Contribution to Passamaquoddy Folk-Lore by J. Walter Fewkes
page 35 of 43 (81%)
page 35 of 43 (81%)
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The inflection on the last word is always a rising one. This is
especially true on the last syllable of the last word, "tip." The counting out is not very different from that of white children. They all place two fingers of each hand in a circle; the one who repeats the doggerel, having one hand free, touches each finger in the circle saying, _Hony, kee bee, l[=a] [=a]-weis, ag-les, huntip_. Each finger that the _huntip_ falls on is doubled under, and this is repeated again and again until there are but three fingers left. The persons corresponding to these start to run, and the one caught has to play as _Squaw-oc-t'moos_.[32] To the Indian mind "counting out" has a significance, and even the simple _huntip_ is a magic word, bringing good luck, as it lessens the chance of being "_squaw-oc-t'moos_." ["Journal of American Folk-Lore," vol. iii. No. 8, pp. 71, 72.] [Footnote 32: The word "squat" in Passamaquoddy means fire. Mrs. Brown spells the name of the swamp woman as follows: _Squaw-oc-t'moos_. The _a_ is very long, and possibly can be best represented by _aw_.] One of the songs, said to be a salutation, which was sung on the cylinders, has been written out from the phonograph by the late Mr. S.P. Cheney. The words, as nearly as I can make them out, are as follows:-- T'w[=a] too boo hen ee too boo ho [to be way] bla Tel ey wees ee lu Hoi kay yu kar, heno yah ha, Kaye yu kar, hen o yar-hah, Kay yu kar, hen o yah-hah, kay yu kar, hen o yar-hah. The first two lines are sung first to the upper staff, then repeated |
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