Native North American Music and Dance

Music 232.

Christopher Scales 

For many Native North American groups, music and dance are central aspects of cultural life, playing an important role in religious ceremony, sacred and secular ritual events, artistic expression, and popular entertainment. Examines a number of the various musical traditions in Native North America, with particular attention paid to contemporary coastal communities of the Northeastern United States. Students study both historical and contemporary written texts and recorded performances and engage in a class fieldwork project documenting the musical activities of contemporary musicians. Topics of study include the relationship between music and other facets of social life, including work, religion, family, politics, and other artistic traditions (dance, theater, film), as well as the use of music in demarcating tribal, regional, and intertribal identity.