Native American Rap and Reggae Summary

Neal Ullestad discusses Native American musicians roles in forming new, contemporary music that falls under the rap and reggae genres.  In both Native American rap and reggae, three themes become apparent in their music.  One common theme is the the conquest and mistreatment of Native Americans by the Europeans, as well as the subsequent abuse that their relatives faced throughout American history.  Harjo sings about the conquest and genocide of her people on her compact disc "Letter from the End of the Twentieth Century," yet she also celebrates her people's survival and will despite all of the hardships they have faced.  Some artists, such as John Trudell address gender conflict issues that modern society has thrust upon Native American women.  

Native American rap had been transformed by WithOut Reservation (also referred to as W.O.R.) who's songs central themes focus on "social structures that, among other things, leave many Native Americans filled with self-hate and alcohol."  W.O.R., like contemporary artists such as Harjo and Trudell, also discuss injustice and stereotypes in their music.  These themes set Native American rap, reggae and pop apart from mainstream pop, as they are very political and social, serving as advocates for Native American people.  To further distinguish Native American rap, reggae and rock, one must take into consideration the hybrid features of the music, in particular the manner in which the artists blend traditional Native American music with contemporary music in order to reach a wider audience and spread the messages.  

Perea Chapter 5: Native American Jazz

One of the overreaching themes in this chapter is the idea of the "unexpected."  Perea discusses in great detail the primitive stereotype that Native Americans are labeled with and and analyzed how it appears in a jazz or big band swing style musical number in the Betty Boop cartoon.  In the cartoon, the primitive stereotype is apparent after the Native Americans are shown misusing western instruments.  This cartoon, along with many others, laid the foundation for the common belief that Native Americans could not participate in Western music and that they were, and always would be, primitive.  Therefore, when Native American jazz artists began producing music, it was "unexpected"because Americans only associated Native Americans with typical sounding Native American music and instruments, as shown through the Betty Boop cartoon.  The manner in which Native Americans were introduced to jazz is intriguing, because it can be viewed as forced assimilation.  Native Americans were introduced to western music in boarding schools, where they were basically forced to learn how to play western musical instruments so that they could engage in western music.  Many famous Native American jazz artist, such as Russell "Big Chief" Moore, learned how to play western instruments while away at boarding school.  My question is how do Native American jazz musicians blend traditional American jazz styles with traditional Native American styles, if at all?  Is traditional Native American music completely lost, or is it blended in hybrid form?

Heartbeat: Voices of First Nations Women Summary

In "Heartbeat: Voices of First Nations Women," the authors discuss the musical roles that women have in specific areas of Native American society, and the level of importance of their roles.  One common theme that should be noted is that the role and importance of women in specific parts of culture such as ceremonies, social dance and play, and participating in the drum, varies from tribe to tribe.  While one tribe may allow women to play a more prominent role in a ceremony, another tribe may not allow women to be prominently involved in ceremonies.  In the pow-wow drum, for example, women from both the Northern Plains and Southern Plains, women take on a vocal role, singing behind the drum as accompaniment to the drum leader.  However, overtime, there has been a growing number of mixed-gender drum groups, yet there are still no women's drum groups.  Women did have an important musical role in social dance and play as most of the social song and dances were sung by women singers.  Women also have an increasingly important role in song making, an action that had been predominantly male.  In contemporary Native American  music, Native American women are able create lyrics, and and composing music for traditional songs, as well as new songs, which is both preserving and revitalizing Native American music.

Diamond Chapter 5 and Browner Chapter 8 Summaries

I could not find Browner Chapter 8 on moodle.

Chapter five of Diamond extensively discusses pow-wow and the role that they have in the inter-tribal community, as well as how pow-wows jump started contemporary Native American Music.  It also talks about the issues with identity that contemporary Native American musicians have when producing music.  The purpose of pow-wows in the intertribal community is to bring different tribes together for special gatherings to honor individuals or groups, or to mark relationships, or to bring the community together to help someone in need.  They also serve the purpose of honoring "traditional values, as well as kinship and intercommunity ties."  She continues to explain the fundamentals of the Pow-wow, however it is important to note that she gives the explanation from an outsider perspective.  Native American music began the transition to contemporary through early recordings of songs performed during pow-wows.  Eventually Native American artists began to produce Native American music that could reach audiences that consisted of both Indians and non-Indians.  Diamond points out that the main issue with Native American contemporary music is that it is not easily identifiable and categorized into genres because the native american music is being swept up by mainstream music. Also artists face an identity issue when composing and performing their music.  Diamond brings to light several questions that artists must ask themselves.  Many of these questions are personal questions that the artist must resolve in order to reach other non-indian listeners or listeners from other tribes.  A common issue that arises is what language to sing in; does the artist perform in his or her native tongue, or should the artist perform in english or voables so that other non-indians and Indians from other tribes can enjoy the song. Throughout this reading, I was reminding myself that this was written from an outsider perspective, therefore some pieces of information are lost because she does not have total knowledge of the subject matter.

Browner Excerpts and Perea: Pow-Wows

In the first Browner excerpt, the insider v. outsider theme is discussed in detail.  In the early twentieth century, Indians were forced onto reservations and the American government sought to regulate Indian culture.  The government tried to limit Indian dancing in particular, however, the government deemed dancing, which was associated with pow-wows, to be acceptable if performed in order to entertain or to gain American acceptance.  Although Commissioner Burke was attempting to restrain Indian culture, as an outsider he was blinded by the entertaining aspects of Indian dancing, yet he failed to see that Indian dancing cannot just be separated from the spiritual and social meanings for the Indians.  Dancing was then legalized with the help of Collier who was fascinated by Dancing. The excerpt goes into further detail about the Lakota tribe and their underground pow-wows.  After the Great Sioux Reservation was established, the government began regulating the culture of the The Lakota people by outlawing specific dances such as the Sun Dance. In order to preserve their culture they took their pow-wows underground. The Anishnaabe people were able to preserve their culture by exploiting the insider v. outsider theme.  To the outsider, pow-wows seem like a "carnival or sporting event" however for an insider, tradition music and dance "even when performed at large competitive pow-wows and for non indian audience, can still exist within the realm of spiritual and sacred."  Outsiders continue to try to control Indian practices, however, outsiders will never be able to comprehend the importance and meaning of the traditional ceremonies that are conducted at pow-wows.

In the second Browner excerpt,  Browner goes into great detail describing what occurs during a pow-wow through careful, explicit observations.  Browner describes the order of events of the Pow-wow, the set-up, the participants and the songs and dances that occur.  However it is obvious that Browner is an outsider looking in on pow-wow.  Even though the observations are so detailed, Browner fails to capture the spiritual and emotional significance of the traditions.  The dances that elicit specific emotions for the Indians are really just entertaining for Browner and the other outsiders. It is apparent that non-Indians will not be able to comprehend the magnitude of certain traditions as much as they try, because they do not have the insider perspective.

Perea on the other hand, is an insider describing the events and traditions of a pow-wow to an outsider reader.  Perea goes into detail about the importance of origin stories;  he says, "My sense of pow-wow origin story is shaped through my participation in the event as a singer and spectator, as well as by readings on pow-wows drawn from ethnomusicology and Native American studies."  Perea's extensive knowledge about the pow-wow is enhanced by the fact that he is an insider, a participant in the traditional pow-wows.  He also discusses how space and music together are important in creating a sense of community, thus the arrangement of the Pow-wow is important.  The arrangement is circular, which is representative of the belief that everything is connected.  At the center is the pow-wow drum because it "gathers singers, dancers and other community members to participate in the pow-wow."  The female singers surround the male singers and the dancers and community members surround the female singers.  Perea extensively discusses the role of the singer, and he is able to utilize his insider experience to describe the importance of the singer.  He also discusses the role of the dancers, from the perspective of a singer. Singers are supposed to "inspire dancers to dance their best all day by selecting good songs and performing them at the right temp and pitch."  His insider point of view was very intriguing and eye opening because it offers a deeper perspective on the traditions of pow-wows.

Native American Myth: "Fire"

"Fire" is a myth from the Alabama Tribe that is a creation story about fire and how fire came to be used by man.  At the beginning of the world, Bear owned Fire, however, Bear took poor care of Fire one day.  Bear and his people had set up fire by a great forest and found tasty acorns.  They left Fire alone in search for more of the tasty acorns, leaving Fire to die out slowly. Man then came walking through the forest and heard Fire crying out in desperation, "feed me!"  Fire told man to feed him sticks, so Man put sticks on the North, South, East and West sides of Fire and Fire was able to grow from eating the sticks.  As it grew, Fire warmed Man and Man also enjoyed watching Fires natural dancing and movement.  Therefore, Fire and Man started their relationship and from that day on, Man owned Fire.

This was an interesting myth; even though it was somewhat short, it got to the main point regarding fire and Man's relationship.  Both fire and man were dependent on each other; one could not thrive without the other.  

I found this myth from americanfolklore.com 

Navajo and the White Mountain Apache Ceremonial Dances

The Navajo and White Mountain Apache have several things in common in regards to their spiritual ceremonial dances and prayers.  First, both the Navajo and Apache’s ceremonial rituals and dances are rooted in healing and reconnecting the individual with nature to heal them spiritually.  The Navajo’s “Blessingway” is performed to prepare an individual for all of the good things that will occur in their life.  Similarly, the Apache’s spiritual ceremonies are deeply rooted in healing an individual and ridding the individual of evil. An example of this is when special dancers drive away evil spirits during the Crown Dance. 

Also, both the Navajo and White Mountain Apache have spiritual dances for women after they begin their menstrual cycle.  In both cultures, ceremonies take place to prepare the girl for womanhood and ultimately motherhood. In the White Mountain Apache culture, the Sunrise Dance is a ceremonial dance that takes place a month after a woman begins her menstrual cycle.  The ceremony takes place to help the woman transition into womanhood. Similarly, The Navajo’s Blessingway covers this part of a woman’s life, as it is considered a good thing, and all good things are celebrated through this spiritual ceremonial dance.

Furthermore, the Navajo and White Mountain Apache music and dances aim to enact the power of the Creator and reference the myths behind the creation of the universe.  These spirits dwell in nature, specifically the mountains. One possible reason for the similarities in the two tribe’s spiritual ceremonies and dances is because they are close in region.  Both tribes are from around the Arizona, New Mexico area, thus it is possible that ideas spread due to the proximity of the tribes and possible interactions.