The Native American Flute.. Who Knew!!

     In class, we learned about how the Native American culture was being stripped away by Europeans in the late 1800s. we discussed reservations, boarding schools, and unwanted adoption. What I found to be interesting was how part of the native American culture was preserved. The Native American flute is a prized piece of the indigenous culture. The Native American flute has a high-pitched whimsical sound, which was nothing like the current instruments of Europe.


 

 

Thurlow Lieurance is a man who traveled to the native American reservations and gained inspiration for some of his music. I think that getting inspiration from native American culture is amazing, but not giving credit where credit is due, is terrible. The native people were sometimes exploited for their traditions such as dancing and singing. Thurlow used inspiration and sound from his travels to create the song “By the Waters of Minnetonka”. In the beginning, you can hear the traditional native American flute and call and response.


 

 

I am a big fan of the native American flute. I have never played it myself, but I have loved the sound even when I didn't know what it was and the history behind it. growing up my favorite song was colors of the Wind from Disney's Pocahontas. Although the movie wasn't historically accurate, the music was wonderful. “The colors of the wind” has a soft melody that is accompanied by the native American flute. The sound is complex yet calming.

the native American culture was not easy to keep alive and pass down. it's amazing that even through times of hardship and ain the culture is still here today. i am looking forward to learning more about how today's music is effected by other cultures.

sources:

thurlow lieurance - Bing

Native American Flute– A Hand-made History | Aaron White | TEDxTucsonSalon - Bing video

Disney-Pocahontas.pdf (stephenschwartz.com)

Comments

  1. Karsyn LucySeptember 22, 2021 at 6:02 PM

    I also find it very interesting how the Native Americans managed to preserve their culture although they were being stripped away from it. They could've gotten in trouble trying to pass it along behind the Europeans back, but they managed to "secretly" pass it to the children.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Kat DanielsSeptember 24, 2021 at 4:09 PM

    I find it interesting how they preserved their culture and heritage as well! There were so many things that could of happened while they were being persecuted for bring themselves. They could've succumbed to the persecution, but instead they managed to pass on their heritage and it is being rebuilt and growing today!

    ReplyDelete
  3. jackson beckSeptember 24, 2021 at 4:24 PM

    first I love the color blue its maybe my third favorite color behind black and first is green so i like the color scheme here on the blog. I also am surprised at how well native American cultures have kept their culture alive for o long many cultures have been whitewashed or just pushed out of society for no reason. I also really like the native American flute.

    ReplyDelete

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