Book
Enemy Way music
The Museum • 41 (3) • Published In 1954 • Pages: ix, 96
By: McAllester, David Park.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This source attempts to explore Navajo cultural values as they are expressed through music. It is the third monograph in the Rimrock Project, Values Series, published by the Peabody Museum. Data are based on numerous interviews with eleven principal informants, participant observation at several ceremonies, and a questionnaire. Following a lengthy description of the Enemy Way ceremony, author moves to the presentation and analysis of Enemy Way music. The secular songs are divided into four types: Sway Songs, Dance Songs, Gift Songs, and Circle Dance Songs. There are text examples for each followed by text and melodic analyses. The author then goes on to deal with the music of the Peyote cult and the Galilean Christian mission as examples of acculturation. Esthetic values and cultural values as expressed in music are then discussed in terms of Navajo ethos. The source is noteworthy for the music examples and its description of the Enemy Way ceremony. However, the researcher should note that the cultural analysis borders on condescending and relies on stereotypes of Navajo behavior. At several points the author refers to the Navajo as 'unsophisticated traditionalists' (p. 83) or notes the 'simple, childlike' quality of their humor (p. 87).
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Music
- Literary texts
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Navajo
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2004
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- North America
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Southwest and Basin
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- Book
- Evaluation
- Creator TypesThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Ethnologist
- Musicologist
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- Richard A. Wagner ; 1985
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1950-1951
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1950
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- New Mexico, United States
- NotesAdditional notes
- David Park McAllester
- Music examples are found in OCM category 539
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 95-96)
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- a 55003051
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Navajo Indians