"Native American Sound Instruments"
Through my own personal
experiences and teachings from Native Americans, that have offered to enlighten
me, I've gathered that there is a sacred nature rich in spirit and soul to them.
The Native American lives religion as a way of life. Children of the tribe grow
up in this world of spirituality and learn from example that religion can come
as easily as taking a breath every day. This is no attempt to lead into the
topic of religion, yet it needs to be known that the Native American sound
instruments are used as a part of that religion or spirituality. There are many
sound instruments used by Native Americans, but they vary accordingly from tribe
to tribe. The Native American sound instruments are considered a way to almost
imitate the processes of nature to attain their level of spirituality during
ceremonies as well as every day life. The drum and the flute are just a few of
the sound instruments used by Native Americans, yet the drum stands out as of
major importance.
The drum provides a center for the tribe because it tends
to represent a symbolic importance. Black Elk of the Oglala tribe was once
quoted as explaining that symbolic importance as, "a drum's round form
represents the universe. The steady strong beat of the drum is the pulse, the
heart, throbbing at the center of the universe. As the voice of Wakan Tanka, it
stirs and helps us to understand the mystery and power of things." (The Spirit
World, page 149) Wakan Tanka is the name given to the Great Mystery, also known
as the Big Holy or the Great Spirit, and this Wakan Tanka is considered as the
one ruling power known as "Good." The First Nations consider, no, they believe
that every thing has a soul or a life force and that they are also dependent on
each other. The drum
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beats as if it is representing a
heartbeat, this heartbeat could signify our beginning as if being safe inside a
mother's womb. The drum is also believed to posses a "medicine" quality.
A
drum can be made of many types of wood as well as many types of animal skin, yet
there is only preference because of each individual tribe or person making the
drum. Drums can be made in a various array of sizes, again depending on
preference. Sizes can range from small enough for an individual to large enough
for twelve people. The average size is suitable for six or eight people like the
ones you find at PowWows. There are basically two reasons for suggesting that
the drum has medicine.
One reason a drum is thought of having medicine is
when the drum is made from cedar. The Cedar tree has been known as a powerful
healing tree and thus this medicine is passed on to the drum as a sort of
healing energy. The other reason that a drum is thought to have medicine is
because of what type of skin is used. Elk, deer, buffalo, horse, and moose, just
to name a few, all have some kind of significance when it comes to being used on
a drum.
To the First Nations, deer is considered to have a connection to the
circulatory system. To be more precise, the Heart, the heart can be left
unattended for long periods of time. This lack of attention can lead to high
poverty in the sense that there is never enough time, never enough money, or
never enough love. Native Americans believe that Deer opens the heart to allow
them the teachings of trust and to allow them to empower the
power of love
and wisdom. They feel that drumming with Deer has the medicine to
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remind them that they live in a universe filled with more than enough
of every thing that
is needed. Drumming with Deer helps when the feeling of
being unloved engulfs someone, it in turn reminds them of the laws of
circulation. In other words, when one is feeling unloved then its time to love
others and all things, and soon that love will be returned tenfold.
Drumming
with Buffalo is used when one seeks to gain wisdom and guidance from their
Ancestors by opening the door to that vibration. Native Americans associate
Buffalo with Wisdom and Abundance and is the source when joining the masculine
Sky energy with the feminine Earth energy. Drumming with Buffalo is an ally in
reminding them of the connection of Spirit or prayer to form or the Physical.
The examples of drumming with Deer and Buffalo are just a few of the
ideologies or should I Say beliefs that have been handed down from generation to
generation. Next comes another sound instrument used by the First Nations, and
that is the flute.
The Native American flute is quite unique in many ways
especially its design. It is one of the few flutes that is end-blown and is
two-chambered and is often made of cedar. While its origin remains rather
obscure, legends give it an early existence. Relying on legends is not enough so
thanks to past documentation it seems that the presence of flute and/or whistle
instruments in the Americas has been documented for approximately 1500 years.
("The Plains Flute", The Flutists Quarterly, 1988, Vol. 13, no.4) The Native
American flute started its existence as an instrument to produce love music.
Legends state that the flute was used by warriors to produce their courting
songs. The flutes did
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all the talking for the warrior
because customs did not allow for him to publicly show his affection for the one
he loved. First there had to be the courtship.
Before marriage came a most
interesting courtship. When parents considered a daughter ready for marriage,
the father would casually let it be known that any suitor may approach. As
interested young men visited the family to make formal overtures to the
daughter, the parents would pretend to be politely indifferent. If the suitor
was thought worthy by the family, the suitor would conceal himself at night near
the girl's tipi and serenaded her with traditional, yet original love songs
played on a sweet-toned courting flute. If the suitors musical overtures were
met with favor, he would then proceeded to the next stage of the courtship. The
suitor would then wrap himself in a two-colored courting blanket and walk near
the girl's tipi at dusk, hoping she would come out and speak with him. If she
did, he wrapped the blanket around them both and together they promenaded about
the camp, this signified as an act equivalent to a public announcement of their
engagement. For the final step in the courtship, the suitor, his father and the
girl's father would meet to agree on the exchange of gifts, which would then
solidify the marriage. This was the role of the flute in the days of old but now
it takes on a new role.
The role of the flute has gone through a dramatic
change and giving it a new role. The Native American flute has basically become
primarily an instrument of expression or a way to connect to the Spirit World.
It has also taken on the new role of connecting to the spirits of all things.
While some Native Americans may play it for the beautiful sounds that emit from
it, there are those that need it to focus their inner self. Many Native
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Americans use the flute to pay respect to Wanka Tanka
each morning of a new day as well as at the coming of night giving thanks for
the day and the promise of a new one. But traditions do live on and surly there
are those times when today's warrior still may want to serenade the woman that
has filled his heart with love.
While there are many instruments available
to the Native American, the drum and the flute seem to take on a type of solid
significance because of their link to all that is of the universe. Native
American performer named Kevin Locke explains Indian music as a way to nurture
and sustain the soil of the human heart. Kevin Locke goes on to mention that the
drum and the flute are, "counterpoints to the powerful, elemental forces of the
thunderstorm." " The beat of the drum is the thunder that shakes the human heart
out of its slough of despondency." " The melodies of the flute (its six holes
being the four cardinal directions, along with the earth and the sky) are the
"wind that purifies and breathes life into the heart." (The Spirit World, page
29) The one interpretation being that there is a connection to all living things
and the Native American sound instruments may be a key to reaching the center of
the spiritual universe.
Works Consulted
DeBelius, Maggie, "The Spirit World." The American Indians Series, ED.
Henry Woodhead, Time-Life Books, 1993.
Edmonds, Margot. and Clark, Ella.
"Voices of the Winds:Native American Legends". New York: Facts on File, 1989.
Erdoes, Richard. and Ortiz, Alfonso. "American Indian Myths and
Legends", New York:
Pantheon, 1984.
Frances Densmore. " The Study of
Indian Music", Smithsonian Report, 1941, Facsimile
Reproduction, The Shorey
Bookstore, Seattle, WA, 1996.
R. Carlos Nakai. and James Demars. " The Art
of the Native American Flute", Canyon Records Productions, Phoenix, Arizona.
Richard W. Payne, M.D. "The Plains Flute",The Flutists Quarterly, 1988,
Vol. 13, no.4, The National Flute Association, Ind. Ann Arbor MI.
Richard W. Payne, M.D. "The Native American Plains Flutes", Toubat
Trails Publishing Co. Oklahoma City Publishing Co., 1999.
William K.
Powers. "The Art of Courtship Among the 0glala", American Indian Art, Spring,
1980, Vol. 5, No.2, PP 40-47.