Songs of the Copper Eskimos 209 



THE ATONi 



The atons, as they have been designated by the people, are, from the stand- 

 point of form, as mixed a group as the pisiks. There are four subdivisions, the 

 characteristics of two being precisely those of two types of pisiks. Two songs 

 form the first subdivision, Nos. 51 and 52. They have no preludes but start 

 directly with an undivided verse. The first has no refrain and the song is three 

 verses long, with the usual connective between but not at the beginning or end., 

 The second has four verses, each followed by a refrain and joined to the next by 

 a connective except in the case of the last. In both songs all verses and their 

 parts are aUke with only the usual small variations. Neither of these exactly 

 resembles the most prevalent types of pisiks. 



The second sub-group contains three songs which in musical structure are 

 like the pisiks which have a verse prelude, but for which the music is the same 

 throughout. In No. 53 there are the usual subdivided verses with refrains, the 

 second phrase of the refrain being a partial reversion to the first phrase of the 

 song. In this we are reminded of the second song of No. 6, and of the first 

 verse-part in song No. 10. The refrain marked 2 is different poetically rather 

 than musically. In No. 54 we find the same peculiar structure of the refrain 

 that we have already seen in No. 32 and shall meet again in Nos. 57 and 72. 

 In No. 55 there is, as far as the words are concerned, a "trying-over" of the 

 verse-part and refrain with burden syllables. The B phrases are the refrains 

 but it is a question as to how to classify the two measures which precede them 

 in each case, unless they are considered codas for the verse-parts. The con- 

 nectives are obscure, and are rather like the codas. The listing of both has been 

 omitted from the tabular analysis for they are not distinct, musically or poet- 

 ically. 



There is a third sub-group where the real musical prelude makes its appear- 

 ance, in more or less regular fashion. These are songs Nos. 56 to 61 inclusive. 

 The irregularity in No. 56 lies in the refrains and in the undivided verses. In 

 No. 57 we have the refrain structure that has just been noted in No. 54. In 

 both songs there is a poetic prelude and divided verses, but in this second case 

 the musical prelude occurs as well and the parts are longer as far as the number 

 of phrases are concerned.^ 



Melodically there are some points of similarity between Nos. 57 and 58, 

 bu{ obviously if the latter is a variant of the former it has grown quite far away 

 from it, and has become much less complex. 



No. 59 is irregular and perhaps belongs to the second subdivision. As far 

 as it goes there are two identical parts, of three phrases each. In the first part, 

 which is in effect, if not melodically, a prelude, the first two phrases, A and B. 

 are separated by a coimective from the third, C. This is separated from the 

 second part by another" connective, after which the modified and curtailed 

 phrases A' and B' form the first verse. There is apparently no refrain, and a 

 connective separates this from the fragmentary beginning of what appears to 

 be C, a repetition of the third phrase of the prelude, modified to form the second 

 verse. 



^ Copper Eskimo: ato'*n, 



I ^ Reverting to No. 32 for the moment, which is the first of this type to be encountered among the pisiks, we see tha 

 ^it has a brief real prelude of one measure, which closely resembles the connectives, but that in other respects it more 

 nearly resembles No. 54 than No. 57. 



88S1I>— 14 



