Traditionary War Songs
OF THE
ODJIBWA ALGONQUINS.
Whoever has heard an Indian war song, and witnessed an Indian war dance, must be satisfied that the occasion wakes up all the fire and energy of the Indian's soul. His flashing eye—his muscular energy, as he begins the dance—his violent gesticulation as he raises his war-cry—the whole frame and expression of the man, demonstrate this. And long before it comes to his turn to utter his stave, or portion of the chant, his mind has been worked up to the most intense point of excitement: his imagination has pictured the enemy—the ambush and the onset—the victory and the bleeding victim, writhing under his prowess: in imagination he has already stamped him under foot, and torn off his reeking scalp: he has seen the eagles hovering in the air, ready to pounce on the dead carcass, as soon as the combatants quit the field.
It would require strong and graphic language to give descriptive utterance, in the shape of song, to all he has fancied, and seen and feels on the subject. He, himself, makes no such effort. Physical excitement has absorbed his energies. He is in no mood for calm and connected descriptions of battle scenes. He has no stores of measured rhymes to fall back on. All he can do is to utter brief, and often highly symbolic expressions of courage—of defiance—of indomitable rage. His feet stamp the ground, as if he would shake it to its centre. The inspiring drum and mystic rattle communicate new energy to every step, while they serve, by the observance of the most exact time, to concentrate his energy. His very looks depict the spirit of rage, and his yells, uttered quick, sharp, and cut off by the application of the hand to the mouth, are startling and horrific.
Under such circumstances, a few short and broken sentences are enough to keep alive the theme in his mind; and he is not probably conscious of the fact, that, to an unimpassioned and calm listener, with note book in hand, there is not sufficient said to give coherence to the song. And that such a song, indeed, under the best auspices, is a mere wild rhapsody of martial thought, poured out from time to time, in detached sentences, which are, so to say, cemented into lines by a flexible chorus and known tune. The song and the music are all of a piece. Vivid and glowing, and poetic pictures will float in such a train, and often strike the imagination by their graphic truth and boldness; but the poet must look elsewhere for finished melody, and refined and elaborate composition.
The Indian is to be viewed here, as elsewhere, as being in the highest state of his physical, not of his mental phasis. Such glimmerings may however be picked out of these warlike rhapsodies, as denote that he is of a noble and independent tone of thinking. We shall at least enable the reader to judge. The following specimens, which have been derived from actors in the depths of the forest, consist of independent songs, or stanzas, each of which is sung by a different or by the same warrior, while the dance is in progress. The words have been taken down from a young Chippewa warrior of lake Superior, of the name of Che che-gwy-ung. It will be perceived that there is a unity in the theme, while each warrior exercises the freest scope of expression. This unity I have favoured by throwing out such stanzas as mar it, and afterwards arranging them together.
War Song.
a. In beginning this song the warrior has turned his eyes to the clouds.
| O shá wan ong | (From the place of the south) |
| Un dos´ e wug, | (They come,) repeat. |
| Pe nä´ se wug, | (The birds, i. e. the warlike birds.) |
| Ka baim wai wá dung-ig. | (Hear the sound of their passing screams on the air.) |
b. The idea of ravenous birds hovering in the sky, still prevails—
| Tod ot´ to be | (I wish to change myself to be) |
| Pe nä´ se. | (A bird.) |
| Ka dow´ we á we yun´. | (His swift body—to be like him.) |
c. The warrior now rises above all thoughts of fear.
| Ne wä be na, | (I cast it away.) |
| Né ow a. | (My body.) |
| Ne wá be na, | (Repeats.) This is a high symbolical boast |
| Né ow a. | of personal bravery. |
d. He appeals to the Great Spirit for extraordinary power.
| Na bun á kum ig, | (On the front part of the earth,) |
| Tshe bá be wish´ em ug. | (First shines [strikes] the light.) |
| In do main´ em ik, | (Such power to me,) |
| Mon´ e do, | (My God,) |
| Shä wa nem id. | (In thy mercy give!) |
By the boldness of this figure he claims the omnipotent power of the sun to see and discover his enemies.
e. He upbraids such of his people as hold back, and do not join in the dance—that is to say, enlist in the war.
| Wä go nain, e win? | (Why do ye, warriors,) |
| A be yun ah, | (Stand back?) |
| Wä wos is se, we yun. | (Ye who bear the mark of the Awasees.) |
The Awasee is a kind of fish, which is the totem of a clan.
f. He declares his full purpose to enter into the war.
| Ne má je, e yeh! | (I go to the spot—the war path!) |
| Ne má je, e yeh! | (Repeats.) |
| Ne me kun ah, e yeh! | (My war path!) |
| Ge zhig neen wá tin, | (My sky is fair and clear.) The common phrase to denote good fortune. |
| Hoh! Ne monedo netaibuätum o win. | (Let others linger. Onward! my God!—my right!) |
In presenting these specimens of the original words of some of our western warriors, we are permitted to give the annexed versions of them from the pen of one of our most gifted writers.
WAR-SONG—“Pe-nä´ se-wug.”
(From the Algonquin of Schoolcraft.)
BY C. F. HOFFMAN.
I.
Hear not ye their shrill-piping
screams on the air?
Up! Braves for the conflict
prepare ye—prepare!
Aroused from the canebrake,
far south by your drum,
With beaks whet fom carnage,
the Battle Birds come.
II.
Oh God of my Fathers,
as swiftly as they,
I ask but to swoop
from the hills on my prey:
Give this frame to the winds,
on the Prairie below,
But my soul—like thy bolt—
I would hurl on the foe!
III.
On the forehead of Earth
strikes the Sun in his might,
Oh gift me with glances
as searching as light.
In the front of the onslaught,
to single each crest,
Till my hatchet grows red
on their bravest and best.
IV.
Why stand ye back idly,
ye Sons of the Lakes?
Who boast of the scalp-locks,
ye tremble to take.
Fear-dreamers may linger,
my skies are all bright—
Charge—charge—on the War-Path,
for God and the Right.
Take the following additional example, of a death song. These stanzas have all been actually sung on warlike occasions, and repeated in my hearing. They have been gleaned from the traditionary songs of the Chippewas of the north, whose villages extend through the region of lake Superior, and to the utmost sources of the Mississippi. Those bands are the hereditary foes of their western neighbours, the Dacotahs or Sioux, who are generally called by them, by way of distinction, Na do wä´ sees, that is to say, OUR ENEMIES. The allusions in the songs are exclusively to them. In writing the original, I omit the chorus, as it is not susceptible of translation, and would increase considerably the space occupied.
Death Song.
1. In opening this song the warrior is to be contemplated as lying wounded on the field of battle.
| A´ be tuh ge´ zhig, | (Under the centre of the sky,) |
| Ne bá baim wä´ wä. | (I utter my baim wä wä.) |
Baimwäwä, is the sound of passing thunders, which will convey a just idea of the violence of this figure.
2. His thoughts revert to the star of his destiny.
| Ain dah´ so gezhig | (Every day, thou star!) |
| Ke gá gun o wá bom in. | (I gaze at you.) |
It is the morning star that is here alluded to.
3. He sees the birds of carnage hovering over the field.
| A´ be tuh geézh-ig | (The half of the day) |
| Ai be yaun | (I abide—gazing) |
| Pe nä se wug. | (Ye warlike birds.) |
4. He keeps the flight of these birds before his mind and hears their shrill cries.
| Pe misk wosh e wug | (They fly round the circuit of the sky.) |
| Pe nä´ se wug | (The birds—circling) |
| A´ be tuh geezh ig oag. | (Round half the circuit of the sky.) The meaning is, approaching him in circle, more nearly, as life becomes fainter in him. |
5. This figure is continued. He lies bleeding.
| A´ zha waush e wug | (They cross the enemy's line) |
| Pe nä se wug. | (The birds.) |
6. He feels that he is called to another world.
| A pit she Mon e doag | (The high gods) |
| Ne mud wä wä | (My praise) |
| Wá we ne goag. | (They sound.) |
7. He is content and willing to go.
| Kä gait´, ne min wain´ dum | (Full happy—I) |
| Ne bun aí kum ig | (To lie on the battle-field) |
| Tshe bá be wish e naun. | (Over the enemy's line.) |
Death-Song—“A´ be tuh gé zhig.”
(From the Algonquin of Schoolcraft.)
BY C. F. HOFFMAN.
I.
Under the hollow sky,
Stretched on the Prairie lone,
Centre of glory, I
Bleeding, disdain to groan,
But like a battle cry
Peal forth my thunder moan,
Baim-wä-wä!
II.
Star—Morning-Star, whose ray
Still with the dawn I see,
Quenchless through half the day
Gazing thou seest me—
Yon birds of carnage, they
Fright not my gaze from thee!
Baim-wä-wä!
III.
Bird, in thine airy rings
Over the foeman's line,
Why do thy flapping wings
Nearer me thus incline?
Blood of the Dauntless brings
Courage, oh Bird to thine!
Baim-wä-wä!
Hark to those Spirit-notes!
Ye high Heroes divine,
Hymned from your god-like throats
That Song of Praise is mine!
Mine, whose grave-pennon floats
Over the foeman's line!
Baim-wä-wä!
War Song.
Where are my foes? say, warriors, where? No forest is so black,
That it can hide from my quick eye, the vestige of their track:
There is no lake so boundless, no path where man may go,
Can shield them from my sharp pursuit, or save them from my blow.
The winds that whisper in the trees, the clouds that spot the sky,
Impart a soft intelligence, to show me where they lie,
The very birds that sail the air, and scream as on they go,
Give me a clue my course to tread, and lead me to the foe.
The sun, at dawn, lifts up his head, to guide me on my way,
The moon, at night, looks softly down, and cheers me with her ray.
The war-crowned stars, those beaming lights, my spirit casts at night,
Direct me as I thread the maze, and lead me to the fight.
In sacred dreams within my lodge, while resting on the land,
Bright omens of success arise, and nerve my warlike hand.
Where'er I turn, where'er I go, there is a whispering sound,
That tells me I shall crush the foe, and drive him from my ground.
The beaming WEST invites me on, with smiles of vermil hue,
And clouds of promise fill the sky, and deck its heavenly blue,
There is no breeze—there is no sign, in ocean, earth or sky,
That does not swell my breast with hope, or animate my eye.
If to the stormy beach I go, where heavy tempests play,
They tell me but, how warriors brave, should conquer in the fray.
All nature fills my heart with fires, that prompt me on to go,
To rush with rage, and lifted spear, upon my country's foe.
Footnotes:
[1] About 70 votes were polled in the town of Potosi. Mr. Austin, the younger, was returned by the county to the Territorial Legislature.
[2] The United States government, the very next year, 1819, sent out Col. Long to the Yellow Stone.
[3] This word appears to be a derivation from the radix Wawb, white. The termination in o is the objective sign. The term is made diminutive in s.
[4] A personification of the North West.
[5] Blind Woman.
[6] Sheegowiss, a widow, and mowigh, something nasty.
[7] Note by Mr. George Johnston, from whom this tale was received.—Any thing of the kind, or a similar noise heard, is attributed by the Indian, to this day, as an indication of the contention between Mäsh-kwa-sha-kwong and his pursuers, and hence a prelude to wars and contentions among the nations of the world.
[8] The small white shells that the white fish live upon, and the white substance found in its gizzard are to this day considered by the Indians, the brain and skull of the woman of the Head.
[9] Literally, little men, who vanish.
[10] The name is usually translated, two-sticks tied, or united.
[11] The name of this chief is Anglicised in the word Tammany.
[12] The terms “brave” and “braves” used in a substantive sense, in this work, are neither English nor Indian. The Indian term should be translated strong-heart, its literal import; for it is one of the general rules of these languages, that the operation of the adjective, as well as action of the verb, is uniformly marked upon the substantive—there being, indeed, different inflections of each substantive, to denote whether this operation or action be caused by a noble or ignoble, or an animate or inanimate object. Still the general use of the Canadian term Brave, on our Indian border, may give it some poetic claims to introduction into our vernacular burthened as it already is with more objectionable Americanisms.
[13] A Juggler.
[14] A sharp exclamation quickly to behold something striking.
[15] A derogatory exclamation.
[16] Behold thou.
[17] A masculine exclamation, to express surprise.
[18] This is certainly a dignified and wise answer; designed as it was, to cover their disastrous defeat and flight from the St. Lawrence valley to the north. The precedence to which he alludes, on reaching the straits of Detroit, as having been theirs before, is to be understood, doubtless, of the era of their residence on the lower St. Lawrence, where they were at the head of the French and Indian confederacy against the Iroquois. Among the latter, they certainly had no precedency, so far as history reaches. Their council fire was kept by the Onondagas.
[19] New York Lit & Theo. Review.
[20] Eliot employed the figure 8, set horizontally, to express a peculiar sound: otherwise he used the English alphabet in its ordinary powers.
[21] In giving the particle wa, the various meanings of “flitting,” “waving,” and “dancing,” the Indian idiom is fully preserved. The final particle see, in the term wa wa tai see, is from the generic root asee, meaning a living creature, or created form, not man. By prefixing Ahw to the root, we have the whole class of quadrupeds, and by pen, the whole class of birds, &c. The Odjibwa Algonquin term for a candle, was sa koon ain je gun, is literally rendered from its elements—“bright—white—flamed—instrument.” It is by the very concrete character of these compounds that so much meaning results from a few words, and so considerable a latitude in translation is given to Indian words generally.
[22]
Fire-fly, fire-fly! bright little thing,
Light me to bed, and my song I will sing.
Give me your light, as you fly o'er my head,
That I may merrily go to my bed.
Give me your light o'er the grass as you creep,
That I may joyfully go to my sleep.
Come little fire-fly—come little beast—
Come! and I'll make you to-morrow a feast.
Come little candle that flies as I sing,
Bright little fairy-bug—night's little king;
Come, and I'll dance as you guide me along,
Come, and I'll pay you, my bug, with a song.
[23] London, 1747, p. 190.
[24] A generic term denoting the common people of the Indian race.
[25] Vide a Reminiscence of Oswego.
[26] The sound of i in this word, as in Ontario, is long e in the Indian.
[27] Nicollet's Report.
[28] Law's Historical Dis.
[29] This is, manifestly, an error. The writer of this act of possession appears to have mistaken the bank of the St. Mary's, one of the tributaries of the Miami of the Lakes, in the Miami country, for the Sault de Ste-Marie, at the outlet of Lake Superior. The latter position was occupied, at the earliest dates, to which tradition reaches, by a branch of the Algonquins, to whom the French gave the name, from the falls of the river at that locality, of Saulteux. They are better known, at this day under the name of Chippewas and Odjibwas.
[30] I underscore the word “hotter,” to denote the prevalent theory. They were searching for China or the East India.
[31] In Mr. Gallatin's comparative vocabulary, “Napew” means man, in the Sheshatapoosh or Labrador. It is therefore fair to conclude that these were a party of Sheshatapoosh Indians, whose language proves them to be of the kindred of the great Algonquin family.
[32] Koshee and Bahkon. These are not the terms for a hatchet and a knife in the Micmac, nor in the old Algonquin, nor in the Wyandot.
[33] As the tree is afterwards stated to be “as big as any oak in France,” it was probably the box elder, and not the sassafras, which never attained to much size.
[34] Robe of beaver skins. Eight skins of two year old beaver are required to make such a robe.
[35] Query—Is not the word Quebec a derivative from the Algonquin phrase Kebic—a term uttered in passing by a dangerous and rocky coast?
[36] Andover.
[37] Dr. Johnson.
[38] Zoonomia.
[39] Robertson's History of America.
[40] Heckewelder's Account of the Indians.
[41] Purchas' Pilgrims, Part iv., book x.
[42] Hackluyt's Voyages.
[43] The murder of Wadin, the cold-blooded assassination of Keveny, and the shooting of Semple, are appealed to, as justifying the force of this remark.
[44] The North American Review. Sanford's History of the United States, before the Revolution.
[45] Democratic Review, 1844.
[46] Treaty of Fort Pitt, 1778.
[47] We have only space to say here, that the cession of the Georgia lands was subsequently made by the Lower Creeks under the chieftaincy of General M'Intosh, who was the first to affix his signature to it. For this act he paid the penalty of his life; the Upper Creeks and their adherents, having assembled in arms, surrounded his house, and fired three hundred balls into it, killing its unhappy, but distinguished inmate.
[48] This tribe has, the past year (1843), passed a law expelling all white men who play at cards, from the limits of the nation, whether they have Indian wives or not.
[49] Secretary of War's report, 1843.
[50] This is said, by one interpretation, to mean Rabbit's Ghost.
[51] These translations are entirely literal—the verbs to “sleep” and to “fear,” requiring the imperative mood, second person, present tense, throughout. In rendering the term “wa-wa” in the participial form some doubt may exist, but this has been terminated by the idea of the existing motion, which is clearly implied, although the word is not marked by the usual form of the participle in ing. The phrase lul-la-by, is the only one in our language, which conveys the evident meaning of the choral term e-we-yea. The substantive verb is wanting, in the first line of b. and the third of c. in the two forms of the verb, to care, or take care of a person; but it is present in the phrase “kediausee” in the second line of c. These facts are stated, not that they are of the slightest interest to the common reader, but that they may be examined by philologists, or persons curious in the Indian grammar.
[52] Equals assembled with equals.
[53]
Nenemoshain nindenaìndum
Meengoweugish abowaugoda
Anewahwas mongoduga, &c., &c.
[54] Superior.
[55] Michigan.
[56] Huron.
[57] St. Claro.
[58] Erie.
[59] An exclamation of wonder and surprize.—Odj. lan.
[60] My father.—ib.