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"As the Indians finished their song, all of them were shedding tears, which I wondered at for not knowing the reason."
-- A musical encounter between Fr. Junipero Serra's chaplain and the Hiumen and Huchiun peoples of the San Francisco Bay, 1775 --
Friar Vicente de Santa Maria, chaplain of the San Carlos, details the event of August 23, 1775, as the crew of the ship and the Hiumen and Huchiun peoples of the San Francisco Bay exchanged songs, dances and ideas.
"Two reed boats were seen approaching in which were five Indians. As soon as the Captain was informed of this, he directed that signs be made inviting them aboard, to which they promptly responded by coming, which was what they wanted to do. Leaving their boats, they climbed aboard fearlessly. They were in great delight, marveling at the structure of the ship, their eyes fixed most of all on the rigging.
"But what most captivated and pleased them was the sound of the ship’s bell, which was purposely ordered to be struck so we could see what effect it had on ears that had never heard it. It pleased the Indians so much that while they were on board they went up to it from time to time to sound it themselves .
"Throughout the time the Indians were on board, we tried to attract them to Christian practices, now having them cross themselves or repeat the Pater Noster and Ave Maria, or chant the Alabado, which they followed so distinctly that it was astonishing with what facility the pronounced the Spanish."
Immediately following the Spaniards' singing of the Alabado, the Native Americans responded to the artistic gift with their own cultural offering. The chaplain recounts the chief's dancing on the ship's deck and his own curiosity to learn as many Hiumen and Huchiun words as he could from the afternoon's encounter.
"The Indian chieftain, less reserved than the others, showed how . . . pleased he was at our warmth of feeling; more than once he took to dancing and singing on the deckhouse. I paid close attention to their utterances that correspond with their actions that their language went like this: 'pire' means 'sit down' and 'intomene' means 'what is your name?' "
On shore, the Franciscan friar and native peoples once again exchanged songs and dancing.
"As the Indians remained seated on the shore I could not bear to lose the rest of the afternoon when I might be communicating with them; so, setting out in the dugout, I landed and remained alone with the eight Indians so that I might communicate with them in greater peace. The dugout went back to the ship, and at the same time they all crowded around me and, sitting by me, began to sing with an accompaniment of two rattles that they had brought with them.
"As they finished the song, all of them were shedding tears, which I wondered at for not knowing the reason. When they were through singing, they handed me the rattles and, by signs, asked me also to sing. I took the rattles and, to please them, began to sing them the Alabado ... to which they were most attentive and indicated that it pleased them."
(Excerpted from "Serra and Sacred Song at the Founding of California’s First Missions" by Craig H. Russell)
Was the music mournful? Or did they intuit the end of their songs?
What the aboriginal music of California was really like we now have no way of knowing. The best insights come from the work of UC Berkeley anthropologists Lehmer and Kroeber. who traveled among the Indian tribes in northern California in early 1990s and transcribed many of their songs.
(Excerpted from California Mission Music, The John Briggs Consort)
Songs: Miwok Courting Song; Mojave Raven Dance ; Yurok, Deerskin Dance; Monterey, Bear Dance.
ALSO, LISTEN TO Carla and Desiree Munoz, contemporary Ohlone singers, with ceremonial blessings, at: https://soundcloud.com/user-108438409/ohlone-sisters-sing-to-trees-water-women-bear-spirit