Annotation:Indian Squaw (2)

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INDIAN SQUAW [2]. Old-Time, Breakdown. G Major. GDad tuning (fiddle). AB. Some similarities to Alva Greene's version, although Hiram Stamper's [1] (1883-1992) apparently was derived from a song. Stamper whistled to the 'B' part of the tune, and sang to the 'A' part:

Way down yonder on the Arkansas,
Two old Indians and one old squaw,
Sitting on the banks of the Arkansas.

Jeff Titon (2001) finds nearly the same lyric in a song called "Bank of the Arkansas (The)" printed in Lomax and Lomax's Our Singing Country (1941, pp. 68-69), although Titon says tune that appears with that song is the same as that of Clyde Davenport's "Cornstalk Fiddle and a Shoestring Bow."

Hiram Stamper

See also Missouri fiddler Bill Graves' "One Old Indian Two Old Squaws."

Source for notated version: Hiram Stamper (Hindman, Knott County, Ky., 1986) [Titon].

Printed sources:

Recorded sources: Titon (Old-Time Kentucky Fiddle Tunes), 2001; No. 69C, p. 99.

See also listing at:
Hear Stamper's 1986 field recording by Bob Butler at Berea Digital Content [2] and at Slippery Hill [3]

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