Review of Music of the First Nations: Tradition and Innovation in Native North America edited by Tara Browner

• Main Author: Hoefnagels, Anna
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln 2010
• Subjects: American Studies; Cultural History; History; United States History; Canada; First Nations; inuits
• Online Access: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/greatplainsquarterly/2592; https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/context/greatplainsquarterly/article/3581/viewcontent/Hoefnagels.pdf

This collection of nine essays examines diverse traditions and issues in contemporary Native American music from a variety of perspectives. The anthology also covers a wide geographic span, ranging from the Inuits of northern Canada to the Choctaws of Mississippi, and the Passamaquoddies of New Brunswick in eastern Canada to the Coast Salish of western Washington. Many of these chapters highlight the movement of Aboriginal people and their music, as well as the transformations and retentions that characterized these movements and interactions with other Aboriginal groups and European settlers. An article addressing intertribal powwow music and another on country music complement the seven Nation-specific articles. These two further reinforce the travel routes, sharing, and interaction characteristic of Native American culture and music-making.