger, of Boston,\nhas printed a short list of common words and phrases, and in Kilby's\n\"History of Eastport\" the Passamaquoddy names of certain localities,\nrivers, etc., are given.\n\nIt is probably impossible to get the same story in all its details\nfrom two different Indians. The variations in incidents are very\nnumerous. Consequently the observer who follows me will undoubtedly\nfind a great difference between the tale as I give it and as he hears\nit. That is to be expected, nor is it probable that these stories\nadmit of absolute accuracy as long as human memory is fallacious.\nThese stories are _membra dejecta_ of older ones, and, although lineal\ndescendants of ancient tales, are probably more or less modified or\nchanged.\n\nThe following are a few of the mythological characters which play a\npart in many of the stories of the Passamaquoddies. They are all given\non one of the cylinders of the phonograph:--\n\n     _Leux._ Mischief-maker. In certain stories, simple fellow.\n\n     _Kewok._ A formless being with icy heart, and when mentioned\n     regarded as a terrible one.\n\n     _Pedogiic._ Thunder.\n\n     _Pesok que tuk._ Lightning.\n\n     _Ooargamess._ Small beings who live about rocks and chatter\n     in unknown tongue. Have been seen in late times.\n\n     _Lumpagonosis._ Water beings.\n\n     _Kelphit._ A shapeless (medicine) being who is turned over\n     twice each year. Under him are found flowers.\n\n     _Pogumpt._ Black Cat, Fisher.\n\n     _k'Chebollock._ The Spirit of the Air. This being is said to\n     be without body, but to have a heart, wings, head, and\n     legs.\n\n     _Cadoux._ Spirit of Night. Said to have been seen lately. An\n     evil spirit which tears bark from the wigwam, and in many\n     ways frightens the Indians.\n\n     _Pook-jin-squess._ The Jug. Called also the toad woman. In\n     some Indian stories spoken of as governor.\n\n     _Noosagess._ A being associated with the wind.\n\n     _Squaw-oc-t'moos._ Swamp woman.\n\n     _Mousham._ Grandfather.\n\n     _Glooscap._ The beneficent being whose deeds are generally\n     superhuman, and who figures in many heroic tales of the\n     Passamaquoddies. The term as applied to a man is one of\n     contempt. To call a man glooscap, or a woman glooscapess, is\n     to call them liars.\n\n     _Chematiquess._ The big rabbit. There are many tales in\n     relation to Chematiquess. The new one which I have treats of\n     his efforts to escape Glooscap.\n\n     _Mickemnise._ The good fellow. I have also heard the\n     Ouargamiss called Mickeminn.\n\n     _Hespens._ The raccoon.\n\n     _Quarbet._ The giant beast.\n\n     _M'Sartoo._ The Morning Star.\n\n     _Consuce._ The ancients; said to be the fabricators of stone\n     things. These were the makers of the stone axes or tomahawks\n     which are found in the territory once inhabited by the\n     Passamaquoddies.\n\nThe accompanying plate illustrates the above mentioned story of Pogump\nand Pookjinsquess, the original of which was drawn on birch bark by\nNoel Josephs.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nSince the above was written, I have spent some time at Zuni Pueblo,\nNew Mexico, during which my studies of aboriginal language with the\nphonograph were continued. While it is too early to state the exact\nvalue of the records obtained, it may be interesting to know that I\nhave succeeded in obtaining some important specimens of the songs,\nstories, and prayers of this tribe in the course of the summer. The\nsongs of the sacred dances of the Zunians are particularly adapted to\nsuccessful recording with the phonograph. Of these there were obtained\nseveral so-called _Ko-ko_ songs, such as are sung in the _Kor-kok-shi_\nor rain dances. The song sung at the _Ham-po-ney_, an ancient dance\ncelebrated every eight or ten years by the women, was also obtained\nfrom one of the participants. This dance, an elaborate corn-dance, is\nsaid to be an ancient ceremony, and is, next in importance to the\ndedication of the houses, one of the most striking events in the\nZunian calendar. The rarity of its performance, and the possibility\nthat when next performed it may be greatly modified, give a unique\nvalue to this record.\n\nThe most important of the ceremonies of the winter at Zuni Pueblo is\nundoubtedly the _Sha-la-ko_, at which certain of the houses to the\nnumber of seven, which have been built during the past year, are\ndedicated. The song and prayer of the _Sha-la-ko_ was sung for me into\nthe phonograph by one of the Zunians, who had, as I was told, taken\npart in the celebration a few years ago.\n\nAmong other interesting records may be mentioned the prayer of the\nhunter to his fetish when on the hunt; and that of the Priest of the\nBow, formerly sung when he went to war with the Navajos. I also\nobtained a song of the _She-vo-la_ dance, which bears evidence of\ngreat antiquity.\n\nI failed to get what I especially desired, viz., a record of the Zuni\nritual or history of the tribe. Although repeatedly promised that it\nshould be given, and while at one time I thought that I had obtained\npart of it, I must acknowledge an utter failure to accomplish what was\nhoped in this line. The Zuni epic, so called, is still unrecorded on\nthe phonograph, although at one time I was so confident that I had\nobtained it, that I stated such to be the fact, and my statement has\nappeared in print.\n\nThere is among the Zunians an interesting ceremonial for rain, which\nis observed on the night before the departure of the pilgrims who\nvisit the Sacred Lake for water, as a preparation for the first of the\nsolstitial rain dances. I have been able to obtain the chant and words\nof this ceremonial, called the _Dw-me-chim-che_, from one who has\ntaken part in it. The observance is so primitive, and bears so many\nevidences of antiquity, that a record of the chant has an importance,\nin the study of the customs of this interesting people, second to none\nwith which I am familiar.\n\nExperience has taught me that records of songs are the best which can\nbe obtained. These are, as a rule, better adapted to the phonograph.\nRituals and prayers are repeated in such a low tone that they are, as\na general thing, imperfectly reproduced on the wax cylinders of the\nphonograph. A natural timidity of the Indians with respect to\nrepeating the sacred formulae, and the absolute fear which some of them\nhave when the records are repeated to them by the phonograph,\nprevented my obtaining many of these valuable records. Still I have\nmade a beginning, and have obtained enough to demonstrate the value, I\nthink, of the instrument, in the preservation and study of aboriginal\nfolk-lore.\n\nI have prepared an elaborate account of the ceremonies witnessed by\nme, in many of which the songs, formulae, and prayers of the\nparticipants were repeated on the phonograph, and the records\nthemselves will be published as soon as they are carefully worked out.\n\n_J. Walter Fewkes._\n\n\n[Illustration]","title":"Contribution to Passamaquoddy Folk-Lore","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":11413}