USE OF MUSIC BY AMERICAN INDIANS — DENSMORE 447 



pression"; the singing of an Indian doctor is entirely monotonous. 

 By this manner of presentation the rhythm is impressed on the mind 

 of the patient. The rhythmic pattern holds his attention and, in 

 some instances, may be somewhat hypnotic in effect. Certain healing 

 songs are sung many times, while others are sung a definite number 

 of times, usually three, four, or five. Some doctors have songs for 

 beginning and ending a treatment, and others have special songs for 

 each of the four divisions of the night. Such details of procedure are 

 in accordance with the instructions received by the doctor in his 

 dream. 



Songs used for treatment of the sick have been recorded by the 

 writer in the following tribes and in British Columbia: Cheyenne, 

 Chippewa, Makah and Clayoquot (at Neah Bay, Wash.) , Menominee, 

 Papago, Seminole, Sioux, Northern Ute, Winnebago, and Yuma. 

 Healing songs were also recorded by Tule Indians from Panama 

 and by Indians from Acoma and Santo Domingo Pueblos. 7 Except for 

 a few British Columbian and Tule songs, the recordings were made 

 by doctors who were using the songs in their treatment of the sick. 

 Many songs of the Chippewa Midewiwin are connected with cere- 

 monies believed to benefit or cure the sick but are not songs of in- 

 dividual doctors, related to the treatment of specific diseases, acci- 

 dents, or physical conditions. They are accordingly omitted in the 

 following analysis, which is limited to songs used definitely in treat- 

 ing the sick. The total number of such songs recorded and tran- 

 scribed in musical notation is 197 ; many others have been studied and 

 were found to be similar in structure. 



Mention has been made of a change of accent, or irregular rhythm, 

 in many Indian songs for the sick. A tabulation of these 197 songs, 

 from 14 localities, shows that such a change occurs in 173, or about 

 88 percent of the number. In a similar analysis of 1,510 songs of 

 all classes, from many tribes, only 83 percent contain a change of 

 accent. In many Indian performances there is a difference in the 



1 The writer's study of music in the following tribes did not include songs for the sick : 

 Arapaho, Alabama, Choctaw, Cocopa, Hidatsa, Maidu, Mandan, Omaha, Yaqui, and Zuni 

 and Cochiti Pueblos. Nor were songs of this class included in recordings of Indian songs 

 secured at Anvik, Alaska, by Dr. Ale§ Hrdlicka and transmitted to the Bureau of American 

 Ethnology. Iroquois ceremonial songs were recorded by J. N. B. Hewitt. The study of 

 Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Maidu music and that of Santo Domingo Pueblo was under the 

 auspices of the Southwest Museum of Los Angeles, Calif. A portion of the records made 

 for the Southwest Museum, were presented to the Bureau of American Ethnology after 

 being transcribed. The remainder, and also the records made for the State Historical 

 Society of North Dakota, were retained by the sponsors of the undertakings after the 

 records had been transcribed and copies made for the Bureau. The writer's recordings, 

 comprising more than 2,500 songs, constitute the Smithsonian-Densmore collection of 

 Indian song recordings. They were transferred to the National Archives in 1940, where 

 they were cataloged and where she wrote a handbook of the collection. In 1948 they 

 were transferred to the Library of Congress, and she has selected songs that are now being 

 issued in a series of 10 long-playing records, each accompanied by a descriptive pamphlet. 

 These are available to the public. 



