LOVE AND LONESOME SONGS OF THE
SKEENA RIVER
E L L E N K A R P M O SES
The speakers o f the three dialects o f Tsim shian, the C oast
Tsim shian, the N ishka, and the G itk san , inhabit the coastal regions
and valleys o f th e Nass and Skeena Rivers in n o rthern British
C olum bia. W hile they share m any cerem onial practices with other
northern coastal tribes, particularly th e neighbouring H aida and
Tlingit, the language T sim shian is u nrelated to any other in C anada.
A rchaeologists have dated the C oast Tsim shian in their present
locale back som e 9,000 years; du rin g their long period o f residency
in this area, the T sim shian developed one o f the m ost sophisticated
indigenous cultures o f the A m ericas. In their songs, dances, pageant­
ry, and verbal and plastic arts, w hich reached their fullest expres­
sion in the feasts popularly know n as potlatches, the Tsim shian
clans and lineages celebrated a long history and rich cultural heri­
tage.
M y study o f T sim shian songs was based u pon som e sixty hours
o f interviews and song recordings m ade during a field trip in 1977,
sponsored by an U rgent E thnology G ran t o f the N ational M useum
o f M a n .1 In addition, I had access to the tapes and papers m ade by
M arius B arbeau during his eight field trips to the area in the 1920s,2
recordings o f 35 C oast T sim shian and G itksan songs m ade by
L aura B oulton in 1942 for the N atio n al Film B oard, and sm aller
collections recorded at the C oast by Viola G arfield in 1932 an d in
the G itksan village o f K itw ancool by W ilson D u ff in I960.3
E xam ination o f the ethnographic literature, discussions with
Tsim shian elders, and analysis o f the recorded collections po in t to
an extrem ely wide spectrum o f pre-co n tact Tsim shian song types.
M usical and contextual analysis indicate th a t the total corpus can
be divided in to three b ro ad g roups, w hich correspond to ch ro n o ­
logical stages in Tsim shian historical /cu ltu ral developm ent. These
groups m ay be sum m arized as follow s:4
1.
A ncient songs said to have been given to or created by the clan
ancestors during prehistoric m igrations a nd perform ed (usually
at feasts) by a clan elder in a n ancient language. These are the
m ost highly valued songs in the repertoire, and can only be
perform ed at prescribed tim es by prescribed individuals.
2.
O ld songs usually com m issioned by a chief from a professional
com poser prio r to a m ajo r feast and perform ed by the alisxw
or village choir to accom pany cerem onial protocol.
3.
Newer “ love” songs which m ight have originated in th e p o st­
con tract period and usually lam ent the absence o f a loved one
or describe a lighthearted dom estic situation.
Like m ost m usical systems o f th e N orthw est C oast, a fu n d a ­
m ental line o f distinction m ay be draw n betw een cerem onial reper­
toires (the first and second groups) and non-cerem onial songs (the
th ird group). In th e Tsim shian case, th e cerem onial songs m ay be
likened to a “ classical” musical repertoire. This pap er concerns the
songs o f th e th ird type: p o p u lar songs p erform ed outside o f the
cerem onial context an d belonging to th e w idespread group o f senti­
m ental lam en tatio n s know n variously th ro u g h o u t N orth A m erica
as “ love songs” o r “ lonesom e so n g s.” 5
T he T sim shian refer to these songs by a n um ber o f nam es,
depending u p o n th e circum stances u nder which they were created
or the them e o f their texts: “ goodbye, sw eetheart” songs, “ hello,
sw eetheart” songs, C hinook songs, riding o r p ack-train songs,
p arting songs, lonesom e songs, o r hilin, m erry-m aking songs, lim x
leyadit o r love songs, “ com plaintes” (after the French), “ steam b o a t’m ” songs, hom esick songs a n d so fo rth . T he riding or pack
train songs, fo r exam ple, originated with the Y ukon gold rush pack
train s, w hile th e “ steam b o at’m ” songs, like the “ C razy Steam ­
b o a t” song below , lam ent the absence o f lovers aw ay w orking the
Skeena River steam ships.6
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A ltho u g h th e T sim shian consider these songs to be low in m usical
status (since they fall beyond th e realm o f th e cerem onial context),
they are, an d presum ably have alw ays been, extrem ely p o p u lar.7
W om en w ere o f p articu lar im portance in their creation and tran s­
m ission. A t one tim e, fo r exam ple, they sang the songs to each
o th er in the berry-picking fields; alth o u g h the songs certainly helped
the tim e pass m ore quickly, singing had a purely practical function
as they kept m ore itin eran t pickers from straying too far from ear­
shot.
Songs o f this type are o ften associated w ith the circum stances
under w hich they are created. M ary Jo h n so n , fo r example, one o f
the principal singers in the region, responded to a question ab o u t
how songs were created w ith reference to a particu lar com position:
I ’ve seen an elderly m an th a t com posed this song. And he went
o u t trapping, he said, and he got tw o dogs with him, and they
were out o f food on their w ay hom e to the village, and the
dogs got nothing to eat. So he sat dow n to rest, and he heard
th a t o ther dog howling b ehind him , an d the other one howl
before him . W ent on ahead, and he ju st sat in between and he
com posed this song. H e said his heart felt b ad , his heart is in
h alf, he d id n ’t know which w ay to go. . .” 8
She later referred in a sim ilar vein to the circum stances under which
the infam ous Sim on G u n an o o t com posed a love/crem ation song.9
W hile the professional songm akers were required to adhere to
m usical an d textual standards in preparing songs for cerem onial
presentatio n , the m akers o f love songs could tak e inspiration from
a wider range o f sources. In a letter to the m issionary C rosby dated
18 July 1910 a colleague nam ed E. O dium wrote:
One noted singer was asked how he cam e to learn to sing be­
fore he was taught by the w hite m an. H e answ ered in a m anner
thus: “ I went into the m o u n tain s an d heard the torrents singing
their war songs and I learned to im itate them . I went o ut into
the ocean in my canoe an d h eard the hissing noise o f the wind
as it tore the heads o ff the wild billows, an d I tried to do like­
wise. I w alked by the sea, h eard the gentle lapping o f the quiet
w ater and felt th a t I could sing a love song. W hen the birds
were m ating and chirping th eir songs o f sweetness, my voice
w ould break out in strains o f praise. All n atu re and her child­
ren sing, cry, talk , chant an d voice the G reat Spirit: so I tried
to do as they did. I got tim e from my paddle stroke and from
the swinging o f the tall trees. . ,” 10
T he auth o rsh ip o f the love songs in the present repertoire is asscribed to three sources:
(i)
T rad itio n al lyric songs w hich, like the E uropean popular
ballads, have fallen into the realm o f the anonym ous.
(ii) Those said to have been com posed com m unally. It is not u n ­
usual, for exam ple, to hear th a t a p articu lar lyrical song was
com posed by “ the w om ens” (as L au ra B ou lto n’s singer Abel
O aks put it). The berry-picking fields, referred to earlier, were
presum ably ‘fertile g ro u n d s’ for b o th the rapid dissem ination
o f these songs, an d collective com position. In addition, this
situation lends itself easily to “ com m unal recreation” — the
adding o f verses, changing lines, an d so fo rth .
(iii) Those w ith know n com posers.
Since the creation o f this m aterial was not restricted to profes­
sional songm akers, m any individuals to o k as great a delight in the
m aking as in the singing o f th em . G eorge W ilson o f Kispiox, for
exam ple, the com poser o f “ T he O w l an d the G ro u se” (given later),
was so fo n d o f songs o f this type th a t he requested th at a p articu ­
larly co m fo rtab le gravehouse be built after his demise so th a t his
friends m ight sing his songs a n d rem em ber him in luxurious sur­
roundin g s. (U nfo rtu n ately , this gravehouse b u rn t dow n in a fire
w hich sw ept th ro u g h the cem etery several years ago.)
G enerally these songs are perfo rm ed solo, o r occasionally by a
gro u p o f w om en, an d a drum usually accom panies the vocal per­
form an ce. Songs which originated w ith the C arrier often have a
duple d ru m b eat; the T sim shian songs m ake use o f the so-called
“ love so n g ” b eat, a triple h e a rt beat rhy th m . M elodic ranges are
o ften an octave o r greater an d th e songs are perform ed in a fairly
high tessitura. T sim shian songs tend to have undulating contours
an d wide intervals in their m elodies; th e A thab ascan songs des­
cending p hrase contours. D elivery is straig h tfo rw ard w ith few
m elism atic o r orn am en tal effects. M ost songs are strophic with
fo u r-p a rt phrases in verse an d refrain .
Song texts m ost o ften lam ent th e absence o f a loved one or
describe h u m o ro u s dom estic situ atio n s. M ost contain alternating
stanzas o f s e m y e ’e, o r m eaningful text, an d tlahandit, o r vocable
refrains. Texts are o ften in E nglish, T sim shian, C hinook, C arrier,
o r any co m b in atio n o f the above, as will be show n later.
M usically these songs speak m ost clearly o f cultural contact.
T he intervals a n d pitches o f th e d iatonic m ajo r triad are m ost
im p o rta n t, m elodic rhythm s te n d to be regular, and songs often
m ake use o f a recognizably “ w h ite” diatonic scale structure. It has
been suggested th a t m any o f th e songs attem p t to approxim ate a
w hite sense o f m usicality since th ey were created by native women
in h o n o u r o f w hite lovers, w ho tried to em ulate the popular white
m usical style o f th e p e rio d .11
N ativ e/w h ite contact cam e relatively late to this region. W hile
F o rt C onnelly at Bear L ake was b u ilt in 1826 an d was accessible to
the m ost n o rth erly G itksan, th e first H u d so n Bay fo rt actually situ­
ated w ithin T sim shian territo ry w as constructed at F o rt Sim pson,
on the m o u th o f th e Nass, in 1833. Five years later an other fo rt was
built in th e in terio r at L ake B abine an d the renow ned C oast Tsim ­
shian trib al chieftain Legaic began his fierce m onopoly o f the
Skeena River trad e. D uring th e second h a lf o f th e nineteenth cen­
tu ry a n d th e early p a rt o f th e tw entieth, settlers were attracted to
th e region by th e O m enica gold ru sh , an d also by the possibilities o f
obtaining jo b s with the W estern U nion T elegraph C om pany and
the G ran d T ru n k Pacific R ailro ad . T he tow n o f H azelton was
founded in 1867, largely to service the telegraph and railroad
w orkers, an d later becam e a tra n sfe r station for supplies taken from
the steam boats which plied the Skeena in th e early p a rt o f the
present century.
T he love songs in the present repertoire are o f several types
and are said to have originated in a variety o f ways. Some can be
dated, thro u g h textual language an d textual allusions, back to
ab o u t 1850. A num ber o f songs, for exam ple (like the hauntingly
beautiful “ H ow M any D a y s,” 12 below , recorded by B arbeau and
B oulton, and the p o p u lar “ G oing T o Q uesnel” 13 recorded by
B arbeau) were b ro u g h t into the region from the south by natives
em ployed o n pack train s heading for the Y ukon gold fields. M rs.
Vicky Sim m s, an early resident o f the H azelton area, described
these train s as follows:
Then in th e spring — M arch, the m iners headed for the gold
grou n d s. A nd w e’d always accom pany them to Two M ile, such
a g ro u p , a n d they all carried great poles, you know , fo r w alk­
ing, to sup p o rt them in w alking. . . . A nd we w ouldn’t see them
again till the au tu m n . They h a d Indian packers. The Indians
were w onderful packers in tho se days. They carried everything
on their backs, the w om en to o , you know . There was an old
m an , they used to nam e him ‘C hickens’. H e carried a stove on
his back. H e was a little o f a shrim p, you know , but O h such
pow er. . . , 14
Since these songs, unlike th e cerem onial songs, were not re­
stricted to a particular region or privilege-sharing group, they were
subject to considerable in ter-trib al trade. A nother popular group o f
inter-tribal songs bro u g h t in to th e area are th e so-called “ C hinook
songs” m ost aptly described by B oas in 1888:
The Indians are at present in th e habit o f living part o f the year
in V ictoria, V ancouver, or New W estm inster, w orking in vari­
ous trades: in saw-mills an d canneries, on w harves, as sailors,
etc. In the fall they go to P uget Sound hop-picking. A t these
places m em bers o f num erous tribes g ather, w ho use C hinook
as a m eans o f com m unication. They have their own q u arter in
every city. . . . It is at such feasts in the Indian shanties that
songs frequently originate. If they happen to strike the fancy
o f the listening crow d, they are taken up and after a lapse o f a
few years know n all over the country. These songs convey a
better idea o f the character and life o f the Indians living in the
cities o f British C olum bia th an a long description could do. It
is a rem arkable fact th at these ditties, though frequently al­
luding to a single event, an d notw ithstanding their insignifi­
cance, rem ain in use fo r m any years. The greater p art o f those
I have collected was com posed by w om en. . . . It is w orth re­
m arking th a t songs in the native language are also conveyed
from tribe to tribe. T hus the Tsim shian sing m any H aida songs,
although they do no t understand the m eaning o f the w ords,
and the sam e songs are fou n d still farther south. . . ,15
Love songs are immensely pop u lar with the G itksan’s nearest
neighbours, the A thabascan-speaking C arrier, who are pleased to
share their songs with their Tsim shian cohorts. T hus, in the Tsim ­
shian love song repertoire, songs in Tsim shian dialects are inter­
spersed am ong others in C hinook, C arrier, English, and other
native tongues. The “ Gasoline B oat Love Song” , for exam ple, is
perform ed in a m ixture o f C arrier and English. In it the women ex­
press their fears o f the dangers facing their m en while fishing in gas
boats in Lake M oricetow n, several miles east o f H azelto n .16
O ther love songs are perform ed in Tsim shian dialects. These
tend to be m ore sophisticated in textual and musical term s th an the
others; their texts m ake effective use o f the witticisms, w ordplays,
and satire th a t characterize m uch Tsim shian verbal lore. In the
“ Owl and the G rouse” love song for exam ple, tw o lovers (an owl
and a grouse, possibly referring to the lovers’ clan affiliations) pre­
tend to have a fight so th at the elders will not realize th at they are
continuing their love a ffa ir:17
Listen to the owl, she changes her voice. Listen to the grouse
m aking sounds in the m ountains. I am going to bite you in the
neck, my love. I t’s long since we were together and the old
people think it’s ju st a while ago. L ook at them kissing, it’s
because they are drinking wine from th e keg. L ooks like they
p retend to be m ad, and I believe it. P retend th a t and nobody
will know w h at’s going on.
A no th er favourite is the so-called “ G host Love S ong,” o r lim x
leyadit m luldg. The text was explained to m e as follows: “ A m an
was w andering in a garden. All his children were dead. A fter he
finished digging, he was w andering aro u n d , and heard singing. This
is the way he sang it. . . . H e ju st heard (the children) singing, but
d id n ’t see them . A t the end o f the song, they began to laugh. . ,” 18
O ther songs o f this type describe the joys o f im bibing, or feel­
ings o f longing fo r an absent loved one to com e and share a bottle.
These were sung fo r am usem ent w hen people gathered to dance or
to enjoy hom e brew. The song below was recorded by M ary Johnson
o f Kispiox, who rem em bered it a fte r hearing it on one o f B arbeau’s
barely intelligible cylinder recordings. The singer dem ands “ that
bottle with the hom e brew in it so my heart will be m erry” and asks
for “ the great big b arn where they fix the hom e b rew .” 19
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O f all the songs in the vast T sim shian repertoire, M arius
B arbeau loved these best, an d described them in the m ost enthusi­
astic o f term s:
T he m o u n tain songs are sw aying an d ethereal. The voices o f
th e singers, especially the w om en, are beautifully lofty and
lyrical in character. Like th e songs o f M ongolia and Siberia,
they are im bued w ith color; color an d expressiveness o f the
voice are an essential featu re w ith native singing on both sides
o f th e P acific O cean. These songs o ften rise to a high pitch and
vibrate with longing an d passion; then they descend from the
heights like cascades o f sweet an d rem ote sound. . . . Yvette
G u ilbert, th e fam ous French “ diseuse,” w ho heard som e o f
o u r p h o n o g rap h records, exclaim ed, “ I feel as if I stood on a
m o u n tain to p and looked at the deep blue sky!” 20
FO OTNOTES
1
T a p e s d e p o s ite d in th e a rch iv es o f th e C a n a d ia n E th n o lo g y S ervice, N a tio n a l M u seu m s o f C a n a d a , 1977.
2
B a rb e a u re c o rd e d 57 so n g s a t H a z e lto n in 1920, 55 a t K itw a n g a in 1924, 139 a t A r ra n d a le o n th e N ass in
1927, a n d 4 a t A r ra n d a le in 1929. W h ile his p u b lis h e d w o rk s, p a rtic u la rly Tsimshian Songs (A m e rica n
E th n o lo g ic a l S o ciety P u b lic a tio n s 18, 1951), re g a rd in g th e so n g s w ere ex tre m ely h e lp fu l, th e cy lin d e r re co rd s
w e re, as B a rb e a u h a d p re d ic te d , a f fe c te d by a fu n g u s w hich re n d e re d th e m v irtu a lly in a u d ib le . In H a z e lto n
I p lay e d th e se s o n g s, a lo n g w ith th e B o u lto n c o lle c tio n , fo r a n u m b e r o f eld e rs a n d w as ab le to re -re c o rd a
n u m b e r o f th e m .
3
C o p ie s o f D r . B o u lto n ’s ta p e s a re a v a ila b le fr o m th e C a n a d ia n C e n tre f o r F o lk C u ltu re S tu d ie s, N a tio n a l
M u se u m s o f C a n a d a (B o u lto n C o lle c tio n , T a p e s 31, 32, a n d 3 6 -3 9 ). T a p e tra n s f e rs o f D r. G a rfie ld ’s cyl­
in d e rs 1 4556-8 a n d 14565-14572 w ere k in d ly p u t a t m y d is p o s a l by th e U n iv ersity o f W a s h in g to n A rchives
a n d R e c o rd s C e n tre (S ea ttle). D r. D u f f’s ta p e , re c o rd e d a t K itw a n c o o l, 6 J u n e 1960, w as m a d e av a ila b le by
th e B ritish C o lu m b ia P ro v in c ia l M u seu m , w ith c o n s e n t fro m th e K itw a n c o o l B an d O ffice.
4
S ee m y M .A . th e sis ( “ A D e v elo p m en tal A n a ly sis o f T s im sh ia n S o n g T y p e s ,” Y ork U n iv ersity , 1980) fo r a
m o re d e ta ile d d e s c rip tio n o f th ese so n g ty p es. I h a v e n o t, in th e p re se n t p a p e r, in clu d ed th e s h a m a n ic a n d
sec ret so ciety re p e rto ire s a s th ey b elo n g to s e p a ra te ce re m o n ia l n e tw o rk s .
5
See G e o rg e H e rz o g , “ S p ecia l S ong T y p es in N o r th A m e ric a n In d ia n M u s ic ,” Zeiischrfit f ü r Vergleichende
M usikw issenscha/l 3 (1935) 2 3 -3 3 .
6
L a u r a B o u lto n ta p e 3 7 -5 6 1 .
7
Iro n ic a lly , th e ir “ low s t a t u s ” h as c o n trib u te d to th e lo n g ev ity o f th e se s o n g s . T h ey h a v e been m ain ta in e d
lo n g e r in th e a c tiv e re p e rto ire th a n th e c e re m o n ia l so n g s sin ce th ey w ere su n g by a m o re w id e sp re a d g ro u p
o f in d iv id u a ls.
8
M o ses field n o te s , b o o k A , pag e 2c.
9
A lo ca l h e r o w h o h a s lately gain e d n a tio n a l n o to rie ty , G u n a n o o t lived in th e b u s h a r o u n d K ispiox fo r 13
y e a rs a r o u n d th e tu rn o f th e c e n tu ry fo llo w in g t h e d e a th o f a w h ite c o n s ta b le . L a te r h e w as a c q u itte d o f th e
m u rd e r . I h a v e seen tw o re feren ce s to “ l o v e /c r e m a tio n ” s o n g s . G u n a n o o t ta u g h t th is so n g to M ary G e o rg e
o f T e lk w a a n d s a id h e c o m p o s e d it fo r his p a r e n t ’s c r e m a tio n . B a rb e a u ’s S ong 4 in Tsimshian Songs w as
d e s c rib e d a s “ a c r e m a tio n so n g by so m e, a n d lo v e so n g by o th e rs . T h e T a h lta n s th o u g h t it w as a B ear L ak e
so n g ; b u t o th e rs d e c la re d th a t it h a d bee n c o m p o s e d b y a y o u n g G itk s a n o r N is h k a w h o se w ife h a d d ied ;
a n d t h a t, w h ile h e r b o d y w as c re m a te d , h e s a n g th is so n g , as h e c o m p o s e d it, o u t o f a b ro k e n h e a r t .”
(B a rb e a u c y lin d e r 5 9 -2 -1 8 ).
10
R ev. T h o m a s C ro s b y , Up a nd D ow n the N orth P acific C oast b y Canoe a nd M ission Ship ( T o r o n to : F re d e r­
ick C la rk e S te p h e n s o n , 1914), p p . 398 -9 9 .
11
T h is m ig h t a c c o u n t a lso fo r th e fa c t th a t n o n -n a tiv e s g en e rally fin d th e s e so n g s th e m o s t a p p e a lin g in th e
re p e rto ire .
12
F ro m L a u r a B o u lto n ta p e 36 -5 5 7 (C y lin d er V I 1 -C 1 4 -2 6 ). (A lso Tsimshian Songs, S ong 1.)
13
Tsimshian Songs, S o n g 2 (C y lin d e r V 11-C 10-20).
14
“ S k e e n a C o u n tr y ,” S ound Heritage 5 (1 ) . V icto ria : P ro v in c ia l A rch iv es o f B .C ., 1976, p . 21.
15
B o as, F ra n z . ‘‘C h in o o k S o n g s ,” Journal o f A m erican Folklore, 1 (1888), p p . 220 a n d 224.
16
L a u r a B o u lto n ta p e 3 2 -5 2 b . M a ry G e o rg e a n d M a r y J o h n s o n sing th e so n g o n M oses ta p e 32, giv in g it th e
“ love so n g b e a t ” a c c o m p a n im e n t.
17
N a tio n a l M u seu m s o f C a n a d a ta p e 7 5 -3 8 7 2 ( C a n a d ia n E th n o lo g y S ervice) a n d M oses ta p e 33. T ra n s la te d
b y E d ith G a w a o f K ispiox.
18
B a rb e a u ta p e 6 0 -6 - 1 2 . A lso o n L a u ra B o u lto n ta p e 3 2 -5 2 0 a .
19
B a rb e a u c y lin d e r 6 1 -2 0 -3 9 ; M o ses field n o te s A 4e a n d A9e.
20
M a riu s B a rb e a u , Tsimshian Songs (A m e ric a n E th n o lo g ic a l S ociety P u b lic a tio n s 18, 1951), p. 98.
Résumé: Ellen Moses décrit les chants Tsimshian non-solennels lesquels
sont généralement des lamentations sentimentales ou d ’égayantes descrip­
tions de la vie domestique. Ils sont moins form els et moins en vogue que les
chants rituels, mais continuent d ’être populaire. La plupart datent du dixneuvième siècle et sont considérablement influencés par la musique des
Blancs.
(continued from p. 30)
Résumé: Jean Dunsiger décrit comment un immigrant Asiatique du Kenya,
— un musicien amateur, — participe à deux form es de festivités pour
répondre à un appel de changement dans son milieu. Elle parle également
de changements survenus dans les rites traditionnels en raison de modifica­
tions apportées dans l ’entourage.
BOOK NOTES
Mercer, Paul. Newfoundland Songs and Ballads in Print 1842-1974: A
Title and First-Line Index. St. John’s: M emorial University, 1979.
343 pp.
Setting out to list all known published texts o f N ewfoundland songs, Mr.
Mercer found 1500 separate song titles. Particularly valuable are his intro­
duction which surveys the history o f the published song and ballad collec­
tions and his annotated bibliography o f the published sources.
G oldstein, Kenneth S., and Neil V. Rosenberg, eds. Folklore Studies in
Honour o f Herbert Halpert: A Festschrift. St. John’s: Memorial U ni­
versity, 1980. 395 pp.
This varied collection o f folklore articles contains half a dozen o f special
interest to Canadian folk music scholars: “ A Codroy Valley Milling Frolic”
by Margaret Bennet; “ Forty Years Later: Maud Karpeles in N ew found­
land” by Carole Henderson Carpenter; “ Collecting Songs o f N ova Scotia
Blacks” by Helen Creighton; “ ‘Blind M acNair’: A Canadian Short Story
and Its Sources” by Edith Fowke; “ The Ballad o f ‘John Lander’ ” by
Edward D . Ives; and “ The Early American Influence on Narrative Songs
in Ireland” by D.K . Wilgus.