Thanksgiving Crate Digger: 19th Century Native American Jams + MP3's

E.S. Curtis

Apache Gaun from 1906

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, the perfect time to stuff your face with Tofurkey and burnt marshmallow yam-things. Here at West Coast Sound we thought about providing you with a sound track for your meals. Maybe some metal from Turkey, the Mashed Potato, with a little Gravy Train, and a side of the Cranberries? Luckily, we spared you.

Instead we dug deep into the digital crates of the internets to compile original recordings and contemporary adaptations of a few Native American songs. No flutes, no new age nothing, just turn of the 19th century jams and some new interpretations.

Remember, these recordings are not copywritten, so feel free to remix!

Original recordings:
From the archives:
Navajo Hoop Dance Song

From cylinder recordings performed by American ethnographer, James Mooney. (Sheet music from The Ghost-Dance Religion and the Sioux Outbreak of 1890 here
Kiowa Mescal Song Daylight Song 1894

Commanche No 1 Ghost Dance (1894)

Caddo No 2 Ghost Dance (Lyrics and Music)

Contemporary updates:
Tomahawk's (the superband of Mike Patton, Duane Dennison of Jesus Lizard, and John Stanier from Helmet) Anonymous album reinterprets early 20th century transcriptions of the Native American songs, including the Ghost Dance, which was performed before the massacre at Wounded Knee.

Litefoot, a Cherokee rapper, dropped a West Coast G-Funk era jam back in the middle 1990's