This tape contains 3 stories, 4 chants or songs about navigators, and one lullaby. A chant or song which is called “arhuworhuw” in Carolinian may be either one of two types. It may be a lullaby, represented by #2 on this tape, or it may be a song which is used to record the exploits of famous individuals either past or present. They are usually composed at the time of the event, and are then handed down and memorized by subsequent geneerations.
The speaker throughout is Ineniugeman, a woman from Satawal Island who is estimated to be between 65 and 70 years old in 1988. Since many arhuworhuw may be sung in more than one dialect, a particular speaker may have memorized the song or chant in a dialect other than his/her own. On this tape the song designated as #4 is about the navigator Saipweirik from Satawal, but it is sung in the Woleaian rather than Satawalese dialect of Carolinian. The explanations of the speaker are however in Satawalese. In each arhuworhuw, the speaker has included a short explanation after almost every phrase. In the transcribed text this is included beneath the phrase and set off by parentheses (). For the stories which are not sung or chanted, the explanations of the speaker are likewise set off by parentheses and do not represent the actual text of the story.
Angelina Nesepailug McCoy
Mike A. McCoy
August, 1988
