Native American and Sub-Saharan Africa

We had read about the Yuchi people in our textbook and it is pretty interesting to know about how their tradition binds with their cultural, ceremonial and musical practices. I was more interested to know about their origin, where they had traditionally lived, their migrations to different areas in North America, what were the factors that forced them to leave their neighborhoods, etc. 

Looking up to learn more about them, what I found quite interesting was that the people of Yuchi were traditionally from the Eastern Tennessee River Valley and well known as large land-owners during the 16^th century. Later, in the 17^th century, they had moved into Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina because of the enforced laws to make them into combined Nations or Unions. The textbook mentions that the Yuchi people were primarily from Northeastern Oklahoma. Here is also another reason why people had migrated. During the 18^th century, they had suffered from epidemics and warfare which had made the surviving Yuchi people move to the Indian Territory. While I was doing some research about this, I found another tribal community called Cherokee. Instead of Yuchi my interest and curiosity shifted towards the Cherokee group.

Our book also mentions the Cherokee group but does not give any further information about them. It is mentioned that the Yuchi people share some common practices with the Creek and with other tribal groups and communities, for example: Cherokees. To get more information about them and learn about their culture, I read this article called “Why do so many Americans think they have Cherokee blood?” Cherokee community is one of the largest Native American group as many Americans claim to have at least one Cherokee ancestor. It mentions that the Cherokee are Iroquoian speaking people who live in Southeastern United States (Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, North and South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama). Unlike other tribal communities we have read about, Cherokee lived in towns that followed the “matrilineal clans.”

Another website has an amazing article called “The Evolution of Cherokee Music”. According to them, music was considered sacred as it was used for healing and building social connections with other people. The legends of their community were passed on to the next generations through music, songs and dances at ceremonial events. Their music often includes lyrics which are often tribal stories. Most of their traditional songs are to praise and thank the nature and spirits, for healing and better harvests.

Their voices and instruments play a major role in creating unique ritual dances. Cherokee instruments includes instruments like flutes, drums and rattles since ancient times.

                

                                      

Cherokee drummers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIZbArsTco0&feature=youtu.be

Cherokee Flute and Rattle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGkd3zBJIS0&feature=youtu.be

As music has evolved over the years, they began to compose music including the fiddle, percussion, guitar, mandolin etc. They began to play music of different themes: starting from Native American, to bluegrass, to rock and roll. Even today, Cherokee music is honored in public ritual and ceremonies. Just like any other music, Cherokee music was basically people’s prayer and gratitude to god. And all the instruments that they had used in their ceremonies had a great spiritual significance.

Moving forward into the Sub-Saharan Africa, one interesting thing I found about African music is the Afrobeat. As our textbook mentions its origins, it is basically the dance-party music that was created by a Nigerian named Fela Anikulapo Kuti who was born into the working-class families in West Africa. This music involved a combination of both West African and some western style music. The West African music includes Fuji music and highlife mixed with western styles like funk music and jazz. It is also a diverse collection of music styles from Europe, America and the British Empire. The Afrobeat music is composed by much of the modern instruments like drums, guitars of different kinds, saxophones, trumpets, etc. Therefore, the Afrobeat has gained much support and attraction towards the modern world in Nigeria and other parts of the world. There is so much diversity with Native Americans in terms of the dance, music and instruments that accompany it. It is also different in ways people see music as part of their life and how it still plays a major role in providing an identity for its people.

        

Afrobeat Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZ97iUUZ360.