Old Ceremonial Traditions
 Song is short – similar to nursery rhyme; presented
in large group and part of elaborate
ceremonies/rituals
• Peyote ceremony of Plains tribes – each singer sings
4 songs
 Yeibechai of Navajo
 Hako of Pawnee
 medicine-bundle ceremonies of Northern plains
 the Blackfoot Sun Dance which is a major religious
ritual of tribes in U.S.
Native American Cultures
and Music
 One to two thousand tribal groups in North American(each tribe about
1000 members) speaking distinct languages
 Each tribe had own musical culture, repertory, style, and ideas about
music.
 They used songs in ceremonies to accompany dance and to draw
boundaries between subdivisions of society such as age, clan, gender.
 Culture areas in U.S. –Anthropologists classified about 6-8 groups
 Each culture area had unique characteristics:
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Types of housing- wooden houses, teepees, cliff dwellings
Ways of acquiring/preparing food- fished, hunt buffalo, grew corn
Clothing
Religion – guardian spirits, complex ceremonial life
Economic/political structure – rigid class structure with slaves, informal
egalitarian societies,
Unity/Diversity in Native
American Music
 Music is homogeneous, monophonic, usually vocal
 Few distinct singing styles – all have tense sound,
pulsations on longer notes.
 All singing accompanied by percussion
(drums/rattles)
 3 types of song predominate
 Strophic–folk/hymn-like, stanza is repeated many times
 2 contrasting section of music(one higher)alternate.
 Very short songs of 1-2 lines repeated often
Unity/Diversity in Music(continued)
Music Areas
7 Music Areas
PLAINS
• singing style emphasize high pitch, rhythmic pulsations on long tones,
tension, harshness.
• Form consists of stanzas – short phrase repeated and descending phrases
ending with low, flat cadence and repeated.
EASTERN UNITED STATES
 Great variety of forms
• Several short phrases with varying arrangements
• Rounder more relaxed vocal; singing is alternated by leader and a
group(call and response)
YUMAN(Southwestern U.S./ parts of So. California)
 Relaxed vocal style ; implements the “rise” where phrase is repeated and
interrupted by higher contrastive section.
Unity/Diversity in
Music(continued) Music Areas
ATHABASCAN Navajo/Apache)
• Large vocal range, nasal sound
PUEBLO (Papago, Southwest U.S.)
• Singing style similar to Athabasca and Plains; but low, harsh,
pulsating vocal style; long complex forms
GREAT BASIN (Nevada/Utah)
• Small vocal range; each group of phrases repeated once
NORTHWESTERN COAST (Oregon, Washington, Alaska)
• Singing style- pit voice and drum against the other
• Complex rhythms; polyphonic tradition
Ideas of Music
Music is simple form with little interaction
• Oral tradition
• More complexity underlying form than one hears
• Technical complexity not a criterion of musical quality
 Music integrates society, ceremonial events
 Music has supernatural powers
 Songs exist in cosmos- exist through human dreams
Musical Instruments
DRUMS
RATTLES
 provide rhythmic accompaniment to singing
 certain kinds associated with particular type
of ceremony
 Large – 2 heads
 Small hand drums
 Kettledrums filled with water for tuning
 Made of gourds, turtle shells, deer hooves,
hide pieces sewn together
 Decorated with feathers, paint, animal skins
 Other idiophones include clappers, small
metal bells introduced by Europeans
FLUTE
 restricted uses; melody producing
 End-blown and duct flutes(recorder)
MISCELLANEOUS INSTRUMENTS
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simple reeds, trumpets, bows, violin
History of Native American
Music
 Small amount of composed music – oral tradition
 Native American music documented since the coming of the white people
 Knowledge of ceremonies/rituals forgotten because tribes wiped out,
relocated, famines, epidemics
 Western influence created new musical developments (began 1890)
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Music as a weapon to fight back against cultural absorption
Music as a weapon to preserve cultural identity
Types of modern music:
The Ghost Dance – messianic cult, thought to help in combat, bring back dead
and restore buffalo
Peyote Music- peyote religion, based on hallucinogenic effects of cactus plant;
identifiable by “meaningless” vocables.
Powwow culture(1950-)most significant trend, strong cultural identity, romantic
and amusing music
Women in music has increased
Modern North American
Indian Days
Modern popular music – preservation/protection of
environment
Coexistence of several events – traditional & modern
 Powwow(tribal gathering) – members of singing group
sit in a circle facing one another with their drums.
Dancer with flamboyant costumes; solo dancing.
Singing groups are called Drums
 Gambling games from ancient tradition which includes
singing
 Western music performed by
Native Americans