denig] THE ASSINIBOIN 617 



become a powerful nation. Each and every year they must sacrifice 

 some corn to me by throwing it into the Missouri, or the wind shall 

 blow, the rain fall, the water rise and destroy your crops. As for 

 me, I shall be separated here; my head will go up into the clouds 

 and govern the wind, my tail fall into the water and become a 

 monstrous fish to disturb it. My body will rove, through the Rocky 

 Mountains; my bones may be found, but my spirit will never die- 

 Depart, you have ears and a good heart." 



At the close of this speech the winds blew, the thunder rolled, the 

 lightning flashed, and a terrible storm arose, amidst which the mon- 

 ster disappeared. The other returned to his people, told them the 

 story of his travels, and to this day corn is sacrificed to the Missouri 

 by the Gros Ventres to appease the spirit of the Wau-wau-kah. 



Songs; Music 5 " 



t 



The construction of the Indian flute and music produced by it have 

 already been described, although we are not able to state in what 

 manner, if any, it resembles the Arcadian pipe. 



Most ceremonies, dances, public domonstrations of joy or grief, 

 and other matters of general interest are accompanied by songs, which 

 have appropriate names, but these chants are for the most part only 

 tunes or modulations of voices in concert, with the introduction of a 

 few words in some of them. They are in fact a continued chorus 

 consisting chiefly in repeating the meaningless syllables " Hai-yah, 

 hai-yah, hai-ai-ai-yah-ah-ah, hai-yah, he-e-e-ah, hai-yah," etc., fast or 

 slow as required by the nature of the song. Where words are intro- 

 duced they are composed of five or six syllables or three or four 

 words, bearing some relation to the event which is honored with the 

 song, but are of no consequence, so that all question regarding their 

 rhyme or poetical compositions may be passed over in silence. The 

 tune is generally begun by one person pitching it, who after singing 

 a few notes, is joined by the whole choir, or sometimes, as in the" 

 scalp song, the women add their voices in the second part of the tune, 

 where the name of the warrior who killed the enemy is mentioned. 

 The modulations are bold and wild, by no means discordant or dis- 

 agreeable, and they are remarkable for keeping very exact time 

 either with the voice, drums, or feet, and where words are added they 

 are so few, and the syllables so separated to accord as scarcely to be 

 understood or distinguished from the rest of the chant. 



The songs are measured, accents occur at fixed and regular in- 

 tervals, being mostly the same in beats as the Scotch reel time. The 

 effect intended is produced by action, energy of voice and motion, 



K For the recording and interpretation of Siouan music see Miss Frances Densmore, 

 Bull. 61. Bur. Amer. Ethn. 



88253°— 30 40 



