Harp music is the type of music that is usually played by the use of a stringed instrument known as the harp. The harp has a number of individual strings running at angles to its soundboard which are usually played as one plucks them with his fingers. Native American music is the music whose use is found among the Native Americans in the U.S.A. It is the traditional music by the Native American groups. Some Native American groups with a specific kind of native music include the Lakota, Shoshone and the Choctaw (Swisher & AnCita 122). In this paper; I will make a comparison of the meaning and the function of the traditional Native American music in Lakota, Shoshone and Choctaw, with Harp music.
One important thing noted in the tribes from the society of Lakota is the warrior life of this society. One needs to know all about the history of the warrior life of this society otherwise they will experience difficulties as they try to understand their music. They were able to endure several wars including World war I, Korea, Vietnam, Wounded Knee II and in Prisons through music. There always was a song that meant so much to them. Singing provide as them with the chance to feel good and be healed from the pain. Many of the songs are about veterans that were wounded in the battles, or were killed overseas or how they came home after hardships. The songs are like a narrative of the story. They are away of reminiscing through the pain and the glory. As discussed in the lecture, the sacred pipe is a significant instrument in the Lakota society culturally, symbolically, and spiritually. They use the pipe to pray I a ceremony where they believe to be communicating with their Gods. When an individual breathes in and out with smoke coming out, they are praying to the Gods. The pipe ceremony gifts the Lakota people with the opportunity for spiritual grounding and the power to negotiate their native identity in the contemporary world. In their view, music is a lifetime companion and their way of worshipping their Gods.
Kiowa is another identical group. Music in the Kiowa gourd dance incorporates the warrior culture as the fundamental key as discussed in the lecture. A part of the Gourd Dance song goes: “We should be proudWe have a rich history, no one can take that away from you! The government has tried over and over they’ve taken everything they could, but I’m gonna’ tell you one thing; I won’t never let them have my language, that’s for sure. I’m gonna’ take care of it the best I know how.” From the time of Western contact, such songs have been made. The Kiowa Gourd dance songs are a representation of the traditions, spirit, and religion of the Kiowa traditions; it is a symbol of both their struggle with the U.S. Government and their persistence. Music is vital in the revitalization movement among the Kiowa people. Billy Evans Horse, a sixty year old Kiowa resident says that all songs that he is aware have a religious orientation. He says that he feels good as he worships God in the songs since God is the one that created him and gave him the sound that he can enjoy himself with. He says that he has been raised in a way that they all should preserve and believe in that culture. In their view, Kiowa people believed that musical performance is a way of connecting to God and a tool for ensuring preservation of their history, culture and voice. Therefore, in their songs, they sing on the story of continuity and survival of their culture.
Choctaw is another culture dance performed today in Oklahoma and Mississippi and is made up of remains of the ball game and night dance cycle that once appeared in many guises in the societies from the south east. Such events provided a platform for social interactions as well as ritual celebrations. The surviving dance is a representative of a life whose existence is no more. The dance songs are believed to have been given to the Choctaws at the creation time by supernatural beings. It can be mainly noted that the major role of the dance songs in these communities is the preservation and revitalization of the traditions of their tribes.
When the Choctaws migrated from Mississippi to the territory of Indians in the year 1903, they prioritized accurate memorization. According to the classic definition, cultural revitalization is a deliberately organized, conscious effort by society members in construction of a more satisfying culture. The individuals involved in the revitalization process should be innovative and not simply discrete items but a fresh system of culture that specifies both new relationships and new traits. Revitalization of music is founded on the conviction of an individual and is an opportunity for reshaping, reinterpretation, and redefinition of the musical culture. Musical revitalization is also articulatory in nature as it has to do with the way individuals employ music as a way of identifying themselves, using their historical experience to make sense and transcending social constraints as a way of repressing the traditional culture from a dominant group. Also, musical revitalization goal is not to simply reinstitute earlier traditional performances totally, but an expression of the judgment of an individual and their choice in regard to their musical traits and the qualities that have been selected as a representation of a particular genre performance.
Harp music produces calm and smooth gentle sensations when plucked by fingers. In the modern day, harp music is used for both physical and emotional healing. Harp music is utilized in hospitals and health care centers where it functions as therapeutical music (Kohatsu and Wendy 32). Since time in memorial, the harp has been used as an instrument that can bring healing and comfort. The therapeutic harp has been recognized as a way of assisting patients with breathing and heart problems as it assists in breathing and re-establishing of heart rhythms, and reduces blood pressure and stress. Many testimonies of healing and recovery have been witnessed from listening to the healing sounds of harp music. Many hospitals have therefore accepted the use of harp music in healing of patients alongside the use of modern medicine. It is also increasingly being used in enhancement of energy healing which includes yoga, meditation, massage and mediation especially in workshops and group classes. Harp music is also used in corporate events and seminars to release stress and pent-up emotions and make the participants feel relaxed.
When compared to the three different kinds of Native American music, one will note that all of them play a specific role in the community. Native American music from Lakota is played as a way of reminiscing through the pain and the glory, the same way harp music is played in hospitals to ease the pain of patients. The music from Lakota also instills the spirit of bravery among the Lakota people, the same way harp music instills the spirit of calmness and relaxation among people. While the harp represents a worldwide culture of people who believe in its soothing capabilities, the Kiowa Gourd dance songs are a representation of the traditions, spirit, and religion of the Kiowa traditions. The Kiowa dance music is also a way of the people connecting to their God and preserving their history while the harp music allows people to connect with their souls and at the same time get a chance to feel relaxed while creating a tradition that will be followed even by the future generations; the tradition of using harp music for relaxing people’s minds. Choctaws dance is performed as a way of providing a platform for social interactions as well as ritual celebrations, the same way harp music is played as a way of providing healing to the society especially to the sick. The Choctaw music culture involves revitalization that is deliberate organization and conscious efforts by the community members to create a more satisfying culture; this is the same thing that is happening with harp music as people continue to develop a culture where harp music is valued worldwide for its numerous benefits to the state of heath of human beings.
Every music genre be it, from a specific culture or from the modern worldwide culture plays a specific role among human beings. Music is used to connect all human beings and it is therefore prudent to conclude that music is connected to human beings.
Work Cited
Swisher, Karen G, and AnCita Benally. Native North American Firsts. Detroit [u.a.: Gale, 1998. Print.
Kohatsu, Wendy, and Wendy Kohatsu. Complimentary and Alternative Medicine Secrets. Philadelphia: Hanley & Belfus, 2002. Print.
