BIRD LORE AND BIRD SONGS OF THE 

 NORTH AMERICAN INDIAN 



By N. W. Jipson, M. D. 



(Paper read at a joint meeting of the Chicago Ornithological Society and 

 City Club, Feb. 24. 1922). 



Note. — The material for this paper 

 has been secured directly from mem- 

 bers of the various Indian tribes and 

 others, who, from life long acquaint- 

 ance and association with the Indians, 

 are qualified to furnish reliable data. 



Prom the Winnebago tribe, Oliver 

 Lamere, of the Nebraska branch, and 

 John Blackhawk, of the Wisconsin, 

 have gathered material; while the 

 Apache physician. Dr. Carlos Monte- 

 zuma', has secured information from 

 his tribe. 



Mr. Harry E. Burgess, for many 

 years an intimate associate of the 

 Pawnee Indians, and who is thorough- 

 ly familiar with their language and 

 traditions, has kindly furnished data 

 from the aforementioned tribe; al- 

 though some of the Pawnee bird 

 stories were taken from Dorsey's 

 "Traditions of the Skidi Pawnee." 



Melvin R. Gilmore, Curator of the 

 North Dakota Historical Museum, has 

 furnished material and I have quoted 

 from his unique pamphlet, "Prairie 

 Smoke." 



Dr. A. McG. Beede who has spent 

 the largest portion of his life among 



the Dakota Indians and who has de- 

 voted considerable time to the work of 

 translating Indian flower and bird 

 songs, has generously given me a num- 

 ber of his translations taken from his 

 field notes and unpublished manu- 

 scripts. 



That the Dakota Indians ascribe 

 songs to various plants, animals and 

 birds is a fact not generally known. 

 According to these people each species 

 has its own song or songs. Dr. Beede's 

 translation of the Dakota "Song of the 

 Wild Rose" is given in volume 33 of 

 the American Bureau of Ethnology 

 Reports. The bird songs as given in 

 this paper have never been published. 



The individuality and environment 

 of the singer usually constitute the 

 theme of the bird or creature song, 

 although in some cases the song of 

 the bird is interpreted as a message 

 from the divine powers. 



In rendering bird or creature songs, 

 the Indian usually, either as a prelude, 

 interlude or both, accompanies them 

 with the natural note or trill of the 

 animal. 



