Music 220 Class Period 11 Outline
Case Study of Navajo Music
- Nightway Ceremony - a ceremony to heal illness
- contains Yeibichai song - a song for dancing
- dancers impersonate grandfathers of the gods, who heal the sick
- all Yeibichai songs have a special phrase which is a call to the gods
- very difficult vocal style
- Enemyway Ceremony - also for healing, ridding people of spirits of
outsiders
- songs for the circle dance: participants compete for most beautiful
song
- example is "Shizhane"
- has humorous text
- Shootingway Ceremony - Navajo Creation Story
- Holy Young Man encounters various spirits and peoples
- Ceremony depicts his adventures
- Re-enacting parts of story helps restore balance with spirits or peoples
Native American Church - also known as Peyote Religion
- emphasizes individual worship
- some differences from tribe to tribe, but basis is Peyote ritual
- most tribes have peyote songs
- Navajo example
- text is vocables, but conveys sense of introspection
- Commanche example
- probably the origin of peyote songs
- text is translatable