Native American Influence in Old-Time Music

[Steve Goldfield]

It seems likely that the large number of Native Americans
in the southern United States, many of whom intermarried
with African Americans, had some influence on the music
played. Does anybody know of any studies or books on this
subject? Are there any archival recordings?

My ulterior motive is that the producer of my radio show
(which now seems set to launch in January--my producer has
been occupied with the launch of a new radio station in
Redding, which delayed the start of my show) expressed an
interest in a special show on that subject. Aside from some
fiddle tunes which sound like they have some Native American
influence, I'm not sure what I'd put on.
--

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Steve Goldfield :<{ {>: ste...@uclink.berkeley.edu

[Jeff Titon]

I've wondered about this for a while, too. Of course some of the old-time
musicians have American Indian ancestry, part or whole. Plenty of tune
titles that refer to Indians, too. But I'm not aware of any scholarship on
the subject. I'd be interested in learning more, too.
Best to all,
Jeff

--
Jeff_...@Brown.edu
Box 1924 College Station
Brown University
Providence, RI 02912-1924

[Paul M. Gifford]

In article <Jeff_Titon-11...@cis-ts4-slip11.cis.brown.edu> Jeff_...@Brown.edu (Jeff Titon) writes:

>I've wondered about this for a while, too. Of course some of the old-time
>musicians have American Indian ancestry, part or whole. Plenty of tune
>titles that refer to Indians, too. But I'm not aware of any scholarship on
>the subject. I'd be interested in learning more, too.

What about the mouth bow? I personally know very little about it, but
certainly the Eastern Cherokee must be responsible for this.

A while back I asked about "stomps," which various interviews in the
Oklahoma WPA Indian-pioneer collection at the Oklahoma Historical
Society refer to. I casually read some of these, which mentioned that
fiddlers played for them. Joe Wilson described some contemporary stomps
as done in Georgia (or was it Alabama?).

I've known Indian fiddlers and other musicians in Michigan, both Ottawa
in the Lower Peninsula and Chippewa in the Upper, and Ray Kiogima, an
Ottawa in Harbor Springs, who can speak the language, is an old-time
style square dance caller. Back in the 1920s, Leander Petoskey was a
well-known fiddler in that area. I recall that Nick Bailey, an Ottawa, played
standard tunes like "McLeod's Reel," and Dan Naganashe, an Ottawa,
did the same (a nameless "Steamboat Quickstep" was one tune he
played).

I could dig up some examples of 19th-century interaction and post them,
if anyone's interested (problem is that they're from Michigan, however).

Paul Gifford

[Dmarts]

The easier question(and maybe the point of departure) is what is the
European influence on Native American music?
Such as the Yaqui Indians of Arizona.
Dave

[Steve Goldfield]

In article <gifford_p.1...@lib.flint.umich.edu>,

Paul M. Gifford <giff...@lib.flint.umich.edu> wrote:
>In article <Jeff_Titon-11...@cis-ts4-slip11.cis.brown.edu> Jeff_...@Brown.edu (Jeff Titon) writes:

#>
#>>I've wondered about this for a while, too. Of course some of the old-time
#>>musicians have American Indian ancestry, part or whole. Plenty of tune
#>>titles that refer to Indians, too. But I'm not aware of any scholarship on
#>>the subject. I'd be interested in learning more, too.
#>
#>What about the mouth bow? I personally know very little about it, but
#>certainly the Eastern Cherokee must be responsible for this.

(snip)

#>Paul Gifford

In the distant past of the 1960s I took a course on
African art and music at Columbia and I recall that
some Africans played the mouth bow, too. So it could
have two sources, which leaves the intriguing question
of whether Cherokees who intermarried with people of
African descent might have had offspring with two
distinct mouth bow traditions that could have fused.

[Philip Blank]

I have two anecdotes that might be of interest:

1) for a while I've had a theory that Elizabath Cotten's famous 'Shake
Sugaree' phrase was a reference to the Shokari (spelled Sugaree in later
writings) Indians that once lived in the River Valley around Chapel Hill.
They disappeared rather quickly in the face of colonization which makes
their appeareance in a afro-american old time song even more interesting.
I assume the 'shake' part refers to the dance style of many eastern
Indians.

2) Bascom Lamar Lunsford was a player and as a collector of many different
songs from the North Carolina and elsewheres. I remember reading how he
was deeply interested in Native American songs. I don't know alot about
his connection to Native American traditions but this might be an
interesting clue to follow up on. I know that there is a book written
about him (maybe "minstrel of the mountains" ????) and also a PBS special
(maybe American Experience?)