The first thing that caught my attention in one of the Native American videos is the topic of the Native American Boarding school. In the Pow Wow trail video one of the old wise men, Floyd Red Crow Westerman, shared a part of a song he made about being in the school. He also talked about how he was in the boarding school, how they treated them, and the pain that was left with them. They could not speak their language, sing their songs, or dress in their culture. So the Holocaust happened before the Holocaust. (The Holocaust being way more extreme. Just the comparison of excluding a group of people and trying to "get rid of them.") What makes me mad is that it is not really talked about in the classroom. It is something that should be talked about. Here is a song about the impact of what the schools did to people. It is called "Residential School Song."
We talked in class about the instrument kora. We talked about how the Groit is the leader of the "band" and is traditionally a man. Well I have found a women who plays the kora and takes on all the objectives of a Groit. Her name is Sona Jobarteh. She is the first women kora player from a west African Groit family. She is known for her ability to blend musical styles. Here is her official website if you would like to learn more about her: http://www.sonajobarteh.com/ . And here is one of her songs named "Jarabi"done in 2011:
We talked about a lot of instruments used in music from the Sub Saharan. One instrument we did not talk about is called the Calabash. "It is an dried calabash bowl turned upside down and hit with the fist and fingers wearing rings. It is mostly used as accompaniment to melodic instruments." (from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sub-Saharan_African_music_traditions#Instruments) Here is a video of it being played.
I was shocked to read about the Native American boarding school. It is very similar to the Holocaust.
ReplyDeleteI also ran into Sona Jobarteh when I was researching the Kora and I loved her music it was really pretty! I liked your last video on the Calabash, I have never seen an instrument like that or even heard anything like it. Kinda sounds like rain.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the Native American boarding schools should be taught in schools; that was a terrible thing. It’s awesome that you were about to find a female Griot. I love to see women in leadership positions all over the world.
ReplyDeleteThe Boarding Schools where the Native American children were forced to attend was a terrible injustice to the Native Americans... It was good to see a woman playing the Kora. It had a beautiful harp sound. The Calabash bowl would be a cool instrument to introduce to the boys in school.
ReplyDeleteThe song that you posted relating to Native Americans being put in a boarding school just briefly gives us an idea of how painful it was to be in their shoes. On the other hand, the video about the Calabash was neat. It’s kinda goofy looking but such a neat concept.
ReplyDeleteOh, I'm so glad you found the calabash! I've also seen videos where the big half-calabash is positioned over a long flat tongue of wood, and it squeaks as the player pushes it across the wood, so that you can get a variety of timbres. And yes, I wish that more American History classes in public schools included more about the forced relocations and schooling of Native Americans. I'm always amazed at people's abilities to maintain their culture in the face of adversity.
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