Contribution to Passamaquoddy Folk-Lore | Page 2

The story of how Glooscap reduced the size of the animals. These
cylinders give the story in substantially the same way as published by
Leland in his "Algonquin Legends."
4. A collection of Indian words corresponding with those found on
page 82 of the schedule of the United States Bureau of Ethnology.
5. English words with Passamaquoddy translations.
6, 7. An old tale of how Pookjinsquess stole a child.
8. Song of the "Snake Dance."
9. "War Song."
10. Song sung on the night when the governor's election is celebrated.
This song was sung by proxy, and contains compliments to the feast,
thanks to the people for election, and words of praise to the retiring
chief. It is a very old song, unknown to many of the younger Indians.
11. Numerals from 1 to 20; the days of the week; also, a "counting-out"
rhyme.

12-14. Tale of Leux and the three fires.
15. Tale of Leux and Hespens.
17. An ancient war song, said to have been sung in the old times when
the Passamaquoddies were departing for war with the Mohawks. A
second part contains a song said to have been sung in the "Trade
Dance," as described below.
18. War Song.
19. Pronunciation of the names of the fabulous personages mentioned
in Passamaquoddy stories.
20-22. Story of the birth of a medicine-man who turned man into a
cedar tree.
23. An ordinary conversation between the two Indians, Noel Josephs
and Peter Selmore.
24-27. Modern Passamaquoddy story, introducing many incidents of
ordinary life.
29-35. Story of Pogump and the Sable, and of their killing a great snake.
How the former was left on an island by Pookjinsquess, and how the
Morning Star saved him from Quahbet, the giant beaver.[2]
[Footnote 2: I have given below English versions of these, or the Indian
stories told in English.]
It appears to me that the selections above given convey an idea of some
of the more important linguistic features of the Passamaquoddy
language, but it is needless to reiterate that these results and
observations are merely experimental. In another place I hope to
reproduce the stories in the original, by phonetic methods. I have here
given English versions of some of the stories recorded, as translated for
me by the narrator, or by Mrs. Brown, and added some explanations
which may be of assistance to a person listening when songs or stories

are being rendered on the phonograph.
The majority of the remnants of the Passamaquoddy tribe are found in
three settlements in the State of Maine,--one at Pleasant Point, near
Eastport; another at Peter Dana's Point, near Princeton; and a third at a
small settlement called The Camps, on the border of the city of Calais.
The manners and customs of this people are fast dying out. The old
pointed caps, ornamented with beads, and the silver disks, which they
once wore, are now rarely seen except in collections of curiosities. The
old games, dances, and songs are fast becoming extinct, and the
Passamaquoddy has lost almost everything which characterized his
fathers.
There still remain among the Passamaquoddies certain nicknames
borne by persons of the tribe. These nicknames are sometimes the
names of animals, and in older times were more numerous than at
present. Possibly these names are the survivals of the gentile or clan
name once universal among them as among other Indian tribes.
I spent several days at Calais, while collecting traditions with the
phonograph, and also visited Pleasant Point, where I made the
acquaintance of some of the most prominent Indians, including the
governor. Most of them speak English very well, and are ready to grant
their assistance in preserving their old stories and customs. The
younger members of the tribe are able to read and write, and are
acquainted with the ordinary branches of knowledge as taught in our
common schools. I should judge from my own observations that the
language is rapidly dying out. The white women who have married into
the tribe have generally acquired the language more or less perfectly. In
their intercourse with each other, Indians make use of their own
language.
In taking these records with the phonograph I had an interesting
experience. The first time I met Noel Josephs, I greeted him after the
Zuñi fashion. I raised my hand to his mouth, and inhaled from it. He
followed in identically the same manner in which a Zuñi Indian would
respond. I asked him what it meant. He said that it was a way of

showing friendship. He remembered that, when he was a boy, a similar
mode of greeting was common among Indians.[3] Mrs. Brown recalled
having seen a similar ceremony after she was received into the tribe.
The meaning of this similarity I leave to others to conjecture. In a
legend mentioned