540 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1941 



song is found in the general change from primitive customs, and began 

 when the young people refused to recognize parental authority in the 

 matter of their affections. The suUject of love songs is undertaken 

 only with old, steady Indians. 



When the old chiefs were still living, I frequently consulted them 

 in regard to singers. Thus Eed Cap, the famous Ute chief, said 

 that he could not sing himself but would delegate his best singers 

 to record the old songs for me. Eed Cap stayed in the room while 

 these songs were recorded, and his influence made it possible for 

 me to record songs that otherwise would have perished with the 

 singers. John Grass, the prominent Sioux chief, did not sing but 

 gave important information concerning the Sun Dance and his in- 

 fluence was of great assistance in the work. 



A fact to be constantly borne in mind concerning Indian music 

 is that it had a purpose. Songs in the old days were believed to 

 come from a supernatural source and their singing was connected 

 with the exercise of supernatural power. The songs of social dances 

 are a later phase and of less importance. Health, food, and safety 

 were the major concerns of the old Indians, and singing was an im- 

 portant means of assuring these. Ceremonies or ceremonial action 

 was connected chiefly with the first and second of these requisites. 

 The general term "medicine men" is applied to those who were skilled 

 in these important matters, a term not unlike the title of "doctor" 

 in our own race which is applied to others than medical practitioners. 

 I have numbered many Indian medicine men and women among my 

 friends. They have appreciated the value of my work and given 

 their best songs and information, in order that the Indian might 

 be understood more clearly by the white men. Among these in- 

 teresting medicine men was Sidney Wesley (pi. 3, fig. 1), a Choctaw 

 living near Philadelphia, Miss. His Choctaw name was translated 

 "Kills it himself," meaning that if game had been wounded, or any 

 difficult task was to be performed, he did it himself instead of dele- 

 gating it to someone else. His long, disarranged hair was said to 

 "show that he is a doctor." Among his songs was one that men- 

 tioned hatred of tlie Folanche and Hispano, and it is interesting to 

 note that contact of the Choctaw with the French ended about 1763 

 and the contacts with the Spaniards were still earlier. Wesley did 

 not know what the words meant but sang the syllables by rote, as 

 he learned them. He and his friend, Mary Hickman (pi. 3, fig. 2), 

 aided one another in remembering old times, and said they joined 

 in the war dances when they were young. The wars were ended 

 but the dances continued, as in other tribes. The songs were re- 

 corded in Mary Hickman's house. Her Choctaw name was trans- 

 lated "Putting it back," and her little house indicated that she was 

 an orderly person. 



