Transcript Native

NATIVE AMERICAN MUSIC
Native American
music is fairly
homogeneous
Common Native
American
instruments are
singing and
drums
Typically
there are
eight
different
musical
areas
Plains style:
Blackfoot “War
or Grass Dance
song,” Textbook
CD 3, track 12
Eastern style: “Creek Stomp Dance
Song”, Textbook CD 3, track 13
Lummi Stick Game Song
Textbook CD 3, track 14
Intertribal styles
have developed
in recent times
Pawnee Ghost
Dance Song:
“The Yellow Star,”
Textbook CD 3,
track 15
Kiowa Peyote Song: Opening Prayer
Song and Sunrise Song, tracks 16 & 17
The powwow is
an intertribal
event that builds
a sense of
ethnic identity
Two Modern Powwow Love Songs,
Textbook CD 3, track 18
Popular
music
includes
Indian rock
music and
Native
American
flute music
Native American songs tend to be very
short, but sung in large groups for
specific rituals
The voice is
the primary
instrument,
with drums,
rattles,
scrappers,
and flutes the
most
widespread
instruments
The singing style usually
features a tense, pulsating voice
There are
eight regions
that have
common
musical
cultures
Music serves as a mediator
between us and the
supernatural world
Individual skill is not valued as highly
as group participation in performance
Today, Western
pop influences—
including rock
and rap—have
led to a new type
of intertribal
popular music
Since a musical
system is a
reflection of the
rest of the
culture, how is it
so in Native
American
cultures?
Since a musical
system is a
reflection of the
rest of the
culture, how is it
so in African
cultures?
Since a musical system is a reflection of the
rest of the culture, how is it so in Asian
cultures?
Since a musical system is a reflection of
the rest of the culture, how is it so in
American popular culture?
How can powwows be seen as an
existing Native American culture on the
one hand and a vanished culture on the
other?
Will powwows
ever be enough
to bring back
older Native
American
cultures?