Native+Americanmania

The Native Americans have music for everything. They used it to heal the sick, prepare for war, praise their gods, pray for good benefits like rain. In their songs they would chant and play their instruments. When it was farming season and they want a good yield. So, they will perform variations of the rain dance. When someone died they would remorse with variations of the ghost dance. In the songs they have certain dance rituals to go with them. Genders are important to the songs because men and women act out the song's meaning. Women have certain songs they perform by themselves. Native Americans use music everyday. They dance to their music because their music is made for rituals and chants. Their music was never written down until more modern days. So the original music can not be played. Just like folk stories it changes from ear to ear. Today's modern music is on the same concept as their ancestors. They sing a lot of the same songs. media type="youtube" key="fMNMWZM1Jp8" height="315" width="420"
 * Music:**

**Instruments:** In Native American music, flutes are one of the most important instruments. The flutes can be made from bone, bamboo, or clay. They are shaped like the modern recorder. Different tribes have different flutes. The Indians also used the drums a lot. It was used to keep the tempo for their dances and rituals. Other instruments include the rattle and various forms of it. There are 4 main types of drums; the simple skin drum, the square drum, the water drum, and the frame drum. The water drum is unlike any other drum. It is made of hollowed logs or an iron kettle filled with water with buckskin covering it.

simple skin drum flute rain stick

The Native Americans lives revolve around religion. They always want to please the gods. They have gods for everything. Native Americans praise the rain god, death god, sun god, moon god, corn god, and so many gods for everything that they could not explain why one thing is. Indians are afraid if they don't praise the gods that bad things will happen. They wear costumes to represent the gods they are praising in their dances and chants. Most of their songs are about religion. A lot of Indians today are christian but some still believe in their gods. **Traditions:** They have medicine men and women to help keep them safe. The medicine men and women have to be trained by past medicine men. They use herbs and spices and plants instead of modern medicine. They smoked peace pipes when two tribes would get together. The peace pipes are also used for medicine. They smoke pure tobacco mixed with many other herbs and things. In most tribes the women take care of the kids, cook, scavenge, make the clothes and whatever is needed. The men however hunted and fought. Today the same principles apply but the men work jobs. Kids are taught at a young age how to defend their tribes and the tasks they will take up in the tribe.traditions.
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The Native Americans didn't have a democracy. They had a chief. A chief is equivalent to a king or queen. The Chiefs are usually the best hunters and wisest of the village. In tribes the highest person is the chief, then chief's sons and daughters, then chief's wife, then its medicine man, then warriors, and then its women and children. Native Americans come from many regions. The Coastal Indians would fish and farm for food. The Midwestern Indians were nomads. They may farm but they mostly hunt for food. Many tribes were rivals. All Native Americans are different so their music is different. Most of their music revolves around religion, war, and region. If they live on the coast they may dance and sing about catching fish. If they live in the Midwest they may do songs about crops and hunting. The Indians lived all over but when the white folks moved in trouble started. The Europeans thought this land was rightfully theirs. After years and years of turmoil the Native Americans were put in reservations. So a lot of nomads had to become farmers and hunters became farmers.
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 * 1) youtube
 * 2) britannica
 * 3) wikipedia