Nations
Art of Tradition : Sacred Music, Dance, & Myth of Michigan's Anishinaabe, 1946-1955 by Call Number: E99 .C6 K87 2009Anishinaabe Nation
The Jesus Road : Kiowas, Christianity, and Indian Hymns by Call Number: E99 .K5 L369 2002 & CD 16807Koiogu Nation
Muskogean Charm Songs among the Oklahoma Cherokees by Call Number: ONLINEAni'-Yun'wiya', Tsalagi, Kituwah Nations
Putting a Song on Top of It : Expression and Identity on the San Carlos Apache Reservation by Call Number: E99 .A6 S28 2004N'de Nation
Singing for Power: The Song Magic of the Papago Indians of Southern Arizona by Call Number: ML3557 .U53 S4 1968Tohono o'odham NationSongs of the Yokuts and Paiutes. by
Call Number: ML3557 .P53Monache, Numu, Tachi, Timbisha, Wechihit, Wukchumni Nations
Frances Densmore
- In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Frances Densmore documented the music and culture of Indigenous Nations, including the Acoma; Hiinono'ei (Arapahoe); Tsitsistas (Cheyenne): Chippewa; Cochiti; Hidatsa; Islets; Maidu; Makah; Mandan; Menominee; Nootka; Northern Ute; Papago; Pawnee; Quileute; Seminole; Teton Sioux; Tule; Yaqui; Yuman; and Zuñi.
- Her works can be found in the Libraries' catalog; many full-text at HathiTrust, and the US Government Publishing Office.
Travels with Frances Densmore: Her Life, Work, and Legacy in Native American Studies by Call Number: ONLINE & ML423 .D36 T73 2015
Reference Resources
Elements of Indigenous Style by Call Number: REFERENCE PN147 .Y68 2018
Encyclopedia of Native American Music of North America by Call Number: REFERENCE ML102 .N37 K45 2013
The Encyclopedia of Native Music: More Than a Century of Recordings from Wax Cylinder to the Internet by Call Number: REFERENCE ML156.4 .I5 W75 2005
Books
Aboriginal Music in Contemporary Canada: Echoes and Exchanges by Call Number: ONLINE
Burst of Breath: Indigenous Ritual Wind Instruments in Lowland South America by Call Number: ONLINE
Heartbeat, Warble, and the Electric Powwow: American Indian Music by Call Number: ML3557 .H38 2016
Indigenous Pop: Native American Music from Jazz to Hip Hop by Call Number: ONLINE
Intertribal Native American Music in the United States by Call Number: ML3557 .P47 2014 & CD 16445
Music and Modernity among First Peoples of North America by Call Number: WT YOUNG (4th floor) ML3550 .M88 2019
Music of the First Nations by Call Number: ONLINE & ML3557 .M87 2009
Native American Song at the Frontiers of Early Modern Music by Call Number: ML3557 .B67 2008
Spirit of the First People by Call Number: ML3557 .S7 1998 & CD 4765
Composers, Performers & Repertory (Online)
- Institute for Composer DiversitySearch the ICD's databases for composers and links to their websites and works.
- Native American ArtistsExtensive list of Native American artists, their albums, and links to tracks.
Publishers & Labels
- Aakuluk MusicThe mission of Aakuluk Music is to help Nunavut musicians produce and promote their music. The label will help record, market, and distribute Inuktitut music nationally and internationally.
- Canyon RecordsFounded in 1951 in Phoenix, Arizona, Canyon Records is largest Native music record label in the U.S. today. Its catalog includes traditional as well as modern Native American music.
- Cool RunningsEspecially strong collection of Navajo peyote, children's songs, and powwow music.
- Indian HouseIndian House is a 50 year old record company in Taos, NM, specializing in recordings of traditional and powwow Native American Indian music
- Indian RecordsEstablished in 1964, Indian Records recordings have been used in films and documents around the world.
- Smithsonian Folkways RecordingsSmithsonian Folkways Recordings is the nonprofit record label of the Smithsonian Institution, the national museum of the United States. We are dedicated to supporting cultural diversity and increased understanding among peoples through the documentation, preservation, and dissemination of sound.
Archives & Collections
- 1890 Passamaquoddy Phonography RecordingsThese recordings made during Jesse Walter Fewkes' research trip to Maine in March of 1890. The purpose of the trip was to test the Edison Phonograph in field conditions. After Fewkes' work with the Passamaquoddy, he went on to publish many journal articles and transcriptions of Passamaquoddy stories, which can also be found in this collection.
- Boas and Herzog Recordings of Dan Cranmer (Archives of Traditional Music, Indiana University)Collection includes 22 aluminum disc recordings of Kwakwaka'wakw Chief Dan Cranmer performing songs such as stick game songs, feast songs, paddling songs, mourning songs, and speeches; made in 1938.
- Herzog Yanktonai-Dakota Collection (Archives of Traditional Music, Indiana University)George Herzog (1901-1983) made this collection of 195 wax cylinder recordings in 1928 at the Standing Rock Sioux reservation in Fort Yates, North Dakota.
- Library of Congress.Online collection of audio recordings of Native North American music from the 1800s to the present.
- Native North American Music and Oral Data: A Catalogue of Sound Recordings, 1894-1976 / Dorothy Sara Lee & Willard Rhodes (2019)This open access book is designed to serve as a guide to Native North American music and oral data holdings at the Indiana University Archives of Traditional Music. There are nearly 500 separate accessions contained in field, commercial and broadcast recordings which cover the native peoples of North America, including the Eskimo and the peoples of Central America.
- Omaha Indian Music (Library of Congress)Presented here are selections from the American Folklife Center's collections documenting Omaha music traditions. The sound recordings include 44 wax cylinder recordings made in the 1890s, 323 songs and spoken-word segments from the 1983 Omaha harvest celebration pow-wow, 24 spoken-word segments from an interview with an Omaha elder in 1983, 25 songs and speeches from a performance by members of the Hethu'shka Society, and 61 spoken word segments from an interview conducted with an Omaha musician in 1999.
Additional Online Resources
- American Indigenous MusicLibGuide from Harvard Library with information about indigenous musicians, record labels, and more.
- iPortal: Indigenous Studies Portal Research Tool (University of Saskatchewan)The Indigenous Studies Portal (iPortal) is a database of full-text electronic resources such as articles, e-books, theses, government publications, videos, oral histories, and digitized archival documents and photographs. The iPortal content has a primary focus on Indigenous peoples of Canada with a secondary focus on North American materials and beyond.
- National Museum of the American Indian (Smithsonian Institution)Holdings include musical instruments and other objects, photographs, archives, and media covering the Western Hemisphere.
- Native DrumsNative Drums Is a website devoted to the rich heritage of First Nations culture and music in Canada. The site contains videos, interviews, articles, resource kits for teachers.
- ProQuest Dissertations & Theses GlobalThis link launches a sample search for dissertations on the music of Native Americans. You can refine or broaden the search as you wish.
Audio & Visual Resources
DRAM
Films on Demand
- We're Still Here
First Nation indigenous hip hop artists in Canada lead efforts to right long-standing social injustices, heal personal traumas, and preserve their cultures through the power of music. - The World of American Indian Dance
This documentary, produced by the Oneida Nation, explores the dynamics of competition dancing—its artistry, origins, and meanings, as well as the clash between progress and tradition that marks the contest powwow.
Spotify
UK Libraries
Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the WorldCall Number: WT Young AV-D0843Request at 1st floor circulation desk.
UK Libraries Databases
- American Indian Histories and CulturesAIHC provides access to primary source materials covering four centuries in North & Central America. This links launches a search on the keyword "music."
- Smithsonian Global SoundThis link launches a search for Native American music in the Smithsonian Global Sound database.
Subject Headings & Call Numbers
►SUBJECT HEADINGS
These links will launch searches in the Advanced Search:
- Indians of Central America -- Music
- Indians of North America -- Music
- Indians of South America -- Music
Individual Nations. The Library of Congress Subject Headings list is not complete and the names of Nations may not always be authentic. You can try searches with the Nation's name as a subject or a keyword term.
For your own search:
- Go to Advanced Search
- Search for Library Catalog
- Search Filters Subject contains [type your terms here]
- Material Type All items [or specific format]
Scores and AV are best searched by composer, performer, genre, and limiting to the Material Types Score, Audio, or Video, for example:
- Go to Advanced Search
- Search for Library Catalog
- Search Filters Author/creator contains Brent Michael Davids
- AND Subject contains choruses
- Material Type All items
►CALL NUMBERS -- BOOKS
- ML156.4 .I5 Native American music--Discography
- ML3556 Native North American music
- ML3572 Native Central American music
- ML3575 Native South American music
►CALL NUMBERS -- SCORES
- M1669 Native American folk, national, and ethnic music
Or try searching in an Advanced Author/Creator search set to "Contains" the composer's name and setting the Material Type to Scores.
Works in the Western art music tradition are not generally given separate call numbers that indicate ethnicity, gender, orientation, or place of birth. See the document below of an outline of the Library of Congress Classification System for scores: