Women's Roles In Native American Music

The roles of Women in Native American Music has varied throughout the years. According to Beverley Diamond’s journal, Native American Contemporary Music: The Women, women’s roles have changed in recent years that has given strength to indigenous women’s voices (Diamond, pg. 388). In Diamond’s journal, she mentions a music gathering in Boston that showed her the prevalence of women in Native American music today (Diamond, pg. 387). Diamond states that at the concert she realized that, “Native American women in popular music now had a large, diverse, and diverse enthusiastic audience” (Diamond, pg. 387). Diamond explained the different headliners at the concert, one headliner was Ulati, a trio comprised of Native American women (Diamond, pg.
387). Diamond expresses the positive feedback the trio has received from their music and the diverse population of their fans (Diamond, pg., 387). The Ulati trio consists of co-founders Pura Fe, Jennifer Kreisberg and long-time partner Jennifer Kreisberg (Diamond, pg. 387). Pura Fe and Jennifer Kreisberg belong to the Tuscarora, and Soni Moreno was Yaqui, Apache, and Mayan (Diamond, pg. 387). These women are an inspiration of the power women can have in Native American music. This concert set the tone for the power women can have in contemporary Native American music that is becoming a platform for women artists to flourish.
The concert had more surprises in store that reiterated and exemplified how powerful women can be in Native American music when the Six Nations Women singers were convinced to come out of the audience and preform for the concert (Diamond, pg. 387). These women were a part of the Haudenosaunee nation (Diamond, pg. 397). This group of women were friends with the trio and together they used their incredible talents to perform a “Unity Stomp” that was excellently executed and left the crowd more than impressed (Diamond, pg. 387). The women also together performed a song that is called “The Traveling Song” (Diamond, pg.387). This song has significant importance because it was created in by women who attended the first Aboriginal Women’s Voices Projects workshop’s in 1955 (Diamond, pg. 397). Diamond states that this song is, “a statement of aboriginal women’s spirit of collaboration” (diamond, pg. 388). This song is impactful because it was created from the Aboriginal Women’s Voices Project, and Diamond phrases it, “one of the several new institutionalized structures that have contributed to the strength of indigenous women’s voices on the current scene” (Diamond pg.388). This song is a representation of the influence women have in today’s Native American music.
Women’s roles in Native American Music have changed from their traditional roles.
Although women did play roles in traditional Native American music, their authenticity of their performance is more prevalent today. For example, one artists by the name of Sharon Burch combines contemporary music with traditional music in her songs (Diamond, pg. 388). Burch accomplishes this by using, “a folk style accompanied by often by acoustic guitar but her songs are shaped rhythmically by the Navajo language and vocables” (Diamond pg. 389). Diamond gives examples of women who make, “contemporary arrangements of traditional songs” (Diamond, pg. 398). Another artist who has combined different music styles combined with their traditional music style is Mary Youngblood (Diamond, pg. 398). Diamond states that, “Mary borrows stylistic elements from Plains flute music but also uses classical flute techniques in her entirely original works” (Diamonds, pg. 398). These women have used traditional music but authenticating by combining other music styles as well. These contemporary styles differ from original music styles in Native American music. Women’s roles have also changed from previous centuries. Diamond spoke to many Native American music artists and the power that aboriginal women are beginning to gain in music. Diamond states that, “women’s pre-colonial roles in many First Nations cultures were stronger than in the ensuing centuries” (Diamond, pg. 390). After Diamond interviewed many
women artists and asked them about this was their overall response, “the current stage of aboriginal women’s music as a part of a recovery of that power, of “thunderbirds returning” or a “regaining of balance” (Diamond pg. 390). Although that was the consensus of many of the artists, a Haudenosaunee clan mother insists the continuity of women in Native American music (Diamond, pg. 390). Diamond states that, “The differences among this small group of interviewees reminds us that the history of the traditional roles of women in different nations is a diverse and complicated one” (Diamond, pg. 391).The styles of Native American vary from different areas.
The styles and genres of women artists in Native American music has a large variety.
One example of a music genre style is from the Inuit people, where two women are face to face and sing in close proximity and competing their vocal styles against each other, this is called throat singing (MUNM packet, pg. 163). This style is very distinctive and women produce this unique sound by exhalation or inhalation (MUNM packet, pg. 163). In an article written by Paula Conlon, she contrasts different throat singing artists and their different styles of throat singing (Conlon, pg. 9). Colon discusses two sisters who are throat singing sisters, their names are Karin and Kathy Kettler (Conlon, pg. 9). Colon describes these sisters singing style as, “old style handed down through millennia” (Conlon, pg.9). Colon then contrasts these sisters throat singing style to another throat singer named Tayna Tagaq Gillis (Conlon, pg.9). Tayna is not well liked by the elders from her home community. Tayna does not throat sing with a partner which is the original way to throat sing (Conlon pg.9). Instead, Tayna sings solo and this upsets elders in her home community so they call her the “devil singer” (Conlon, pg.6). This is just one example of how women in Native American music have used different styles to authenticate them into something unique, while still using traditional
techniques.
Overall, women have made a large and inspiring impact in Native American music. Women today in Native American music preform traditional and contemporary music or a mixture of both. In this paper I have talked about women who have used contemporary styles today and have gained a fan base that is extremely diverse. Women such as the Kettler sisters stick to a traditional style of singing such as throat singing. In contrast women such as Sharon Burch use a mixture of traditional Native American music and other genres to create her music style. Women have a large prevalence in Native American music and our continuing to authenticate their music to make it unique. From the Rebel Music video, a young female artists Inez Jasper uses her music as a medium to give a voice for aboriginal women. Inez blinds genres such as pop and hip hop with traditional Native American music, to create a style that can reach many people and that is more contemporary. She also uses her music to bring attention to the missing and murdered aboriginal women. This shows the power of women in Native American music. It also shows how women are taking several genres and coming them to make a unique style while still embracing their traditional Native American music. These women are proud of their culture and are an important aspect of Native American music. Although they all have various styles and mixing genres of music, they all use incorporate Native American music into their songs.