Natay
Navajo Singer
Copyright 1951 Canyon Records, Inc.
Edward Lee Natay, notable son of a great Navajo leader and medicine man, has a deep love for the traditions of his people and has made a life-long study of Indian music. He has learned hundreds of songs, of a great variety of tribes and of every description, for the Indian has a song for every occasion of his life from the most sacred ceremonial to the most casual moment. Conscious of the need for a presentation of Indian music which would take its rightful place along with other American folk music, this Indian artist consented to record this documentary album.
Natay, equally at home in both Indian and White cultures, had a romantic birth under Arizona stars on a wagon trail, as his parents were returning from a trading post to their reservation home. He was reared in the Navajo way, doing his chores as a little sheepherder on the range until he went to the Indian boarding school at Fort Defiance. He completed his education at Santa Fe and later became the only Indian to ever serve as an instructor in the public high schools of New Mexico. Extremely versatile-he paints, he sings, he taught auto mechanics and welding. During the war he served the country's defense effort by performing highly skilled welding at the Oakland drydocks.
Now Natay has his own shop-Etsitty House in Scottsdale, Arizona-where one finds his artistic iron work and his water colors. He takes time off now and again for singing tours with MGM motion pictures, or to take part in shows for the Santa Fe Railroad. He has also become an outstanding interpreter for his people, representing them in the law courts of Arizona and New Mexico.
Natay, equally at home in both Indian and White cultures, had a romantic birth under Arizona stars on a wagon trail, as his parents were returning from a trading post to their reservation home. He was reared in the Navajo way, doing his chores as a little sheepherder on the range until he went to the Indian boarding school at Fort Defiance. He completed his education at Santa Fe and later became the only Indian to ever serve as an instructor in the public high schools of New Mexico. Extremely versatile-he paints, he sings, he taught auto mechanics and welding. During the war he served the country's defense effort by performing highly skilled welding at the Oakland drydocks.
Now Natay has his own shop-Etsitty House in Scottsdale, Arizona-where one finds his artistic iron work and his water colors. He takes time off now and again for singing tours with MGM motion pictures, or to take part in shows for the Santa Fe Railroad. He has also become an outstanding interpreter for his people, representing them in the law courts of Arizona and New Mexico.
Play song |
Name |
Performed by |
Description |
Native Words |
Translation |
Notes |
 |
Sacred Mask Dance | Here is one of the most sacred of all Indian ceremonial dances. Although it has been sung in public as Natay sings it here, its words are sacred to the Indian and have not been translated to the White Man. Neither, has the White Man been permitted to witness the dance, which takes place only during the winter and at a time announced in the Indian villages by the "cacique" (custodian of tribal ceremonial and culture-a position calling forth the greatest respect). This is a dance of the Keres, Pueblo Indians of New Mexico, and is performed as an act of prayer-giving thanks for past blessings, and invoking blessings for the coming season. A blessing is asked on all humanity-not just for the Indian people; a blessing is asked for all living things-for the deer, for the birds. In the entire ritual seventy-five to a hundred men participate, and the dance lasts from sunrise to sundown, with variations of the same rhythm. Ceremonial costume and spirit-symbolizing mask are worn, and drum and gourds accompany the singing. The wide extremes of range make this difficult to sing. It requires long practice and great control--with the singer being able to take only four breaths during an entire chorus. Three choruses are recorded. |
Keres | |||
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Kiowa Round Dance | A huge drum sets the stage for this social dance of the Kiowa Indians of Oklahoma, and the drum is featured throughout the dance. Here is sharp contrast to the ceremonial Sacred Mask Dance. Here is a merrymaking dance, originated especially for the young boys and girls, but in which everyone takes part. About ten singers stand around the drum, each with his own song to sing. As one finishes, another rushes in close to beat on the drum and signify that he wants to get his song in. The songs run continuously, one taking up where another leaves off, and through it all is the steady rhythm of the big drum. With the drum as a core, the singing group forms an inner circle. A large outer ring is formed by the swaying dancers. Round dances are customary with all Plains Indians, the various tribes which inhabit the open plains of the Southwest. They do not have a special season, but are often given during a Pow-Wow. The striking, elaborate dress of the Plains Indian, the fringed deerskin dresses and jackets, the beaded moccasins, the turquoise and silver jewelry, preserved for generations, are brought out of the family's storage chest for these occasions. |
Kiowa | |||
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Squaw Dance | From the title, one would think this to be a woman's dance. The Indian describes it variously as a healing dance, a war dance, a victory dance-and it seems to be something of all three. In olden days, when Indians went on the warpath, a healing ceremonial for the injured took place on their return, and as the injured were recovering, the healing ceremonial turned into a victory dance. It was originally thought the injured were bewitched and evil spirits had to be driven out of them. Gradually, with the advent of peaceful years, the event became a healing ceremonial for ill persons generally, and a consequent victory celebration over the disease. Squaw dances last through four days, and each night the activities are held at a different place-the entire assemblage of 800 to 1000 Indians moving camp each day. Squaw dances have become almost like the White Man's conventions, with news announcements of special interest to Indians being made throughout the sessions. During the ceremony social dancing takes place, and in the song we hear the man call "Come, Honey, where are you" as he reminds the women the music has started and they must come and lead the men to the dancing area-for this dance is characterized by a woman asking a man to dance. The man responds by asking the identity of the woman's clan, for he does not dance with her if they are in any way related. The Navajo has been most particular to discourage intermarriage, and even the possible occasion of romance is avoided between relatives. If no kinship exists, then the man must accept the invitation to dance and must make a monetary gift to the woman when he wants to leave off dancing. Here is light-heartedness and gaiety. Here is much dressing up, with both men and women in their most precious silver and turquoise jewelry and their best clothes. |
Navajo | |||
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Harvest Dance | From a purple mesa in remote, almost inaccessible Hopi-land, east of the Grand Canyon in Arizona, comes this Harvest Dance of the gentle people, the people of peace. It has been danced at exactly the same time every Fall for generations. Indians are a very thankful people, and whether their harvest is slim or bountiful, a prayer dance of thanksgiving is held for the crops just garnered. This Hopi Harvest Dance is a happy dance, and presents a great scene of activity. A large group of singers is used and they are permitted to participate in the dancing-a feature characteristic of the Hopi dances. With other tribes, in ceremonials only the dancers dance and the singers do not. |
Hopi | |||
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Bow And Arrow | A sacred ceremonial dance, the Bow and Arrow, takes place in the Fall, just before the hunting season, and is a prayer for good hunting. It is danced by the men who feel a serious responsibility to provide for their families. They ask in this ceremonial that they may bring home plenty of wild game for their families and members of the clan. Animals are never killed for sport by the Indian, but only for food and on specific occasions for use during ceremonials-and then with great apology. "Forgive me, little brother, for taking your life. I take you only because I need you," the Indian tells the animal he must slay. Prayer dances for good hunting are customary with all tribes, and are similar except for costume variations; always they are very definitely performed by the men only. This Bow and Arrow sung by Natay is of the Santa Ana pueblo in the Rio Grande Valley in New Mexico. It is danced with a bow and arrow in the left hand and a gourd in the right. |
Santa Anna Pueblo | |||
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Turtle Dance | It is early summer in New Mexico and the Tewa Indians of the pueblos near Santa Fe need rain for their fields that their crops may mature. Believing the home of the Supreme Being to be underground, they make use of the turtle symbolism-since the turtle is one of the underground messengers-in their prayer dance for rain. All agricultural Indians have turtle dances. Here Natay sings one of the Tewa Turtle Dances. Men only participate, and gather the shells of turtles for the ceremonial. These turtle shells are then strapped to their legs just below the knee. The listener will hear in this dance-song a chanting rather than words. Very faint, but a distinguishing characteristic, is the swish of the turtle shells, brought about by the movement of the dancers. |
Tewa | |||
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Basket Dance | The Hopi Basket Dance is essentially a fertility rite and is performed in summer at a time the cacique calculates proper. The cacique calls two boy and girl dancing pairs. These four, accompanied by a large choir, perform the ceremonial. The dance is a prayer of petition and hope that all living things may be blessed and be fruitful. A basket is the sacred container of all good things and is carried throughout the dance. Baskets are filled with sacred corn pollen, with the pollen of all plants, with sacred medicines, and with feathers. Feathers are especially significant to the Indian, symbolizing the flight to the Spirit. The feathers are blessed by the medicine man so that they may breathe in the warmth of the Spirits. The Hopi Basket Dance employs a fast rhythm and very elaborate costuming. The filled baskets carried throughout the dance are gay and colorful; this is a ceremonial but it is a joyous one. |
Hopi | |||
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Sunrise Song | "It is time for sunrise!" The sunrise call rings out in the clear, cold air of dawn. In the stillness it may be heard for a far distance, echoing and re-echoing through the canyon as the voice rises to a crescendo in a joyous welcome to the sun. The sunrise call heralds "the beginning of the good day," as the Indian raises heart and mind to the Creator. Here Natay sings one of the most beautiful and haunting of the Zuni sunrise calls. Here is melody, and the words of the Zuni. Yet, it should be made clear, these morning paeons are not confined to Zuni. They are an everyday custom among many tribes; even a child may be the one who rises first to sing to the break of day. In the pueblos, the early riser walks along between the houses, giving forth with the happy song, and thus waking his fellow tribesmen. "It is time for sunrise!" 'Tis said that-if one knows how to listen-even a traveler along the road near Indian lands in very early morning may hear a little sheepherder in a field singing his sunrise song, or catch the echo of a beautiful Navajo voice in the distance. |
Zuni |