Native American Music - Academic Study

Academic Study

Archaeological evidence of Native American music dates as far back as the 7th century. However, the earliest written documentation comes from the arrival of European explorers on the American continent, and the earliest academic research comes from the late 19th century. During that period, early musicologists and folklorists collected and studied Native American music, and propounded theories about indigenous styles. In the early 20th century, more systematic research began led by comparative musicologists like Frances Densmore, Natalie Curtis, George Herzog and Helen Roberts. Densmore was the most prolific of the era, publishing more than one hundred works on Native American music. Most recently, since the 1950s, Native American music has been a part of ethnomusicological research, studied by Bruno Nettl, William Powers and David McAllester, among others.