Details | Native American jazz, classical, and popular musicians have experienced artistic and commercial success since well before the turn of the 20th century. Many were first exposed to this music at boarding schools, where the regimented discipline of marching bands was a key component of the program of forced assimilation. Nevertheless, many Native Americans discovered a love of, and talent for, these genres of music and made them their own. Erin Fehr (Yup'ik), archivist at the Sequoyah National Research Center at the University of Arkansas (Little Rock), and John Troutman, curator of American Music at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, will discuss the social, historical, and artistic experiences of Native American musicians from the early 1900s to today. Following will be a screening of Sousa on the Rez: Marching to the Beat of a Different Drum, which celebrates the continuing popularity of marching bands in Native American communities. This program is funded as part of the Smithsonian Year of Music. Photo: Yuma Indian Band. Along the Sunset Limited route from New Orleans to Los Angeles, 1930s. Union Pacific Railroad Museum. From Sousa on the Rez, produced by Desert Penguin Pictures with Vision Maker Media, in association with the Center for Independent Documentary |
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