Music Of Indigenous Americans
Powwow Healing Dance
We have discussed the significance of the Powwow in Native American culture and how it unifies the members of that culture. During Powwows there are dance competitions and I found the costumes that they wore to be interesting, so I looked up specific dances and the costumes' significance to that dance. I chose to learn about the Healing Dance. In this video the dance is being performed by the Northern Cree and they are a powwow, round dance, drum, and singing group. The Healing dance, also known as the Jingle dance, was created during a time in history when many people were getting sick and a lot of the children were becoming incredibly ill. A man that was in their village who was worried about his daughter prayed to the great mystery and he received a vision in a dream. In that vision he was told to help the people, and he saw four women who were each dressed idiosyncratically. The dresses they wore were covered with shiny metal cones and the women moved in a very meticulous manner. He described them as "gently touching the earth, while moving in a circle following the path of the Sun they did not cross their feet in any way or change their directions." The colors of their dresses as they danced were red, yellow, green, and blue. After the man woke up, he told his wife about the dream and showed her the dance he saw. His wife gathered up other women of their village to perform the dance. From there the women created the costumes that the man had seen in his vision and then taught the dance to the others. The women performed the dance while the men drummed. It is said that the sound of the jingles as they dance is supposed to mirror the healing sound of the rain as it falls upon the Earth. The man and woman brought their daughter to see the dance, and it is said that as the girl, who was extremely ill, watched the dance she laid still on her blanket, but when the dancers passed her she stood up and walked out into the circle to join them in dancing. After this, she recovered from her illness and this is how the healing dance was created.
"Mik Maq Honour Song"
I chose to look for another song written by and for Indigenous people and compare it to the songs we have listened to in class. The song I found is entitled "Mik Maq Honour Song," by the Red Shadow Singers. This song has many of the same aspects as the other songs we listened to in class. There are vocables, shakers, drums, a steady drumbeat, a mostly conjunct melody, call and response, singing in unison, and a distinct timbre to their voices. In some parts of the song they drone one note on various vocables. Also, later in the song it sounds like children join in on the song and harmonize with the others. This song is very upbeat, and it sounds like a dance song, but the description says that it is a ghost dance song.
"Holy One"
Another topic we discussed in class was how Indigenous people combined Christianity with their traditions and beliefs. I decided to look for a Christian song that was written for and by Indigenous people and the song that I found is entitled "Holy One," by Broken Walls. This song is in their native language, and it includes many of the same aspects as the songs we discussed in class. Also, this song is a drum circle. This song includes drums, a steady drumbeat for the most part, vocables, call and response, shakers, and some sort of cymbal. Later in the song they switch to singing English and the melody stays the same. The song is very repetitive and mostly conjunct. This song is upbeat and sounds like it is a dance song. Also, this piece increases in intensity as it goes on, and the rhythm of the drum starts to change slightly.
Bibliography:
Red Shadow Singers. (2013, October 21). Mik Maq honour song. YouTube. Retrieved January 8, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoD6CebpXKI
wow! I really enjoyed your blog and found the info on the jingle dance especially interesting. The origin of how it began is so spiritually fascinating to me. Its crazy to think that someone had a vision of the dance and then 100s of years later it has become a huge tradition within their culture. Learning more about the healing dance was really cool and knowing how it began it just makes the knowledge that much more special. Overall awesome blog!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed "The Holy One". I love listening to songs in different languages. I also distinctly dislike most christian worship music, despite following the faith. This piece bypasses that. 10/10. I also really like the way the intensity grows.
ReplyDeleteThis is all great, Tanner! I've always thought it was awesome how spiritually Native Americans treat the idea of healing. In the context of the powwow dance it's cool to hear the story of how it developed from visions and was turned into the dance. Music really does seem to play a huge role in that kind of thing for them. It's understandable considering music has the agility to take your mind off other things. I think that had a huge effect on how they dance really did help the ill. Great job!
ReplyDeleteThank you for teaching me about the Healing Dance. As a music therapy major, I may be able to use something like this with my clients. It's interesting that there were specific outfits for healing dances. Also, your analysis of the Mik Maq song is quite thorough, so kudos to you! Last thing: finding where cultures blend together is a beautiful thing, so MORE kudos to you for seeing that connection.
ReplyDeleteI liked your last choice a lot , the “holy one” mainly because i was also very interested in the way that native tribes combined their cultures with other religion. So I thought this was a very cool combination because you would not typically expect indigenous people to necessarily accept other religions as this. So that stood out to me greatly and I loved the piece.
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