1. Native American Culture, History, and Music
By: Abigail Walker

2. Introduction
Traditional Native American songs are comparable/similar to European nursery rhymes in the sense that they are short and simple
Despite their simplicity, they are played and presented in large groups, repetitious arrangements, and extravagant ceremonies

3. Past Native American Tribes
Religion and music, both of which are extremely important to all Native Americans, typically always accompany each other in some way
Music influences religion, and religion influences music
Some religious ceremonies can last up to several days!
The Navajo’s have a curing ceremony that lasts a total of nine days, and nights, and consisting of hundreds of songs!
The Hako’s have a religious ceremony that lasts four days and includes roughly 100 songs/rituals!

4. Past Native American Tribes
Average tribe was about 1,000 people strong
(With the exception of some unusually very large and very small tribes)
Before contact with European settlers, Native American groups had developed their own unique cultural systems that intertwined their beliefs of life and music
Native American tribes have been classified, by anthropologists, into six to eight different groups based on their cultural systems

5. Example: Diversity Amongst Cultural Systems
North Pacific Coastal Region Cultural System
Fished
Built houses from wood
Had predefined social classes
Totem poles
Planes Region Cultural System
Hunter big game
Nomadic, tepee dwellers
Informal political structure
Believed in guardian spirits

6. General Native American Music Similarities
Since music is integrated into Native American culture, groups of Native American musical characteristics can be made by examining Anthropologist’s tribal classifications:
1. Plains
2. Eastern United States
3. Yuman (Southwestern United States)
4. Athabascan (Southwestern United States)
5. Pueblo (Southwestern United States)
6. Great Basin (Utah/Nevada)
7. Northwestern Coast (Washington, Oregon, and through Canada to Alaska)

7. General Native American Music Similarities
According to Native Americans, music is believed to have supernatural powers
Their music is typically all monophonic, however with the addition of vocals
Musical notes are usually long and use pulsations
Sound similar to folk songs, hymns, and/or chants
Consist of repetitious vocal melodies and phrases
Strong percussion, such as drums and rattles, are used in almost every song

8. Native American Music Differences – Potential Classification Issues!
There are so many tribes, large and small, that consist of unique musical characteristics
Thousands of different practices, language dialects, and religious beliefs affecting musical stylings
Would take YEARS to learn each style individually!
Examples of some tribal differences:
Plains – high pitches are sung
Eastern – Creek Stomp Songs
Athabascan – quick tempo music, could be recorded in quarter and eighth notes!
Plains family.
Athabascan family.

9. Development of Music
All materials in tribal communities were communicated and “recorded” orally, therefore music was too
The complexity of the songs lies in the oral significance and percussion beats
In Native American music, a song does not need to be complex in order for it to be considered “beautiful”
All of these are reasons why Native American music is kept simple and why it has not evolved dramatically throughout history like other forms of music have!

10. Present Native American Practices– “Powwow’s!”
Powwow is a popular twentieth-century word used in Native American culture
A modern-day tribal, or intertribal, meeting
Intertribal: style that combines various rituals and traditions from all tribes; overall a very new concept
Powwow’s are commonly arranged to preserve and unify Native American musics and cultures
Usually involves traditional, and sometimes modern, music and dance performances
Dances are always preformed in a solo style; performers dance with no partners

11. Present Native American Practices– Modern-Day Music Composure
Most Native American Intertribal songs today are preformed a terraced melody and incomplete repetition method
Terraced melody: melody that begins high but gradually drops, or “steps” down, ending in a low pitch
Incomplete repetition: structure of a song that repeats
First section uses short melody called the “Lead” and then that melody repeated by another singer called the “Second”
Second section is a chorus composed of two or more repetitious phrases

12. Conclusion
Songs are typically simple and repetitiously constructed, but extravagantly performed!
Voices and percussion are the primarily played instruments
There are 6 to 8 general tribal classifications made by Anthropologists
Made my examining similar music, religious beliefs, and similar culture practices
Music is viewed, by Native Americans, as a spiritual power
Today, Native Americans join as one to celebrate and remember their heritages at intertribal powwow meetings

13. Resources (APA)
Bohlman, P., Capwell, C., Dueck, B., Nettl, B., Turino, T., & Wong, I. (n.d.). Excursions in World Music. Upper Sattle River, NJ: Pearson Education.