Chapter 3

[Footnote 28: The resemblance of this story to the tale of Moses is very great. Whether or not it is derived from the early teaching of the church through Catholic priests, or from still earlier Norse legends, I leave others to decide.]

[Footnote 29: Dr. Rand (_American Antiquarian_, p. 8, vol. xii. No. 1) mentions a personage (Koolpejot) as "rolled over by means of a handspike." He is a great medicine man: he has no bones, always lies out in the open air, and is rolled over from one side to the other twice a year, during spring and fall. He adds that an intelligent Indian once suggested that this was a figurative representation of the revolution of the seasons.]

Once upon a time a young man who wished the love of women went to him and asked for a love potion. The old man said, "Turn me over." The young man turned the conjurer over and found under him an herb. The old man told him he must not give this away or throw it away. The young man went home to his wigwam. On his return home all the women of the place followed him, everywhere and at all times. He longed to be alone, and did not like to have the women so much about him. At last he was so much troubled by them that he went back to the conjurer and gave back the medicine to the medicine man, who took the herb, and the young man went away without it. Another man went to the conjurer for medicine. The old man said, "What do you want?" He said, "I want to live as long as the world stands." The old man said the request was hard to grant, but he would try to answer it. The conjurer, as was his wont, said, "Turn me over," and underneath his body was the herb. Then the conjurer told the man who wished to live forever to go to a place which was bare of everything, so bare indeed that it was destitute of all vegetation, and to stand there. He pointed out the place to him. This the man did, and, looking back at the conjurer, branches grew out all over him, and he was changed into a cedar tree. He is useless to every one, and there he will stand forever.

The first part of this story strongly reminds one of the story of Moses, and may have been due to contact with Europeans. It is to be remarked that the mother of the child became pregnant by eating an herb. The child is therefore parthenogenetic. According to Leland, the medicine man who turned the man into a cedar tree is Glooscap. Glooscap performed many such miracles, as in the case of the story of the animals. In another story the father of Glooscap is mentioned as a being who lives under a great fall of water down in the earth. His face is half red, and he has a single eye. In another he can give to any one coming to him medicine to grant him whatever he wishes, and in still another Glooscap is now sharpening his arrows way off in some distant place. He will return to earth and make war.

"On whom will he make war?" "He will make war on all, kill all: there will be no more world; world all gone. Dunno how quick,--mebbe long time: all be dead then, mebbe--guess it will be long time."

"Are any to be saved by any one?" "Dunno. Me hear some say world all burn up some day; water all will take fire. Some good ones be taken up in good heavens, but me dunno; me just hear that. Only hear so."[30]

[Footnote 30: Quoted from Leland's _Algonquin Legends_.]

In their stories the Passamaquoddies tell the old stories as true; but they speak of other stories as what they hear. The part of the above account, of the return of Glooscap and the destruction of the world, they say is true. The last portion shows its modern origin in the statement that they hear that it is so.

The stories of the birth of Glooscap,[31] his power to work miracles, and his ultimate return to earth, are very suggestive.

[Footnote 31: According to Leland's story.]

The belief of the Indians in a Great Spirit is a figment of the imagination on the part of the whites. It is now extremely difficult to discover what the original belief of the Passamaquoddies was, as they are now Christianized and have been for many years.

From a scientific standpoint much has been lost by this change. There are several customs which are undoubtedly modifications of older observances which they probably replace. That these customs are secondary modifications, their general character seems to demonstrate. Still they have certain Indian features, and as such merit record. There are doubtless certain religious observances which have been changed by the influence of the whites. If these were rightly interpreted they might tell some very interesting story of the ancient beliefs of this people, but many of these observances have been so modified that their meaning, if they have any, is wholly obliterated.

Among these might be mentioned a common burial custom, an account of which has never been recorded. I am informed by Mrs. Brown that when an Indian dies a gun is fired. The coffin is enveloped with fine white sheeting, and cords are tied around the sheeting to keep the cotton in place. When the coffin is lowered into the grave the cords are removed, and the cotton is given to the grave-digger. Possibly this custom may have been derived from some older one, or may have originated from contact with the whites. The mode of burial in coffins and the use of cotton sheeting are certainly modern customs, but may be modifications of some older ceremonial when other material was used.

The counting-out rhyme which is given on the cylinder is as follows:--

Hony, kee bee, l[=a] [=a]-weis, ag-les, huntip.

The inflection on the last word is always a rising one. This is especially true on the last syllable of the last word, "tip." The counting out is not very different from that of white children. They all place two fingers of each hand in a circle; the one who repeats the doggerel, having one hand free, touches each finger in the circle saying, _Hony, kee bee, l[=a] [=a]-weis, ag-les, huntip_. Each finger that the _huntip_ falls on is doubled under, and this is repeated again and again until there are but three fingers left. The persons corresponding to these start to run, and the one caught has to play as _Squaw-oc-t'moos_.[32] To the Indian mind "counting out" has a significance, and even the simple _huntip_ is a magic word, bringing good luck, as it lessens the chance of being "_squaw-oc-t'moos_." ["Journal of American Folk-Lore," vol. iii. No. 8, pp. 71, 72.]

[Footnote 32: The word "squat" in Passamaquoddy means fire. Mrs. Brown spells the name of the swamp woman as follows: _Squaw-oc-t'moos_. The _a_ is very long, and possibly can be best represented by _aw_.]

One of the songs, said to be a salutation, which was sung on the cylinders, has been written out from the phonograph by the late Mr. S.P. Cheney. The words, as nearly as I can make them out, are as follows:--

T'w[=a] too boo hen ee too boo ho [to be way] bla Tel ey wees ee lu Hoi kay yu kar, heno yah ha, Kaye yu kar, hen o yar-hah, Kay yu kar, hen o yah-hah, kay yu kar, hen o yar-hah.

The first two lines are sung first to the upper staff, then repeated to the music on the second, which differs somewhat from the first. Then follows the third and fourth lines, which are sung to the third staff, and repeated with slight variation from the fourth.

[Music illustration:

T'w[=a] too boo hen ee too boo ho bla tel ey wees ee lu

Hoi kay yu kar, hen-o yah ha, kay e yu kar hen o yar-hah.]

The question of whether the Indians originally had characters to designate tones has been discussed by Theodor Baker ("Ueber die Musik der Nord Amerikanischen Wilden"). Although the Micmacs seemed to have had an elaborate system of hieroglyphics[33] to designate sounds, neither they nor their immediate neighbors, according to Vetromile, had characters to designate tones. The songs were probably committed to memory, and possibly on that account were often somewhat modified.

[Footnote 33: Pictographic writing, which is so well known among the Micmacs, was also practised by the Passamaquoddies. The sign of the Passamaquoddies is a canoe with two Indians in it and a porpoise. This sign appears on rocks in certain places. The design for the present flag of this tribe is of late conception, and shows the Christian influence.]

The cylinder with Passamaquoddy words and the English equivalents has the following records, which I have written down as nearly as I could from the phonograph, and verified by repeating them from my spelling to the Indians. With two exceptions, the Indians, were able to understand the word meant, and to give me an English equivalent identical with that originally recorded. I have made these experiments of verification in order to test the capabilities of the phonograph. In the cases where my spelling of the word has failed to convey the sound of the word, the phonograph was perfectly understood by the Indian interrogated. This fact seemed to me to bring out a serious defect in the use of the phonetic method, which may not be confined to me alone. I doubt very much if the Indians could understand many of the words in some of the vocabularies of other Indians which have been published, if the words were pronounced as they are spelled. The records of the phonograph, although of course sometimes faulty, are as a general thing accurate. When I wrote out the Passamaquoddy words given below, I was wholly ignorant of their meaning. I wrote them as I heard them on the cylinder, placing at their side the English equivalent. I then pronounced the word to an Indian, and he gave the same English word which I had myself written from the phonograph:--

k't[=a]lgus (gin), _ear_. Wee tin, _nose_. Hük, _body_. K'telob[=a]gen, _arms_. Sq[)a]t, _fire_. K't[=a]gen, _foot_. Wittuk, _forehead_. (Puks que nor w[=u]k), Pugorken, _blood_. Tups kuk, _neck_. Wusqu[=a]n, _elbow_. Kort, _leg_. Q[=u]tque, _knee_. Wukum, _heel_. Wus quout, _liver (heart)_. Wee bee, _tooth_. p'k[)u]tt, _smoke_.

The object of the above list is simply to show how nearly one can obtain the sound of the word phonetically by the phonograph. It is thought to illustrate a possible use of this instrument.

Vocabularies of Passamaquoddy words have been published, but as a general thing they are very incomplete. Miss Abby Alger, of Boston, has printed a short list of common words and phrases, and in Kilby's "History of Eastport" the Passamaquoddy names of certain localities, rivers, etc., are given.

It is probably impossible to get the same story in all its details from two different Indians. The variations in incidents are very numerous. Consequently the observer who follows me will undoubtedly find a great difference between the tale as I give it and as he hears it. That is to be expected, nor is it probable that these stories admit of absolute accuracy as long as human memory is fallacious. These stories are _membra dejecta_ of older ones, and, although lineal descendants of ancient tales, are probably more or less modified or changed.

The following are a few of the mythological characters which play a part in many of the stories of the Passamaquoddies. They are all given on one of the cylinders of the phonograph:--

_Leux._ Mischief-maker. In certain stories, simple fellow.

_Kewok._ A formless being with icy heart, and when mentioned regarded as a terrible one.

_Pedogiic._ Thunder.

_Pesok que tuk._ Lightning.

_Ooargamess._ Small beings who live about rocks and chatter in unknown tongue. Have been seen in late times.

_Lumpagonosis._ Water beings.

_Kelphit._ A shapeless (medicine) being who is turned over twice each year. Under him are found flowers.

_Pogumpt._ Black Cat, Fisher.

_k'Chebollock._ The Spirit of the Air. This being is said to be without body, but to have a heart, wings, head, and legs.

_Cadoux._ Spirit of Night. Said to have been seen lately. An evil spirit which tears bark from the wigwam, and in many ways frightens the Indians.

_Pook-jin-squess._ The Jug. Called also the toad woman. In some Indian stories spoken of as governor.

_Noosagess._ A being associated with the wind.

_Squaw-oc-t'moos._ Swamp woman.

_Mousham._ Grandfather.

_Glooscap._ The beneficent being whose deeds are generally superhuman, and who figures in many heroic tales of the Passamaquoddies. The term as applied to a man is one of contempt. To call a man glooscap, or a woman glooscapess, is to call them liars.

_Chematiquess._ The big rabbit. There are many tales in relation to Chematiquess. The new one which I have treats of his efforts to escape Glooscap.

_Mickemnise._ The good fellow. I have also heard the Ouargamiss called Mickeminn.

_Hespens._ The raccoon.

_Quarbet._ The giant beast.

_M'Sartoo._ The Morning Star.

_Consuce._ The ancients; said to be the fabricators of stone things. These were the makers of the stone axes or tomahawks which are found in the territory once inhabited by the Passamaquoddies.

The accompanying plate illustrates the above mentioned story of Pogump and Pookjinsquess, the original of which was drawn on birch bark by Noel Josephs.

* * * * *

Since the above was written, I have spent some time at Zuñi Pueblo, New Mexico, during which my studies of aboriginal language with the phonograph were continued. While it is too early to state the exact value of the records obtained, it may be interesting to know that I have succeeded in obtaining some important specimens of the songs, stories, and prayers of this tribe in the course of the summer. The songs of the sacred dances of the Zuñians are particularly adapted to successful recording with the phonograph. Of these there were obtained several so-called _Ko-ko_ songs, such as are sung in the _Kor-kok-shi_ or rain dances. The song sung at the _Ham-po-ney_, an ancient dance celebrated every eight or ten years by the women, was also obtained from one of the participants. This dance, an elaborate corn-dance, is said to be an ancient ceremony, and is, next in importance to the dedication of the houses, one of the most striking events in the Zuñian calendar. The rarity of its performance, and the possibility that when next performed it may be greatly modified, give a unique value to this record.

The most important of the ceremonies of the winter at Zuñi Pueblo is undoubtedly the _Sha-la-ko_, at which certain of the houses to the number of seven, which have been built during the past year, are dedicated. The song and prayer of the _Sha-la-ko_ was sung for me into the phonograph by one of the Zuñians, who had, as I was told, taken part in the celebration a few years ago.

Among other interesting records may be mentioned the prayer of the hunter to his fetish when on the hunt; and that of the Priest of the Bow, formerly sung when he went to war with the Navajos. I also obtained a song of the _She-vo-la_ dance, which bears evidence of great antiquity.

I failed to get what I especially desired, viz., a record of the Zuñi ritual or history of the tribe. Although repeatedly promised that it should be given, and while at one time I thought that I had obtained part of it, I must acknowledge an utter failure to accomplish what was hoped in this line. The Zuñi epic, so called, is still unrecorded on the phonograph, although at one time I was so confident that I had obtained it, that I stated such to be the fact, and my statement has appeared in print.

There is among the Zuñians an interesting ceremonial for rain, which is observed on the night before the departure of the pilgrims who visit the Sacred Lake for water, as a preparation for the first of the solstitial rain dances. I have been able to obtain the chant and words of this ceremonial, called the _Dw-me-chim-che_, from one who has taken part in it. The observance is so primitive, and bears so many evidences of antiquity, that a record of the chant has an importance, in the study of the customs of this interesting people, second to none with which I am familiar.

Experience has taught me that records of songs are the best which can be obtained. These are, as a rule, better adapted to the phonograph. Rituals and prayers are repeated in such a low tone that they are, as a general thing, imperfectly reproduced on the wax cylinders of the phonograph. A natural timidity of the Indians with respect to repeating the sacred formulæ, and the absolute fear which some of them have when the records are repeated to them by the phonograph, prevented my obtaining many of these valuable records. Still I have made a beginning, and have obtained enough to demonstrate the value, I think, of the instrument, in the preservation and study of aboriginal folk-lore.

I have prepared an elaborate account of the ceremonies witnessed by me, in many of which the songs, formulæ, and prayers of the participants were repeated on the phonograph, and the records themselves will be published as soon as they are carefully worked out.

_J. Walter Fewkes._