Indigenous Music - Their Music and Culture

It has been very interesting to learn about Indigenous music and culture. Finding out how much the government tried to suppress Indigenous people and culture was a surprise, but not as much as I was thinking I would felt since I had previously heard of the boarding schools in Canada. 

The first part of Indigenous musical culture that I will be talking about today is modern vmusic. I have found a singer-songwriter whose music is very pleasing to my ears.

Raye Zaragoza is a folk singer-songwriter based out of Los Angeles, CA. Her mother is a Japanese immigrant and her father is of Mexican and indigenous background. Her grandmother was a part of the forced assimilation cultures of the 1900s. She was taken from her family, forced into a boarding school, and then raised by another family. 

Her song, "American Dream" (see below) is about her family and the dated concept of the American Dream. The song tells us to turn off the TV and take a stand against the injustice in our country (the United States). In the rest of her discography, she tells the story of her coming of age and experiences of living in a country where existing can be a political debate. I haven't listened to her entire discography, but I do enjoy the style of her music.

The second part of the Indigenous culture that I will be talking about is their instruments. I will be focusing on their flutes. Like most Indigenous inventions or items, the creation of the flute is steeped in myths and legends. In the Sioux tribe, they have a story of an unsuccessful hunter being given the flute by two youths and told that if he plays it at midnight then all the women will come to him. The Comanche tribe has a different story. It is about branches with woodpecker holes making music that calmed the spirit of a grieving man who created the flute to make music full of love rather than sorrow.

For the physical construction of the flutes, bone flutes were not common and only existed early on. As time went on, artisans made them out of hardwood with high densities and softer wood. Some of the oldest flutes found have been dated to around 200 to 900 CE. However, these older flutes don't have as intricate mouthpieces as newer ones. Flutes are used for celebrations, spiritual purposes, community gatherings or powwows, and for simple entertainment.

Mary Youngblood is the first Native American woman to ever win a Grammy Award in 2002, winning the “Best Native American Recording" award. Her music combines her Aleut/Seminole heritage and newer sounds.

The third and final part of Indigenous music and culture are their powwow outfits. To start, the outfits are different depending on where the tribe is based. For the women's cloth dress, Southern and Eastern tribes tend to wear full cotton dresses or skirts worn with cape-like blouses and Woodland tribes have appliques on their shawls and skirts called ribbon-work. Plains and Plateau tribes wear T-dresses, or an Indigenous version of the modern A-line dress with large open sleeves and they can have intricate beadwork or patterns sew into it. Southwestern tribes are distinguished by lots of turquoise and silver jewelry. An example of a cloth dress is shown below.

Women also have buckskin dresses, and there is a difference between Northern and Southern buckskin dresses. There are two examples below. 

There's a more modern dance, created in the 1960s, that was called "Graceful Shawl." Very popular among younger girls and women. I can't quite describe them, but there are a couple of images of the fancy shawl below.

The last outfit for the women is the jingle dress. It originated from the Ojibway tribes in Canada. It is a dress with beads and has rolled tin sew onto the skirt to make a swishing noise.

Now onto men's outfits.

The first is the Grass Dance, a very old and traditional dance. In modern times it is a colorful and popular dance today. An example is shown below. 

Next is the Fancy War Dance, or just Fancy Dance. It is said to represent the modern pow wow. The dancers wear a bustle on the waist and bustle on the back of the shoulder. The bustle can be eagle feathers or colorful dyed feathers with ribbon or horsehair streams hanging from the feathers. They also wear hair roaches.

The last men's dance and outfit is the Men Southern Straight or Southern Traditional and the Men Northern Traditional dance. On the left is the Southern Traditional and on the right is the Northern Traditional. 

Overall, Indigenous Music and Culture is something unique and lasting. In the face of discrimination and genocide, Indigenous people and their culture survived. They may not have thrived that well, but they are on their way to thriving in their culture and heritage once more. 

Citations

“Bio.” Raye Zaragoza, www.rayezaragoza.com/bio. Accessed 16 Sept. 2021.

G, About Paul. “Native American Flutes: From History to How-To.” PowWows.com, 17 Feb. 2020, www.powwows.com/native-american-flutes-from-history-to-how-to/. Accessed 16 Sept. 2021.

“Indian POW WOW Native American Attire and Its Meaning.” Seecalifornia.com, www.seecalifornia.com/culture/indian-powwow-clothing.html. Accessed 16 Sept. 2021.

Staff, GGM. “Raye Zaragoza: ‘It's Time to Rise up, Turn off the Television, and Take a Stand." - GUITAR Girl Magazine.” Guitar Girl Magazine - Magazine Dedicated to Encourage, Inspire, and Empower Female and Non-Binary Guitar and Bass Players., 29 Mar. 2018, guitargirlmag.com/interviews/raye-zaragoza-time-rise-up-turn-off-television-take-stand/. Accessed 16 Sept 2021.