DK.VSMORE] CHIPPEWA MUSIC 27 



This soii<2; was sung by O'deni'gun ('4iip bono"), an old man who is 

 said to be especially skilled in the use of medicine. In connection 

 with the song he gave the following narrative: 



There was once an old man who was a member of the Mide''wiwin, and knew the 

 use of all kinds of medicines and their songs. This old man had a nephew to whom 

 he taught the songs and the use of the medicines. The young man's name was Awi^- 

 hinedja', and he was anxious to become very powerful. After a time the old man 

 said: "My nephew, I can teach you no more; you know all that I know and now 

 you will be a leader of the Mide^wiwin." But the young man was not satisfied. He 

 brought many presents to his unch3 in order that his uncle might try to remember 

 still more. 



The old man said: "You are certainly very determined," and the young man 

 replied, "I know it." 



The old man said: "My nephew, if you are as determined as this you will find out 

 whatever you desire. Come with me." 



Then the old man took his nephew far into the woods saying: "We are going where 

 there is a river." So they walked on and on until they came to a rocky gorge. They 

 stood at the edge of the cliff, and looking down they saw a river far below them. 

 There were trees beside the river, but the cliff on which they stood was far above the 

 tops of the trees. 



Then the old man said: "Jump down to the river," and the young man jumped 

 down, crashing through the tree tops and falling dead upon the rocks below. His 

 body was so crushed that it was not like a human body any more. 



Four bears came and walked around his body, singing this song. When the 

 young man regained consciousness he heard the bears singing; when he opened 

 his eyes he saw the bears walking around him, and when they had walked around 

 him four times he rose up strong and well. 



Then the four Ijears began to walk up the cliff and the young man followed them. 

 The four bears and the young man walked up the sheer face of the cliff as though it 

 were level ground. At the top they found the old man waiting for them. 



"Now, my nephew," he said, "you are as great a medicine-man as I." 



So Awi^hinedja' became a teacher and leader in the Mlde'wwin. 



No. 1. Song of the Four Bears (Catalogue no. 189)o 



Sung l)y (Vdeni^gun 



Analysis.— This song follows closely the 

 intervals of the fourth five-toned scale ^ and 

 is sung with the vibrato which characterizes 

 the dancing songs of the Mide', making the in- 

 tonation somewhat indistinct. A compari- 

 son between the metric units of voice and drum so^„,„,„,,^o. i. Thisdraw- 



sllOWS that 3 metric units of the voice are ap- ing shows the men emerging 



proximately equal to 2 metric units of the ^^1X^:^7^^^'^^ 



drum. This suggests the rhythm commonly cnu. in a similar manner the 



known as "two against three," but the voice- »''°^Tf °' ^ °^"^"^' !^/f: 



fe _ ' qiiently shown in a Mide 



pulses are grouped in double measures with drawing. 



oThe catalogue numbers used throughout this paper correspond respeetively with the numbers 

 designating tlie phonograph records of the songs, which are preserved in the Bureau of American 

 Ethnology. 



6 See p. 7. 



