Volume 14 Number 1
October 1974

Thomas F. Johnston

DESPITE A CENTURY of pressure to assimilate, the Alaskan Indian has begun to demonstrate, by an increasing musical resurgence during the past decade, that continued cultural erosion is unacceptable. There are precedents for such demonstration, the earliest probably being the revival of Celtic songs in Wales during the period 1750-1800. Other cases are the present stress upon Czech and Hebrew folksong, and upon traditional Gaelic songs in the Irish separatist movement.

Ironically, Alaskan Indian music’s extensive cultural functionalism, e.g., its prime role in ceremony, has been the prime cause for its demise. By comparison, the performance of European art music is relatively detached from routine social and personal events and has pursued an independent existence, outliving the aristocratic society which gave it birth. But in Alaska, misguided religious and administrative deprecation of Indian ceremonialism has brought loss of many of the associated songs and dances.

On the surface, this fact appears to raise the question of the validity today of Athabascan, Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian music. If many of the original social functions are gone, and if the life-style is changing (as it is bound to do in a machine age), is revival meaningless? Here it is important to consider differential rates of change in function and form. For instance, the prominent subsistence role of Alaskan village art today shows that the original function may be replaced by a more urgent function while form remains relatively stable, and the use of ancient dance-regalia within the context of modern non-commercial native music festivals shows that traditional musical forms are serving new expressive functions related to community prestige and cultural identity.

The healthy continuance of Indian musical tradition is dependent not only upon functional adaptiveness but upon the shifting inner motivations and attitudes of successive generations. As Ron Senungetuk, quoting Katherine Kuh, phrases it, "The creative process springs from personal life and past art, not from well-meaning intervention. No amount of outside help can substitute for self-determining social relationships. And no amount of technical advice can make up for the loss of a people’s pride in itself" (1970:51). The converse implication here is that, where musical motivation and musical pride does exist, a technique such as ethnomusicology may prove a useful adjunct to Indian self-help.

Before discussing guidelines on this topic, it is necessary to examine more closely these four prerequisites for successful Indian musical revitalization: (1) a personal life-style favorable to that type of musical creativity which is peculiarly Indian; (2) a knowledge of traditional forms; (3) self-determined motivation; and (4) pride in traditional music. The first two depend largely upon individual choice; ideally today’s bicultural Alaskan Indian will be both forward-looking and traditional-oriented. The last two, despite Senungetuk’s use of the word "Self," depend largely upon the complex modern social environment in which the Alaskan Indian lives. Revitalizationists need to be able to feel that both white society and Indian society offer positive rewards for traditional musical performance, and that the acquisition of folk music skills is prestigious within the broad social context of contemporary America.

All four prerequisites are to some extent dependent upon the genuineness of the social function of present-day Alaskan Indian musical performance. The psychological function is clear; it is demonstrable in the use of Indian music to express world-view and "otherness" in a white man’s world. But if the social function were irrelevant and pretentious or, as Senungetuk puts it, merely "native entertainment for airline tourists," then fulfillment of the psychological needs would lack a firm social underpinning. Happily, there are two favorable factors here: (1) some Alaskan Indian music still occurs within near-original social context; and (2) it is possible to create new and at the same time valid social contexts for traditional music. An example of the former is the contemporary use of distinct, contrasting bodies of songs and dances at post-funeral potlatches at Minto, Nenana, Tanana, Tanacross, and elsewhere. The feeling of belonging and of musical rightness is overwhelming on these occasions. An example of new context is the use of ancient dance-regalia at contemporary Grand Camp meetings in the southeast.

If the approach taken by our proposed program were strictly puristic, Indian-operated revitalizational musicology would be based mainly upon the Alaskan Indian musical heritage as it was known at the time of contact, including song-style, dance-style, musical instruments, regalia, song-classification into story-songs and game-songs, etc., the sex-age specificity of different bodies of songs and dances, and defined musical roles. An example of the latter would be the sex-age group considered mainly responsible for the oral transmission of musical material from generation to generation.

However, Indian culture has at no time stood still, even prior to contact, and the puristic approach must be modified to allow for (1) material availability (e.g., the rareness of Chilkat ceremonial blankets); (2) changing sex-age roles in a changing society; and (3) the supplementation of oral transmission with printed Indian musical material.

Indian-operated revitalizational musicology could follow the precedent established by Michael Krauss, Elaine Ramos, and others, in their initiation of village language workshops and the subsequent teaching of Indian languages. Parallels would include the use of Indian teaching aides coached by University personnel, the use of authentic Indian cultural material which has been carefully researched, the adaptive use of a modern transcribing system, the use of a series of appropriate printed materials, and the overcoming of deep-rooted white teacher prejudice. Dissimilarities include the manufacture and use of tangible traditional musical artifacts such as instruments and costumes, the adaptive use of the Kodaly early-grade, music sight-reading system, and the planned creation of new musical roles, new musical functions, and new socio-musical situations, to provide substitute settings for Indian music which has lost its original purpose.

Information on past Alaskan Indian musical practice is to some extent available and should be collated and disseminated. Sources are particularly rich for the Tlingit. As early as 1789 Beresford describes the singing of the Sitka Tlingit, while in 1799 LaPerouse describes the singing of the Lituya Bay Tlingit. Here discretion must be used, for some of the descriptions are colored and, in certain instances, misleading.

As early as 1814 Lisiansky describes Tlingit musical instruments such as rattles, the descriptions being confirmed by Belcher in 1843. In 1881 Krause observed the musical and social use of Tlingit clappers, rattles, dance-aprons, masks, and the wooden box-drum, for which he gives a drawing, measurements, and its Huna name and use. Another ancient Tlingit musical form—pole-pounding at cremations—is described by Simpson as early as 1847, confirmed by Krause in 1881, and by Swanton in 1908. As early as 1840 Veniaminof describes Tlingit wedding dances, confirmed by Holmberg in 1856. The first of these also reports how the Tlingit cremation feast, the anniversary feast, and the feast for the children each possess their own special body of songs, as did shamans. Elaborate musical formalities upon greeting groups of strangers are among the earliest Tlingit musical materials we have; they are described by Forster in 1792, Vancouver in 1798, and Malaspina in 1849.

Concerning Haida musical practice in 1880, Dawson describes how six kinds of dance are recognized, gives their names, and also describes certain musical instruments. Concerning Tsimshian musical practice at the turn of the century, Swanton and Boas describe the use of derision songs in 1912, while Boas describes Tsimshian potlatch dancing in 1916. The University of Alaska Archives contain a number of serviceable photographs of southeastern Indian potlatch dancing during the period 1890-1910, illustrating typical dance-wear, stance, and equipment.

Early Atbabascan musical source materials are likewise available to some extent, for Jette arrived at Nulato in 1898 and lived among the Upper Koyukon until shortly before his death in 1927. His undated manuscript of a Ten’a dictionary describes the use of 18" polished hardwood clapper-sticks; he further describes musical activities during the Feast for the Dead in 1908 and again in 1911. In 1869 Whymper describes the Athabascan use of vocables in songs, confirmed by Dall in 1870.

While observers’ reports within historical documents describe Alaskan Indian musical behavior at time of contact, surviving family relics in the southeast and museum specimens around the world provide perfect models for construction of the musical artifacts whose social and musical use is part of that behavior. Given the provision of capsule musical histories in printed form, and the provision of craft-instructors and craft-shops for the manufacture of traditional musical accessories, concern about how to disseminate information concerning musical behavior and musical instrument use presents less of a problem than the provision and implementation of a program design relating to the actual sound of Indian music.

The eventual provision, to predominantly Indian schools, of these sound materials on tape should be accompanied by the provision of reel-to-reel recorders capable of both quality playback and quality recording, for it is intended that the Indian-operated revitalizational musicology program will communicate to interested village residents the necessary field work methods, recording technology, and transcriptive and notational skills. Cartridge-players offer insufficient fidelity for music reproduction, and exhibit disadvantages during the painstaking transcribing process.

Provision of the sound materials should also be accompanied by the issue of printed musical transcriptions utilizing the Western five-line musical staff which, after much experimentation in world ethnomusicology, still proves highly useful for many non-Western musics. It is capable of adaptation to regional tonal systems in which the normative pitch intervals are other than those implied by the staff. In the transcriptions there should be no use of key-signatures; the use of time-signatures and bar-lines should be carefully scrutinized, and important correlates such as songwords in the vernacular, English translation, drum rhythm, and dance-movement should be included.

The question of training Indian personnel in both reading and writing Western musical notation should be approached via the international system developed by Kodaly, Bartok’s colleague in Hungarian ethnomusicology and successful music pedagogue vis-a-vis teaching music sightreading to early grades. This system involves the association of important tone-centers with directional hand-signals, and gradual vocabulary expansion outward therefrom. Kodaly classroom charts and manuals are in use throughout the United States and are readily available; their mastery by teachers could be achieved by the scheduling of clinics.

We have dealt so far with eight essential steps of the program, namely, the provisions of: (1) historical information on Alaskan Indian musical performance; (2) tangible musical accessories via the use of authentic musical artifacts as models; (3) craft-instructors and craft-shops to produce these accessories; (4) taped sound materials old and new, together with relevant information concerning each item; (5) quality playback and recording equipment together with the training necessary to operate it; (6) printed musical transcriptions, together with explanatory booklets; (7) Kodaly classroom musical sightreading charts, and the scheduling of clinics to instruct in their use; and (8) the in-field training of Indian musicologists by University personnel.

Eight further steps are as follows:

Alaskan ethnomusicology must be enlarged at the University level, bringing in more out-of-state experts and involving more students, faculty, and researchers in higher education, who will then carry the work forward among the Indian population.

White teachers must be educated to accept the cultural and aesthetic validity of Alaskan Indian music, regardless of their personal musical preferences.

White teachers must be educated to accept the social urgency of the Indian-operated revitalizational musicology program, and its implications for Indian personality and healthy continuance of the on-going culture.

The Indian young should be present at Indian musical ceremonies, and built-in rewards such as commendation and prestige should accrue from the acquisition of Indian musical skills.

As suggested by Kleinfeld, native boarding schools should be closed, and the high school students should remain within the sphere of strong Indian family influence. The mini-high schools recommended by Kleinfeld should include instructors trained in the study and teaching of Alaskan Indian music.

There should be scholarships for the musically gifted Indian, involving the provision of recorded, printed, and instrumental materials, and of short-term University experiences. Prestigious home-and-away performance opportunities would increase motivation for the best of these students.

New expressive performance outlets should be, and in fact are being, created in both the community and the state; these should be extended to include the village council meeting, the church, and the schoolroom, i.e., those areas whose overt countenance and sanction is essential for raising the present social status of Indian music.

Finally, we make the radical recommendation that, in the teaching of and the revival of Alaskan Indian music, the much-discussed identity-establishing function should be de-emphasized in favor of fostering a deeper aesthetic and intellectual musical experience which involves not only identification with the accomplishments of past generations, but meaningful personal achievement in the present. Furthermore, the identity of any Alaskan individual involves not only ethnic association, but a crucial network of associations within the broad spectrum of contemporary Alaskan society in which, and with which, he must exist.

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Beresford, William. in George Dixon: A Voyage Around the World, But More Particularly to the Northwest Coast of America. 1785-88. London, 1789: pp. 242-243.

Boas, Franz. Tsimshian Mythology. Washington: Bureau of American Ethnology, 1916, 31: pp. 537-542.

Dall, William H. Alaska and Its Resources. Boston, 1870: p. 198.

Dawson, George M. "Report on the Queen Charlotte Islands 1878. Appendix A: On the Haida Indians." in Geological Survey of Canada, Report of Progress for 1878-9. Montreal, 1880: pp. 103-171, Plate XI, Fig. 26.

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