The Ojibwa Dance Drum: Its History and Contruction

by Thomas Vennum Jr, Rick St. Germaine (Afterword)

Overview

Hiding in a lake under lily pads after fleeing U.S. soldiers, a Dakota woman was given a vision over the course of four days instructing her to build a large drum and teaching her the songs that would bring peace and end the killing of her people. From the Dakota, the "big drum" spread throughout the algonquian-speaking tribes to the Ojibwe, becoming the centerpiece of their religious ceremonies.

This edition of The Ojibwa Dance Drum, originally created through the collaboration of Ojibwe drum maker and singer William Bineshi Baker Sr. and folklorist Thomas Vennum, has a new introduction by history professor Rick St. Germaine that discusses the research behind this book and updates readers on the recent history of the Ojibwe Drum Dance.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780873517638
Publisher:	Minnesota Historical Society Press
Publication date:	06/01/2010
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	949,400
File size:	5 MB

About the Author

Thomas Vennum served as an ethnomusicologist for twenty-seven years at the Smithsonian Institution. He is a specialist in native American music, about which he has published extensively.
Rick St. Germain is a professor of history at the University of Wisconsin—Eau Claire.

Table of Contents

Editor's Preface 7

Acknowledgments 11

Foreword J. Richard Haefer 12

History

The Ojibwa and Their Music 14

The Origin and Early History of the Dance Drum 44

The Drum Dance and Its Functions 76

The Decline of the Drum Dance 132

Construction

The Drum Proper 156

Decorations 170

Accessories 209

Variants 241

Appendixes

The Dog Feast 250

The Lac Court Oreilles Drum Dance, circa 1940 253

Drum Society Structures 268

Soundtrack Transcription of the Film The Drummaker 271

Glossary of Ojibwa Terms 281

Key to Abbreviated Sources 285

Notes 286

Bibliography: Sources on the Ojibwa and Their Music 319

Afterword Rick St. Germaine 321

Index 333