The songs in this series are from three tribes living on the Northwest Coast, these being the Makah, Clayoquot and Quileute. They were recorded at Neah Bay, Washington, in 1923 and 1926 in connection with the writer's study of Indian music for the Bureau of American Ethnology of the Smithsonian Institution.* The Makah and Clayoquot are Nootkan tribes and the Quileute are a Chimakuan tribe.

The land occupied by the Makah is in northwestern Washington, bordering on the Pacific Ocean and the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Neah Bay village being on the strait, near the end of Cape Flattery. The home of the Clayoquot is on the west coast of Vancouver Island and the songs of this tribe were recorded by two women from Clayoquat Sound who married Makah men when they were young and had lived among the Makah ever since. The Quileute village is on the shore of the Pacific Ocean south of the territory of the Makah and the Quileute songs were recorded by a woman from that village who came to Neah Bay to attend the celebration of Makah Day in 1926. The number of songs recorded and transcribed was 210 and the singers were eleven in number, three being women. This is an unusually large proportion of women singers. The singer recording the largest number of songs was Young Doctor, a Makah, who recorded 60 songs.

These Indians obtained most of their food from the sea, their principal food being the meat and oil of the whale. As in other tribes, they received songs in "dreams" which gave special power and they had songs for success in hunting whales and all forms of fishing, as well as songs to calm the sea when rough weather interfered with their endeavors. Singing was connected with the treatment of the sick as in other tribes, and the number of songs for children is unusually large in this series.

The manner of life in the old Makah village was adapted to the rigors of the long, cold winters. Young Doctor said that his father's house was 14 fathoms long and that about 20 people lived in it, including the children. There were bunks for sleeping and four fires on each side that were used for cooking. There were six houses in the village and back of them was a large, communal hall. Instead of having carved posts like totem poles in front of their houses the Makah had carvings inside the dwellings. Sometimes these carvings were ornamental and sometimes they represented the tunamos (spirit helper) of the owner. According to Young Doctor, there were usually two "drums" in each house, one at each end. These were boxes about four feet high and eight feet long. Three men sat on top of each and kicked it with their heels or struck it with sticks or their fists, in time with the singing. This environment developed a social life with many dances and feasts and it also encouraged much attention to the children. Many sorts of handwork were practiced by both men and women. Among the articles made by the Makah in early days were canoes and whaling implements, conical hats, dog's hair blankets and feather capes as well as bark mats, knives and daggers.

Young Doctor said that the first canoe at Reah Bay was a war canoe, the stern as high as a man and the bow still higher. In such canoes the Makah went to war. They were head-hunters and returned with heads of the enemy. The last war expedition took place when Young Doctor was a child; two heads of the Elwas (a band of the Clallam) were brought back and placed on the sand between Neah Bay village and Cape Flattery. They remained there four days, after which they were brought to Reah Bay, where they were placed on poles stuck upright in the sand, in front of the present site of the village. Two songs connected with head-hunting were recorded.

The environment and customs of the Nootka and Quileute present an interesting contrast to those of the tribes whose songs have previously been presented.

*Nootka and Quileute Music, Bulletin 124, Bur. Amer. Ethnol. 1932.