ESKIMO MUSIC 



ha-ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ha-ya ya ya ya 



ya ya ya ya ha-ya ya ya ya ha-ya ya ya ya ha-ya ya ya ya 



*¥ — * — h« — I u 1 ' ^^ ~t- 



ha - ya ya ya ya ha-ya ya ya ya ya ya ya we we. 



The others accompanied in unison, but with lower voices. 

 At the end, Sipsu's partner, Aweta, leaned over to Sipsu, 

 and, holding a short stick vertically between the fingers of 

 his two hands, close to Sipsu's head, described a circle with 

 the upper end of the stick, while both shouted " We! we! " 

 in a pitch several notes higher than the last of the song, 

 and ending in a burst of laughter. Sipsu and Aweta then 

 changed places, the latter took the board and became leader. 

 Next Piwatu and Uzaka took their turns, and the perform- 

 ance might have continued indefinitely if something (I 

 think it was the call to dinner) had not stopped it. 



What we saw and heard was only a partial exhibit. In 

 the real performance no board is used, but a drum, called 

 kedlaun, about a foot long and five or six inches wide. 

 Over a rim (katitgzvia) of walrus rib cut thin, boiled and 

 bent into an ellipse, is stretched a drumskin (isia) made of 

 the membrane (mapsa) surrounding the spleen of the wal- 

 rus, or in default of this, of seal intestine sewed together. 

 The handle (pabhid) is made of bone or ivory. Along the 

 outer edge of the rim is a groove (kitarota) in which rests 

 a thin sealskin line (isidiuta) holding the drumskin tight. 

 Above this groove, all along the circumference, a number 

 of hemispherical pits (imihsauscr'ii'ia) are scooped out, 

 which, the natives suppose, either strengthen or clarify the 

 sound. The drumstick (katua) is made of walrus rib. This 

 is the only musical instrument in use in that tribe so far as 

 I know. It is quite effective as an accompaniment to the 

 song. 



When sung in chorus by six or eight voices this song 

 is decidedly impressive. The sight of the leader swaying 



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