Unit 3: The Story Teller: Social Movements through Native American Music

May 14, 2024

Essential Understandings

Essential Understanding #1. Indigenous influence continues to play significant roles in many aspects of political, legal, cultural, environmental, and economic issues. To understand the history and cultures of the Americas requires understanding American Indian history from Indian perspectives. (Excerpted from the National Museum of the American Indian Essential Understandings) Essential Understandings | Native Knowledge 360° – Interactive Teaching Resources.

Essential Understanding #2. Sovereignty describes the inherent right of Native American Nations to exercise self-governance. This tribal sovereignty predates the existence of the U.S. government and the state of Oregon. Tribal governments are separate and unique sovereign nations with powers to protect the health, safety, and welfare of their citizens and to govern their lands, air and waters. Tribal History Shared History Essential Understandings of Native Americans in Oregon – DEV 404 link

Essential Understanding #8. Treaties with the United States

Essential Understanding #9. Genocide, Federal Policy and Laws

Explore:

  • Treaty Rights
  • Sovereignty
  • Federal Policy and Laws
  • Genocide
  • Revitalization & Reclamation
  • Civic Ideals
  • Politics of Music

Overview

This unit aims to provide students with an understanding of Native American social movements through the lens of music as a form of activism. By incorporating an equity lens, this unit ensures that teachers support historically marginalized perspectives, encourage critical thinking, and challenge dominant narratives.

 

Unit Goals and Equity Considerations

Amplify Indigenous Voices: Center Native perspectives and experiences, ensuring historical and contemporary issues are addressed through authentic sources.

Historical Context & Suppression: Teach about policies that have suppressed Indigenous music and cultural expression.

Agency & Resistance: Show how Indigenous musicians and activists have reclaimed music as a tool for social justice.

Contemporary Relevance: Highlight how Native artists today use music to address ongoing social issues.

 

Essential Questions

  • How do protest movements incorporate music into their activism
  • How has Native American musical expression (including spiritual practices) been suppressed and forbidden?
  • How is music a part of contemporary Native American Activism?

Logistics

Where does this activity take place?

Classroom

How are students organized? 

In whole class and small groups depending on the activity.

 

Time Required

  • Depending on school schedule, this can be completed in five 45-minute class periods or three 90-minute class periods.
  • If using three 90-minute class periods, then the teacher can make adjustments to account for different breaks in instruction.

Oregon Standards

Social Science Standards

HS.59 * Analyze and explain the history of the American Indian/Alaska Natives/Native Hawaiians in Oregon and the United States regarding their culture, tribal sovereignty, issues of concern, past and present.

HS.60 * Analyze and explain the historic and contemporary examples of social and political conflicts and compromises including the actions of traditionally marginalized individuals and groups addressing inequities, inequality, power, and justice in the U.S. and the world.

Oregon Arts Standards: Music

MU.CT.11.CO2.HS1 1. Demonstrate understanding of relationships between music and the other arts, other disciplines, varied contexts, and daily life.

Assessment Outcomes 

By the end of the unit, students will be able to:

  • Describe how protest movements incorporate music into their activism.
  • Describe how Native American musical expression has been suppressed and forbidden.
  • Describe how music is a part of contemporary Native American activism.
  • Interpret music associated with activist causes and infer meaning from its elements.
  • Co-construct and meet the criteria of a summative assessment rubric.

 

Formative Assessment Guidance for Teachers

Researching Protest Movements Throughout the Unit

These “Things to Consider” will be posted at the beginning of each lesson on the opening PowerPoint slide.

  • Understanding the Basics. What was the main goal of this protest movement? Who were the key people or groups involved in this movement? What event(s) sparked this movement? When and where did this movement take place? Digging Deeper: Why did this movement emerge at this particular time in history? How did local, national, or global events shape this movement? What barriers did activists face in organizing and sustaining this movement?
  • The Role of Music in Protest. What songs or musicians were associated with this movement? How were these songs used in the movement (e.g., protests, rallies, awareness campaigns)? What emotions or messages do these songs convey? Digging Deeper: How did music help unite people within the movement? Did government or other authorities try to suppress or ban these songs? If so, why? How do the lyrics of protest songs from this movement compare to other protest songs from different movements?
  • Tactics and Strategies. How did activists spread their message? (e.g., marches, sit-ins, legal battles, art, music) What role did Indigenous traditions, ceremonies, or beliefs play in the activism? How did the media portray this movement? Digging Deeper: What were the risks activists took by participating in this movement? Were there disagreements within the movement about the best way to achieve their goals? Did activists face government surveillance, arrest, or violence? How did they respond?
  • Government and Public Reaction. How did the U.S. government or other authorities respond to the movement? Were any laws or policies changed as a result? Did the general public support or oppose this movement at the time? Digging Deeper: Were any promises made to activists that were later broken? How did Native American sovereignty and treaty rights factor into the government’s response? Were there misconceptions or stereotypes about the activists that impacted public opinion?
  • Long-Term Impact and Contemporary Relevance. What were the movement’s biggest successes? What challenges did the movement fail to overcome? Is this movement still active today? If so, how has it evolved?

Digging Deeper. How do the issues raised by this movement connect to current events? What modern movements have been inspired by this one? How are today’s Indigenous musicians continuing the work of past activists?

 

 

Background for Teachers

Production of music, ceremonies, and spiritual activities during the 100+ years of Indian Boarding and Residential schools was banned by the federal government in 1883. To learn more, you can review the following sources:

Religious Crimes Code of 1883 bans Native dances, ceremonies

The Role of Music in Assimilation of Students at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School

Brief Evolution of Indigenous Protest Music

*Important Disclaimer*  In this article showcasing Indigenous musicians and their protest music, Buffy St. Marie is featured among the musicians. Please be aware of the recent information that came out indicating that St. Marie has contradictory Indigenous background. She is not mentioned in any of the unit, but it is worth noting before going through with the lesson.

 

Key Ideas to Be Aware Of

  • Native peoples have lived in all regions of Oregon and North America since Time Immemorial.
  • Native American cultural and artistic contributions have often been suppressed and devalued.
  • Protest movements often incorporate music into their activism
  • Music is a form of resistance to oppression

Before Delivering These Lessons

  • Watch/listen to each suggested recording in its entirety.
  • Familiarize yourself with the Tribal History/Shared History framework, particularly the Essential Understandings.
  • Familiarize yourself with the range of musical genres and the contributions of Native musicians at the Speak/Sing Native Database Archive
  • Remember that this unit serves as an introduction but is not intended to be the only exposure social studies students have to 20th and 21st Century Native American history and social science topics.

“After getting out of the boarding schools, many Native Americans continued playing when they returned to the reservations,” said Wilson (Yakama). “They didn’t abandon who they are as people. The music itself wasn’t antithetical to their traditions. They formed bands like the U.S. Indian Band and played Sousa marches in headdresses and regalia. I became very inspired by the resilience of these acts and by Native Americans asserting their identity in their performances.” –

Dr. Jaqueline Wilson (Yakam) Washington State University Assistant Professor of Bassoon

WSU New Faculty Spotlight

“I argue that musical performance was implicated in the design and execution of the citizenship agenda, which through the 1920s mandated the assimilation of Native peoples into the body politic of the United States along with the allotment and liquidation of tribally controlled lands. (p. 5)

The practice of music, in a very real sense, provided a means by which American Indian people could strategically deploy their newfound US citizenship – for example, to reinforce their tribal identities – in the face of OIA (Office of Indian Affairs) officials who sought to dismantle that core of their existence. (p. 5)

“… musical instruction taught in Indian boarding schools could serve as both a means for Native peoples to wield Indianness, not simply in order to make a living, but as a weapon of political critique” (p. 5).

“Musical performances provided access to public forums – through the stage and wax cylinders, 78 rpm records, and the radio – for questioning and challenging the propriety of the federal government to assume control over Native lands, resources, and education. Music Mattered, as a means not simply of resistance but of active involvement in the shaping and implementation of federal policy initiatives. Music operated in a decisively political manner, just as it operated in other social and cultural contexts” (p. 5).

John W. Troutman

Indian Blues: American Indians and the Politics of Music

Materials

Unit Learning Targets

  • I can describe how protest movements incorporate music into their activism.
  • I can describe how Native American musical expression (including spiritual practices) have been suppressed and forbidden.
  • I can describe how music is a part of contemporary Native American activism and how songs can tell stories of struggle and positive change.
  • I can interpret music associated with activist causes and infer meaning from its elements.

  • I can work with my classmates and teacher to build the rubric for our final assessment, ensuring it values both our understanding of the material and our critical thinking. 

Course Content