﻿Il6 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. "^J 



of fair-skinned individuals in this tribe was noted by Wafer, who 

 wrote concerning them in 1699. It is not unusual for parents of 

 normal Indian coloring to have children with skin of a peculiar milky 

 whiteness, blue eyes and pale yellow hair, the skin, in many instances, 

 showing irregular blotches of light brown. A family may contain 

 both dark and fair children. The group brought by Mr. Marsh com- 

 prised five adults, all of whom were dark in color, and three children 

 who were fair. The study of their music was carried on entirely with 

 the adult members of the group during November and December, 

 1924, and was made possible by the courtesy of Mr. Marsh. 



VOCAL MUSIC 



Among the Tule Indians brought to the United States was a chief 

 named Igwa Nigdibippi who had made a special study of the tribal 

 songs. If he were a member of our own race he would be termed a 

 man of practical intelligence and artistic culture. The head chief of 

 the Tule is' an old man, and on his death Igwa may be elected as his 

 successor. In view of this possibility Igwa is cultivating his knowl- 

 edge of the geography of the region with its irregular coast line and 

 hundreds of islands and " keys." He draws maps which show the 

 location of the villages, indicating the approximate number of inhabi- 

 tants in each. His care and ability in this work added weight to his 

 statements concerning the music of his people, who do not adopt any 

 songs from neighboring tribes but maintain their own musical cus- 

 toms. Associated with him in giving information were James Perry 

 and his wife, Alice Perry, and Alfred Robinson who acted as inter- 

 preter. These three did not give the Indian names by which they 

 are known at home, and the names here presented have been recently 

 acquired. The recording of the songs was done entirely by the chief, 

 a dictaphone being used for that purpose. 



The singing tone used by the Tule chief was somewhat different 

 from that used by the Indians of North America. It was even more 

 artificial, with a " pinched," forced (|uality not particularly pleasing 

 to the ear and impossible to describe in an accurate manner. The 

 Tule songs are without instrumental accompaniment in our use of 

 that term. The flute and rattle are sometimes played while the people 

 sing and dance, and the singers sometimes clap their hands, but the 

 flute and rattle do not seem to have either a melodic or a rhythmic 

 relation to the song. No form of accompaniment was desired when 

 the songs were being recorded and it was said that the voice was 

 entirely alone in the " songs with stories." The flute was played dur- 



