Mandan and Hidatsa Music (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from Mandan and Hidatsa Music

A phase of'indian life hitherto untouched by the present writer is shown in this work. The Mandan and Hidatsa lived in houses which were grouped in permanent villages, their environment differ ing essentially from that of the Chippewa and Sioux in their camps or the Ute in the fastnesses of the mountains. The music of the latter tribes has been analyzed in previous works,1 and a comparative statement of results is presented in this volume.

The songs of the Mandan and Hidatsa were recorded on the Fort Berthold Reservation in North Dakota during the summers of 1912 and 1915, an additional trip being made in 1918 to complete the material. This research was sugg ested by Dr. 0. J. Libby, secre tary of the State Historical Society of North Dakota, and the first season's work was under the auspices of that society. The subsequent work was under the auspices of the Bureau of American Ethnology.

The writer desires to acknowledge the valued assistance of her two principal interpreters, Mr. J ames Holding Eagle, a member of the Mandan tribe, who interpreted and translated that language, and Mr. Fred Huber, who interpreted and translated the Hidatsa. Mr. Holding Eagle was born in 1884, received his early education at the Fort Berthold Mission of the Congregational Church, and graduated from the Santee Normal Training School at Santee, Nebr. He is now engaged in missionary work among his people on the F ort Berthold Reservation. Mr. Huber went to Fort Berthold as a musician with the United States Army, and for more than 30 years spent the majority of his time among the Hidatsa. He died before the completion of the present work.

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