Three Kwakwaka‘wakw songs recorded at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. The Hamsamala Song (a variation on the Song of the Raven’s Mask) was recorded in 1998 in Alert Bay, BC.
American Philosophical Society, ACLS collection Mss.497.3.B63c: Boas Notebook “Kwakiutl Texts, 1893-1897,” W1a.9.
Franz Boas, The Social Organization and the Secret Societies of the Kwakiutl Indians, 1897. US National Museum.
Song of the Fool Dancer
Performed by Malidi, 1893. Audio: Archives of Traditional Music, Collection 54-121-F, track #3868.
Boas’s 1893 notebook (top); page 706 from Boas’s 1897 book (bottom).
Healer’s Song
Performed by George Hunt, 1893. Audio: Archives of Traditional Music, Collection 54-121-F, track #3865.
Boas’s 1893 notebook (top); page 722 from Boas’s 1897 book (bottom).
Song of the Raven Mask
Performed by Tom Hemasi’lakw, 1893. Audio: Archives of Traditional Music, Collection 54-121-F, track #3894.
Boas’s 1893 notebook (top); page 686 from Boas’s 1897 book (bottom).
Hamsamala Song
Performed by Bruce Alfred, Ernest Alfred Jr., Randy Bell, Kevin Cranmer, Tyler Cranmer, William Cranmer, Harold Nelson, Henry Nelson, William Wasden Jr., and Michael Willie. Recorded in Alert Bay, 1998.
Track and cover from the CD “Rising from the Ashes…”, produced by the U’mista Cultural Society, Alert Bay, BC, 1998.