essay
Gender and Navajo music: unanswered questions
Women in North American Indian music : six essays • (6) • Published In 1989 • Pages: 22-38
By: Frisbie, Charlotte Johnson.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
In this paper, Frisbie examines the relationship between gender and music, including traditional and 'new music.' She first looks at idealized constructions of gender and the sexual division of labor as conveyed in myths. The Navajo conceive a dualistic universe of good and evil, day and night, male and female, etc. The motion of the universe is caused by imbalance in these relational pairs--not necessarily a bad thing, the alternative being static. Gender relations are conceived as complimentary, not polarized. The Holy People brought the world into existence and ordered it through singing. The Navajo have many different kinds of songs. Both men and women are free to sing songs, although traditionally women were not allowed to perform at ceremonies and when menstruating. Because of these taboos, early ethnographers considered them 'songless.' Both sexes perform the 'new music' at fairs, festivals, powwows, etc. Frisbie further examines the different kinds of songs men and women sing and the differences in their style of singing.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Gender status
- Cosmology
- Mythology
- Spirits and gods
- Organized ceremonial
- 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
- essay
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Ethnologist
- 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.
- 4: Excellent Secondary Data
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- Ian Skoggard; 2003
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1963-1984
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1909-1989
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Navajo Reservation, Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah, United States
- NotesAdditional notes
- Charlotte J. Frisbie
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 35-38)
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 89021669
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Navajo Indians