Music of the Indigenous Americans

 This is a really cool topic to learn about because even though it is an ancient form of music, you can still see it today. Because there is so much history in topics such as this one, I had to learn more. We talked about a lot of things in class, but now we actually have a chance to learn more about the things we found interesting! There were a lot of things that I really liked, but there were a specific set of things that I wanted to do some more research into. 

The first is Native American drums. I found it really fascinating that all the different tribes and the general culture of Native Americans viewed the drum as a sacred object that connected them to the earth and the universe around them. I was curious to see exactly how they are made and what else they are valued for. The general concept is pretty obvious, a pelt of some sort is stretched over a frame. However, I wanted to dive further than that. The frame is most commonly made of wood. To achieve this, someone would carve out a log to create a ring that would serve as a frame. The next step would be to find some sort of membrane, a pelt. Now, depending on which tribe and where the drum is being made, the pelt could be from any number of animals. The plain tribe probably would have made their drums from the pelts of horses or buffalo. Coastal and mountain tribes would probably make their drum heads out of deer or elk, maybe even moose pelts. Now you may be asking, "how do they keep the membrane on the frame?" Good question! I'll tell you! They couldn't use any nails, screws, or glue (mostly because it's ancient times and such things don't exist). To hold the membrane, sinew thongs, a fancy word for leg tendons, were threaded through the membrane then tied under to secure the head of the drum nice and taught. Drums came in different sizes, as well. Some here handheld, while others stayed on the ground, usually played by a group of people surrounding it and singing. (source)

Now, that's a pretty boring drum, so it makes sense that lots of drums had some sort of art on it. This could come in the form of fringe, painted designs, colored tendons, beads, or any combination of these. Here's a pretty cool drum...

The drum is used in almost every aspect of Native American life. One of those aspects is Peyote music. I decided to look on Britannica to learn some more about peyote music.  Peyote is a type of syncretic music, meaning it combines ideas from both Native American music and European Christian music. The Native American Church was born from the forming of these two ideas and the music they played was named peyote, after a plant used in ceremonies. The plant, the peyote cactus, would be smoked and (being a slight hallucinogenic) would create a different type of experience for the members of the NAC. Peyote music is generally accompanied by shakers and drums. It combines the use of vocables and English lyrics. Songs can be sung in unison or with harmony. And although peyote songs are based on a duple rhythm, they don't typically follow or conform to a regular meter. Peyote music became really popular in the mid-20th century, as well. Just like in Christian culture, there are songs for children to sing.  

The Halluci Nation!! 

So I know a few of us in the class really enjoyed listening to the music of Supaman, the modern Native American musician. I was really struck by the style of music and decided to see who else I could discover. I stumbled upon The Halluci Nation, a Native American band from Canada. This particular artist creates reggae, instrumental hip-hop, and dubstep-inspired dance music. BUT! They combine their sick modern beats with drumming and vocals from Powwows. This particular song, titled "Electric Pow Wow Drum" is a really cool example of this band. Take a listen!

So if you noticed, and if you didn't I'm still going to tell you, the video says the artist is A Tribe Called Red. The Halluci Nation have rebranded themselves and now are The Halluci Nation. 

That's all I have for you guys! It was really cool to research these topics and learn even more about the music of Indigenous Americans!