INTRODUCTION.

THE following songs were collected by the writer in connection with his work for the Jesup North Pacific Expedition during the winter of 1900-01. The general characteristics of the songs were described in "Contributions to the Ethnology of the Haida" (Publications of the Jesup North Pacific Expedition, Vol. V, p. 121). As has been stated in a discussion of the songs, the cradle-songs are the Property of the various families. For this reason the songs which form the bulk of the collection here presented are arranged according to the families to which they be long. The names of the families will also be found in the publication before referred to.

The following alphabet is used for rendering Haida songs:--

EXPLANATION OF ALPHABET USED IN RENDERING INDIAN SOUNDS.

î

ô

a

o ^u

A obscure a.

i, e, are probably the same sound, intermediate between the continental values of i and e.

î

= i in hill.

a has its continental value.

o, u, are probably the same sound, intermediate between the continental values of o and u.

ä = German ä in Bär.

â = aw, in law, only in foreign words.

a

^ou indicate that the preceding, consonant is pronounced with a, o, and u position of the mouth respectively.

p. 4

g

x

L

l

x

+ indicates great length of preceding vowel.

I have omitted the anterior palatal series, because the Haida sounds which should be classed under that head seem to me accidentally produced, owing to the presence of a following close vowel. p seems to occur only in onomatopoetic elements; b occurs not more than two or three times in strictly Haida words; and m, although considerably more abundant, is by no means common. The catch (?) is used in Masset instead of Skidegate g and , instead of Skidegate x. x is like German ch in Bach; x is similar, but pronounced farther forward. Even among old people the fortis-sounds are frequently reduced to simple pauses. This is particularly true of sounds formed far forward in the mouth. At other times they are uttered with rapidity and force. In recording my texts, I found it difficult to distinguish fortis-sounds from sonants. L sounds something like dl, and L something like tl or kl; in both the tip of the tongue touches the back of the teeth, and the air is expelled at the sides: l is similar, but more of the tongue is laid against the roof of the mouth, and a greater volume of air allowed to escape. ñ is identical with English ng in such words as string.

Words in parentheses in the translations have been added to make the sense of the Indian clearer; bracketed words or parts of words in Indian indicate forms which are inserted in the rhythmic songs, but would be omitted in prose.

		A,
i e,	a	o u
î ê	ä	â	(â),	ô û
	Sonans.	Surd.	Fortis.	Spirans.	Nasal.
Velar	q	q!	x	---		Palatal	g	k	k!	ñ
Alveolar	d	t	t!	s	n
Dental	dj	tc	tc!	---	---
Labial	b	p	---	---	m
Lateral	L	L!	---	l	Laryngeal catch and breathing	?
	h, y, w.