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Audio Recording Passamaquoddy description of the Snake song and dance : Snake song Title in Passamaquoddy: Pomka Athusossuwiye (to dance like the snake) / Jesse Walter Fewkes collection of Passamaquoddy cylinder recordings SR05 / Pomka Athusossuwiye (to dance like the snake)

Passamaquoddy description of the Snake song and dance : Snake song / spoken by Noel Joseph (Digital restoration from digital preservation master file)

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Passamaquoddy description of the Snake song and dance : Snake song / spoken by Noel Joseph (Digital preservation master file from original cylinder)

Passamaquoddy description of the Snake song and dance : Snake song / spoken by Noel Joseph (Track from digital preservation copy of AFC preservation tape LWO 6528 R1A)

About this Item

Title

  • Passamaquoddy description of the Snake song and dance : Snake song

Other Title

  • Title in Passamaquoddy: Pomka Athusossuwiye (to dance like the snake)
  • Jesse Walter Fewkes collection of Passamaquoddy cylinder recordings SR05
  • Pomka Athusossuwiye (to dance like the snake)

Summary

  • Two versions of the snake dance were recorded by Fewkes.
  • Passamaquoddy transcription: Kenoq wi skicinu yet keqsey keti litpiyak keqsey kisi kisolutomeq pukowisiyaq nutelu pokhakon / Kesiphokayek naka te ska wolaqihpowakon tollaqote tan eci kisaqotek wolaqihpowakon etuciphayek / Nahahte welaqiwik metsihpultiyek pomkanen etuci metkayek nilun nuskicinuwewakonon tan etuci / Pomkatomeq pomatokihpusiyek athussosuwokeyuwakon athussosuwokeyak naka tuciw mihkomawokanen mihkomawokayek nitte petkanen / (Song:) Qey yo ha ney wey ho ya ne wey ho ya ney / Qey yo no hey / Yo ney ha yo ney ha yo ney yo ney ha / Yo ney ha - yo ney ha - yo nay ha / Yo ney ha - yo ney ha - yo ney ha / Yo ney ha - yo ney ha - yo ney ha / Yo ney ha - yo ney ha - yo ney ha / Yo ney ha - yo ney ha - yo ney ha / Wey ho ya ney - Wey ho ya ney / Ya ho ya ne / Ney ha yoneyiha yoney ha - Ney ha yoneyiha yoney ha / Ney ha yoneyiha yoney ha - Ney ha yoneyiha yoney ha / Ney ha yoneyiha yoney ha - Ney ha yoneyiha yoney ha / Ney ha yoneyiha yoney ha / Kewoluhk / Ney ha yoneyiha yoney ha - Ney ha yoneyiha yoney ha / Ney ha yoneyiha yoney ha - Wonakewohuhk / Ney ha yoneyiha yoney ha.

Names

  • Fewkes, Jesse Walter, 1850-1930, recordist, speaker
  • Joseph, Noel, active 1878-1890, performer

Created / Published

  • 1890-03-18.

Headings

  • -  Passamaquoddy Indians--Maine--Calais
  • -  Indians of North America--Northeastern States
  • -  Passamaquoddy Indians--Folklore
  • -  Passamaquoddy Indians--Music
  • -  Songs, Passamaquoddy
  • -  Snake dance
  • -  Indian dance--Northeastern States
  • -  Calais (Me.)

Genre

  • Songs
  • Field recordings
  • Cylinder recordings

Notes

  • -  Recorded in Calais, Maine on March 18, 1890 by Jesse Walter Fewkes.
  • -  Title from Federal Cylinder Project catalog. Title in Passamaquoddy, summary, Passamaquody transcription, and pronunciation of title were supplied by Passamaquoddy tribal elders and leaders in 2019.
  • -  Digital recordings of the original cylinder content and new recording of the story spoken by Dwayne Tomah are available at PassamaquoddyPeople.com https://passamaquoddypeople.com/digital-heritage/pomka-athusossuwiye External
  • -  Digital preservation copy, MAVIS no. 2006192-2-1, from original cylinder on Archeophone #27. Library of Congress, 2015 October 08. 93.39 Mbytes BWF.
  • -  Digital restoration copy, MAVIS no. 2006192-4-1, from preservation master file (from original cylinder) using Izotope RX4, Cedar Cambridge v.10 and Izotope Ozone 7. Library of Congress, 2016 October 31. 88.66 Mbytes BWF.
  • -  Digital preservation copy, MAVIS no. 2005666-3-1 (at 31:04), from preservation tape reel. Library of Congress, 2014 January 14. 1.92 GB BWF.
  • -  Preservation tape reel LWO 6528 R1A (at 31:04) from original cylinder. Washington, D.C. Library of Congress, 197u. 1 sound tape reel ; analog, 7 1/2 ips, mono. ; 10.5 in.
  • -  "Pomka Athusossuwiye" pronounced: Boom-ka Aur-hos-is-we-a.
  • -  Jesse Walter Fewkes collection of Passamaquoddy cylinder recordings (AFC 1972/003: SR05) American Folklife Center, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
  • -  FCP notes: Announcement: "Snake song and description by Newell Josephs [sic] of the Passamaquoddy tribe at Calais, Maine, on the 18th of February [sic], 1890."
  • -  Title information and FCP notes from Federal Cylinder Project (Washington, D.C.: American Folklife Center, Library of Congress, 1984), volume 2, p. 224.
  • -  Description in Fewkes, J. W. "A contribution to Passamaquoddy Folk-lore" Journal of American Folk-lore 3, no. 11 (1890) p. 260-63 https://www.jstor.org/stable/534065?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents External
  • -  Related Fewkes' fieldnotes are located at the National Anthropological Archives (ms. 4408:9) p. 3-5, 57.
  • -  Introduction in English, remainder in Passamaquoddy language.

Medium

  • 1 sound cylinder (2:41 min.) ; 3.75 in.

Source Collection

  • Jesse Walter Fewkes collection of Passamaquoddy cylinder recordings

Repository

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2015655554

Rights Advisory

  • Traditional Knowledge Label: Attribution - Elihtasik (How it is done). When using anything that has this Label, please use the correct attribution. This may include individual Passamaquoddy names, it may include Passamaquoddy as the correct cultural affiliation or it may include Passamaquoddy Tribe as the tribal designation. https://www.passamaquoddypeople.com/passamaquoddy-traditional-knowledge-labels External
  • Traditional Knowledge Label: Outreach - Ekehkimkewey (Educational). Certain material has been identified by Passamaquoddy tribal members and can be used and shared for educational purposes. Ekehkimkewey means 'educational'. The Passamaquoddy Tribe is a present day community who retains cultural authority over its heritage. This Label is being used to teach and share cultural knowledge and histories in schools, and to raise greater awareness and respect for Passamaquoddy culture and worldviews. https://www.passamaquoddypeople.com/passamaquoddy-traditional-knowledge-labels External
  • Traditional Knowledge Label: Non-Commercial - Ma yut monuwasiw (This is not sold). This material should not be used in any commercial ways, including ways that derive profit from sale or production for non-Passamaquoddy people. The name of this Label, Ma yut monuwasiw, means 'this is not to be purchased'. https://www.passamaquoddypeople.com/passamaquoddy-traditional-knowledge-labels External

Access Advisory

Online Format

  • audio

Additional Metadata Formats

Traditional Knowledge Labels

  • Attribution - Elihtasik (How it is done).
  • Outreach - Ekehkimkewey (Educational).
  • Non-Commercial - Ma yut monuwasiw (This is not sold).
Learn more about the traditional knowledge labels

Rights & Access

Rights and Usage

The Library of Congress is providing access to these materials for noncommercial purposes such as education and research. The Passamaquoddy Tribe and the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, donor of the recordings, have consented to this online presentation. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item and securing any necessary permissions ultimately rests with persons desiring to use the item. See our Legal Notices and Privacy and Publicity Rights for additional information and restrictions.

Researchers or others who would like to make further use of these collection materials should contact the Folklife Reading Room for assistance.

Traditional Knowledge Labels

The American Folklife Center (AFC) at the Library of Congress has undertaken a collaborative preservation digitization and access project focusing on its historical Native American audio recording collections. The project involves: a) digitally reformatting older media formats, including wax cylinder recordings, in order to recover and preserve the recorded voices and languages of Native American people, and b) developing curatorial protocols that are attentive to community cultural sensitivities regarding unique cultural materials along with digital access tools (online interfaces, catalog records) that embed Native American cultural knowledge about and descriptions of the content of the recordings in Library collection records, to the extent possible.

For this project, the AFC has partnered with members of the Passamaquoddy community and two non-profit organizations, Local Contexts and Mukurtu, to apply Traditional Knowledge Labels (TK Labels) to Passamaquoddy recordings made in 1890 and 1891 by anthropologist Jesse Walter Fewkes.

Local Contexts and its partners are working towards a new paradigm of rights and responsibilities that recognizes the inherent sovereignty that Indigenous communities have over their cultural heritage. Traditional Knowledge (TK) Labels are an educational and informational digital marker created by the Local Contexts initiative to address the specific intellectual property needs of Native, First Nations, Aboriginal and Indigenous peoples with regard to the extensive collections of cultural heritage materials currently held within museums, archives, libraries, and private collections. Indigenous communities use TK Labels to identify and clarify community-specific access protocols associated with the materials and convey important information such as guidelines for proper use and responsible stewardship of cultural heritage materials. TK Labels provide information to help users of traditional cultural knowledge from outside the creators' community understand the importance and significance of this material, even when it is in the public domain.  More information is available at Local ContextsExternal.

The Passamaquoddy Tribe is a present-day community that retains cultural authority over its heritage. The TK Labels selected and defined for this collection by Passamaquoddy community leaders provide community knowledge and context that define the significance and responsible representation of their cultural heritage. The Passamaquoddy Tribe requests that you follow its recommendations for use as indicated on the TK Label text on each recording. For more information and related collections see the Passamaquoddy People website supported by staff at Local Contexts, Mukurtu.org and Washington State University’s Center for Digital Scholarship and Curation http://passamaquoddypeople.com/External .

Traditional Knowledge Label: Attribution - Elihtasik (How it is done).
When using anything that has this Label, please use the correct attribution. This may include individual Passamaquoddy names, it may include Passamaquoddy as the correct cultural affiliation or it may include Passamaquoddy Tribe as the tribal designation. http://passamaquoddypeople.com/digital-heritage/elihtasik-trans-how-it-doneExternal
Traditional Knowledge Label: Outreach - Ekehkimkewey (Educational).
Certain material has been identified by Passamaquoddy tribal members and can be used and shared for educational purposes. Ekehkimkewey means 'educational'. The Passamaquoddy Tribe is a present day community that retains cultural authority over its heritage. This Label is being used to teach and share cultural knowledge and histories, and to raise greater awareness and respect for Passamaquoddy culture and worldviews. http://passamaquoddypeople.com/digital-heritage/ekehkimkewey-trans-educationalExternal

Traditional Knowledge Label: Non-Commercial - Ma yut monuwasiw (This is not sold).
This material should not be used for commercial purposes, including ways that derive profit from sale or production for non-Passamaquoddy people. In Passamaquoddy, Ma yut monuwasiw means 'this is not to be purchased'. http://passamaquoddypeople.com/digital-heritage/ma-yut-monuwasiw-trans-not-soldExternal

Credit line

Jesse Walter Fewkes collection of Passamaquoddy cylinder recordings (AFC 1972/003), American Folklife Center, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Fewkes, Jesse Walter, Recordist, Speaker. Passamaquoddy description of the Snake song and dance: Snake song. performeds by Joseph, Noel, Active -03-18, 1890. Audio. https://www.loc.gov/item/2015655554/.

APA citation style:

Fewkes, J. W. (1890) Passamaquoddy description of the Snake song and dance: Snake song. Joseph, N., performer -03-18. [Audio] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2015655554/.

MLA citation style:

Fewkes, Jesse Walter, Recordist, Speaker. Passamaquoddy description of the Snake song and dance: Snake song. performer by Joseph, Noel, Active -03-18, 1890. Audio. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2015655554/>.