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Music and Musical Instruments

Woodland Indian music has been an integral part of the daily lives of Woodland Indians.

Songs accompanied ceremonies for the dead, preparations for war, nearly all the games, and were essential in treating the sick. For the observance of the Midewiwin rites, the songs were as important as the spiritual leaders themselves because there could be no rituals without the appropriate songs. Many songs were inspired by dreams either during an individual's vision quest or later in his life.

Bibliography

References cited and publications by donors

Bruce, Robert
1967 Jerarquia Maya entre los dioses lacandones. Anales del Instituto Macional de Antropologia e Historia Volume 28 pp.93-108.
1968 Gramatica del Lacandon. Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e Historia, Mexico City. Masters Thesis.
1973 Figuras Ceremonials Lacandonas de Hule.

Religion

Like most Arctic and Subarctic culture complexes, Sami spirituality was traditionally natural and shamanic.

The forces of nature were the deities and spirits that ruled every important aspect of nature, and of Sami lives. Animals, plants, and even inanimate objects had a soul. Offerings and sacrifices were made at holy natural or human-built sites in the land. Through a type of singsong chant called the joik, Sami conveyed legends and expressed their spirituality (McLeod, 2006).