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.