[Download] "Cultural Revitalization and Mi'kmaq Music-Making: Three Newfoundland Drum Groups." by Newfoundland and Labrador Studies # Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Cultural Revitalization and Mi'kmaq Music-Making: Three Newfoundland Drum Groups.
- Author : Newfoundland and Labrador Studies
- Release Date : January 22, 2007
- Genre: Reference,Books,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 483 KB
Description
FOR THE PAST TWENTY YEARS, Newfoundland Mi'kmaq have been active in the revitalization of their culture. (1) Among other initiatives, their efforts have resulted in a Mi'kmaq language program in the Conne River school curriculum, support structures for Mi'kmaq arts and crafts, and an annual powwow held in Conne River. Such cultural activities primarily occur on the province's only Mi'kmaq reserve; however, similar initiatives are being implemented throughout the island. Music-making is one area that demonstrates this resurgence of Mi'kmaq culture. The powwow in Conne River is perhaps the best-known event, attracting participants from the surrounding area as well as visitors from Eastern Canada and Europe. On the west coast of Newfoundland, the past decade has seen the emergence of heritage events in Corner Brook and Stephenville, including mini-powwows, healing ceremonies, crafting workshops, and drum-making workshops. In St. John's, the Native Friendship Centre has become the home of a flourishing Aboriginal drumming and dancing group which has been active in a variety of local events including the Newfoundland and Labrador Folk Festival and the opening of the new provincial cultural centre, The Rooms. The participants draw on contemporary and historical Native American traditions, some of which are intertribal, while others are First Nation specific. These processes of cultural exchange are not new to the Mi'kmaq of Atlantic Canada. Scholarly discussion of music-making among the Mi'kmaq has focused on the Maritimes, and Newfoundland has been largely ignored. Wallis and Wallis (1955) collected the texts of a few Mi'kmaq songs, and briefly discussed the music-making opportunities related to the annual celebration of St. Anne's Day in Nova Scotia. Similarly, descriptions of St. Anne's Day by Jackson (1993) and Prins (1996) include only passing references to singing and dancing. In their study of First Nations musical instruments in northeastern America, Diamond, Cronk, and von Rosen (1994) discuss traditional and contemporary Wabanaki instruments in terms of design elements, construction, and decoration, for example, but this work is not specific to the Newfoundland Mi'kmaq.