OITshl002 Guide to the Modoc Indian Songs and Documentation 1934 Modoc Indian Songs and Documentation Finding aid prepared by Anne Hiller Clark Shaw Historical Library at Oregon Institute of Technology © 2012
3201 Campus Drive Klamath Falls, OR 97601 URL: http//www.library.oit.edu/shaw
Finding aid encoded by Anne Hiller Clark 2012 Finding aid written in: English English. Finding aid based on DACS ( Describing Archives: A Content Standard). Oregon Institute of Technology Libraries, Shaw Historical Library
3201 Campus Drive Klamath Falls, OR 97601 URL: http//www.library.oit.edu/shaw
SHL002 Spier, Leslie Modoc Indian Songs and Documentation 1934 0.3 linear feet 1 box Leslie Spier recorded traditional songs sung by several Modoc tribal members in 1934. The collection consists of two audio tape cassettes of Modoc Indian songs and accompanying documentation. Shaw Historical Library Collection materials are in: English, Modoc and possibly Paiute, Klamath and Shasta.

Audio cassette player required. Please contact library prior to visit.

Leslie Spier deposited a collection of 7 12-inch, acetate, 78 rpm discs with the Archives of Traditional Music at Indiana University in Bloomington. The discs are first generation copies of the original cylinders.

Biographical Note

Leslie Spier (December 13, 1893 – December 3, 1961) studied the Klamath Indians as well as Plains Indians and Indians of the Southwest during his career as an anthropologist. In 1920 he obtained his doctorate in anthropology from Columbia University and went on to work for the American Museum of Natural History and several major universities, spending the longest part of his career at the University of New Mexico. He conducted extensive field work, authored a number of important monographs, including Klamath Ethnography (1930) and served as editor of several important anthropological publications.

Singers on the recordings include Celia Lynch, Mrs. Usie George, Lizzie Schonchin and Peter Schonchin. Peter Schonchin (ca. 1858-1939) fought in the Modoc War. He was the son of Schonchin John, one of the Modoc leaders executed after the war. Lizzie Robinson Schonchin (1858-1940) was Peter's fifth wife. Celia Lynch (1853-1940) was a Modoc tribal member very knowledgeable about traditional practices.

This collection consists of two audio tape cassettes of Modoc Indian songs recorded by Leslie Spier in 1934 and accompanying documentation. Series I: Modoc Indian Songs includes songs are sung in Modoc, and possibly Paiute, Pit River, Klamath, and Shasta. Song topics include puberty songs, love songs, healing songs, and Ghost Dance songs. A number of song titles are undocumented. Recorded by Leslie Spier, possibly with assistance from Earl W. Count, in California in 1934. The tapes are second generation audio tapes, copies of cylinders. Sound quality is fair to poor.

Both tapes are numbered 54-038-F. One tape is a copy of EC 10" 984.2--41 on Side A and a copy of EC 10" 984.42--67 on Side B. The second tape is a copy of ATL 1124.31-32 on Side A. Side B of the second tape is blank.

Series II: Documentation includes a draft manuscript with English translations of some of the songs prepared by Earl W. Count with handwritten notes by George Herzog. English translations of some songs that were not recorded are also part of the draft manuscript. Musical notations by Earl W. Count of some of the recorded songs and some unrecorded songs are also included.

The collection is open for research use.

Before materials from the Shaw Historical Library may be quoted in print or otherwise reproduced in whole or in part in any publication, exhibit, broadcast or other manner, the user must obtain permission from the owner of the physical property and the holder of the copyright. Copyright status for collections in the Shaw Historical Library varies. Reproduction of any item must contain a complete citation to the original. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.

[item identification], Modoc Indian Songs and Documentation, The Shaw Historical Library, Oregon Institute of Technology, Klamath Falls, Oregon.

Copied for the Shaw Historical Library by the Archives of Traditional Music, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN.

A copy of Leslie Spier’s book Klamath Ethnography (1930) is in the holdings of the Shaw Historical Library.

This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Spier, Leslie, 1893-1961--Archives Count, Earl W. (Earl Wendel), 1899-1996 Modoc Indians Songs, Achomawi--California Songs, Southern Paiute--California Songs, Klamath--California Songs, Shasta--California Ghost dance Shamans--California Puberty rites--California Love songs, Modoc Healing songs, Modoc Native Americans Sound Recordings Audio cassette tapes Series I Modoc Indian Songs 1934 2 audio cassette tapes Tape Copy of 984.2--67 Side A Lizzie Schonchin Paiute song Tape Copy of 984.2--67 Side A Lizzie Schonchin Pit River Indian song Tape Copy of 984.2--67 Side A Lizzie Schonchin Song of Inner Peace Tape Copy of 984.2--67 Side A Lizzie Schonchin unidentified song Tape Copy of 984.2--67 Side A pitchpipe Tape Copy of 984.2--67 Side A pitchpipe Tape Copy of 984.2--67 Side A Lizzie Schonchin Coyote [?] song Tape Copy of 984.2--67 Side A Lizzie Schonchin White Chidi's Klamath Shaman's song Tape Copy of 984.2--67 Side A Lizzie Schonchin Third Stopwe (Girl's Puberty Ceremony) song Tape Copy of 984.2--67 Side A Lizzie Schonchin Song of Inner Peace Tape Copy of 984.2--67 Side A Lizzie Schonchin Coyote's Gambling song. Klamath Modoc Tape Copy of 984.2--67 Side A pitchpipe Tape Copy of 984.2--67 Side A Lizzie Schonchin Aisis' Gambling song Tape Copy of 984.2--67 Side A pitchpipe Tape Copy of 984.2--67 Side A Lizzie Schonchin Ghost Dance, a Dream song Tape Copy of 984.2--67 Side A Lizzie Schonchin Second Stopwe (Girl's Puberty Ceremony) song Tape Copy of 984.2--67 Side A Lizzie Schonchin Bear Myth; Bear's Challenge. Klamath-Modoc Tape Copy of 984.2--67 Side A Lizzie Schonchin Klamath song Tape Copy of 984.2--67 Side A pitchpipe Tape Copy of 984.2--67 Side A Lizzie Schonchin Undocumented Tape Copy of 984.2--67 Side A Lizzie Schonchin Bear Myth; Lament of the Parent Bears. Klamath-Modoc Tape Copy of 984.2--67 Side A Lizzie Schonchin Bear Myth; Bear's Sister's Triumph. Klamath-Modoc Tape Copy of 984.2--67 Side A Lizzie Schonchin Antelope song from a story; also played on flute Tape Copy of 984.2--67 Side A Lizzie Schonchin pitchpipe Tape Copy of 984.2--67 Side A Lizzie Schonchin pitchpipe Tape Copy of 984.2--67 Side A Lizzie Schonchin Klamath Dream song, Ghost Dance Tape Copy of 984.2--67 Side A Lizzie Schonchin As above. [tape blank, perhaps unrecorded] Tape Copy of 984.2--67 Side A Lizzie Schonchin Shasta song Tape Copy of 984.2--67 Side A Lizzie Schonchin Pit River Indian song Tape Copy of 984.2--67 Side A Lizzie Schonchin Paiute song [Learned from?] Mrs. Chocktoot Tape Copy of 984.2--67 Side A Mrs. Usie George Undocumented Tape Copy of 984.2--67 Side A Mrs. Usie George Undocumented Tape Copy of 984.2--67 Side A Mrs. Usie George Undocumented Tape Copy of 984.2--67 Side A pitchpipe Tape Copy of 984.2--67 Side A Mrs. Usie George Undocumented Tape Copy of 984.2--67 Side A Mrs. Usie George Undocumented Tape Copy of 984.2--67 Side A Mrs. Usie George Undocumented Tape Copy of 984.2--67 Side A Mrs. Usie George Undocumented Tape Copy of 984.2--67 Side A pitchpipe Tape Copy of 984.2--67 Side A Mrs. Usie George Undocumented Tape Copy of 984.2--67 Side A Mrs. Usie George Undocumented Tape Copy of 984.2--67 Side B Mrs. Usie George Undocumented Tape Copy of 984.2--67 Side B Mrs. Usie George Undocumented Tape Copy of 984.2--67 Side B pitchpipe Tape Copy of 984.2--67 Side B Mrs. Usie George Undocumented Tape Copy of 984.2--67 Side B Mrs. Usie George Undocumented Tape Copy of 984.2--67 Side B Mrs. Usie George Undocumented Tape Copy of 984.2--67 Side B Mrs. Usie George Undocumented Tape Copy of 984.2--67 Side B pitchpipe Tape Copy of 984.2--67 Side B Mrs. Usie George Undocumented Tape Copy of 984.2--67 Side B Mrs. Usie George Undocumented Tape Copy of 984.2--67 Side B Mrs. Usie George Undocumented Tape Copy of 984.2--67 Side B Mrs. Usie George Undocumented Tape Copy of 984.2--67 Side B pitchpipe Tape Copy of 984.2--67 Side B Celia Lynch Girl's Puberty Dance song to mark sunset Tape Copy of 984.2--67 Side B Celia Lynch Girl's Puberty Dance song to mark sunset with deer hoof rattles Tape Copy of 984.2--67 Side B pitchpipe Tape Copy of 984.2--67 Side B Celia Lynch Girl's Puberty Dance song to mark midnight Tape Copy of 984.2--67 Side B Celia Lynch ya'mas nu sinax'tax no'la Tape Copy of 984.2--67 Side B Celia Lynch stote'las nu yane'ni Tape Copy of 984.2--67 Side B Celia Lynch ade'na nu wage'jola Tape Copy of 984.2--67 Side B Celia Lynch ge'las nu sowhalia'pka Tape Copy of 984.2--67 Side B pitchpipe Tape Copy of 984.2--67 Side B Celia Lynch ge'nuk ka'ta deka'ta wi'ya Tape Copy of 984.2--67 Side B Celia Lynch ga ne'wal tclp Tape Copy of 984.2--67 Side B Celia Lynch ga'inu ga'inu ta'pa ham'*ni Tape Copy of 984.2--67 Side B pitchpipe Tape Copy of ATL 1124.31--32 Side A Peter Sconchin a) ("ngeya") Song 3, Victory Dance song (Hall 1) Tape Copy of ATL 1124.31--32 Side A b) ("qululululu"); the qululululu is the proper ending to a victory song Tape Copy of ATL 1124.31--32 Side A c) "qani dal hot") Song 2, love song (Hall 2) Tape Copy of ATL 1124.31--32 Side A d) Song 1 Girl's puberty ceremony song; taunting song [of women?] (Hall 3) Tape Copy of ATL 1124.31--32 Side A e) Song 5 Girl's puberty ceremony song; repartee to 1 (7d) Hall 4?) Tape Copy of ATL 1124.31--32 Side B BLANK Series II Documentation 1934 1 1 Summary of Documentation 2 1 Tape Index Sheet, Indiana University Archives of Traditional Music 3 1 Notes of Earl W. Count, Leslie Spier's Modoc Songs 4 1 List of Modoc songs recorded by Leslie Spier 5 1 Music transcriptions