1. Native American Youths Today
and Their Native Music
Danyel Eldridge (1)
Music
November 2, 2010

2. Table of contents
• History of Native music
• Forms
• The Flute
• Voice
• Spiritual Uses
• Ceremonies
• How it was viewed
• Youths today
• Native Youths
• Music today
• Native American Music today
• Some artist
• Conclusion

3. History of Native American Music
First we will look at the history of Native
American music and its different forms.

4. Music
• Forms
– Drums
– Rattles
– The Flute
– Voice
– Uses for music
 Ceremonies
 Healing

5. Forms of native music
Native American music was normally based on
the use of percussion instruments. These
forms of instruments were normally drums or
a type of rattle.(3)(11)

6. The Flute
Another instrument that the Native people
played on was the flute. Though this wasn’t a
percussion instrument it did and does have its
place in their music. The flute was often used
for courting.
The modern flute has only one note, if you want
to play another note you would have to get
another flute. (4)

7. Voice
The other large part of the Native American
music is the vocals. The singing and chanting
of the music plays a large roll in not just the
traditional aspect of the music but also in the
spirituality of the Native Americans.(3)

8. Spiritual uses
Music play’s a large roll in the lives of Native
Americans, especially in the way of spirituality.
Music is often used in many different
ceremonies and healing purposes.

9. Ceremonies
• War dances
• Executions
• Deaths
These are some of the reasons of ceremonial music.

10. Healing
“According to principles of native American
healing, illnesses are not rooted in the
affected area, but are cause by spiritual
imbalances which can be corrected by herbs,
meditation and rituals.”() Much of these
rituals also included singing or chanting. As
Parkmen’s account shows they viewed “that
the physical work of vocalizing and time
beating as part of a healing ritual…”(5)

11. How it was viewed
When the American
people came into
contact with the
Natives they
found them to be
savage in their
traditions and
ceremonies.

12. They were Viewed as Different
Native Americans were viewed as savage. As a
people that had no morals and danced around
half naked hopped up on peace pipes. This
view was because of the Europeans mundane
lifestyle across the sea. When the
encountered a people that lived differently it
lead to contempentt “which gave settlers
excuse” to do what they wanted.

13. Youths today
• 97% of American youths play video games
• Others focus on sports
• Parties
• School
• Work

14. Native American Youths
• Native American youths represent 1% of the
population
• 58% of youths 12-20 are likely to become
criminals
• Suicide for youths is three times the national
average (2)

15. Native Youths
There are many different organizations to help
Natives Youths and there families.
Native Nations Institute
NAYA-Native American Youth & Family Center
These are just a few of the Nationally know
organizations. They help Native American
youths learn about their culture and identity.
Thus helping to make them stronger
individuals in their culture. (8)

16. Music Today
There are many different forms of music
today:
• Rock & Roll
• R & B
• Country
• Folk
• Punk
Just to name a few.

17. Music Today
Music today has come a long way from sitting in a
parlor lessening to a piano. Music today is about
anything, sexy, drugs to brake ups and falling in
love. These never would have been sung in the
parlor.
All of these different kinds of music are intertwined
if you will. For example country music got its start
as folk music. R & B from jazz and jazz also
started rock & roll. Where does Native American
Music fit into this world?

18. About Native Music today
Many tribes have formed what
is called Pan-Tribalism music.
They uses this as a way to keep
their identity and share their
culture. They do this by having
gatherings where the will have
powwows and ghost dances.
Native Music today has also
become a market on its own,
by those that want to take
advantage of it.

19. How Youths view Native Music
Many youths of the Native American people
only know their peoples music by going to
organizations that teach it. Its is often no long
passed down from older to younger tribe
members like it used to. Now the youth have
to go and learn it.

20. Native Youths
Many Native youths are
being trained in the music
of their people. This way
the Native music has a
chance to live on, though
“traditional Native
American music is
becoming lost forever”,
many believe.(6)(9)

21. The Affects of Native Music on Youths
Today
Today the Youths are being reached by a
different group of people. The Native people
themselves are growing and adapting, and
now pass on their peoples values in other
ways then the traditional form. Many Natives
today are marketed and use Rap or Hip Hop as
a way to spread their messages.(7)

22. “Your words are your arrow, your pin is
your bow.”
Today many Native
Americans turn to hip
hop or rap to empower
their people. Teach about
their history and provide
spiritual songs, or
enlightenment.

23. A few of the Artist
• Teddy “Reduon” Orii
• Litefoot
• Dreamcatchers
These are just to name a few of the Artist.
These musicians try to show culture in a blend
with hip-hop. They also inspirer the embracing
of their people. This makes there music
something that the youths today can learn
from.

24. Conclusion
The Native American people and there music
has been bullied for centuries, but yet it lives
on. Though they may have difficulty passing
on traditions and values to their youths, they
have still managed to come up with ways that
are appealing to them and thus have won this
battle. The Native Americans music will always
live on, because of their dedication to their
values and customs. It has just started to
evolve.

25. Work cited
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<http://parlorsongs.com/insearch/amerindian/amerindian0.php>.
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03 Nov. 2010. <http://www.buzzle.com/articles/native-american-drum-music.html>.