  In the following text, obtained at Tadousac from Joseph Nicolar, a Wawenock descendant affiliated with the Montagnais, we have a type of song common among the Penobscot and the other Wabanaki tribes and known as “Lonesome songs.” Owing to his unfamiliarity with the language the informant has used some forms which are not very clear. ni· ta? be si·´s tan wedo sa´n My little friend whence comest thou, net·e´ tala´gwi· wi·´ gwe no?´ da no?´ In that direction “Long town”?67 ni· ta? be si·´s tan wedo sa´n My little friend whence comest thou, di· wa´ di· no´ pam se´ gwe no?´ da no?´ Lonesome(?) ledge “Long town”? ni· ta? be si·´s a we´li· si·´s My little friend his little navel ni· ta? be si·´s kami·´li·ti·n My little friend give me some bu tai´ a li·p san bet gwe no?´ da no?´ Bottle fill up please “Long town” (?) di·wa´di· ta´ wi· wi·´ gwe no?´ da no?´ Lonesome “Long town” (?) 67 For the want of a better explanation it seems that the song refers to some place called “Long Town” (gwenodana´, “long-town"), probably in Canada. The expression gwe no? da no? may, however, be a verse ending having a value similar to Kuwenodinu, “It is long O,” occurring in a Passamaquoddy song recorded by Professor Prince. (Cf. The Morphology of the Passamaquoddy Language of Maine, Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, Vol. LIII, No. 213 (1914), pp. 115-116-117.) In still another Passamaquoddy song given by Leland and Prince (Kuloskap, The Master, pp. 308-309), there is an untranslated stanza ending anigowanotenu. These independent occurrences of the burden in question seem to attest to its antiquity in the Northeast. |
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