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Native American jazz, classical and popular musicians have experienced artistic and commercial success since well before the turn of the 20th century. Many were first exposed to this music at boarding schools, where the regimented discipline of marching bands was a key component of the program of forced assimilation. Nevertheless, many Native Americans discovered a love of, and talent for, these genres of music and made them their own.
Join us as Erin Fehr (Yup’ik), archivist at the Sequoyah National Research Center at the University of Arkansas, Little Rock, and John Troutman, curator of American Music at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, discuss the social, historical and artistic experiences of Native American musicians since the beginning of the 20th century. Additionally, there will be a screening of Sousa on the Rez: Marching to the Beat of a Different Drum, which celebrates the continuing popularity of marching bands in Native American communities. This program is funded as part of the Smithsonian Year of Music.
Rasmuson Theater
