Online archives (and the people who assemble and maintain them) are really modern miracles. When I was in music school (way back i
Through a radio script in the collection (pretty amazing in itself), I was led to the Kenneth Peacock recording titled “Indian Music of the Canadian Plains” released on vinyl in 1955 through the Smithsonian Institution’s Ethnic Folkways series. As a US recording, it remains under copyright until 2065, but they still offer it for digital download at a very reasonable $9.99 ($US) Individual tracks are .99 apiece. And if we go back to that radio script, we discover contemporaneous commentary from the North Battleford Indian Hospital Matron who helped Peacock assemble the singers. The recording includes Cree songs in a variety of styles from:
- Burnstick, William
- Fox, Alan
- Kiskotagan, Lawrence
- Lonesinger, Antoine
- Nicotine, George
- Peaychew, William
- Pooyak, Elie
A note from us to SCAA (should they happen upon this post): kinanâskomitinân: We are grateful to all of you!
4 Responses
I believe Edward Frank was on one of those songs too, sand with Eli Pooyak
Cool! I wondered about connections between today’s language reclaimers and these ancestors! I wonder if you (or anyone) knows names of additional singers. The record lists only one singer, when they’re actually performed by drum groups. I just found the liner notes, and I’m adding them to the post. Thanks for sending the note!
I had this record way back in the 80’s but don’t know whatever happened to it, there’s a Cree song on there where they sing about the dog. you feed to dog.
I just read those words in the liner notes (now uploaded), and a few more names.