KPFA-FM Music Dept. ➔ Songs of the Omaha Tribe

Analog Audio

Event Type

Interview and Music

Origin

KPFA

Identifier

AM.1971.02.26

Program Length

16 min

Dates

1971-02-26 | broadcast
| 1970-11-24 | created

Description

Laura Reichek of the Alcatraz Solidarity Committee introduces three elderly members of the Omaha Tribe who visited the KPFA studios on November 24, 1970, to record a short program of Omaha songs. The performers are Charles Edwards, Mark Merrick and Rudolph Clark of Macy, Nebraska, who came to Berkeley to help celebrate the first anniversary of the Indian landing of Alcatraz Island. The drum used in these songs is made of a wooden frame covered with cowhide. It weighs about 35 pounds and has a wooden bottom. The sticks used are covered on the hitting end with leather and lamb’s wool on the other end. One single drum was used with two players hitting it from different angles. The drum is usually held from handles on its side by four men while it is being played. In this recording it sat on the floor.

Genres

World music

Musical Selections

Omaha Flag Song -- Four Omaha War Dances -- Four Omaha Round Dances -- Quitting Song

Performers

Charles Edwards
Mark Merrick
Rudolph Clark

Subjects

Native Americans
Omaha Indians--Music
Folk music -- Nebraska
Drum music

Acknowledgment

Funding for the preservation of this program made possible through a grant by Save America’s Treasures, a program of the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior.

Related places

Berkeley (Calif.) (was recorded at)
Berkeley (Calif.) (was broadcast at)

Related Entities

Omaha Tribe of Nebraska
Alcatraz Solidarity Committee
Reichek, Laura
Edwards, Charles
Merrick, Mark
Clark, Rudolph