Songs are a way tribes communicated

 

In the afternoon workshop on music and advocacy, LaRae Wiley, founder and leader at the Salish School of Spokane, pointed out that music is an important way to communicate.

"In our tradition, we do not write down songs but pass them down orally in families, who share then with other families," she said. "Songs are important in our culture.

"At powwows, some groups use a version of the same songs, shared through family ties," said LaRae. "As Native people, our songs carry power and blessings."

LaRae said that in 1858, when the army hanged Chief Qualchan, they asked him for his final words, and he sang his song. His wife carried that song, and the Spokane Tribe still sings that song when they open powwows. It's a sacred song because he used it as a protest and call for his tribe to persevere through the generations.

"At the Salish School of Spokane, music is central to what we do and is a way we stay connected to each other," LaRae explained.

One song is the national anthem for the Sinixt people, who were declared extinct by the Canadian government and pushed into the U.S. That happened to her family. Her grandmother was 20 years old when a settler setting trap lines shot her first husband. The settler was cleared in a hearing, so there was no justice for her grandmother, who was held in jail for three months during the trial.

"When I think of perseverance and the power of song, I think of my song. It came to me from the last summer camp where my great-grandmother lived," LaRae said. "The Sinixt won a battle in court to hunt for ceremonial purposes in Canada, but we are still not recognized."

When I think of all my grandmother and great-grandmother went through and all of the songs they sang as a way to say we are still here, it's powerful," LaRae asserted, and then sang a song from her grandmother and great-grandmother.

To watch the video of the Music as Advocacy - EWLC26 event, click here.