Kwakwaka'wakw music
Encyclopedia
Kwakwaka'wakw music is the ancient art of the Indigenous
or Aboriginal Kwakwaka'wakw
peoples.. The music is an ancient art form, stretching back thousands of years. The music is used primarily for ceremony and ritual, and is based around percussive instrumentation, especially log, box, and hide drums, as well as rattle
s and whistle
s. The four-day Klasila festival is an important cultural display of song and dance; it occurs just before the advent of the tsetseka, or winter. A "song master" was often commissioned to invent and memorize songs for ceremonies. Unlike other social positions, the song master was not an inherited position, but chosen for his talent in creating and remembering songs.
Another very important festival for the Kwakwaka'wakw people is the potlatch
.
people use a variety of different musical instruments in their specific performances of ceremony and dance, however they do not have a melodic instrument in the sound-scape of their ensemble. Specifically, they use whistles with a variety of different pitches — sometimes combining several whistles together so that the player is able to produce up to three separate pitches without switching instruments. Beyond these whistles, the Kwakwaka'wakw
do not have a melodic instrument as a part of their ensemble. Instead, they use singing in a variety of different pitches to express a melody.
The most important instrument in the ceremony of the Kwakiutl
rituals is the rattle. In his book, Crooked Beak of Heaven, Bill Holm describes the sound of the rattle as being a "direct contact with the supernatural."
Another instrument, central to the music of the Kwakwaka'wakw
, is the box drum. This drum is usually made from cedar, which has a spiritual significance for the Kwakwaka'wakw
people. See Kwakwaka'wakw mythology
. The drum is beat by a large number of people who also sing the song that they are drumming to.
Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast
The Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of the Pacific Northwest Coast, their descendants, and many ethnic groups who identify with those historical peoples. They are now situated within the Canadian Province of British Columbia and the U.S...
or Aboriginal Kwakwaka'wakw
Kwakwaka'wakw
The Kwakwaka'wakw are an Indigenous group of First Nations peoples, numbering about 5,500, who live in British Columbia on northern Vancouver Island and the adjoining mainland and islands.Kwakwaka'wakw translates as "Those who speak Kwak'wala", describing the collective nations within the area that...
peoples.. The music is an ancient art form, stretching back thousands of years. The music is used primarily for ceremony and ritual, and is based around percussive instrumentation, especially log, box, and hide drums, as well as rattle
Rattle (percussion)
A rattle is a percussion instrument. It consists of a hollow body filled with small uniform solid objects, like sand or nuts. Rhythmical shaking of this instrument produces repetitive, rather dry timbre noises. In some kinds of music, a rattle assumes the role of the metronome, as an alternative to...
s and whistle
Whistle
A whistle or call is a simple aerophone, an instrument which produces sound from a stream of forced air. It may be mouth-operated, or powered by air pressure, steam, or other means...
s. The four-day Klasila festival is an important cultural display of song and dance; it occurs just before the advent of the tsetseka, or winter. A "song master" was often commissioned to invent and memorize songs for ceremonies. Unlike other social positions, the song master was not an inherited position, but chosen for his talent in creating and remembering songs.
Another very important festival for the Kwakwaka'wakw people is the potlatch
Potlatch
A potlatch is a gift-giving festival and primary economic system practiced by indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of Canada and United States. This includes Heiltsuk Nation, Haida, Nuxalk, Tlingit, Makah, Tsimshian, Nuu-chah-nulth, Kwakwaka'wakw, and Coast Salish cultures...
.
Kwakwaka'wakw Ensemble
The Kwakwaka'wakwKwakwaka'wakw
The Kwakwaka'wakw are an Indigenous group of First Nations peoples, numbering about 5,500, who live in British Columbia on northern Vancouver Island and the adjoining mainland and islands.Kwakwaka'wakw translates as "Those who speak Kwak'wala", describing the collective nations within the area that...
people use a variety of different musical instruments in their specific performances of ceremony and dance, however they do not have a melodic instrument in the sound-scape of their ensemble. Specifically, they use whistles with a variety of different pitches — sometimes combining several whistles together so that the player is able to produce up to three separate pitches without switching instruments. Beyond these whistles, the Kwakwaka'wakw
Kwakwaka'wakw
The Kwakwaka'wakw are an Indigenous group of First Nations peoples, numbering about 5,500, who live in British Columbia on northern Vancouver Island and the adjoining mainland and islands.Kwakwaka'wakw translates as "Those who speak Kwak'wala", describing the collective nations within the area that...
do not have a melodic instrument as a part of their ensemble. Instead, they use singing in a variety of different pitches to express a melody.
The most important instrument in the ceremony of the Kwakiutl
Kwakiutl
The term Kwakiutl, historically applied to the entire Kwakwaka'wakw ethno-linguistic group of originally 28 tribes, comes from one of the Kwakwaka'wakw tribes, the Kwagu'ł or Kwagyeulth, at Fort Rupert, with whom Franz Boas did most of his anthropological work and whose Indian Act Band government...
rituals is the rattle. In his book, Crooked Beak of Heaven, Bill Holm describes the sound of the rattle as being a "direct contact with the supernatural."
Another instrument, central to the music of the Kwakwaka'wakw
Kwakwaka'wakw
The Kwakwaka'wakw are an Indigenous group of First Nations peoples, numbering about 5,500, who live in British Columbia on northern Vancouver Island and the adjoining mainland and islands.Kwakwaka'wakw translates as "Those who speak Kwak'wala", describing the collective nations within the area that...
, is the box drum. This drum is usually made from cedar, which has a spiritual significance for the Kwakwaka'wakw
Kwakwaka'wakw
The Kwakwaka'wakw are an Indigenous group of First Nations peoples, numbering about 5,500, who live in British Columbia on northern Vancouver Island and the adjoining mainland and islands.Kwakwaka'wakw translates as "Those who speak Kwak'wala", describing the collective nations within the area that...
people. See Kwakwaka'wakw mythology
Kwakwaka'wakw mythology
This article is about the spiritual beliefs, histories and practices in Kwakwaka'wakw mythology. The Kwakwaka'wakw are a group of Indigenous nations, numbering about 5,500, who live in the central coast of British Columbia on northern Vancouver Island and the mainland...
. The drum is beat by a large number of people who also sing the song that they are drumming to.
External links
- MSN Encarta sample download (Archived 2009-10-31)