Native American Music in Eastern North America

About This Book

Native American Music in Eastern North America is one of the first books to explore the contemporary musical landscape of indigenous North Americans in the north and east. It shows how performance traditions of Native North Americans have been influenced by traditional social values and cultural histories, as well as by encounters and exchanges with other indigenous groups and with newcomers from Europe and Africa. Drawing on her extensive fieldwork and on case studies from several communities--including the Iroquois, the Algonquian-speaking nations of the Atlantic seaboard, and the Inuit of the far north--author Beverley Diamond discusses intertribal celebrations, popular music projects, dance, art, and film. She also considers how technology has mediated present-day cultural communication and how traditional ideas about social roles and gender identities have been negotiated through music. Enhanced by accounts of local performances, interviews with tribal elders and First Nations performers, vivid illustrations, and hands-on listening activities, Native American Music in Eastern North America provides a captivating introduction to this under-examined topic. It is packaged with an 80-minute audio CD containing twenty-six examples of the music discussed in the book, including several rare recordings. The author has also provided a list of eighteen songs representing a wide variety of styles--from traditional Native American chants to an Inuit collaboration with Bjork--that are referenced in the book and available as an iMix at www.oup.com/us/globalmusic.