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TETON SIOUX MUSIC 



119 



No. 14. Song Sung after Raising the Sacred Pole (a) (Catalogue No. 628) 

 Suug by Red Weasel 

 Voice J_ fi;? 

 Recorded without drum 



(I) 



(1) 



WORDS (not transcribed) 



( The pole speaks) 



wakag''yai) sacred 



nawa^zii) ye I stand 



wagina''yagka yo behold me 



ema^kiye <?on was said to me 



Analysis. — The conciseness of this melody is interesting, especially 

 in view of the fact that it was sung by an aged man, who said he 

 learned it in his youth. The rhythmic units are clear-cut, and th«ir 

 repetitions comprise the entire song except two short parts some- 

 what similar to each other. Both mtonation and time were remark- 

 ably good, considering the age of the singer. His voice was as strong 

 as that of a young man. This has been noted by the writer to be the 

 case among old men who, in their younger days, were accustomed to 

 a(hlress large numbers of people on the open prairie. Red Weasel, 

 who had held responsible positions in tribal ceremonies, had devel- 

 oped this quality of voice. In this connection the pitch of his songs 

 should be noted. 



This melody contains all the tones of the octave excopt the 

 seventh. In structure it is classified as melodic with harmonic 

 framework. About two-thirds of the intervals are downward 

 progressions, the principal accented tones bemg those of the descend- 

 ing series A, F sharp, D, B, F sharp. Only two ascending progres- 

 sions appear between accented tones. 



