Cool Stuff No. 1 : Native American Music

Jingle Dance

 

The jingle dancing really caught my eye. The jingle dance is a special dance performed by the women of the Native American culture. This dance is  usually performed at Powwows for competitions. The women personally design their dresses and add metal cones (ziibaaska'iganan) for noise. The jingle dress was originally founded in a dream. Also the dance came about for healing purposes. The jingle dress was originally named a " Prayer Dress". The dancers move their feet to the sound of the drums and usually have a feather in one hand and the other on their hipp.

Clothing

The clothing of Native Americans were very different, which I love. Men wore breechclouts and moccasins. Women usually wore more full-length dress. Their clothing also depended on the weather. In the winter, they would usually wear more layers of clothing. Native American clothing was made mainly of cotton. They also made things out of animal skin and bark off trees. The animal skin was used as fringe on clothing. 

Drummers/Singers

I love to hear the drummer and singers in the powwow videos. They are very different. There is always a lead singer who starts singing and then others join in. Most of the drummers are men. The drummers are all gathered in a big circle in which they all use the same drum. There are two types of singers, Northerners and Southerners. The northerners sing higher than the others. Although they don't sing real words, the words they do sing mean something to them. The words they sing are called vocables and have a deep meaning to the singers and others.

https://www.powwows.com/jingle-dress-dance/

https://study.com/academy/lesson/native-american-clothing-history-facts.html

https://powwow-power.com/drums-songs/