94 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 53 



No. 17. Song of Departure '■ (Catalogue No. 362) 



Sung by Odjib^we 

 Voice J =108 



Drum J=: 108 



(Drum- rhythm similar to No. 15) 

 (1st) (1st) 



r -0- -•-... . 1 r 



g35:^^^^^=f=f=Eife 



#_^_^_#_^_ 



m 



Bi-ma-ci-w1ig ni-mi-gw(in-fig e 



ma-cl-wug ni-mi-gwto-fig e 



bima^cTwug' they are sailing on the breeze 



nimi^gwuniig^ my feathers 



Analysis. — The words of this song probably refer to the birdskin 

 charm worn by the warrior (see pp. 77, 78). The song contains two 

 rhythmic units, similar in the division of the last three counts but 

 differing in the division of the first two. Each unit occurs twice, its 

 repetition being followed by a triple measure. Thus the first unit 

 followed by a triple measure constitutes the first part of the song, 

 and the second unit, steadier and stronger in rhythm and followed 

 by a triple measure, constitutes the second part. The melody is 

 harmonic in structure and is based on the tonic chord. 



Songs of the Warpath 



At evening the oc'kabe'wis selected a suitable place for the camp. 

 According to Odjib'we, every evening the warriors seated themselves 

 in a row facing the enemy's country; the four oc'kabe'wis sat in 

 front of them, and in advance of aU sat the leader with his drum. 

 The leader sang alone, and the warriors did not respond with the 

 shrill cries which punctuated many of the war songs. He placed two 

 crotched sticks upright in the ground, with a crossbar between them, 

 on which rested the stem of his lighted pipe, with the bowl on the 

 ground. As he sang the leader shook his rattle of deer hoofs or laid 

 it beside the pipe and looked away toward the enemy's country, whUe 

 his silent warriors waited on his divination." 



1 See No. 150, Bulletin 45. 



2 Of. George Earl Church, Aborigines of South America, London, 1912, p. 284: [Among the Pampas 

 Indians the wizards] ''used the maraca [rattle], which they said told them many secrets and made all 

 they said oracular." 



