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I first heard a recording of a Haida woman singing this one in 1986, recorded by anthropologist Viola Garfield. This song is very well-traveled and it originally comes from Txałgiiw (Hartley Bay). There is also a recording of a man named Matthew Johnson singing a version of it from La̱x Kw’alaams. The version he sings is much more similar to the one the Haida woman sings than it is to the Hartley Bay version, although in the recording the Haida woman maintains that the song came from Hartley Bay. I’ve sung it for a few first-language speakers of Sm’algya̱x from Hartley Bay and they all recognize it and remember it.

lyrics

Eee iii
Eee iii
goosnł waals noon da
yagwa si'ił sigabooxs noon asga gyeeka
eee iii

Wonder where your mother is
They’re now trying to harvest cockles down the beach

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Saltwater Hank Prince Rupert, British Columbia

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