IV. — SONGS.
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p. 138
1.1
From what country is that traveller, who is being drawn by dogs? On his way returning he came to be without a whip. Then I will make haste and walk onwards. Then I will make haste and walk to the song. Truly, let us be joyful!
2.
| Those from Uwe´len have been singing, Those from ịčo´wịn have been swaying, Women have been dancing. Those from Nɵ´ɵkan have been swaying, They have frightened those who sewed up the boat's cover. Those from Imäɛ´lin have been listening, the young men. |
From Qo´tirġịn, at Indian Point, May, 1901.
p. 139
3.
| Whence comes this little traveller, This little traveller from the leeward side? Oh, but it is Keweute´ġịn! (His sledge is) loaded with wild reindeer-skins. Who is coming there from the leeward side? Oh, but it is Peñeute´ġịn! His sledge is loaded with piebald skins.1 |
From Qo´tir´ġịn, at Indian Point, May, 1901.
4.
Where shall I go? To the country of Eu´nmun. With what shall I come back?
With an (American whaling) steamer. What people rejoiced? Those from Uwe´len rejoiced.
From Qo´tir´ġịn, at Indian Point, May, 1901.
p. 140
5.
O women! let us sing!
From memory let us sing! This song let us use! — You, boys, dance!
From Qo´tir´ġịn, at Indian Point, May, 1901.
6.2
Let me use the tune of Uñi´sak! From mere envy let me use it!
From Qo´tir´ġịn, at Indian Point, May, 1901.
7.
Whence comes this little traveller? Ah, but it is one of the Maritime people. Oh, dear me! the poor thing! The little traveller, the poor thing!3
From Qo´tir´ġịn, at Indian Point, May, 1901.
8.
I feel lazy, the dear little woman, the dear little bad one, the pretty little one, the little fat one, the scamp!
From Qo´tir´ġịn, at Indian Point, May, 1901.
p. 141
9.
Little birds of Valqa´ḷên,1 (sing), "Ehehehehei!"
From Ča´plak, a Maritime Chukchee man, in the village Če´čin, May, 1901.
10.
In the house of a woman of the Reindeer people he is eating soup with a small cleft spoon, and drawing in snot.
Song of Äɛmu´lin, a Reindeer Chukchee man, of Telqä´p tundra, written down at Mariinsky Post, March, 1901.
11.
Let me use the love-meeting song of Upupuñe´, a Telqä´p woman. Drink the frozen soup, food and sacrifice, belonging to a woman of the Reindeer people.
Song of Añqanukwa´t, a Reindeer Chukchee man of Telqä´p tundra, written down at Mariinsky Post, March, 1901.
12.2
I am Ñawġo´lhin, the woman, a little female bird, clad in a woman's shaggy outer garment.
p. 142
13.1
By whom was I born? I was born by the little mother. But for what was I born?
Shamanistic Songs.
Half-improvised songs of the character of the two shamanistic songs given below are rare among the Chukchee, and more frequent among the Eskimo. Both of the following songs were also recorded on the phonograph.
The first song is that of a shaman, Nouroota´ġịn. He complains of the impudence of women and boys of the village of Če´čin, who use his shamanistic songs in his absence. Complaints like this are usual among the Chukchee, who are jealous of the tunes which they use at ceremonials or shamanistic performances. On the other hand, listeners to a "real shaman" (li´i-eñe´ñịlịn) are inclined afterwards to appropriate his songs and tunes for their own use. Nouroota´ġịn comes to the village for his drum. Rattling on the drum, he talks with the ke´lẹ who is underground. The ke´lẹ will draw the offenders underground with his breath.
The words of the second song are only in part Chukchee. The last two lines, from the word "kaiu´hruta" on, are Ai´wan Eskimo. Ei´mui, a member of a mixed community, began in Chukchee, and finished in Eskimo. He explained that in doing so he feels more at ease. Indeed, many of the inhabitants of that village speak in the same way, beginning in one language and finishing in another.
As to the language, I must also mention that the proper names Te´čị-ñi´nqäiä in the first song, and Wukwata´ġịn in the second, though used in a Chukchee connection, are not quite correct Chukchee. They should be Če´či-ñi´nqäiä and Wukwute´ġịn. The change is more or less in conformity to the Eskimo pronunciation of these words. Te´sik is Eskimo for Če´čin. Wukwute´ġịn is a Chukchee name, and means in Chukchee "rock limit." When used by the Eskimo, its form is Wukwata´hik.
In the second song a shaman is described as travelling with two dogs. He came to a land near a large lake. A ke´lẹ of a mocking character caused him to have a delusion. When driving upon the ice of a certain small river, it seemed to him that the ice was cracked, so that he could p. 143 not cross. After a while, however, he saw that the crack had closed, and he went over and drove on. "What shall I do to that mocking spirit?" asks the shaman in the end. The dogs are called "tɵnnêta´t dogs." The word "tɵnnêta´t" has no meaning in Chukchee, and is said to be a word of the ke´lẹ language. In Chukchee incantations and shamanistic songs I came across two or three more words of a similar character. They were said to belong to the language of the ke´let, and their provenience and meaning could not be ascertained. On the other hand, the Asiatic Eskimo, as well as the American, have a whole vocabulary of words said to belong to the language of the spirits, and used only in incantations and at shamanistic performances. All these words represent either methaphoric terms or obsolete words. Some of those used in Asia are derived from American Eskimo roots.
14.
Nouroota´ġịn1 was indeed just mocking me. He was coming back from the country of Eu´nmun. He was coming home, singing, to the land of Če´čin. His words were made the object of laughter by the men. The boys of Če´čin used them all the time. The mocking women used them all the time. He came home for his drum. On coming home, he made the drum reverberate, and was called by the ke´lẹ from underground. "What shall I do to this one? I shall draw him down with my breath from the bottom of the earth." Ayaqa´, yaqa´, yaqai´! I have finished, I have finished.
Written down from the words of Ei´mui, a Maritime Chukchee man, in the village of Če´čin, May, 1901.
p. 144
15.
Just now a ke´lẹ-boy said (to his mother), "Mamma, go out and beckon to the little traveller. I want to have him for a 'spleen-companion.' Throw open the entrance! This little traveller, with two dogs, with tɵnnêta´t dogs, from the country near the lake, he is indeed just mocking me." What shall I do with this fissure (in the ice)? Oh, it has closed of its own accord! I have gone across, truly I have gone over it. Wukwata´hin, who had no pity on me, how shall I act towards him, how, how, how? Thus, thus, thus.
Written down from the words of Ei´mui, a Maritime Chukchee man, in the village of Če´čin, May, 1901.
16.2
| 1. | Big rock, move away! I want to see Čaivu´urġịn. Big hummock, move away! I want to see Čaivu´urġịn. |
| 2. | All the people have died out, all the people have become extinct. Pa´rkal has a great desire for a man. Only we two shall live there. |
| 3. | Once Yo´omqai by a cross pulling reindeer-buck cross sitting was carried. |
| 4. | A Black-Beetle-Woman,1 in a crevice, which served her for a sacrificing-place, performed the thanksgiving ceremonial. |
p. 145
Footnotes
1 This song and a few of the subsequent ones belong to the Maritime Chukchee of the village of Uwe´len, near East Cape. I consider them to be merely an imitation of Eskimo songs. Half of the population of Uwe´len are Nɵ´ɵkalên Eskimo. The Chukchee of Uwe´len are reputed to be, of all the Maritime Chukchee, the most clever and adventuresome. They are given to trading, and spend much time in visiting Eskimo villages on both sides of Bering Strait. I wrote down the words in May, 1901, from one Qo´tirġịn, an inhabitant of Uñi´sak, at Indian Point, who was of mixed origin, half Chukchee and half Eskimo. Neither the words nor the tunes were improvised. So, when Qo´tirġịn would make a mistake, the other young men present would immediately correct it in chorus. Phonographic records were taken of all the following songs.
1 This song, as well as the preceding one, is more or less rhythmical.
2 The tune of this song is Eskimo, from the village of Uñi´sak. It was used by the singer of Uwe´len "from mere envy," as is stated in the song.
3 This song is also rhythmical.
1 The village Valqa´ḷên lies on the Pacific shore, to the southeast of Indian Point. Its inhabitants are Chukchee. (Compare Vol. VII of this series, p. 95.)
2 In this song the singer, Vịyê´nto the Blind, calls himself a woman, and even gives himself a woman's name, quite different from his real name. When singing into the phonograph, Vịyê´nto worked himself up to a very high pitch, which ended in a fit of hysteria. This was because his song was a kind of wail, joined with an attempt at incantation. He was wont to sing it when feeling quite low in spirits and sad, on account of his dark and hungry life.
1 Taġra´tiġịn, named Nikon in Russian, a River Chukchee from the Middle Anadyr, who sang this song for me, was to a certain degree Russianized, and spoke Russian fluently. Perhaps his song bore traces of Russian influence, though I am not sure of it. The tune was quite Chukchee in character, and he used to sing this song when under the influence of fly-agaric, of which he was very fond and a great consumer. The song was written down at a night camp, when travelling from the mouth of the Anadyr to Markova.
1 In the original text the augmentative form, which is frequently used instead of the ordinary form of the noun.
2 Taken from Bogoras, Chukchee Materials, p. 146. These songs were recorded among the Reindeer Chukchee of the Kolyma. All of them belong to women. Therefore the first line of the Chukchee text is given according to male pronounciation (ġre´pịt); the second, according to female pronunciation (ġše´pịt) š is pronounced like German z.
1 Compare Vol. VII of this series p. 329.
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