Sioux Culture

Paper Summary:

This paper examines both what the Sioux cultures were like before European contact as well as what that culture has evolved into. The paper focuses on the music of this people set within a broader artistic and cultural and even political context. The paper is broken down into four chapters: An introduction into the Sioux people, their musical instruments, the songs of the people, and finally a larger cultural context. The final section of this paper examines the Sun Dance and the Ghost Dance as the two most important single types of musical performance.

From the Paper:

"Traditional Sioux of the last century - or the centuries before - would have found the entire idea of putting on their best clothes and going to a concert hall to listen - as relatively passive observers - to a musical performance extremely odd. For them, as for other native peoples of the Americas (and arguably other native peoples throughout the world before the onset of industrialization) music was something that was integrated into the fabric of ritual and everyday life."

More papers on Sioux Culture:

• Essay # 10910 : "Sioux Culture & Music"
• Research Paper # 16944 : "The Sioux"
• Essay # 52711 : "The Sioux Indians"

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