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Indian Squaw; Two Little Indians and One Old Squaw
Old-time Reel;
ARTIST: Clarence Ashley- vocal & banjo; Fred Price- fiddle
Listen To:
CATEGORY: Fiddle and Instrumental songs
DATE: 1962 EARLIEST DATE: Late 1800s- early 1900s
RECORDING INFO: Indian Squaw
Indian Squaw
Rt - Banks/Bank of the Arkansas
Rm - Indian Nation
Flat Iron String Band. 10th Annual Portland Old-Time Music Gathering Sampler, 2009, OTG 10, CD (2009), trk# 21
Greene, Alva. Titon, Jeff Todd / Old Time Kentucky Fiddle Tunes, U. Ky, Bk/ (2001), p 98/# 69A [1973]
Haley, Ed. Titon, Jeff Todd / Old Time Kentucky Fiddle Tunes, U. Ky, Bk/ (2001), p 98/# 69B [1946]
Haley, Ed. Fiddler Magazine, Fiddler Mag., Ser, 5/3, p36(1998) [1946]
Haley, Ed. Forked Deer, Rounder 1131/1132, CD( (1997), trk# 2.02
Molsky, Bruce. Lost Boy, Rounder 0361, CD (1996), trk# 18
Stamper, Hiram. Titon, Jeff Todd / Old Time Kentucky Fiddle Tunes, U. Ky, Bk/ (2001), p 99/# 69C [1986]
One Old Indian, Two Old Squaws
Graves, Bill. Traditional Fiddle Music of the Ozarks. Vol. 2., Rounder 0436, CD (2000), trk# 6 [1998/08/10]
OTHER NAMES: "One Old Indian, Two Old Squaws" (Bill Graves); "Indian Girl." "Two Little Indians and One Old Squaw" (Hiram Stamper)
RELATED TO: “Indian Nation.” "Bank of the Arkansas" "Cornstalk Fiddle"
SOURCES: Folk Index; Kuntz
NOTES Kuntz: INDIAN SQUAW [1]. AKA - "Indian Girl." Old‑Time, Breakdown. G Major. GDad. AB (Titon/Greene): ABC (Titon/Haley). Source Alva Greene’s version is a simplified version of Ed Haley’s “Indian Squaw,” and Greene may have learned it directly from him. There is some discrepancy: Titon believes Greene’s piece is a version of Haley’s “Indian Squaw” tune, while John Hartford and Mark Wilson independently write that it is more similar to Haley’s “Indian Nation.” This opinion may also be the result of listening to two different field recordings of Greene playing the tune—Wilson himself recorded Greene for Rounder 0376, while Titon’s version was notated from Chris Delaney’s 1973 field recording. It was a showcase piece for Haley (born in Hart’s Creek, W.Va, lived near Ashland, Ky.), who was the only fiddler to record the ‘C’ part, probably original with him. Sources for notated versions: Alva Greene (Sandy Hook, Elliot County, Ky., 1973) [Titon]; Ed Haley (Ashland, Boyd County, Ky., 1946) [Titon]. Titon (Old-Time Kentucky Fiddle Tunes), 2001; Nos. 69A & 69B, pg. 98. Rounder 0361, Bruce Molsky - “Lost Boy” (1996). Rounder 0376, Alva Greene (et al) – “Traditional Fiddle Music of Kentucky, vol. 1: Up the Ohio and Licking Rivers” (1997). Yodel-Ay-Hee 003, “Dirk Powell and John Hermann” (1992). Reed Island Rounders – “Goin’ Home” (2002).
INDIAN SQUAW [2]. Old-Time, Breakdown. G Major. GDad tuning. AB. Some similarities to Alva Greene’s version, although Stamper’s apparently was derived from a song. Stamper whistled to the ‘B’ part of the tune, and sang to the ‘A’ part:
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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 “The Bank of the Arkansas” printed in Lomax and Lomax’s Our Singing Country (1941, pgs. 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.” Source for notated version: Hiram Stamper (Hindman, Knott County, Ky., 1986) [Titon]. Titon (Old-Time Kentucky Fiddle Tunes), 2001; No. 69C, pg. 99.
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