Native American Musical Styles
odd: label: Introduction
content: Increased interest in Native American culture in the 1970s encouraged non-Indians to correct many stereotypes of American Indians; non-Indians learned to appreciate distinctions between the material cultures and beliefs of different tribes. Most people in 1977 would recognize, for instance, that only a few nations of Native Americans lived in tipis or wore feathered war bonnets. Nevertheless, a general misconception still persisted that the musical culture of all tribes was the same.

The intention of the Native American presentation was to try to correct the stereotypical image that most Americans then had of Amerindian music. Singers representing five different tribal groups - Pueblo, Navaho, Tolowa, Iroquois, and Sioux - demonstrated the differences between their musical styles in performances of songs. By observing the differences between such stylistic elements of the music as song forms, melodic range and direction, vocal techniques, and drum patterns, visitors to the Festival could be convinced of the enormously rich variety in Native American music. A cross-tribal comparison of several of the diverse and varied Native American song traditions offered a side by side comparison of repertoires and styles.

Co-organized by the Department of Anthropology of the National Museum of Natural History and the Folklife Program.
label: Participants
content: William Bineshi Baker, Sr., singer, Couderay, Wisconsin

Loren Bommelyn, singer, Arcata, California

George Brown, Jr., singer, Lac du Flambeau, Wisconsin

Herbert Dowdy, 1919-1990, singer, Steamburg, New York

Aileen Figueroa, singer, Trinidad, California

Cipriano Garcia; 1934-, singer, San Juan Pueblo, New Mexico

Peter Garcia, singer, San Juan Pueblo, New Mexico

Avery Jimerson, 1913-1986, singer, Steamburg, New York

Robert Link, singer, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

James Pipe Moustache, singer, Hayward, Wisconsin

Ernest St. Germaine, 1948-, singer, Lac du Flambeau, Wisconsin

Dorothy Wayman, singer, Lac du Flambeau, Wisconsin

Sam Yazzie, Jr., singer, Chinle, Arizona

Sam Yazzie, Sr., singer, Chinle, Arizona
name: label: Collection Creator
content: Smithsonian Institution. Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage
setName: label: See more items in
content: Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1977 Festival of American Folklife
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections
identifier: label: Identifier
content: CFCH.SFF.1977, Series 7
objectType: label: Type
content: Archival materials