Historical Background
I feel strongly that my student needs to know the background information of any unit that we are studying. In the previous units, the background information about culture and traditions has helped my students improve their performance of musical selections as well as improve their interpretation the composer's style. To me, developing an awareness of the ways sociocultural influences within a specific time span can give my students insightful information about musical form, characteristics of thematic developments, and other structural organization or composition techniques. For this unit, I think my students need to know the history of the Native American music in order to understand the development of their musical genre and the areas of differences with regard to other American folk music. Another reason the historical background of this unit should be studied is because the majority of my students' ancestral backgrounds can be linked to the other of the Indian cultures. In other words, 65% of my students are Hispanic. Therefore, this unit will have a personal interest to them although most are descended from indigenous of Mexico, Central America, and South America. Nonetheless, they do share indigenous heritage. The knowledge gained from this research will enable my students to understand the reasons why the Native American musical styles are both unique and different. Listed below is a brief historical background story for the Native American.
When the European explorers came to America, there were approximately a million Native American tribes living in America. The Indian territories stretched from Far North to the southern tip of South America. Because the lands were undeveloped, the Indians taught the settlers how to survive as well as make different types of clothing and grow crops such as, avocados, beans, squash, corn, peanuts, pineapples, cotton, and tobacco.
Many of the explorers and settlers followed trails made by the Indians. These trails led to water, turquoise, silver, gold, and other minerals. The Europeans and Indians learned from one another. African slaves added complexity to the experience, and runaway slaves sometimes sought haven with Indians. The European brought products that were different and new to the Indians. These products included guns, liquor, and metal equipment. The Europeans also introduced the Indians to horses and cattle. The Indians introduced the Europeans to "moccasins that were both waterproof and comfortable as well as the birchbark canoes" (Mann, 2005: 58).
The lifestyle between the Indians and the Europeans were very different. Many of the Europeans tried to live in harmony with the Indians. On the other hand, some Europeans took advantage of them by cheating them out of their land and treated them unfairly. When the Indians fought back, thousands were killed in battle because their weapons were no match for guns. Large numbers of Indians were killed by the diseases of the Europeans. Europeans introduced the Indians to smallpox, tuberculosis, and measles. Sometimes whole Indian villages were suddenly wiped out.
As more settlers came, some of the settlers decided to expand their settlements by moving west. This meant that more land would be taken from the Indians. The Indians retaliated through raids and wars. Consequently, the Indians were eventually moved to reservations throughout the United States.
Although they had lost their land, tribesmen, and family members, many of today's tribes are continuing their cultural traditions through intertribal events.
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