The Washington herald., 1913-06-29
Nation Plans to Preserve IN Archives Wonderful Songs Of
i. the Red Man-Frank H. Abbott Tells Of the
Plans and Work Of Agents.

I copious field notes. and his own musical
| ability. BY means of the photograph
| the records are being made so as to pre-
serve not only the words and music, but
also. the expression and feeling of the
real Indian. Some specimens of songs
have already been received and tram
scribed at the Indian Bureau in WASH
| ington.
Songs Are I'm Series.
Uncle Sam intends to have representa-
tives visit every school and Indian res
ervation in the country. SO that when
the work is completed the government
will have a thoroughly representative set
of songs preserved in the archives at
| Washington. To attempt to record all
| of the Indian songs, however, would
probably be beyond the power of even
| Uncle Sam. for they are thousand
| fold. The life of an Indian Is made up
largely of a series of songs. Every act
has its accompanying song, the hewing
of wood, the drawing Of water. the pur-
| suit of game, the triumph of battle, birth
and death are all symbolized by song
among the Indians. II is expected that
the work will require years to complete,
but when II Is done it will refute one
| of the greatest popular errors ever made
as to real Indian music. Contrary to
general belief. the Indians have voices
OF tremendous range, from the deepest
notes TO the falsetto.
In making this collection Uncle Sam
, will have the greatest obstacles to over
come. Indians. as a rule. are naturally
reticent, and the casual visitor usually
hears none of their music and seldom
penetrates the surface of their real life
A striking illustration Of this happened
in connection with the work done by
Alice C. Fletcher, of the Smithsonian
Institution. This young woman Is a
specialist in Indian lore, but her knowl-
edge OF their intimate life was not
gained in a week, a month, nor even q
year. II came through Illness. In 1852
while engaged in the work Miss Fletcher
was taken Ill in an Omaha Indian camp.
The Indians cared for her like mother,
and when they ministered to her wants
the medicine men sang their songs OF
magic and the mothers sang their lula
bies. They sang softly because / was
weak" she said in explanation, "and
there was no drum. 1t was at this time
that my ideas OF Indian music were
completely upset, and the sweetness, the
beauty, and the meaning Of their songs
were revealed to me. As I grew strong
er they taught me the songs and used
to sing them with my Indian friends.
Later when was able to be carried
about. my returning health was cele-
brated by the We Wan ceremony. with
its beautiful music"
This plan of preserving Indian music
by means of photographic records is a
continuation OF the plan adopted by an
other branch of the government several
years ago. Frances Densnore is wom-
an scientist who was given the task by
the Smithsonian Institution to make
work was confined almost exclusively TO |
the Chippewa tribe of Indians. 1t was
a unique and interesting work and shows
that almost all the phases of life OF the |
Chippewa Indians, the same as that OF
all other tribes, are closely interviewer
with songs and music. The curious man.
ner in which the Indians recorded their |
songs was photographed and brought to
the Smithsonian Institution for preserva-l
ton.
Songs Have History.
One of the most curious and interesting |
facts brought out in this study of the |
Chippewa music is the peculiar connec- |
ton between some nervous ailments and |
the rhythmic chants of sound and the
medicine songs. This was shown by ex-
periments of the effects Of rhythm with |
out attempt at music. in the case Of
number Of young children. The theory |
was that the mental development of
civilized children from infancy upward
was more or less on a plane with the
mental development of adults from the
lower stages of savagery through bar
barism to the higher planes of civiliza- |
ton. These experiments fairly proved
that babies and young children could be |
soothed by the monotonous repetition of
certain rhythms better than by actual
singing.
The history of the songs Of the Chip !
pewas-more than 200 in number-is full |
of human interest. Among them are |
many pathetic songs. There are the /
dream songs" the outcome of dreams |
and visions of the composers; the grand |
medicine or Mide songs, the native re-
ligion OF the Chippewas, which by far
are the most important. there being |
fifteen separate and distinct songs for .
the ceremony for a dying chief, the /
hunting song. the song for securing a |
good supply of maple sugar. love charm
songs, healing songs, songs of the man
who succeeded. song of a scalp dance,
song of good medicine. song of the
crab-medicine bag, song of the fire.
charm, song of starvation, song of the
owl-medicine. and innumerable other
songs, song of the juggler, song Of the
trees. sons OF the thunder, song Of the
crows, and war sons.
The words accompanying the songs
are generally few, and convey little
meaning to the civilized hearer, but
each of the songs tells a story to the
Indian, and this story is well known to i
the auditors. so that the words are lit
tie more than Renaissance. Nearly
all are very old and known on a num-
Der of the reservations. The phono-