Women's Roles In Native American Music

The roles of Women in Native American Music has varied throughout the years. According to Beverley Diamond’s journal, Native American Contemporary Music: The Women, women’s roles have changed in recent years that has given strength to indigenous women’s voices (Diamond, pg. 388). In Diamond’s journal, she mentions a music gathering in Boston that showed her the prevalence of women in Native American music today (Diamond, pg. 387). Diamond states that at the concert she realized that, “Native American women in popular music now had a large, diverse, and diverse enthusiastic audience” (Diamond, pg. 387). Diamond explained the different headliners at the concert, one headliner was Ulati, a trio comprised of Native American women (Diamond, pg.
Although women did play roles in traditional Native American music, their authenticity of their performance is more prevalent today. For example, one artists by the name of Sharon Burch combines contemporary music with traditional music in her songs (Diamond, pg. 388). Burch accomplishes this by using, “a folk style accompanied by often by acoustic guitar but her songs are shaped rhythmically by the Navajo language and vocables” (Diamond pg. 389). Diamond gives examples of women who make, “contemporary arrangements of traditional songs” (Diamond, pg. 398). Another artist who has combined different music styles combined with their traditional music style is Mary Youngblood (Diamond, pg. 398). Diamond states that, “Mary borrows stylistic elements from Plains flute music but also uses classical flute techniques in her entirely original works” (Diamonds, pg. 398). These women have used traditional music but authenticating by combining other music styles as well. These contemporary styles differ from original music styles in Native American music. Women’s roles have also changed from previous centuries. Diamond spoke to many Native American music artists and the power that aboriginal women are beginning to gain in music. Diamond states that, “women’s pre-colonial roles in many First Nations cultures were stronger than in the ensuing centuries” (Diamond, pg. 390). After Diamond interviewed many
One example of a music genre style is from the Inuit people, where two women are face to face and sing in close proximity and competing their vocal styles against each other, this is called throat singing (MUNM packet, pg. 163). This style is very distinctive and women produce this unique sound by exhalation or inhalation (MUNM packet, pg. 163). In an article written by Paula Conlon, she contrasts different throat singing artists and their different styles of throat singing (Conlon, pg. 9). Colon discusses two sisters who are throat singing sisters, their names are Karin and Kathy Kettler (Conlon, pg. 9). Colon describes these sisters singing style as, “old style handed down through millennia” (Conlon, pg.9). Colon then contrasts these sisters throat singing style to another throat singer named Tayna Tagaq Gillis (Conlon, pg.9). Tayna is not well liked by the elders from her home community. Tayna does not throat sing with a partner which is the original way to throat sing (Conlon pg.9). Instead, Tayna sings solo and this upsets elders in her home community so they call her the “devil singer” (Conlon, pg.6). This is just one example of how women in Native American music have used different styles to authenticate them into something unique, while still using traditional