Essential Song: Three Decades of Northern Cree Music

Essential Song: Three Decades of Northern Cree Music

by Lynn Whidden
Essential Song: Three Decades of Northern Cree Music

Essential Song: Three Decades of Northern Cree Music

by Lynn Whidden

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Overview

Audio Files located on Soundcloud

Essential Song: Three Decades of Northern Cree Music, a study of subarctic Cree hunting songs, is the first detailed ethnomusicology of the northern Cree of Quebec and Manitoba. The result of more than two decades spent in the North learning from the Cree, Lynn Whidden's account discusses the tradition of the hunting songs, their meanings and origins, and their importance to the hunt. She also examines women's songs, and traces the impact of social change—including the introduction of hymns, Gospel tunes, and country music—on the song traditions of these communities.

The book also explores the introduction of powwow song into the subarctic and the Crees struggle to maintain their Aboriginal heritage—to find a kind of song that, like the hunting songs, can serve as a spiritual guide and force.

Including profiles of the hunters and their songs and accompanied (online) by original audio tracks of more than fifty Cree hunting songs, Essential Song makes an important contribution to ethnomusicology, social history, and Aboriginal studies.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781554586134
Publisher: Wilfrid Laurier University Press
Publication date: 05/20/2017
Series: Indigenous Studies
Pages: 192
Product dimensions: 5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Lynn Whidden is a professor emerita of Indigenous studies and music at Brandon University, Manitoba.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents for
Essential Song: Three Decades of Northern Cree Music by Lynn Whidden

Table of Figures

Foreword | Eric Robinson

Acknowledgements

Prologue: The Cree Come to Campus

The Early Years—1970s and 80s

The Last Decade—the 1990s

Introduction

Musical Profiles of the Contributors

William Jack

George Pepabano

Robert Potts

Abraham Martinhunter

Samson Lameboy

Joseph Rupert

Chapter One: Song and Ceremony

The Drum and the Rattle

The Goose Dance

Healing Songs

Song in Hunting Ceremonies

The Shaking Tent : A Sound Event

Songs about the Shaking Tent

Songs, Sounds, and Silence

Chapter Two: Song and History

Missionary Influence

Fiddle Music

Dances

Music and Education

Music and the Media

Chapter Three: Song and Survival

Communication withe Animals

Knowledge and Power in Songs

Women's Songs

Personal Elements in Song Content

The Words

Trout Song

Song Presentation

Presentation

Rhythmic Elements

Form

Melodic Elements

The Cree Sound Ideal

Chapter Four: Hymns and Hunting Songs

Missionaries and Cree Songs

Adapting Hymns to Suit Tradition

Gospel Music

Amazing Grace

Chapter Five: How Can You Dance to Beethoven?

Cree Contributions to Country Music

Chapter Six: Powwow in the Subarctic

Round Dances

Powwow Song Characteristics

Chapter Seven: The Powwow: From the South to the Subarctic

The Way He Walked was Different

Powwow: The Popular Music for the Native American

Conclusion

Afterword | Stan Louttit

Appendix I: Frequently Sung Hymns in Chisasibi, Quebec

Appendix II: The Eighty-Six Songs, with Topics and Commentary, of the 1982 and 1984 Collections

Notes

List of Sources

Bibliography

Index

CD Track Listing

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