Indian Melodies was written while Thomas Commuck lived in Wisconsin. Commuck states that he authored the book; by this, he means that he both collected learned songs and wrote his own as well. While the majority of songs seem to be written by Commuck, some, such as the very first song, “Pequot,” have “Words by Dr. Watts” or another such suggestion. The songs themselves are both religious and richly expressive and their context consists of everyday life, hardships, harmony, and the connection one has with a higher power. No matter the context, the songs continually consist of a descriptive language of emotion or commentary on various experiences. Some of the most powerful songs are those including religious experience and natural imagery. The song, “Flathead” is able to represent behaviors and characteristics of the Flathead Indian Nation, while using the concept of a higher power, harmony, fellowship, and natural imagery. The mixture of all these things creates a noble representation of the Flathead people,
Blest are the sons of peace
Whose hearts and hopes are one
Whose kind designs to serve and please
Through all their actions runBlessed is the pious house
Where zeal and friendship meet
Their songs of praise, their mingled vows,
Make their communions sweetThus on the heavenly hills
The saints are blest above
Where joy, like morning dew distils
And all the air is love (Commuck 10).
Commuck writes of their personal characters, how they spend time together, their belief in heaven, and importantly, their connection with nature. The fact that in the same stanza referencing the Flatheads’ beliefs, nature is entwined, exemplifies the fact that while Native Americans before and in Commuck’s time may have converted to Christianity, they have not lost their roots in the process. Everything here is positive and represents one Native American’s view, of a fellow Native people. In this way, Commuck not only uses Indian Melodies as a form of expression, he also uses it in a way that positively asserts Native Americans.
Looking at Commuck’s Indian Melodies in comparison with a few others written from around the same time, to more modern collections, one is able to see what exactly makes Commuck’s book so important in the history of written music publications. In 1907, the first copy of The Indians’ Book was published. Written by Natalie Curtis, The Indians’ Book is a collection of songs, stories, and art by Native Americans. Many of the songs are written in the tribe’s original language-some with translations underneath. The focus of the collected songs has less to do with religion and context, and more to do with Curtis's own enjoyment in collecting songs from Native American people: “The unstudied song of primitive man is as soulful in its purpose as developed art, but its simple expression of far simpler things” (xxvi). This statement displays how, while Curtis sees the importance of preserving Native American songs, they were not considered equal to other “developed art” of her time.
In contrast to Curtis’s view, over 50 years prior Commuck wrote and published a collection of Native American songs and asserted himself as a man of purpose and intellect. This author appears as an individual who could hold his own in a white world. Curtis makes remarks such as, “Let us pause in the stress of our modern life to listen to the ancient lore of our own land” (xxix). In Indian Melodies, Commuck’s language is eloquent and displays how vocally aware and active Commuck is in the modern world; while The Indians’ Book, highlights creative expression, it does so without the assertion of equality. Curtis’s book is beneficial because it brings to light the talent and beauty of Native American artistic expression via songs and stories, but is still filtered through the eyes of a culture who still see Native Americans as being a race needing to catch up to modernity.
Music in America: An Anthology from the Landing of the Pilgrims to the Close of the Civil War. 1620-1865 was published in 1964 by W.W. Norton & Company. It is a collection of songs, and their histories in America. The first three chapters consist of “Psalmody in New England,” “First Instruction Books and Singing Schools,” and “Music of the Ephrata Cloister and the Moravians,” but the latter half of the book pertains to Commuck’s time. Chapter four is entitled “Native American Composers” yet not one of the composers listed is an actual Native American. Instead, they are men, at least second generation, of Europeans who happened to be physically born in America. Commuck and these American born composers have similarly named their songs based on people, places, and events. They also both write of religious experience and hope, but their differences lay in their context. Francis Hopkinson wrote the song, A Toast, in order to show respect for “George Washington, emerging as the military and political leader of our new nation” (Gleason, et al 97). All of the composers in Music in America write their songs based on the white man’s experience in their “new nation.”
Commuck makes the point that, “As the tunes in this book are the work of an Indian…the tunes therefore will be found to assume the names of noted Indian chiefs, Indian females, Indian names of places, &c. This has been done merely as a tribute of respect to the memory of some tribes that are now nearly if not quite extinct; also as a mark of courtesy to some tribes with whom the author is acquainted” (vi). Both the English-American born composers and Commuck write songs of hope, respect, and historical and religious significance, but men such as Hopkinson are celebrating their “new nation” while Commuck’s hymns are holding onto the existence of one that’s being threatened.
Collections of English-American music as well as Native American music have been written and published by white men and women from before Commuck’s time to today, but Indian Melodies has been a continual oversight. Commuck’s collection, authored by a Native American regarding Native Americans, asserted himself in a world dominated by English psalmody. In the midst of oppression and after years of colonization and Christianization, Commuck’s book displays how the oral tradition of songs and hymns asserts Native Americans as academic, creative and religious equals.
Brooks, Joanna. American Lazarus: Religion and the Rise of African-American and Native American Literatures. Oxford University Press, 2003.
Bross, Kristina, and Hilary E. Wyss. Early Native Literacies in New England: A Documentary and Critical Anthology. Univ of Massachusetts Press, 2008.
Commuck, Thomas, Thomas Hastings, and Samson Occom. Indian Melodies: By Thomas Commuck. Harmonized by Thomas Hastings. G. Lane & C.B. Tippett, 1845.
Contributors, See Notes Multiple. A Choice Collection of Hymns and Spiritual Songs; Intended for the Edification of Sincere Christians, of All Denominations. By Samson Occom, Minister of the Gospel. [Text]. Gale ECCO, Print Editions, 2010.
Curtis, Natalie. Indians’ Book. Dover Pub. Co., 1968.
Kellaway, William. The New England Company, 1649-1776: Missionary Society to the American Indians. Barnes & Noble, 1962.
Love, William DeLoss. Samson Occom and the Christian Indians of New England. Syracuse University Press, 1899.
Marrocco, William Thomas, and Harold Gleason. Music in America: An Anthology from the Landing of the Pilgrims to the Close of the Civil War, 1620-1865. W.W. Norton, 1964.
Moore, MariJo. Genocide of the Mind: New Native American Writing. Nation Books, 2003.
Spinney, Ann Morrison. Passamaquoddy Ceremonial Songs: Aesthetics and Survival (Native Americans of the Northeast: History, Culture, and the Contemporary). 1st ed. Univ. of Massachusetts Press, 2010.
Troutman, John W. Indian Blues: American Indians and the Politics of Music, 1879-1934. University of Oklahoma Press, 2012.
Indian Walls - Narragansett Tribal Stonemasons in New England. 2008.
“Brothertown Indians.” F576 W81 (January 1, 1998).
“Divine Hymns, or Spiritual Songs; for the Use of Religious Assemblies and Private Christians."
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Brucker, Rosie.
All About your Biz.4569 North 105th Street Wauwatosa, Wisconsin 53225
Online copy: Google Books scan itself from Columbia University.
I tried to get the Portland Press to print this article as an op-ed but they refused and made me cut a 730 word article down to 150 words. I did that because I wanted to get something in about Rachel before the primary next week. I decided to put the entire article on my facebook and ask you guys to share it on your facebook pages twitter and any other form of social media you can.The paper controls too much of our political process. Please circulate this! THANK YOU!!!!
Between 1998 and 2008, Loring served as Penobscot tribal representative to the Maine State Legislature. Maine is unique in having tribal representatives sit in its state legislature. Following this tradition, which dates back to the 1800s, Loring served several terms on behalf of the Penobscots. One of her major accomplishments was her writing and sponsorship of LD 291, “an Act to Require Teaching Maine Native American History and Culture in Maine’s Schools,” which passed as a law in 2001. She also created and supported the first "State of the Tribes Address" in 2002.
During her tenure, Loring kept a journal, which she later turned into a memoir, In the Shadow of the Eagle. The book provides great insight into the inner workings of the U.S. government on a state level, as well as the adversity Native Americans face in modern times. For instance, the first bill Loring worked on was called the “Offensive Names Bill.” This banned the use of the word "Squaw" in the titles of Maine locations and tourist spots. She also worked on a bill that proposed an extension on the time period in which the tribe could purchase land for the Calais Casino. More than one representative opposed this and any bill having to do with Native casinos, while at the same time supporting bills that would enable race tracks to receive verbal bets over the telephone.
Loring also used her position to fight environmental contamination from a local paper company. When she brought the issue to the table, the company responded with a bill to define and criminalize environmental terrorism. Loring responded by publishing an article suggesting that the bill's sponsors were the true "environmental terrorists."
As her final action in the state legislature, Loring brought forward the JOINT RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF THE UNITED NATIONS DECLARATION ON THE RIGHTS OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES (H.P. 1681). This passed, without debate, in both the State House and Senate on April 15, 2008. Maine was only state in the country to pass such a resolution in favor of the UN Declaration of Indigenous Rights.
Although Loring had opposition during her time as Tribal representative, her influence within the house was recognized by everyone. One of her opponents, Representative Waterhouse, once proposed a bill to ban the use of minors in police sting operations, particularly those involving tobacco sales. Loring stood up in support of this bill, which passed with staggering numbers (about two thirds). Later, she received a note from Waterhouse himself, saying “Thanks Donna, you have a lot of sway around here.”
In 2009, Loring gave her personal and literary papers to the University of New England, which established a highly regarded lecture series in her name. Loring has continued to write and has produced the first Penobscot musical, The Glooskape Chronicles.
*This article began as a biographical entry for Wikipedia. We thank Donna Loring for her time and feedback on that article and this one.
Dolloff, Aimee. "‘The Eagle’ has landed; The Legislature’s tribal representative, Donna M. Loring, hopes her memoir provides a guide for those who follow in her footsteps". Bangor Daily News. Retrieved 18 April 2013.
Starbird, Glenn (1983). "A Brief History of Indian Legislative Representatives". Maine State Law and Legislative Reference Library. Retrieved 17 April 2013.
Penobscot Tribal Nation. "Donna Loring." Penobscot Culture. Penobscot Tribal Nation. Retrieved 4 April 2013.
Senier, Siobhan. "A Penobscot Musical in the Making". Indigenous New England Literature. Retrieved 5 April 2013.
]]>Change through time. In nature, these three words define the process required of all living things for survival. For the Abenaki, they represent the survival of a culture. Without change, the people native to areas of northern New England and Southern Quebec would have no history and perhaps even more importantly, no future (Porter 6).
Traditional Abenaki baskets were, and continue to be, woven from sweet grass and splints of ash (Dow, Personal Interview). Abenaki baskets, originally made using various techniques to serve a practical purpose, experienced a change in the late 1800s (Porter 6). Basketmakers adjusted to the changing times, ultimately creating "fancy baskets" (6). By the end of the last century, Abenaki fancy baskets were in such high demand that molds were created to increase production rates and to have a uniform product to sell, while the baskets themselves were sold through catalogs (6).
By adapting to social, political, economic, and environmental changes, I am following in the footsteps of my ancestors. The creation of fancy baskets was an adaptation that filled a need for survival… using new and different materials is how I see Abenaki basketry meeting the needs of culture in this new century. - Judy Dow, We Are Still Here
Abenaki basketmaker, Judy Dow, is an important personality in the current Abenaki revitalization movement (Dow, Personal Interview). Her baskets have been on exhibit in many museums, such as Strawberry Banke and the National Museum of the American Indian (Vermont Governor's Institute on the Arts). Dow provides a unique approach in preserving Abenaki cultural identity through basketmaking by using nontraditional materials (Dow, Personal Interview).
Judy Dow's philosophies for "Saba" (Abenaki for tomorrow) bring awareness to how current mechanisms of revitalization do not honor change as a facet of Abenaki culture (Dow). By not continuing to adapt, the foundation of a culture is at risk.
Abenaki baskets are traditionally made using four techniques: Coiling, twining, plaited, and one-piece (Dow). Judy Dow portrays each technique as a different branch on a single tree (Dow). Instead of only focusing on one branch, Dow uses all of the techniques when she incorporates her adaptations (Dow). While the material of the basket is changing (along with the tools used to make it) it is important to Dow that the technique remains: "The techniques are gifts from our ancestors" (Dow, Email).
In addition to the preservation of techniques, Dow illustrates how the basket making process should be conserved. For example, the art of basketmaking requires the individual to have a connection to the land and knowledge of it (Dow, Personal Interview). Basketmakers gather their own raw materials and prepare them by hand (Dow). In the traditional sense, this refers to basketmakers who cut and pound their own ash (Dow). Although Judy's baskets are not always made from ash, she continues to demonstrate the Abenaki tradition of harvest. She collects all her materials, be it plastic bags, pantyhose, or flax straw (Dow).
Above all, in order to be a basketmaker, one must portray patience, perseverance, preservation, and most importantly, pride. "The Four P's," as Dow puts it, should define Abenaki generations of the past, present, and future (Dow).
The conservation of the Brown Ash population has been a growing concern over the past few years, especially for Native American basketmakers - in part because of the introduction of the emerald beetle (USDA). The necessity for change has shifted the process of basketmaking towards the use of alternative materials. Judy Dow is perhaps the most creative and adaptive basketmaker today in many ways, all of which promote the conservation of brown ash and the adaptation to use other materials. She has made baskets out of a variety of 'everyday' materials such as old fast food bags, nylon, wrappers, and lumber strapping (Dow, Personal Interview). Because they attract the eye, baskets made out of this material bring attention to sustainability.
Her style of basketmaking underscores an important lesson that can be learned from Abenaki culture: the cost of cultural survival. If there is no longer a way to do something in the traditional sense, it is possible to adapt in a manner that maintains the cultural identity of the process. Along with recycling common materials, Judy Dow also finds creative ways of using everyday tools for basketmaking. For example, when her old splint cutting tool broke, she used her pasta cutter from her kitchen instead (Dow). This is one of many instances where adaptations are shown in Abenaki culture, further proving that it is possible for a heritage to survive once the significance of adapting is taught to the younger - interested and willing - generations.
By adapting tools and materials, the basketry techniques will live on and then so will our heritage.- Judy Dow, We Are Still Here
Dow, Judy. "Dowessay." 23 Nov. 2012. E-mail.
Dow, Judy. Personal Interview. 11 Oct. 2012.
Lori, Carolyn. "Shaping the talk on American Indians." The Valley News. 24 November 2005. Web.
Porter, Frank W. "Native American Basketry." The Art of Native American Basketry: A Living Legacy. New York: Greenwood, 1990. 67. Print.
USDA Agricultural Research Service. "NPGS Ash Conservation Project." N.d. Digital file.
Vermont's Governor's Institute on the Arts. "Judy Dow." 12 June 2012. Web.
"We're Still Here" Online Exhibit. Center For New England Culture. University of New Hampshire. N.d. Web.