Also, obtain and use Native made instruments and regalia for classroom use. In addition to providing a richer educational experience for students, these efforts serve to preserve the traditional arts and crafts of the culture. Social songs, children's songs, and game songs provide an abundance of opportunity for the creative teacher and learner. From the Eastern Woodlands cultural region comes a song in a comfortable singing range, using only four specified pitches, using repetition of melodic motifs in a call and response style, and offering a simple movement activity in the form of a round dance. The instrumental accompaniment is a repeated drum rhythm which may be performed on classroom hand drums or a Native drum.
Several variations are possible in the movement activity.
However, a strictly enforced choreography would not be characteristic of either the performance or teaching style of the culture. When the Earth Was Like New , World Music Press. A Traditional Song Collection of the Mandan and Hidatsa Tribes by Jane K. Booher. Certainly, any introduction to this culture must include experiences in listening to and performing on Native instruments. Rattles of ingenious designs from every imaginable materials, large and small drums of all shapes and sizes, rasps, bullroarers, and the melodic instruments including flutes, whistles, and the Apache violin provide accompaniment, solo performance, and opportunities for improvisation.