Contribution to Passamaquoddy Folk-Lore | Page 3

by Mrs. Brown concerning a game of
"All-tes-teg-enuk," played by a youth against an old man, the latter,
who has magic power, has several times regained his youth by inhaling
the breath of his young opponent.[4]
[Footnote 3: My surprise at this coincidence was very great, but I
confess that I was also interested to hear from the lips of my Indian
friend, at parting, the familiar Italian word, "Addio."]
[Footnote 4: Some Indoor and Outdoor Games of the Wabanaki Indians,
Trans. Roy. Soc. Canada, Section II. 1889.]
THE SNAKE DANCE.
The Passamaquoddies, no doubt, in old times, had many dances, sacred
and secular. Some of these were very different from what they now are,
and in consequence it is not easy to recognize their meaning. Indians
declare that in their youth dances were much more common. Possibly
some of these will never be danced again. That the Micmacs, neighbors
of the Passamaquoddies, had dances in which elaborate masks were
worn, seems to be indicated by pictographs found on the rocks in Nova
Scotia. Mrs. Brown has in her possession a head-band made of silver,
similar to those worn in ancient times on festive occasions, and
probably at dances. It was not necessarily a badge of a chief. In
excavations made at East Machias, an Indian was found with a copper
head-band and the remnant of a woven tiara. These relics are now in
the hands of Dr. Shehan, of Edmunds, Maine. Copper head-bands have
repeatedly been found on the skulls of Mound Indians. When a boy, I
myself was present at the work of excavating an Indian burial place on
the banks of Charles River, near the end of Maple Street, Watertown.
With one of these skeletons a turtle shell was found, which was
possibly an old Indian rattle.
One of the most interesting of the selections mentioned is the Song of

the Snake Dance, No. 8. Although the ceremonial element has now
disappeared from this song, it may be presumed that it originally had a
religious importance similar to that of the Snake Dances of the
Southwest, since the extent of the worship of the snake among North
American Indians is known. The same dance is also celebrated by the
Micmacs, having been performed by them during the past year. In both
nations, it is generally united with other dances, and seems to be an
appendage to the more formal ones.
The general impression among the Passamaquoddies is that this dance
never had a sacred character. The name is said to have been derived
from the sinuous course of the chain of dancers, and from its
resemblance to the motion of a snake. While there is nothing to prove
that it is a remnant of an ancient snake worship, still it is natural to
presume that such is really the case. There are several tales relating to
the manner in which men were turned into rattlesnakes, and how the
noise of the rattlesnakes has its lineal descendant in the rattles of the
dancers. The Indians told me of several songs used for snake dances,
but in those which were sung I think I detected the same music, and am
confident that the words as given occur in most of them. The discord at
the end of the first line is also a feature of the snake dances which I
have heard.[5]
[Footnote 5: I myself have never witnessed the snake-dance. The
description which follows was obtained from Mrs. Brown, who has
seen it performed twice, as well as from Peter Selmore, Noel Josephs,
and other Indians who have frequently taken part in it. The song was
recorded on the phonograph from the lips of Josephs, who is
recognized by the Indians themselves as one competent to sing the song.
Josephs told me that he remembered when this and other dances took
place in a large wigwam made of bark.]
The dance is performed at weddings and other festive occasions. It is
not used alone, but only with others, and, as I am told, is employed at
all times of festival.
SNAKE SONG.

The words of the first strain are as follows:--
W[)a]y' ho y[=a]rhnie, way ho y[=a]rhnie.
The words of the second strain are as follows:--
Hew nay ie h[=a]h, hew n[)a]'y ie h[=a]h, hew n[)a]'y ie h[=a]h, Hew
nay ie h[=a]h, hew nay ie h[=a]h, hew nay ie h[=a]h.
When the strain changes from the first to the second, the words _ho
yar'h nie become a discord like noy[=a]h_.
The first part of the song is sung alone, by the conjurer, as he moves
about the room in search of the snake. In the second part all in the chain
of dancers join in with him in the song. The description of the song in
Passamaquoddy, including the invitation