y fond of singing--they sang when they were merry; when
they thought they were going to die; when they were victorious in
hunting, love, or war; when they were defeated; when they were
paddling a canoe or sewing a moccasin--they had but a poor range of
musical instruments. Most of the tribes used flutes made out of the
wing bones of cranes or out of reeds, and some had small trumpets of
wood, bark, or buffalo horn. The Pacific coast Indians made gongs or
"xylophones" out of blocks or slabs of resonant wood.

Here is a specimen of Amerindian singing. It is the song which
accompanied the famous Calumet dance in celebration of the peacemaking
qualities of tobacco-smoking. It was taken down by the Jesuit
missionaries in the seventeenth century from the Ilinwa (Illinois)
Algonkin Indians of the middle west, and its notation reminds one of
Japanese music.

[Musical notation and words:

THE CALUMET OR TOBACCO-PIPE DANCE

Ni-na-ha-ni, ni-na-ha-ni, ni-na-ha-ni
na-ni on-go; Ni-na-ha-ni, ni-na-ha-ni,
ni-na-ha-ni ho-ho; ni-na-ha-ni, ni-na-ha-ni,
ni-na-ha-ni, Ka-wa ban-no-ge at-chi-cha
Ko-ge a-ke a-w[-a]; Ba-no-ge a-chi-cha
sha-go-be he, he, he! Min-tin-go mi-ta-de
pi-ni, pi-ni he! A-chi-cha le ma-chi
mi nam ba mik-tan-de, mik-tan-de pi-ni, pini he!]

Ninahani, &c, ongo; ninahani, &c, hoho; ninahani, &c.
Kawa bannoge atchicha Koge ake aw[-a];
Banoge atchicha shagobe he he he! Mintingo mitade
Pini pini he! Atchicha le machi mi nam ba miktande,
Miktande pini pini he!

Dancing was little else than posturing and jumping in masks--usually
made to look like the head of a wild beast. But the men were usually
very athletic. Wrestling competitions were almost universal,
especially as a means of winning a wife. The conqueror in a wrestling
match took the wife or wives of the defeated man. Their running powers
for endurance and speed became justly celebrated.

"Their principal and most inveterate game is that of the hoop," writes
Alexander Henry, sen., "which proves as ruinous to them as the platter
does to the Saulteurs (Ojibwe)." This game was played in the following
manner. A hoop was made about two feet in diameter, nearly covered
with dressed leather, and trimmed with quillwork, feathers, bits of
metal, and other trinkets, on which were certain particular marks. Two
persons played at the same time, by rolling the hoop and accompanying