Håkan Lundström

Transmission of song-making in Interior Athabascan tradition, Alaska

Vocal music remains a central part of the cultural life of native tradition in the interior of Alaska even as language shift from Athabascan languages to English has accelerated in the last 30 years. The elders are still engaged in musical composition and documentation, but their number is quickly diminishing. Many elders have shown a concern for the continuation of song-making which is essential above all in memorial ceremonies. Young people have also developed the ambition to learn and to carry on this practice. This chapter focuses on the on-going processes in the middle to lower Tanana River area and the situation of language knowledge and song-making there. Song and language are closely related and how the two interact in the learning and practicing situations will be explored. It will also consider the interplay among elders, younger learners, Athabascan language teachers, teachers of music in school, archivists and researchers in processes of transmission.

Music among ethnic minorities in Southeast Asia

In the countries of mainland Southeast Asia there are several ethnic minority groups, particularly in the mountainous inland and in forest areas. There is much variation between the customs of these peoples but it is also possible to see similarities on a metalevel. In this chapter strong traits in the village-based music culture of the ethnic minorities are presented, in some cases on purely historical grounds. These traits are in many cases paralleled in the tradition of the majority peoples. Against this background follows a discussion on musical change and matters of sustainability.

A Kammu song and its structure

There are two structurally different types of songs in Kammu culture. One type is characterized by the fact that each song has its individual melody. This melody consists of a short musical phrase, which is repeated for each new line of words. These lines are often built up of five or seven syllables, and one of the last syllables in each line rhymes with one of the first of the following line. Many childrens songs are of this type, as well as the songs of certain ceremonies. The other main type of song consists of orally transmitted poems which are sung to a limited number of melodic formulas. Certain words and certain melodic formulas belong to certain situations. This type includes songs which are sung on festive occasions. It is my aim to describe this kind of song and to present a first step towards a method of analysis of its verbal and musical contents.1