National Museum of the American Indian

Wood That Sings: Indian Fiddle Music of the Americas Presented by the National Museum of the American Indian


		Excerpt from the CD Notes Foreword This recording gives me special satisfaction, the kind that comes from a project that reveals something new, that opens the door to further exploration. Although it should really be no surprise to learn that the violin—whose queenly reign extends from the classical concert hall to the bluegrass stage—should be a potent and ubiquitous force in the Native music of this hemisphere, no recording that I know of has ever before brought this knowledge to light. That situation has been happily corrected with Wood That Sings: Indian Fiddle Music of the Americas Presented by the National Museum of the American Indian, the second album produced by the National Museum of the American Indian and the Smithsonian Folkways label. Through the experienced ear and expert guidance of renowned ethnomusicologist Charlotte Heth, NMAI's Assistant Director for Public Programs, we are taken on a compelling cultural journey in which one musical instrument seems to morph and permutate as we travel over a vast aesthetic, and literal, landscape of Native cultures. On one level, the dramatically different sounds and influences you will hear between, say, the Celtic-based music of the hemisphere's northern tier and the haunting, almost avant-garde-sounding music of Ecuador simply reflect the rich diversity of Native American cultures. At the same time, however, the eclectic nature of the music reminds us of the inspiring capacity of Native cultures to adapt and synthesize non-Native elements. Adaptation has not only been a survival strategy for Native peoples, but a testament to the inherent vitality and creativity of Indian cultures. I want to offer the museum’s thanks to all the musicians, scholars, and others who helped us with their artistry, research, and expertise. As “compact” as these discs may be, their realization depends on an extraordinary degree of collaboration and cooperation among a sizable number of people. I also want to single out Chesley Wilson for a special word of gratitude. It was Chesley, a National Heritage Award winner for his work in preserving traditional Apache culture, who gave us the title for this album, which comes from the Apache word for violin. “Wood that sings” seems to me the perfect metaphor for this recording: it animates and redefines our concept of the fiddle in a way that—so characteristic of the Native mind—sees life and music everywhere in creation. W. Richard West, Jr., Director (Southern Cheyenne and member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma) © 1997 Smithsonian Institution. All rights reserved. Introduction Charlotte Heth (Cherokee) Although I made music from the time I could talk and studied music from the time I could read, I was twelve years old before I realized that the country fiddle I heard in Oklahoma was the same instrument as the violin in the Tulsa Philharmonic Orchestra—their sounds, styles, and repertoires were radically different. In Wood That Sings: Indian Fiddle Music of the Americas Presented by the National Museum of the American Indian, not only do the sounds, styles, and repertoires differ, but the fiddles themselves are of different sizes, different shapes, and different numbers of strings. And the fiddlers play in different ensembles—choosing among horns, whistles, flutes, bells, voices, drums, guitars, harps, rattles, and other instruments. The mission of the National Museum of the American Indian is . . . to recognize and affirm to Native communities and the non-Native public the historical and contemporary cultures and cultural achievements of the Natives of the Western Hemisphere. . . . In trying to fulfill this mission, we have chosen to rely not only on exhibits and books, but also on expressive cultures—music, dance, story-telling, arts demonstrations, film, video, radio, and computer technology. The museum's artifact collection numbers at least one million, 30 percent of which is from Central and South America. Our first album of music, Creation's Journey: Native American Music Presented by the National Museum of the American Indian, surveyed Native music of the Western Hemisphere and featured a variety of musical styles. Since most indigenous music in the United States is vocal, we were struck by the variety of instruments used in Central and South America—and particularly by fiddle (violin) music. We compiled Wood That Sings to show the variety, ingenuity, and adaptive techniques of Native musicians, choosing both historic and contemporary fiddle music by Native Americans from the United States, Canada, and Latin America. The players and singers represent ancient, living traditions along with innovations and crossovers to Euro-American music. The fiddle itself, as far as we know, has non-American origins, but the Natives of the Americas have, for centuries, manufactured their own fiddles, adapted European fiddles to their own styles, added their own ceremonial and social contexts, and combined them with other instruments, voices, and whistles in ensembles found nowhere else. The Seri and Apache one-stringed fiddles (probably based on earlier musical bows) may be truly indigenous. For centuries in the United States and Canada, Indian people were pushed back from their borders and colonized by recurring waves of northern and western Europeans, Mediterranean Europeans, Russians, and Mexicans. These invasions and forced removals caused rapid changes to Native life and culture, introducing new technology, new economic systems, and new religions. Music, as a communal activity and necessary source of spiritual power, simultaneously perished, flowered, and remained the same, depending on the geographical area and the circumstances of colonization. New kinds of musical instruments and new musical genres offered Native Americans a variety of choices for practicing this important art form. We are fortunate to have had the assistance of ethnomusicologist Daniel Sheehy with the Latin American portion of Wood That Sings. Dr. Sheehy, an expert in the field of Latin American music, chose the Latin American material on this album and provided insightful texts on these selections. The recordings contained herein come from a variety of sources—archives in the United States and Latin America; the concert and public radio series Folk Masters; National Museum of the American Indian presentations; festivals in Latin America; and both studio and field recordings by contemporary scholars. Several of the artists agreed to record for the project during visits to Washington, D.C., and New York City. Many of the selections on this album feature vocalists who sing in Native languages, Spanish, or English. All represent time-tested traditions that are tied to agricultural rituals and lifeways, or to occasions for entertainment. © 1997 Smithsonian Institution. All rights reserved.