Songs of the Indians

Barry J. Edwards was a librarian with the Metro Toronto Library.

The growing interest among linguists and anthropologists of many nations in the native language of the Americas has not been reflected to the same degree, at least in Canada, in the publication of popular anthologies of Indian literature. John Robert Colombo here remedies this urgent need with a truly comprehensive collection of the lyrical legacy of the Indians of Canada.

This two-volume anthology contains some 400 songs and fragments representing native people of a dozen different linguistic families from coast to coast. Only the Eskimos (Inuit) have been excluded, since examples of their songs have been compiled by the same editor in Poems of the Inuit (Oberon Press, 1981). Colombo has collected the material here from the writings of missionaries, explorers, traders, travellers, linguists, anthropologists, and musicologists over the last four centuries. Most of the songs are given in translation, with extensive notes in separate appendices documenting both sources of the original text and existing variants.

Songs of the Indians offers compelling evidence of the artless eloquence inherent in native poetic expression, and of the striking originality of thought to be found in this unique genre of Canadian literature. One finds here songs for all occasions: songs of love and war, songs for hunting and fishing, lullabies, laments and dirges, ceremonial and ritual pieces, prayers, charms, chants, and many others. Some are of considerable length, though most are tantalizingly short. All bespeak the native perception of the world, an immediate rapport with nature and the environment, and the validity of the Indian way of life, even in the face of encroachment by the white man. Witness the poignant stoicism of “It is calm, it is calm, but my child is dead.” Optimism and humour are reflected in the Bella Coola love song: “They say I loved her dearly? No! The dimple in my left cheek merely had a good opinion of her.”

The informative introduction contains a few misleading misprints, and surely the reference to the sub-Arctic Athapasean Chippewa (p. 14) should read Chipewyan. Included are a useful discography and bibliography of native music. Recommended for all libraries.