Grandma (with my Mom and Aunt) who shared her native genes with me. Unfortunately one of the genes I got was the tendency towards alcoholism (still not sure the whole alcoholism/addict gene is a factual thing). Recently I finished reading “Potawatomie: Keepers of the Fire” (the particular native group I inherited traits from), a history from European (French) contact through their “relocation”. I was always idealistic about Native Americans and over the years, even though I subscribe to a lot of the spirituality (not in a New Age way by a long shot), I realize that they were just people too. In that book, just prior to most of the tribe being removed from the great lakes region to lands further to the west (there is still a small reservation here in Kansas and of course a very nice casino), a Chief, Topinbee (He Who Sits Quietly), was quoted as saying, “We care not for the land, the money, or the goods, it is the whiskey we want – give us the whiskey.” Man that’s a place I have certainly been. One of my first memories was my Mom telling me that we had Indian blood. From that point on I rooted for the Indians in every Western movie or TV show I watched (my first rated ‘R’ movie was “Little Big Man”). Of course in film and television, true to history, they weren’t portrayed accurately and in the long run they won nothing. I wonder if I was born with a tendency to root for the underdog. Regardless, whenever I’ve had the chance, from childhood, through college, and still, I’ve studied Native American history, culture, mythology and religion. The reality of course is that there were hundreds (if not thousands) of tribes in the America’s that were as different from each other as the tribes of Europe, Asia and Africa were. There is a tendency to do this pan-Indian thing (lumping tribes together for their shared traits), today part of a unifying factor among the tribes and their mutual identity, but as separate groups of people they were like any other groups of people, sometimes they got along other times they didn’t. Like all human beings, as individuals flawed but I always felt drawn towards the spirituality and the strong ties to the earth. Still wonder if there isn’t some idealism. To this day I consult a Native friend of mine who has a lot of experience, wisdom and close ties to various groups of elders. A BIG part of my sobriety and what little sanity I have. So for the various tribes their lack of a common cause was up against the European unifying factor, conquest of the America’s by any means necessary. Inevitably the groups were knocked off like flies or as my Native American history professor, Jack Norton would say, a kind of systematic genocide. The Dawes Act is a great place to start if you’re interested in the conquest of North America.
So back when I was in elementary school, we would walk over to the library, and even then I had a love for records and music, so imagine my joy when I discovered albums full of Native American music. I had been to Pow Wow’s, but the first thing these records showed me was the diversity in the music. Back then I recorded everything to tape so of course these ended up recorded as well. Shit I think I used to bug people because every time they had something worth listening to I would beg, plead, demand that they dub me a copy. These recordings were from the 30′s and 40′s so the individuals playing and singing had a closer connection to this almost lost portion of their culture. The elders represented here left behind some serious invaluable energy for the future (and the way I felt was that they were specifaclly recorded for me). I spent a lot of quiet moments just laying there and listening to these tapes. I still feel a lot of emotion listening to them and back then I could close my eyes and be someplace else. Someplace where the emotions were pure, a sense of belonging to that exact moment as opposed to the chaos I usually felt. I will say it again, this is not some lame modern New Age flute music, this is timeless stuff. These songs may be thousands of years old or may date back to the dawn of mankind. Pretty much just Plains and Southwest stuff here, but there is still a lot of variety. If you listen to two make it the Rabbit Dance (2) and Bird Song Cycle (23).
Squaw Dance (Navajo) (a better translation would have been woman or even maiden, “squaw” in Algonquin means something like pussy, cunt or twat [or some other unpleasant term for vagina], but somehow in common English it means an Indian woman. Not a term of any kind of dignity or respect. Irony.
Plains Indian War Dance (Flathead)
Pow Wow Dance (Canadian Plains)
That was one tape and I have a second one, that’s separated into tracks, but as was sometimes the custom when I was younger and not anal like I am now about proper labeling, I didn’t write anything down. Another 90 minutes, the second half of which is some of the best on these two tapes found here. I am very curious to know if anyone bothered to listen to any of this.
ok so when i saw this post i thought i’m not gonna like it. in fact i wasn’t even gonna check out the music but i thought would be a dickhead thing to do. fuck dude it’s good. not something i would play every day and i don’t think it was made for me (i actually think most punk and metal songs are) but it’s actually really good. thanks. bet you thought i wouldn’t like it huh? can’t listen to second tape but this is good. thanks.
I listened to quite a few of them. It is very interesting and very expressive. I could feel the emotion!! Like Elliot said, it is nothing I would listen to every day…but it is a wonderful time piece. I don’t know my heritage, as my mom was adopted and does not want to know who her real parents were… : (
Fantastic post. Loved reading it. I knew years ago there were native American women protesting against the use of the term squaw, but I didn’t know why. I always thought squaw meant female, not anything derogatory.
My former high school, Birmingham, recently changed its football team name from the Braves to the Patriots. Would Braves be considered derogatory?
Thanks Justin. This is really good stuff. I haven’t listened to any Native American chants since living in Humboldt. I especially like the fact that it’s raw (in a good way).
I really enjoyed reading your post. It reads like an academic thesis. You should really reconsider graduate school. You could teach and enlighten others as Jack Norton did. There are loads of reputable distant school programs.
Thanks again for making my day.
Definitely am going to listen to all of these tonight. My great grandmother was full blood native American. So I’ve always been into the history. I don’t remember the tribe name and don’t recognize it among these but they should be an interesting listen.
When students were talking about their “roots”, one of my profs at the University of Zurich (she was expert for African and Outer European History) kept saying: “Plants have roots, people have feet.” The idea of people being determined by blood, genes, roots – you name the metaphor – had already irritated me before I knew anything about the history of biology or physical anthropology. Now that I know a little more about it, I still don’t always think to know which role the “hardware” (the human body and its parts) or the “software” (society, education) play when it comes to human behavior. One has to distinguish clearly between the individual and groups of people. Interesting is that these groups always are constructed and most effectively so by the instruments science provides. Since about 15 years, neurologists believe that with the new pictorial (is that how you call it en english?) methods of scanning a brain of a living human being, you can localize the parts of the brain that are responsible for this and that. A bit earlier, in the so called “genetical turn”, biologists believed there genes for this and genes for that – although in natural sciences this has been clearly proven a wrong hypothesis and much too simple one, in everyday culture and knowledge, this myth has prevailed: You will turn on the tv and within 15 min. you might hear of a gene for this and a gene for that. When you roll back time a little more, you will find the idea that “race” determines much of man’s fate, before that it was the metaphor of “blood” (coming from the european middle ages), or simply: god. That’s why, to make it really simple, the scientists who analyzed the human genetical code sometimes refered to it as the “book of life”, which is actually referring to the bible. The word “code” on the other hand comes from the fact that the majority of these scientists were in the U.S. army during world war 2, decyphering the nazi’s encoded military radio. So when in their labs working on the gene thing, they simply used the metaphors from war time describing what they do now (—-> lily kay: who wrote the book of life?). Why am I writing this? Language shapes reality. The metaphors we use when talking are always open to interpretation – and they’re always models. They’re used because they fit or seem to fit, but a metaphor always comes from a different background. So it loses part of its old significance and gets charged with new significance. Now if we take another step and acknowledge that science does not merely unveil the truth but also creates effects of truth, we get a fuller understanding of such issues as “roots”, “genes” etc. Take the “race” issue: Thousands of scientists from all over the world in the 19th and first half the 20th century described “races”. There were endless debates on whether there are 4 “races” or 20, some even said there might be 400 different ones. Although there are no human “races” (thanks to geneticists, there’s now even scientific proof for that), there were wars fought over “race”. In europe, ww 1 and ww 2 were actually “race wars” of biblical proportions. Science, knowledge creates reality rather than it portrays it (facts are not the same as truth, bear that in mind). So if societies agree on the truth of concepts such as genes, roots, ancestry that determines individuals, these societies start acting as it there were. I personally believe that humans are not determined by such forces by nature. If these forces work successfully, it’s always the paradox effect of culture working through nature (like in the very sketchy “race wars” example).
Oops, sorry about this. I just sat here, typed and typed, probably making thousands of typos and most surely getting out of focus completely, cause I just came home, am tired, hungry and horny, haha).
I like the music. earthy, timeless. the language barrier is a small thing. i dont know what they sing/ chant about, but the titles say it all and they are beautiful none the less. i didnt listen to them all, but i respect the ones i heard.
i read a semi biography on Crazy Horse last year. it was a good read, it felt like it was written by someone who was more comfortable speaking Lakota Sioux. from the early part 20th century so some of the people who knew him were still walking the earth. Mary Sandoz was the author. it may be worth looking into.
you say that lack of a common cause was their downfall. from what little i have read, ALL natives wanted whites gone from their lands. the common cause was there, I think with in-fighting between groups, familial disputes and tribe disagreements on the HOW, the ability to communicate rapidly between the tribes, plan, and sustain the fight was more of an issue than a common cause.That, plus by the 1870′s whites (my ancestors probably among them) were giving them most things they needed and it fell out of favor to live in the old ways. they called them “loaf about the forts” allowances of whisky, small pox blankets and holding back meat rations and giving them rotten meat, that plus unified slaughter(wounded knee, woodley island, a thousand other un named areas where women, children, old people and warriors were slaughtered, all that shit didnt help either.
this post is both eye opening, and humbling. The pride shown in the songs presented and your accompaning essay show me and probably everyone who has seen this post, that the native american spirit will not be erased from the earth, no matter how hard the American Government tried.
Personally, i have asked every old person in my family where in hell we come from, and resoundingly, they fail to give me an answer. So, as an American person who can not trace his roots past Missouri in 1870s on 1 side and Oklahoma in the 1930′s on the other, I officially lay no claim on a traditional dance, or war chant, or dress.
Thanks for the post, and thanks for your continued sanity Brother.
I meant the LACK of the ability to communicate between tribes….thats one of the pillars of warfare. Shoot, Move, Communicate. my bad.
Yeah Elliott this is not exactly everyday stuff to listen to. The time has to be just right.
Jay, glad you took the time man. This wasn’t so much about heritage as it was a time and place for me. A frame of mind I guess. A true lover of music will always appreciate stuff like this, because it’s timeless and it speaks to the soul. No record companies, no fans, no merchandise, no…
Mike I’m not too sure about that whole “Braves”, “Indians”, “Chiefs” thing. I’ve met people who either don’t care or it’s a big deal. It’s interesting though how for the most part “mascots” are either animals or natives. There is the fighting Irish.
Sang you always make me feel good about myself. What I do here isn’t that great but I sure enjoy doing it, but what I especially enjoy is when old homies like you come around and make your presence known.
Roc, good to read you here and glad I could find something that was worth your time.
Holy shit Erich you didn’t mess around on this one, how do I even respond to that? I know you love philosophic dialog but you probably won’t come back to reply. First off, I really like the metaphors of “hardware” and “software”. I don’t remember much specifically of my philosophical education, but first thing that came to mind was “tabla raza”. Blank slate right? Who was that and how had the opposite view, I don’t know. I tend to believe that some (certainly not all) of our behavioral tendencies are hard wired. Sort of off the topic though, I hate when that hard wiring or childhood experiences are used an an excuse. Mapping the human genome is an interesting idea but I don’t know much about it, my buddy Sang who is in micro biology might have a more educated opinion. I appreciate language and metaphor, partially because of what you and some others write (Fernando for one) but so much of that flies over my head. Metaphor has always important to me in the study of religion, sometimes I blur theology and historical criticism (off topic). The scientific approach to language as you find so much of in western philosophy is also interesting. Also interesting is what you say about race is interesting, I can’t even remember who my anthropology professor was. You know this wasn’t a racial thing, like everything it was a personal individual thing. Race is unimportant, our personal interactions are. reading what I just wrote here, it reads lamely. So thanx for taking the time despite such personal problems like being horny.
Brian, et tu, a huge comment also. Most of the songs here are “heavy” but I like how they through in some light hearted ones like the “Stick Game Song”. Will have to look into that Crazy Horse biography. Mari Sandoz is a very interesting person herself, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mari_Sandoz. In the book I mentioned in the text, sometimes it wasn’t until each tribe was completely displaced that they had problems with European occupation. There was trade at first and mutual benefit. Then there was the liquor, the dependence on trade, the “gifts”, the annuities and the promises. The government couldn’t lie fast enough to control the encroachment of land hungry settlers. Obviously a sad story. Tecumseh and “the Prophet” were also in the book, but as I said individuals did not mutually support them and did not recognize the signs of what was to come. As always Brian, great to have you around here.
this is a great post Justin. I listened to 3 chants while sitting here with my office mate and it helped us get our groove on. I wonder if these recordings were made by Alan Lomax, or come from the US national archives recordings from that time? My family always held the belief that we have native American ancestry on my mom’s side, but I’m not sure that it matters in these days. I didn’t really follow everything that Erich wrote, but I get that the gist of it is that race really isn’t as much of a factor in human behavior as we used to think. Hardware or software indeed. It’s funny to think that our individual “programming” is almost always done by folks unqualified to be programmers and then we spend the rest of our lives trying to re-program ourselves to behave right. I’m in need of a service pack upgrade, if you know what I mean
On a side note, I recently read East of Eden by Steinbeck and one of the characters in the book describes the Indian Wars fought in America during the 19th century – fictional I know, but somehow also a good history of how a good-hearted, mis-guided yokel viewed the injustices he was asked to take part in. Peace out,Ed
Interesting, on tribal radio here on the Three Affiliated Tribes lands (Arikara, MAndan, and Hidatsa Nations) they have a happy birthday song they play when listing off the birthdays of the week. It is the drum/chant but using the english words to the song ‘happy birthday to you’. Great blog!
Also, there are some good, albeit usually amateur, videos of these dances on YouTube. The visual is a crucial component.
Nice one Mestizo. Don’t forget that the mere mechanics of our genes are just that, “mere mechanics”. Our true identity is made up of so much more that cannot be quantified or measured. You may not see your ties to the world of spirit, but they are there and define your identity wether you know it or not.
Que no loco. One in an infinite oneness, if that’s not too cheezy or vague. Sometimes we just “know” that things “feel” right. Not tied to concepts of good and evil, but things as they should be. Always trying to tap into that and the chants seem to give me a taste. We’ve come a long way brother.