Tabetha World Music 22 October 2010 The New Women s Shuffle Dance Song: A Fusion of Traditions Recent decades have seen many Native American singers produce both traditional and non-traditional music on a wider stage than their immediate tribe. However, even while Native American life is modernizing Native peoples have retained many of their original traditions, and, at the same time, have adopted foreign traditions and made them their own. This practice can be seen in the music industry, which has grown from its original use in rituals and social life on the small scale to include CDs, concert tours, and large audience groups. This widely heard music incorporates both Native American and Western traditions to educate diverse audiences and promote the long standing aesthetic values held by the Native peoples of North America. An excellent example of such a mixing of traditions, while still retaining the original cultural values, is the song Yo Ho O Ho performed and recorded by the Six Nations Women Singers. Imagine hundreds of people together in an Iroquois Longhouse, a rectangular ceremonial structure. A man stands to give an address of thanksgiving. There is food, dancing, and music as the community comes together to acknowledge the earth and the Creator (Diamond 2008: 96). The stage is set for a biannual sing of the Longhouse tradition of Native Americans of the Northeast Woodlands, specifically of the Haudenosaunee tribe, a part of the Iroquois Confederacy (Diamond 2001: 1078). A sing occurs biannually to connect the community to Mother Earth and each other. Social dances occur at these sings in order to create an atmosphere of happiness and energy (Levine 2001: 463), and no genre of social dance is more central to sings than the New Women s Shuffle Dance (Diamond 2008: 104). Traditionally, women dance while a few men sing and play the water drum and cow horn rattles, but recently 1
many women s singing groups have taken charge of the music for this genre. As always, only women dance (Heth 2001: 37). The Six Nations Women Singers is one of the most prominent singing groups, or singing societies, in the contemporary sing tradition. Singing societies are featured at sings and exist in order to raise money to help those in need within the community (Diamond 2008:95). Diamond states that the very definition of music itself is tied to this vision of sharing and caring (Diamond 2002: 23). The concept of the Native American tradition of giving gifts extends all across North America. At pow-wows of the Great Plains tribes, the amount of goods given away is almost unbelievable to those from another tradition (Browner 2002: 94). In fact, above the picture of the Six Nations Women Singers in the liner notes to the CD of the song analyzed here, a box declares, A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Six Nations Women Singing Society Donation Fund (Six Nations Women Singers 1996). Yo Ho O Ho, performed on the album We Will All Sing, is recorded with the voices of Sadie Buck as leader, Charlene Bomberry, Betsy Buck, Pat Hess, Janice G. Martin, and Jaynane Burning. These women come from tribes of the Six Nations peoples, who now reside in New York, Ontario, and Quebec (Diamond 2008: 99). Yo Ho O Ho is a New Women s Shuffle Dance song. The genre is unique in that unlike other social dance genres that consist of a fixed repertory, the New Women s Shuffle Dance genre allows for the creation of new pieces even to this day (Jackson and Levine 2002: 292). One such piece is Yo Ho O Ho. While the piece sounds indigenized, the melody is based on an American folk song, Camptown Races. This method of songwriting wherein elements of different musical traditions are indigenized is relatively widespread in Native America. In addition to taking elements from the traditions of other tribes of North America, as in pan-tribalism, the Native 2
Americans have adopted and adapted many styles, instruments, and concepts from non-indian musical cultures (Levine 1998: 24). James Howard adds that it is commonly believed that Native Americans have always enjoyed giving and receiving new religious cults, dances, and musical forms (Howard 1983: 71). This suggests that the Native American musical tradition, while retaining many original concepts, is constantly changing. David Samuels argues that as well as the adoption of foreign musical styles, genre mixing in popular music among country, rock-and-roll, and pop is not uncommon (Samuels 2009: 151). With this idea in mind, I can now turn to the Six Nations Women Singers version of a traditional American folk song. The piece begins, as do most New Women s Shuffle Dance pieces, with a water drum followed by a cow horn rattle indigenous to the Iroquois tribes. The water drum, found in the Northeastern as well as Southeastern tribal traditions (Levine 2004: 720), is relatively high pitched and must be continually turned by keeping the membrane moist in order to produce the desired pitch (Diamond 2008: 97). After six seconds of drum beats, the lead singer enters singing a vocable on a level melodic contour. The drum beat and cow horn rattle continue throughout the entire piece except for briefly during the fourth repetition of the strophe and during the brief pause after the fifth strophe. That is not to say that the tempo remains constant throughout the piece. On the contrary, tempo changes slightly, especially in the beginning of the piece, where there is a slight acceleration when the leader first enters. The method of vocal production used by the lead singer, Sadie Buck, differs from that used by the chorus. Buck uses a rather tense and nasal method of vocal production during the first strophe, which she sings as a solo. She also makes use of her vibrato to great effect, in contrast to the following strophes, when the other singers enter. In strophe repetitions two 3
through five, the chorus uses relatively relaxed, yet still slightly nasal vocal production techniques. Several similar themes run throughout each strophe despite the number of singers. The peak of the melody at the end of the A phrase of the strophe is accented, sung on the vocable Ho following the tradition of resting momentarily on the highest note (Diamond 2008:107). Also, what could be classified as a loud dynamic level in western music is used throughout the piece. Native American songs generally maintain a steady dynamic level. This is one way the Six Nations Women Singers have indigenized the piece. The texture of the piece is monophonic, featuring blended unison when all of the singers are participating. The single melodic line pulling the piece along represents another stylistic feature of traditional Native American musics. Rarely, if ever, does one hear harmonies in these musics, which emphasize the human voice and the value of communal collaboration. The song text, like nearly every New Women s Shuffle Dance, does not feature lexical words. Instead of singing Camptown ladies sing this song, doo-dah, doo-dah as in the American version, this Shuffle Dance version features the use of vocables. Vocables have been a part of Native American musical traditions across North America for hundreds of years. These sounds are not accidental. Instead, they are fixed syllables that do not carry lexical meaning. However, certain vocables are used to announce the end of a strophe, and, thus, the beginning of a new section or strophe. For example, as in most new Women s Shuffle Dance pieces, the end of a strophe is announced by the vocables gainawiyo heya (Diamond 2008: 107). Through the use of vocables, meaning is found in the interpretation of the melody and the character of the melody as a whole. The inclusive nature of vocables also encourages mass participation across tribes, aiding in the Pan-tribalism movement. 4
The melody of Yo Ho O Ho follows the rough melodic outline of the original Westernstyle piece. This version is indigenized by the addition of an introduction to lead into the melody and a cadence to signal the end of the strophe. The melody is that of an undulating arch, in that it rises at the beginning of the strophe to its peak then gradually falls and rises in a pattern until the end of the phrase, when the voice returns to the starting pitch. This undulating arch melody is traditionally from the European tradition and was adopted for this version to bring in the Western feel. However, the use of a cadence on a level pitch contour, as well as other factors, indigenizes this rendition, creating a traditional feel (Victoria Levine, personal communication). The range of the melody is an octave. This medium-sized vocal range is practical and standard for a folk song such as this. The range is established within the first four notes of each strophe, as the melody begins on the tonic and then outlines an ascending triadic arpeggio. The strophe ends on the tonic. This song features a pentatonic scale that is roughly comparable to the Western diatonic scale. The five notes used in the scale are relatively equidistant. The first three notes are each separated by a major second, whereas the interval between the third and fourth pitches is a minor third. The fourth and fifth pitches are again separated by a major second, while the distance between the fifth pitch and the upper tonic is a minor third. Thus, most of the intervals involve whole steps and minor thirds, making the pitches relatively equidistant. A pitch hierarchy is a little more difficult to determine but does seem to exist. As previously mentioned, the strophe begins and ends on the same note and the melody reaches its apex on that same note in the upper octave. Because it is emphasized, this note serves as a central pitch or tonic. The fourth pitch is also emphasized in this scale. This pitch is repeated at least six times in each strophe, making it the second most important note. Interestingly, because of the size of the intervals in this scale, the distance between the first and the fourth notes is a perfect 5
fifth. Also referred to as Do and Sol in European music, these are the central notes in the Western diatonic scale. Their use in this context illustrates another way in which the Six Nations Women Singers have blended Western musical sensibilities with those of the Iroquois in this song. As far as rhythm is concerned, there are three different note values used in the piece, and a rhythmic motif also continues throughout the strophe with the C phrase of the strophe providing a contrast to the other phrases. The main rhythmic motif can be written out as long, short, short, long, with the first long accounting for two beats, the second long accounting for four beats, and the short beats accounting for one beat apiece. This motif is echoed in the A, B, and D phrases in the strophe. The C phrase, however, can be written out as short, short, short, short, short, short, short, with each short equaling one beat. That contrasting rhythm propels the strophe and makes it more interesting for the audience, while also accentuating the main rhythmic motif. Slight accents are also used to further stress different parts of the strophe, most notably what could be called the peak of the melodic contour, or the fourth note in the strophe. Interestingly, that particular note is held four beats. Compared to many Native American songs, Yo Ho O Ho has a relatively fast tempo. The contrast between the fast music of the Northern Woodland peoples and the fast music of other groups is intriguing and reveals a lot of information about cultural values. Yo Ho O Ho follows a type of strophic form, wherein the main melody is repeated five times. However, in this particular piece, the melody is preceded by an introduction, followed by a cadence, and repeated during each strophe (except in the fifth). After the strophe is repeated five times, there is a brief break in the music for both voices and instruments. Then the water 6
drum and the cow horn rattle enter once more and the introduction, five strophes, and cadences are repeated. The form may be diagrammed as follows: x x x : A B C D y z z : Within the diagram, x stands for the introductory phrase that is repeated twice. The introduction includes a water drum, cow horn rattle, and Sadie Buck, the lead singer. A, B, C, and D are all phrases within the melody. Phrases A through C receive a total of eight counts each, while D receives only four counts. This occurs due to the cadence, the y, z, and z which together count for fourteen beats. The first time through the entire strophe, A to z, Sadie Buck is the only singer. She is joined by the remainder of the singers who then repeat the strophe four times. The practice of the leader singing solo for the first strophe and being joined by other singers for the repetitions is common in this genre (Diamond 2008: 107). As stated above, the entire introduction and five strophes are repeated after a brief break, according to the custom in NewWomen s Shuffle Dance songs (Diamond 2008: 106). There are two strophes in each cycle of the song that are slightly different from the others. The fourth strophe begins with the singers accompanied only by the cow horn rattle. The water drum is omitted from the strophe until the middle of the C phrase, where it resumes its regular pattern. The second difference occurs in the last strophe. This strophe, in each cycle, does not include the cadence. Instead, all participants end on the last word of the melody, Ho, which is marked by a change in meter. In fact, the meter is constantly changing throughout the piece, following the Native American tradition. In the introduction, for example, each x features two measures of eight beats. The x, however, uses one measure of eight beats and one of two beats, before leading into the strophe. During the melody (phrases A through D), the piece uses common meter (four beats per 7
measure). Common meter is used in the American rendition of the folk song Camptown Races. However, in the Native American version, as soon as the melody is complete, the meter changes; y in the cadence has eight beats, z has four beats, and z has two beats. This contrasts with the otherwise consistent use of common meter. The last word in the fifth strophe is given an extra two beats to end the piece. Changing meter is another method the Six Nations Women Singers use to indigenize the piece. To recap the information on form and in light of the changing meter, see the figure below. x x x : A B C D y z z : (8 8) (8 8) (8 2) : (4 4) (4 4) (4 4) 4 8 4 2: 6 (last time through) Back at the sing, the Six Nations Women singers are performing a New Women s Shuffle Dance. Keeping in contact with Mother Earth through music and smooth footwork, women are dancing in front of them, celebrating their role as life-givers in the community (Diamond 2008:109). The New Women s Shuffle Dance has been a favorite genre for many years, according to Beverly Diamond, in that it has been able to reflect both the traditional and the contemporary-the centuries old form, as well as new tunes, new subject matter, and current ideas about social relationships both within the nation and between nations (Diamond 2008: 109). The new tune, Camptown Races, was cleverly adapted to the traditional New Women s Shuffle Dance form, emerging from the fusion as an entirely new piece. Owned by the innovators who took a piece from the Western tradition and made it their own, the piece creatively applies both Native American traditional values and those of an entirely different culture. 8
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