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Post by clarkkimberling on Jan 22, 2011 10:07:39 GMT -5
I am happy to write that Two Shields Butte is now in the Geographic Names Information System. You can access the entry directly by clicking here: geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=154:3:3323237155794127::NO::P3_FID,P3_TITLE:2663397%2CTwo%20Shields%20ButteThere are several sites on or near Two Shields Butte at which oil drilling is in progress. A bit of scouting on Google reveals that these sites are quite productive. Here is a picture of one of them: The Hidatsa named IgaridaenubaSh (Two Shields) is the subject of Replies 4-8 in this thread. Thanks again to Louis Garcia for including Two Shields Butte in his book, "Hidatsa Place Names" and providing information that made possible the inclusion of Two Shields Butte in the GNIS.
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Post by clarkkimberling on Jan 15, 2011 16:11:39 GMT -5
In a letter dated July 1, 1924, E. D. Mossman, Superintendent, Standing Rock Indian Agency, wrote - My dear Farmers:
I hand you herewith copy of the Act making all Indians citizens...
While there is no change apparently in the status of these Indians I believe it better for the Indians that they be allowed to conduct their Indian Dances during the coming celebration without regulation or interference by you...
You will see that a responsible person is present at every dance. This person should report the name of every person below forty years of age who takes part in the old custom dance. All school children who are allowed to dance must be specifically reported. All ex soldiers who dance should also be reported...
After the celebration is over I desire a written report in detail [including] names of those encouraging the practices [dancing and giving away of property] which we have been trying to discourage, what dances are indulged in, and all other features ordinarily treated in your reports of such occasions... Mossman received reports from these farmers: Eugene Bearking, Kenel, SD, July 5 Nicholas Seippel, Ft. Yates, ND, July 16 R. H. Shipman, Cannonball, ND, July 18 Guy H. Houchen, Bullhead, SD, July 19 Joseph Murphy, Shields (Porcupine District), ND, July 22 A. DeRockbraine, Little Eagle, SD, July 28 Although the farmers listed dozens of participants, two individuals were singled out for special mention by Nicholas Seippel: On the afternoon of the third day the Indians began dancing while the regular program was going on, this was brought about the efforts of Two Shields. This man was continually exhorting the dancers. He made all anouncements of the giving away of horses and other property, he was the first dancer out in the ring, and kept himself continually in the limelight, in other words he was the life of the party. If this man and Thomas Frosted could be eliminated the dance question in this district would be solved. This description, seen from 2011 as a tribute to Two Shields and chief-of-police Thomas Frosted, is posted here in admiration, especially if this Two Shields was Adam Two Shields ...the "life of the party" - after eighty winters! However, this "first dancer out in the ring" may have been Antoine Two Shields. NOTES:1. Mossman may have meant costume instead of custom, as some of the farmers referred to costume dances. Seippel surely meant announcements. The farmers' letters are interesting, and I'll be happy to provide details. They and others, regarding dancing at July 4, 1909 celebrations, are preserved in NARA Record Group 75. 2. Both Adam Two Shields and Thomas Frosted (White Bear) died in 1931. For a tribute to Frosted, visit 3. Reply 12 in this thread tells of a singer named Two Shields who sang for musicologist George Herzog in 1928. Unfortunately, Herzog's notes do not give Two Shield's first name. We know that Antoine Two Shields was a policeman under Thomas Frosted's leadership. I am hopeful that someone can point toward some record that Antoine was also a singer. Clark
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Post by clarkkimberling on Dec 26, 2010 15:27:27 GMT -5
Earlier postings have established that Robert Higheagle and his son Raymond both used the term Native American to mean American Indian, rather than the prevalent meaning, years before the prevalent meaning gave way to the Indian meaning in the early 1970s. This present posting will support the view that Higheagle became familiar with Native American through his awareness of the Native American Church. Also, as a teacher, he may have been aware of the 1900-1931 school publication entitled The Native American. In a letter dated April 4, 1934, Higheagle wrote from Little Eagle, South Dakota, to John Collier, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, in Washington, D. C. Dear Mr. Collier:
I am writing you pursuant to our conversation at the Plains Indian Congress at Rapid City, South Dakota during your visit there.
You will recall that I acted as one of the interpreter at that Congress and while there talked with you relative to my filling the position, now vacant, as farm agent at Shields on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in North Dakota.
At the time that we talked this matter over you requested that I write you setting forth my qualifications and my ability to handle this position and also at the same time suggested that rather than take the civil service examination perhaps it would be best for me to fill that position as a laborer rather than as a regular Government Farm Agent.
I was born on the Standing Rock Reservation in 1876. I completed a grammar school education, graduated from high school and first year of college work. After completing my education I accepted a position on the Brule Reservation as assistant teacher in a boarding school at that place. I taught day schools on the Standing Rock, Crow Agency, Pine Ridge and at Devils Lake extending over a period of 20 years.
After that I received an appointment, after passing the examination, for departmental clerk on the Standing Rock Reservation at Fort Yates, North Dakota which position I held for six years. For the following four years I acted as assistant cashier of the McLaughlin State Bank and field man for the Continental Land Company which position gave me a wide field of experience. The following four summers I worked as interpreter for the Bureau of Ethnology of the Smithsonian Institute and at the same time I acted as temporary District Farmer at Wakpala and Bullhead both on the Standing Rock Reservation. During 1929 I acted as bookkeeper for the Black Hills Utility Company. After that I worked with the University of Oklahoma in the preparation of a book on the life of Sitting Bull. From that time to this I have been Indian Judge on the Standing Rock Reservation in South Dakota.
I always held other positions and done other work which I believe will help me in qualifying as a Farm Agent in understanding the needs of my fellow Indians and helping them with their problems. I assisted in surveying the Standing Rock Reservation at the time the land was alloted. I worked with the University of Oklahoma in making a survey of the use of Peyote. My experiences as teacher among the Indians and my experiences as Indian Judge and also my experiences as interpreter in Federal Court, Circuit Court, County Court, Justice Court and also at Tribal councils, to say nothing of the experiences of my representing the Indians of this and other reservations on Tribal affairs on eight different trips to Washington, D. C., where I appeared before the Senate Committees, House Committees and the Department of Interior.
My reason for asking for this position is that the position of Indian Judge carries with it a fee of only $30.00 per month which with the cut of 15% makes it almost impossible for me to live and support my family. Also, the position does not require all of my time and I am desirous of getting some work which will require my entire time as I have been very active all of my life and I am not content unless I am busy. I feel that even at my age I am more than competent to handle this position and that my varried experience has well qualified me for this position.
Thanking you for considering my application for this position. I remain,
Yours very truly,
(signed) Robert Higheagle
Higheagle's letter indicates his familiarity with the peyote cult with the sentence "I worked with the University of Oklahoma making a survey of the use of Peyote." Although this is not a direct mention of the Native American Church, it can be established that Peyote was nearly synonymous with that Church in Higheagle's circles, as evidenced by the following article in the McLaughlin Messenger, January 5, 1923: Peyote Worship Banned In South Dakota By Opinion
Amendment to Articles in Denied the Native American Indian Church
In an opinion given by Attorney General Byron S. Payne it is held that...
This opinion is written as the result of inquiry made by George F. Sayers, assistant secretary of state, who states that his office is in receipt of articles of incorporation from another "Native American Church", in which articles it is stated that peyote is to be used from sacramental purposes....
It seems likely that Higheagle was a subscriber to the McLaughlin Messenger - recall his mentioning his employment at the McLaughlin State Bank. In any case, I now rest my case that the term Native American (meaning American Indian) received a big boost beginning in 1900, that the person responsible for that usage was the first editor, Samuel M. McCowan, of The Native American, that the namers of the Native American Church were already familiar with the term Native American as a result of the 1900-1931 publication of that name, and that Higheagle was aware of the term as a result of his familiarity with the Native American Church, if not also the 1900-1931 publication. And one more thing: that earlier attempts to trace the history of the American Indian meaning of the term Native American were flawed because they overlooked Native American sources. NotesI have included the entire Higheagle-Collier letter because it gives biographical details not found elsewhere. The letter is archived in NARA Record Group 146. From the same repository comes this photo of Robert P. Higheagle:
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Post by clarkkimberling on Dec 8, 2010 15:15:01 GMT -5
Here is a close-up of the drum played by Two Shields and Robert Grass: The caption indicates a Dream Dance Drum. Assuming that is correct, we asked how this particular drum found its way to Standing Rock, especially if the drum and Tailfeather Woman were of Santee origin. However, as Louie wrote, "The Drum was also part of the Grass Dance which was a pan-Indian movement during the Reservation era." This advice suggests that the caption "Dream Dance Drum" does not necessarily mean that it was made in accord with the instructions received by Tailfeather Woman. For comparision, here is another Fiske photo (thanks, Dietmar!) showing a big drum at Standing Rock. When comparing this drum with others shown in Vennum's book, including Dream Dance Drums, one must conclude that it resembles a drum shown on page 57 - a commercial drum used during a Grass Dance of the Oglala Sioux, photographed by James Mooney in 1892. Is there any reason to think that the big drum played by Two Shields was not initially a commercial bass drum? Clark
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Post by clarkkimberling on Dec 3, 2010 20:53:25 GMT -5
Thanks, swiftbird. It seems likely that Antoine Claymore and his wife Jennie LaFramboise were the parents of Joseph Claymore, born 1887. Joseph was a member of the first Standing Rock Tribal Council along with Robert Higheagle. Joseph Claymore was identified by Wolfgang in Reply #14, page 1.
Can anyone identify more fully the others in the photo - or the approximate date?
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Post by clarkkimberling on Nov 20, 2010 12:06:34 GMT -5
Here is a copy of a photo showing Martin High Eagle, father of Robert P. Higheagle, in the middle of the back row. The ten men are identified on back of the photo, as shown below the photo. Identity of the photo: A7270 Studio Portrait of Indian Agent and Native Americans, Fort Yates, North Dakota. Photographer: Frank Bennett Fiske. Judge Zahn Collection, State Historical Society of North Dakota. Used by permission. Can someone estimate the date of this photo and tell us the full names, including Lakota, of these men? Clark
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Post by clarkkimberling on Nov 15, 2010 21:22:39 GMT -5
Louie, thanks for recommending The Ojibwa Dance Drum, by Thomas Vennum, Jr. I obtained a copy, along with other materials on the Drum. After reading the materials, two questions remain: where is it first published that Tailfeather Woman was probably a Santee, and how did the Drum find its way back to the Sioux, and in particular, to Two Shields? Possibly the earliest published account of the origin of the Drum was in the Japan Daily Mail, March 21, 1893. It was written by the Reverend Clay MacCauley, based on his visit to a gathering of Menomini Indians at Keshena, Wisconsin, in about 1881. MacCauley writes as quoted here from Hoffman (see Notes below for references): I have told you of the Dreamers just as I saw them. The members of the league were evidently thoroughly, even fanatically, in earnest. That was clear. But what did they believe; what did they teach; what was their aim? I could not tell, and many had assured me they meant ill. The day following, I therefore sent for Metchikeni to interpret for me what I had seen.
Here is the interpretation... "If I thought that our dance was a step backward, I would have nothing to do with it... We are dressed in the old dress of our fathers, and we sing and dance; but I have been in the theater in Washington and have seen the white men do about the same things...
Not many years ago, in the West, when some Indians were at war, while they were fighting, a woman fled from them to save her life. As she ran she lost her way and fell into the water of a river. But she did not die. She lay in the water asleep many days -- eight days and nights. All this time she dreamed and saw wonderful sights of beauty and peace.
At the end of eight days she heard a voice calling to her to rise up; then some power lifted her out of the water and made her well and strong. She knew that the Great Spirit had brought her back to the word.
And this the Great Spirit told her: 'Go at once to your people and tell them to stop their war and to become friends with one another and with the white man. They will hear you and will believe you, and you and they must spead my words among all Indians.
Do you see the sky, how it is round?' continued the divine voice. 'Go, then, and tell your people to make a circle on the ground just like the round sky. Call that holy ground. Go there, and with a big drum in the center, sing and dance and pray to me, and speak my words. And when you speak, say always these things: "You are all children of one Father, and are brothers. You must live in peace with one anoher. You must not drink intoxicating drink. You must always speak the truth. If you are struck, you must count the blow as nothing and not strike back again." Do these things and all Indians and white men will soon be prosperous and at peace and happy. You will all have one heart.' Now, that is what our dance is for.
Shown here is "Place of the drum", reproduced from the page Hoffman's The Menomini Indians where MacCauley's account begins. Another early account is given by S. A. Barrett: The dream dance may be regarded as one form of the messiah cult, and, though it is in reality a ceremony of modern origin, has spread over a wide area and is now practiced by many tribes. As explained by the Chippewa and Menominee it is said to have had its origin in the following circumstances:
Somewhere in the Sioux country at a time between twenty and thirty years ago (the Chippewa and Menominee are certain of neither the place not the exact date) a band of Sioux was attacked by a detachment of United States troops. The majority of the Indians made good their excape, but their camp, which was located near a small lake, was immediately occupied by the troops. Among the Indians was a girl whose age is variously stated at from ten to sixteen years, who was unable to get away as the soldiers approached. She swam out into the lake and hid among some pond lillies. Here she remained in the hope that the soldiers would soon leave and that she would then be able to make her way back to shore. Instead of departing, however, the soldiers established their camp here and remained for quite a number of days.
After an interval of ten days, during all of which time the girl had been here in the water and without food, she heard a voice up in the sky and upon looking up saw a dark cloud approaching the lake. It settled down over the lake and in it she found the Great Spirit, who had come to rescue her. He took her up into the cloud and carried her away to a place of safety, commending her very greatly for her fortitude and complimenting her upon the virtue of her long fast. He then gave her full instructions concerning the dream dance, including the songs to be used in the dance, and told her to return to her people and teach them the ceremony.
In a separate section, Barrett discusses the drum. "The objects about which this whole ceremony centers are a large drum and a special calumet. The former is elaborately decorated with strips of fur, beadwork, and cloth, with the pendants of beadwork, coins, and various other objects. Its two heads are painted in a special symbolic manner." Barrett's section on the drum occupies more than seven pages. Barrett implies that the girl with whom the Drum originated was a Sioux, but there is no mention of Santee. Sometime soon, I'll post a bit more, including very interesting information from Vennum's book, including a possible Santee connection. Notes:1. MacCauley's account, only partially quoted above, is found in Walter James Hoffman, The Menomini Indians, pages 3-328 in Part 1 of 14th Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology [for] 1892-1893, Smithsonian Institution. Johnson Reprint, New York, 1970. 2. Samuel Alfred Barrett, "The Dream Dance of the Chippewa and Menominee Indians of Northern Wisconsin," in Bulletin of the Public Museum of the City of Milwaukee, vol. I, article IV, November, 1911.
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Post by clarkkimberling on Nov 13, 2010 10:04:06 GMT -5
Copied below is the letter Robert P. Higheagle wrote to James McLaughlin, dated November 28, 1921. At that time, McLaughlin (1842-1923) was a United States Indian Inspector living in Washington, D.C., but during Higheagle's youth, McLaughlin was the Indian Agent at Standing Rock Reservation. It is clear from the letter that Higheagle and McLaughlin had known each other during those years. The letter is significant in several ways. For example, it places Higheagle's birth year as 1876, but reminds us that "an Indian does not care to tell his age." In other places, Higheagle recorded his year of birth as 1874, and in others, 1875. Several published accounts have "c.1873". The letter is one of several over the years that Higheagle wrote expressing his strong desire to leave teaching and to become a farmer. Perhaps in greater detail than any other, this letter records Higheagle's experience in the Outing System during his student years, which took him to Massachusetts and Connecticut. Notes:1. McLaughlin was 79 years old when this letter was written. It seems doubtful that he was in a position to advance Higheagle's interest in becoming a farmer. 2. Higheagle tactfully mentions McLaughlin's well known book, My Friend the Indian, published in 1910. For more on McLaughlin, visit en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_McLaughlin_(Indian_agent) 3. During 1921, Higheagle had been transferred from teaching at the Pryor Day School, Crow Agency, Montana, to No. 21 Day School, Allen, South Dakota, Pine Ridge Agency. Clark Kimberling
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Post by clarkkimberling on Oct 29, 2010 20:03:37 GMT -5
Thanks again, Louie. I found Bruce White's page, "Honoring Wiyaka Sinte Win / Tail Feather Woman and her vision": minnesotahistory.net?page_id=882The article includes a description of at least one modern (1970's) drum similar to that played by Two Shields more than 100 years ago: This particular Big Drum was Huge, with four staffs in the four directions, hanging from the staffs were painted hands in different colors representing the direction...
"According to a traditional account..., Tail Feather Woman or Wiyaka Sinte Win, the visionary Dakota woman who originated the big drum, went to Mille Lacs Lake around 1880 to teach Ojibwe people about the construction of the drum and the vision and the songs that went with it..." That would be less than thirty years before the picture shown here was taken by Frank Bennett Fiske: I am pleased to give official credit for the picture: State Historical Society of North Dakota: 1952-0463 Two Shields and Robert Grass drumming on Dream Dance Drum Fort Yates, North Dakota 1900-1905 Used by permission. Is is fair to say that an authentic Dream Dance Drum must have those four staffs seen in the photo and mentioned above in connection with the four directions? Are such drums still in use at pow-wows and/or other gatherings? Clark
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Post by clarkkimberling on Oct 29, 2010 11:06:15 GMT -5
Thank you, Louie. It's nice to hear fom you again - last time, in June, you were anticipating a big birthday, and I send you belated congratulations. I'm a couple of years behind you. Sometimes, when I feel old, Two Shields comes to mind. He was seventysomething when he sang for Densmore, and he lived many more years. When I wrote "a Lakota melody by itself played on a Western instrument is a far cry from the real thing," I had in mind a melody as sung, for example, by Two Shields. Wind instruments, indeed, even non-Indian singers, could never do justice to such singing. That's why Densmore emphasized the importance of the sound recordings she made at Standing Rock and elsewhere. Aside from the recordings, when it came to representing such a melody in Western notation, Densmore had to "round" notes up or down to nearby pitches available on instruments (e.g., the black and white notes on a piano, without any notes in-between). Likewise, she also had to "round" rhythms to fit metrical notation. As a result, her representations of Lakota melodies, although a far cry from the original, are playable. Some of them have caught the attention of composers (and a mathematician). Following is Densmore's representation of "Those Are Not My Interest" - the kind of "rounded" melody that can catch a composer. Louie, if we ever meet, I'd like to play this melody for you on a Western instrument. At least seven composers have based pieces on Densmore representations of Indian melodies, including Sioux. Five of them are listed in Michael V. Pisani's website, A Chronological Listing of Musical Works on American Indian Subjects, Composed Since 1608indianmusiclist.vassar.edu/ Here are the five: Charles Cadman, Heinrich Hammer, Alberto Bimboni, Carl Busch, and Frances Jennings Pisani's website and the associated book, Imagining Native America in Music,, Yale University Press, 2005, probably offer the grandest account of its kind, but there are many indicators of the influence of American Indian music, stemming from the notations of ethnomusicologists into the world of Western music. One of them is Writing American Indian Music: A Musicological Odyssey, edited by Victoria Lindsay Levine: To view the site, just click - www.areditions.com/rr/embellish/2002_18/feature.html#Victoria Lindsay LevineThe website tells about a book of the same name, by Professor Levine, published by A-R Editions for the American Musicological Society, 2002. Another site is MUSIC: 'Indianist' composers rediscovered by pianist, scholar - www.americanindiannews.org/2010/10/composers-rediscovered/Now, shifting the subject somewhat - It is ironic that Western music doesn't seem to include American Indian music - which is about as "Western" as you can get. In any case, there is a Western American Indian instrument, not only native American but native Sioux, which was played by Two Shields, known as the Dream Dance Drum or Sioux Drum. Can someone tell us more about this instrument - its history, significance, current usage, photos? Clark
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Post by clarkkimberling on Oct 26, 2010 17:13:48 GMT -5
In Songs of the Sioux, from the Archive of Folk Song, Recorded and Edited by Frances Densmore, the song "Those Are Not My Interest," is included. Here, Densmore tells us a bit more about the song than is found in her book, Teton Sioux Music: This song expresses the detachment of a warrior from the affairs of common life. Such songs were sung in the gatherings before the departure of a war party. This song was recorded by Two Shields at Fort Yates, N. Dak., in 1911. He is a leading singer at the drum during every tribal gathering. Such drummers often elaborate their part, especially in songs of this kind. The drumbeat is continuous between the three recorded renditions of the song. The translation appears with punctuation (unlike the translation given in Reply 22 as it appears in Teton Sioux Music): Friends, I have said in common life the customs are many; friend, those are not (do not interest me) I have said. Initially, the song is addressed to "Friends" - can someone explain whatever significance there may be in the shift to the singular right after the semicolon? Thanks! Clark
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Post by clarkkimberling on Oct 26, 2010 13:40:14 GMT -5
In order to trace influences leading to Robert Higheagle's familiarity with the term Native American decades before the term came to mean essentially American Indian instead of the usual originating in America, we have seen that the term appeared in the title of The Native American, published from 1900 until 1931. Replies 4 and 5 just above tell something of the history of The Native American. Over its run of three decades, many front cover designs were used. A few of them are shown here: By 1916, The Native American reached a circulation of about 3500. Also in 1916, The Native American ran a "Brief History of Phoenix School" and "The Growth of Our Magazine", reproduced here: A third development in 1916 took place in Oklahoma. There, members of the Peyote Cult were finding it desirable to adopt a different name, and by 1918 they had decided on Native American Church. It seems likely that the members were well aware of, and perhaps influenced by, the name of The Native American. No doubt, Higheagle was aware of the Native American Church, which had made its way to Standing Rock Reservation during the years before Higheagle wrote "Native American" in 1929. Footnotes:1. In 1931, The Native American was replaced by The Redskin. A history of both publications, including the circulation estimate of 3500, is given by Daniel F. Littlefield, Jr., and James W. Parins, American Indian and Alaska Native Newspapers and Periodicals, 1826-1924, Greenwood Press, 1984, pages 321-326. 2. A history of the Peyote Cult and early years of the Native American Church are presented in Weston La Barre, The Peyote Cult, Fourth Edition Enlarged, Archon Books, 1975. (Originally published by Yale University Press, 1960.)
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Post by clarkkimberling on Oct 25, 2010 20:18:41 GMT -5
Dietmar, Thank you for the SI photo of Lone Man in Reply 24. The text at the SI site has Lone Man as Miniconjou, whereas HinTamaheca, at Reply 2 of amertribes.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=teton&action=display&thread=513, has Lone Man as Oglala. Can someone clarify? Recall that Robert P. Higheagle's mother was Miniconjou, that his father was Oglala, and that Higheagle referred to Lone Man as his uncle. The image of Lone Man at HinTamaheca's contribution is the same as the SI photo. HinTamaheca has Lone Man's death date as 1918, but another source has 1923. What is the source of the 1918 date? Clark
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Post by clarkkimberling on Oct 21, 2010 20:46:00 GMT -5
In response to Reply 20, there is an image of Lone Man in Densmore's Teton Sioux Music. A similar image appears in Reply 2 of amertribes.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=teton&action=display&thread=513, along with Lone Man's account of The White Buffalo Calf Pipe from pages 63-66 of Densmore, "recorded in the words of the interpreter, Mr. Robert P. Higheagle." Possibly this is the longest published piece of Higheagle's writing. The image of Lone Man in Densmore matches the image shown at the previously mentioned webpage. Can someone identify the photographer? The image resembles a photo of Lone Man taken by Frank Bennett Fiske, indexed as 0086-0599 in the State Historical Society of North Dakota. The webpage states that Lone Man died in April 1918, but this may be a mistake. What was the source of this date?
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Post by clarkkimberling on Oct 16, 2010 9:25:09 GMT -5
Replies 20 and 21 bring up the subject of Lakota music. From a historical point of view, it is natural to distinguish between Lakota music for which the name of the composer is known and Lakota music which is more than one-hundred years old and which I shall call traditional Lakota music. A treasury of traditional Lakota music is the book Teton Sioux Music by Frances Densmore and the associated recordings she made of Lakota singing, now kept at the Library of Congress. Perhaps the foremost representative of traditional Lakota music in Densmore is the singer, Two Shields, an expressly staunch proponent of the old ways, including traditional Lakota music. The oldest Lakota songs recorded by Densmore comprise "the first group," sung almost without exception by men 65 to 80 years of age. "These men said they learned the songs or received them in dreams when they were young... The first group contains 147 songs believed to be from 50 to 150 years old." Among these traditional songs is one to which Densmore gave special attention. It is No. 125, "Those Are Not My Interest," sung twice by Two Shields. This is the only song in the book which occupies a full page (page 334). The drum part, in its persistent 3-beat character, contrasts to the melody, providing a distinctive rhythmic combination. "The time in the five-eight and three-eight measures was absolutely exact." On page 336, the same warrior song is shown again, pitched a step lower. The distinctive five-eight and three-eight measures in both versions have that mysterious melodic magic that arouses composers. In the context of the rest of the melody, these two measures express the sort of musical theme which Aaron Copland (known as the dean of American composers) said "comes from heaven" - or in Lakota understanding, is received in a dream. A modern arrangement of the melody can be seen and heard online. Start by accessing "Historical Notes...American Indian Melodies" at imslp.org/wiki/User:Clark_Kimberling/Historical_Notes_9. When you get there, click SOLOS 9 near the top of the page to see the melody, or click Those Are Not My Interest, near the end, to hear the arrangement played on a tenor recorder. However, a Lakota melody by itself played on a Western instrument is a far cry from the real thing. For a Lakota song, text and context are essential. Following are the Lakota and English words for "Those Are Not My Interest," sung by Two Shields, interpreted by Robert P. Higheagle, and recorded by Frances Densmore: kola'pila | | friends | epe'con | | I have said | ti i'kceya | | in common life | wico'han kin | | the customs | o'ta yelo' | | are many | kola' | | friend | he'na | | those | e sni | | are not (do not interest me) | yelo' epe'lo | | I have said |
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