Music Week 6
The group that I will be doing my discussion post on will be the Athabascans. Over the years I have learned more and more about the native indigenous groups to where I grew up, whether it is from natives, work, or school. One thing that has stayed consistent is the love for music and how they incorporate it into their day to day lives.
The above video shows an example of the Athabascan Ida'ina K'eljeshna at an AFN convention. AFN is the Alaska Federation of Natives Conference that happens every year either in Fairbanks or Anchorage. They dance for a variety of reasons from celebration to mourning (Travel Alaska). Athabascans have three main groups of music that they have, washtub, stick dance, and mask dance. Stick dance is only performed at end-of-life things and if it is performed at other times it was said to bring bad luck. When they dance to mourn, it is a way for them to commit to live, and
go on with their lives. That’s what the songs mean. The way they position their bodies means they survived (Paskvan, 2013). When dancing it was meant to establish friendly ties with outside groups and that included marriage and trade partners.
Over the years I have learned more about this style of music and what it represents. I started learning about it in elementary school where we learned some of the dances and songs as well as what they represented. We learned about the dances for luck and food. As time went by, I started to learn more and more. My father worked closely with native groups and I got to watch some of these traditions in person. Seeing them at a young age mesmerized me and showed me the true meaning and dedication of the music within their culture.
A popular instrument used in Athabascan music is the fiddle. Every year they have an Athabascan Fiddle Association Music Fest. This year will be the 42nd one. Fiddles were introduced in this area by Scottish, Irish, French Canadian, and Métis fur traders of the Hudson's Bay Company in the mid-19th century (Wikipedia, 2024).
Hi porter! I really liked your post. I have always found Indigenous cultures fascinating, including that of Athabascan's. I found it super cool that you mentioned the fiddles role In their music, and how that came to be. One thing I would have added to this post would be how Athabaskan's tie in dancing with their musical performances.
ReplyDeleteHi Porter, I liked your post! I loved how you explained the different reasons for why music is so important to Athabascans. I loved learning that music is not just a way to express themselves, tell stories, or to celebrate, but that it holds cultural aspects. I would like to know some of the songs that are sung with the Athabascans.
ReplyDeleteI have always found Alaskan Native music, especially Athabascan music, to be very interesting. Throughout my life I've had the chance to witness several Athabascan musical performances. I often have the same reaction that you have when listening to this type of music, the feeling of being mesmerized. I think that if you enjoy listening to this type of music you should watch and listen to this video, https://youtu.be/cmE-PTrsfu4?feature=shared as it shows a wonderful Athabascan musical performance.
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