We’re back with another episode of the Folklife Today podcast! Find it at this page on the Library’s website, or through your usual podcatcher.
It’s November, Native American Heritage Month, and we thought we’d feature a story on the podcast about an Indigenous artist using recordings in the American Folklife Center archive to inspire her own creativity.
The American Folklife Center has some 9,000 cylinder recordings of Native American cultural expressions made in the early 20th century by a variety of institutions, along with later recordings of Indigenous American culture in every format since. Of course, we are aware that the recordings are part of a long and challenging history of relations between Native and European-descended Americans, which includes abuse and violence against Native peoples. The American Folklife Center and the Library of Congress are committed to open dialogue about these materials, as well as to addressing issues in co-curation, cultural representation, intellectual access, and preservation that are of critical concern for both Indigenous communities and archival repositories. These recordings preserve the cultural expressions of hundreds of Native communities, and are being used all over the country in revitalization efforts, in which Native communities use their ancestors’ archival recordings preserved here to remember stories, songs, and cultural practices that have been changed or lost over the years.
This episode demonstrates another way in which Indigenous artists have used AFC collections: as inspiration for their own music. The episode features award winning singer-songwriter Thea Hopkins, a member of the Aquinnah Wampanoag Tribe of Martha’s Vineyard. Hopkins adapted songs from the AFC archive twice, through a program we’ve called the Archive Challenge. On the first occasion she sang a lullaby recorded by ethnomusicologist Willard Rhodes from a young girl named Margaret at the Haskell Residential School in 1943; the song is known as “Margaret’s Song” or “Creek Lullaby,” and according to Creek elders it was created during the Trail of Tears. For her second challenge, Hopkins wrote new lyrics for the song “Red Wing,” which originally contained damaging stereotypes of Native Americans. The new lyrics paid homage to pioneering Native film actress Lilian St. Cyr, who was known as “Red Wing.” In the episode, Thea discusses her process and the meanings of the songs with me, Jennifer Cutting, and fellow Folklife Today blogger Meg Nicholas. The episode features the field recordings of both songs as well as Thea’s new versions. For the occasion, we even replaced our usual theme tune with a fiddle tune by Chippewa fiddler Mary Trotchie. So without further ado….
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The Songs in the Podcast: Audio and Video
“Creek Lullaby” or “Margaret’s Song”
An archived version of Margaret singing “Creek Lullaby” for Willard Rhodes can be downloaded at this link.
Watch Thea Hopkins’s version in the player below.
“Red Wing”
Thea Hopkins’s version of Red Wing, for now, is exclusive to the Podcast, which features both a live version at Club Passim and Thea’s studio version. Listen to them in the episode!
For now, Lillian Short’s version of “Red Wing” will also remain exclusive to the podcast. However, there are a lot of other blogs featuring Lillian Short’s singing, at this link.
Hear more versions of “Red Wing,” including the full version by the Haydn Quartet, at this link.
Fiddling by Mary Trotchie
Find photos and recordings of Mary Trotchie at this link.
Collection Guides Behind the Podcast
American Folklife Center Collections: Indigenous Peoples of the Americas is a guide to collections and resources available in the American Folklife Center relevant to the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas.
Archive Challenge: Toolkit from the American Folklife Center is designed to assist organizations with hosting an Archive Challenge — a program created by staff at the American Folklife Center to bring archival collections to life through contemporary musical performances.
Other Resources
Blogs relating to the Archive Challenge
Blogs Highlighting Native Collections and Events
Find all our blogs with Indigenous American content at this link.
Online Collections from Native Communities
Omaha Indian Music
Ancestral Voices (Native American Cylinder Recordings)
Maine Acadian Cultural Survey Collection
Native American materials in the Maine Acadian Cultural Survey Collection
Buckaroos in Paradise: Ranching Culture in Northern Nevada, 1945 to 1982
Native American materials in the Buckaroos in Paradise Collection
Montana Folklife Survey Collection
Native American materials in the Montana Folklife Survey Collection
Rhode Island Folklife Survey Collection
Native American materials in the Rhode Island Folklife Survey Collection
Chicago Ethnic Arts Project Collection
Native American materials in the Chicago Ethnic Arts Project Collection
Videos Featuring Native Cultures
- Charly Lowry: Lumbee and Tuscarora Singer and Songwriter
- Lakota John and Kin: Blues and Folk from a Lumbee Family
- Nakotah LaRance 1989-2020: Traditional Hoop Dance and Beyond
- Pamyua’s Modern Yup’ik Drumsongs
- Sihasin’s Music from the Diné Navajo Nation
- Roundtable on PBS TV show Native America: Language is Life
Find all AFC’s event videos featuring Indigenous American content at this link.