Native American Music

 Native American Powwows! 

Welcome back to my vlog today we will be talking about Native American Music!

Today we will be going into what is Powwow. A powwow is a celebration of life and community gathering that allows family and friends to get together. to share the Native American cultural traditions. When dancing around the circle it represents the cycle of life and the connection of the things in this world. The dancers move clockwise around a circle to follow the direction of the sun. In the Grand Entry, it begins in the 'Eastern Doorway' as the sun rises in the East. It represents the beginning of a new day. 

How is the drum made and what it represents in Powwows?

The Native American drum can have a rich culture. Some believe that the original drum was created by a woman. It is said that the spirit of this woman resides in the drum. The drum should always be treated with respect and care and when coming in contact with the drum your behavior is expected positively. These drums are crafted by made and are made from a large base and covered with deer, buffalo, or steer depending on the tribe and the location. The pow wow drum can have up to eight or more men forming a circle around the drum. Only men are playing and singing along with the beat of the drum. These drums are also used when honoring ceremonies, flag raising and other events. 


What is the meaning behind Powwow's costume?

One thing that caught my action was that every single costume is unique in their own way. The Powwow regalia is a model of self-expression that is combined with history and modern dress. They are worn with responsibility and pride. Each one represents their community traditions and personal taste. Many of the outfits are items that have been collected to reflect on their lives, interests, and family background. Dancers always wear a form of headgear, ribbon, headdress, porcupine head roach, or a war bonnet, as a sign of formality. When reading more about the meaning the article stated that if an eagle feather falls off in a dance. Many dances around it to protect it until it can be properly retrieved. This represents a lot of respect for what they believe in. Another thing that stood out to me is that different tribes do not take sacred elements of another tribe. This is considered disrespectful. Unless he is adopted into a culture that is a powwow. 






What are the different types of dances used in Powwows?

There are many types of dances from both women and men. Which include:

Women:

Women's Fancy Shawl

Women's Jingle Dress Dance

Women's Traditional Dance

Men:

Men's Grass Dance

Men's Traditional Dance (Northern and Southern Straight)

Men's Fancy Dance


Women's Jingle Dress

Today I will be explaining one of each. In most of the videos I've watched they all seem to be dancing this one, which is quite fascinating. This dance is called Women's Jingle Dress Dance. There are many teachings around the origin of the Jingle Dress Dance. It is known to have been a gift from the Creator to the Oilbway people for the purpose of healing. The Jingle dress has seven rows of jingle cones that are made of metal materials. Some other dresses use other noise-making materials like bones or deer hooves. The dresses are also decorated with ribbon, matching beadwork, moccasins, hair ornaments, eagle feathers, and plumes that are worn in the hair. The dancing carries a fan that is raised during the honor beats of the song. 




Men's Fancy Dance


I really like this dance because many dancers can show off there skills. The Second dance is called Men's Fancy Dance. This dance is mainly for young dancers. It is the most active and athletic dance style. The colored regalia has double bustles behind their backs with smaller bustles on their arms. This spectator is often known for its feathery display of color. In this dance, there can be a friendly competition that happens between the singers and the dancer. When either stopping with the end beat it can mean winning or losing points in competition powwows. In this competition, the singers will perform "trick songs" to be able to throw off the dancers with an unexpected last beat.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Cool Stuff: Arabic and Indian Music

Image
               Hello everyone, I hope y'all doing great!. This week in class we have been focusing on Arabic and Indian Music. I have always been fascinated by Arabic and Indian in general, but I never look at it more in-depth. I wasn't sure how to start, but I figured it out. So, today I will be talking about Arabic music, traditional instruments used in Arabic music, and the different dances. Please set back and enjoy it.  Arabic Music Maqam System          The maqam system is a theory of Arabic music that goes back to the ninth century. Arabic music is based on 8 commonly used melodic models or maqams. This system is composed and improvised, weather vocal, and instrumental. It is mostly taught orally, and by listening to traditional playing. It is also to create a mood or motion for the listeners.            These particular tones are organized in seven tone scales, and each one has a characteristic musical phrase made up of four continuous tones. That gives the maqam the fl
Read more

Blog Entry No.3: Music and Gender

Image
Music and Gender intake in Jazz      Hello everyone and welcome back to my blog! Today, we’re going to talk about how gender stereotypes played a major role in music. And how it’s evolved over the years. In my personal experience, I played the flute in the middle school band. Every person who played the flute was a female. Remember back in the past, I remember how the saxophone, the trumpet, and more were mostly male. My personal music type is all over the place, but I'd like to talk about Jazz and a little bit of its history. But before we go more in-depth, I read an article about “Gender Expectation in the Music Industry.” In the article, I readed how women in the music industry are disrespected and were not understood because of society’s standards. She describes that society misunderstands the message about women, their identity, and their worth.  Back in the 1800s women’s positions prohibited them from performing music in public. The place of a woman was at home. When a woman
Read more

Big Blog no. 1: American Roots Music

Image
Swing Music  Hello everyone and welcome back to my blog! I hope everyone is doing great. This week in class we are getting the chance to teach a genre to the whole class. With that being said, today I will be talking about Swing Music. There are so many things that I  personally found intriguing and hope to share with everyone today. I hope you like it and enjoy it! Before The Swing Era (I want to give you a little bit of what was happening before this period happened before i introduce you to swing) America was in the depression era. Money was in short supply in the country at that time. There was very little work, especially for musician. Many record sales dropped so musicians that were more talented or had connections started to get jobs on the radio studies. This is when radio started to become a household appliance. This era was known as the "Golden Age Of Radio". Even thought the economic condition of the time was critical; microphones and jukeboxes were made better.  T
Read more