Native American music and song

Tribes affected: Pantribal

Significance: Music has always played an important role in American Indian culture; singing, in particular, is essential in many ceremonies, including religious rituals, as well as at social gatherings

When Europeans first encountered the natives of North America, they found a culture vastly different from their own. Because this culture was considered “primitive” and was thus branded inferior, there was little attempt to understand the culture of the “savages” at first. American Indian music was often described as atonal chanting, and it was assumed that Indian songs, like other aspects of their culture, were less advanced than those of the Europeans. This attitude persisted well into the twentieth century. Late in the twentieth century, as American Indians began the attempt to reclaim their cultural heritage and scholars began taking this culture seriously, it was found that American Indian music, song, and dance were complex; moreover, they varied greatly among the assorted cultures of North America.

Indian Concept of Music

One of the major reasons that early settlers and explorers found American Indian music so difficult to comprehend was that the Indians had a completely different concept of music in general, and singing in particular. The Indians use songs for specific purposes, often of a religious nature. There are songs to appease the spirits, songs for success in hunting and fishing, songs in preparation for war, and songs celebrating victory in war. There are also personal songs composed by individuals who have had visions.

Indian cultures have never codified music as European cultures have. Undoubtedly, musical styles changed over the centuries before the Europeans’ arrival, but modern researchers are at a loss to trace prehistoric developments of this sort, as none of the American tribes developed written languages or a system of describing specific tunes in a permanent manner.

Possibly the most essential difference between the European and American Indian cultures when it comes to music is that, in Indian cultures, virtually everyone may participate in music and singing. There is no group of professional composers or performers. In this sense, all Indian music is folk music. There has never been a difference between popular or folk songs, religious music, and “serious” music, as there has been in Europe and in the cultures the Europeans brought to North America.

The Indian Scale

As a general rule, Indian singing is accompanied only by percussion instruments or is unaccompanied. For this reason, a song does not have to be “in tune” in the sense that a specific scale must be used at all times. A common scheme is a steady fall in pitch during the song, though this is far from universal. (Some tribes play flutelike instruments made of hollowed wood or reeds, but these have a very limited range in pitch and are not used to accompany songs.) The result of this situation is that many Indian songs sound discordant to people used to European musical traditions. A song may not even come close to the harmonic patterns to which white cultures are accustomed. It is therefore impossible to play American Indian music on an instrument that is limited to the twelve-tone chromatic scale that has played an essential role in European music at least since the time of the ancient Greeks. It is also impossible to use standard musical notation to record tunes accurately.

Religious Songs

To the Native Americans, all music has a strong supernatural element. This aspect can also be found in Christian cultures; hymns are an important part of church services, for example, and there is considerable popular music based on religious themes. Yet this element is far more essential to American Indian songs. Music is considered a gift of the gods and is vital to almost all religious ceremonies. The songs involved are not hymns as such; rather, they are specific to a particular spirit or aspect of nature.

One very common type of religious song is essentially a prayer. Many songs in many tribes are named after animals and are intended to appease the spirit controlling the animal, thus giving the hunter or fisherman a greater chance of subduing his prey. The Inuits (Eskimos), for example, are greatly dependent on the sea for their survival. In their boats, they sing specific songs for whales, seals, fish, and other potential food sources. In the Plains culture, Native Americans have songs for buffalo, deer, and other game.

Another type of religious singing is the chanting of spells to cure disease. An Indian with a serious disease is often considered to be possessed by an evil spirit, and the proper chant may drive out this spirit. When other remedies, especially herbal treatments, are used, the songs still play a vital role. The herbs must be sung over to ensure their potency.

There are also songs to control the forces of nature. In arid areas, there are many songs to appease the rain spirits and cause much-needed rain. In areas subject to flooding, there are songs to appease the water gods and lessen the rain. There are songs to ensure crop fertility as well.

Finally, some religious songs are used as a celebration of religious events rather than as an invocation. These songs are usually of an individual nature, composed and sung by a person who has had a vision. These are personal songs, owned by the singers. The Navajo have a strong tradition in this regard. Personal songs are considered a form of wealth.

Secular Songs

American Indians have never separated the religious and secular sides of life to any great extent. Most modern Christians, Jews, and Moslems worship once a week, and may say prayers at other special times. During the rest of the week, they work in secular occupations that have no relation to their worship.

In American Indian cultures, the case is vastly different. Everything on earth is controlled by spirits, and every facet of life has a religious aspect. For this reason, there is really no way of speaking of secular songs in a strict sense of the term. Not all songs are related to specific religious rituals, however, and spirits may not be mentioned in them at all. There are, of course, love songs, sometimes related to courting rituals but often made up simply to express affection. In essence, they are not much different from the love songs that are sung in European cultures. There are also lullabies to put children to sleep and children’s songs for pure entertainment.

An unusual aspect of some Indian songs is the use of nonsense syllables (vocables). Often these meaningless syllables are inserted into a song to fill out a necessary rhythm, but sometimes entire songs have no concrete meaning whatsoever. It is difficult to explain this, except that it is not limited to American Indian cultures. From the “tra-la-las” of traditional European songs to the “doo-wahs” of 1950’s rock and roll songs, other cultures have often used this device. Its use in American Indian songs, however, may have a somewhat deeper meaning.

The very fact that not all Indian songs have literal meaning suggests that the act of singing is enjoyed for its own sake and is not always a prayer or a prelude to war or hunting. A comparison can be made to European culture’s development of instrumental music unaccompanied by singing; a Beethoven sonata has no concrete meaning. American Indians have developed very little in the way of instrumental music, apart from percussion accompaniment to singing. The singing of nonsense songs may be an indication that music for music’s sake is a universal enjoyment.

Song and Dance

A virtually universal aspect of American Indian song is its relationship to Native American dance. With rare exceptions, songs are accompanied by body movements, often highly ritualized body movements specific to a particular song. One major reason for this is the close ties both singing and dancing have to religious rituals.

This is another great difference between the European and American Indian cultures. There was probably religious dancing at some time in ancient Europe, as it seems to be a nearly universal aspect of cultures around the world. Many centuries ago, however, dancing in Europe became strictly a social event, and most dancers did not sing at the same time. Among American Indians, dance still retains its religious aspect and is often accompanied by songs. Both the dance steps and the songs can be extremely complex and are often performed in elaborate sequences. There are dance/song cycles in many areas, especially among the Navajos and a number of Plains tribes. In some cases, hundreds of songs with their related dance steps must be sung in a specific sequence to fulfill a religious obligation.

Modern Changes

Like virtually all aspects of American Indian society, Indian songs have been somewhat altered by contact with white culture. The traditions are still very much in evidence, but in many cases they have lost their original significance. Many modern American Indians have adopted the Christian religion and no longer sing and dance to appease spirits. At important tribal ceremonies, there may be Christian hymns intermixed with ancient tribal songs.

It is difficult to assess fully the influence of white culture on Indian music, at least partly because the only written records of Indians in the earliest days of contact were written by whites, who did not understand the cultures they were facing. Yet one particular modern development must be considered. In the 1960’s, American folk music changed drastically in many ways. There was a movement toward increasing social and political meaning in a genre that was once mostly concerned with romance, religion, and historical events. American Indians were among the many who used this vehicle to express their concerns. Usually these songs were written in English so that they could reach as wide an audience as possible.

The “protest songs” written and sung by American Indians are in some ways fundamentally different from those written by white Americans. They often speak of love of the earth, of ancient traditions and ceremonies, of a return to the land. They rarely have the angry tone that so many songs protesting ill conditions have. Rather, they tend toward a longing for a return to basics, for a recapturing of a lost world. The most common tone is one of sadness.

This development suggests a true resurgence of the ancient uses of song among the Indian cultures. Even if they are sung in English, to the accompaniment of electric guitars or even orchestras, the lyrics often involve some use of a native language and are essentially born of the same thoughts and feelings that inspired the ancient songs.

Musical Accompaniment

Indian songs are almost always accompanied by drums of various sorts. The particular musical instruments involved will be discussed below, but it is essential here to stress that tonal instruments are rarely used while singing is going on. As discussed above, this has meant that Indian song is not necessarily confined to a particular scale.

Drumming, however, is a common accompaniment of singing. It does not provide an exact rhythm for the song. One of the most disturbing aspects of American Indian music for someone used to the European tradition is that the singers may not follow the rhythm of the drums; it is completely acceptable to be “off the beat.”

Drums

The musical instrument most often associated with American Indians is the drum. Drums in Native American culture are almost always used to accompany singing and dancing and have also been used as a form of communication, with a sort of “Morse code” utilized to send messages over long distances.

One common type of drum is a hand drum, which can be carried about by an individual and played while dancing. The materials used in construction vary according to the materials available. Most often the body of the drum is made of hollowed wood, but woven baskets are used in some areas, and hollowed gourds are used in the Southwest cultural area. The head is generally the hide of an animal, most often a deer.

Another type of drum is a large drum around which several people are seated; they play it together. This may be made by simply planting stakes in the ground and stretching a hide over them, or a large wooden structure may be made. In modern times, wooden or metal washtubs have sometimes been used. Water drums are made from hollowed logs that are partially filled with water. The water greatly increases resonance, and the sound of such a drum can be heard for miles.

Drums are frequently decorated in elaborate fashions. The paintings are often filled with religious symbolism; beads and leather thongs are often added. The proper spirits must be invoked for many ceremonies, and, since drums are so heavily involved, one of the ways to invoke the spirit is by drawing or painting the appropriate pictures on the drum.

Indians place a somewhat greater importance upon drumsticks than European cultures do. Although in many cases the drumsticks are merely twigs, quickly discarded, in other ceremonies, the drumsticks may be decorated, covered with leather, and have particular ceremonial meanings. A decorated drumstick can be a sign of prestige in certain tribes. There are other percussion instruments used in Indian music, including poles or planks around which a number of players are seated, and stretched hides with no drum body attached.

Wind Instruments

Some Indian tribes have used flutes and whistles to produce music. The most common sort of flute in Native American culture is much like a recorder; it has a few holes to vary pitch and is blown through the top end. It may be made of clay, wood, or reeds, again depending upon available materials. Whistles are far simpler and are used more often as signals than for playing music. They are used by men courting women, by shamans invoking spirits, or by war parties passing signals.

Wind instruments are not generally used as an accompaniment to song. While they may have variable pitch, they are made individually from natural materials and are far from standard in their scales. Flutes and whistles are used alone or in concert with percussion instruments.

Rattles

Rattles are nearly universal instruments among North American Indian tribes. The most common type of rattle is a hollow object filled with pebbles, bits of clay, or seeds. This sort of rattle is very important in many tribal ceremonies and is an essential component of many medical treatments.

In many areas, the body of a rattle is a hollowed gourd. In some places, rawhide is shaped into an appropriate receptacle. Like drums, rattles are often painted and decorated. Rattles are also made by suspending small objects so that they clash together.

Bibliography

Bancroft-Hunt, Norman. People of the Totem. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1979. A description of the Northwest American Indian culture, including a study of their history, ceremonies, music, and contemporary conditions.

Butree, Julia M. The Rhythm of the Red Man. New York: A. S. Barnes, 1930. A descripton of Indian rituals, especially music and dance, including step-by-step instructions for a number of songs, dances, and rituals followed by a variety of tribal groups.

Densmore, Frances. The American Indians and Their Music. New York: Woman’s Press, 1936. A comprehensive guide to American Indian music, song, and dance. Includes an overview of Indian culture and specific discussions of songs, musical instruments, and dances.

Nettl, Bruno. Folk Music in the United States. 3d rev. ed. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1976. A general overview of American folk music, from prehistoric times to the 1970’s, including a long and comprehensive chapter on American Indian music, both as discussed by the first European settlers and as it exists in contemporary times.

Spencer, Robert F., Jesse D. Jennings, et al. The Native Americans. New York: Harper & Row, 1977. An encyclopedic discussion of American Indian culture, from prehistory to modern times.