Native American Music

European contact and its effect on Indian culture: devastating impact through several waves, cultural exchange

Difficulties of Studying Early Indian Music

Oral culture: no written records

Disease: American diseases killed american indians

Evangelism: forced them to accept Western life

Pan-Indian movements: Trial of Tears, Pow Wows

The allure of modern ways: many Native Americans abandoned their culture

European bias: often thought of them as savages or pure and noble 

Role of music in native culture

Link to ritual: always linked to a specific ceremony or ritual

Ownership of songs: songs were owned by a particular person and other people would need permission to sing it

Vision quest: how different songs would come to someone

Spiritual power: performed to carry out certain tasks (such as healing)

Efficacy: songs were judged by whether they were able to carry out their spiritual talk

Musical characteristics

Song Form 

Vocables: different vocals used 

    Scales

Musical instruments

Drums, rattles, flutes

Regional differences

Plains style: Pow Wow style, where reservations were, many drums playing out with high yodeling

Southwest style: double-headed drum with a long-short beats

Northwest Pacific: totem poles with potlatches

Pan-Indian movements

Trail of tears: forced into reservations and many died while traveling and a forced exchange 

Ghost dance: the idea that there was a resurrection was coming and that white people would disappear  

Pow wow: pan-cultural gatherings where people would get around and dance as a way to relive traditional practices