New York Folklore: Volume 14, No.3-4: Longhouse Social Dance Songs

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NEW YORK FOLKLORE
Vol. 14, Nos. 3-4, 1988
Folk and Traditional Music in New York State
Ray Allen and Nancy Groce, Guest Editors

WRITING WHILE THEY’RE SINGING: A CONVERSATION ABOUT LONGHOUSE SOCIAL DANCE SONGS
by Michael Sam Cronk

When I asked an Iroquoian friend what she thought people should know about traditional Longhouse social music, she replied, “Why not tell them that Iroquois songs and dances are alive and well — and living at Allegany, New York!” We both laughed — but what she said underscores something often overlooked: Longhouse singing is alive, continuing, flourishing at Allegany and at least 10 other Iroquoian communities.

Haudenosaunee culture is an ongoing way of life, based in part on the Gaiwi:yo:h, or “Good Message” of Seneca prophet Handsome Lake, and on the Great Law of the Iroquoian Confederacy. In these communities, singing is an integral part of celebration and healing; it is one way of relating to and communicating with the world around you. But how does a non- Native person develop an understanding of “music” in Iroquoian communities? How do you write meaningfully about these “oral” traditions? And how do Native singers in these communities react to what has been written about them?

For me, these fundamental questions have been at the heart of conversations with Iroquoian singers during the past three years, as part of my work with the SPINC (Sound-Producing Instruments in Native Communities) research project, based at Queen’s University in Kingston, Canada. In this brief introduction to traditional social dance music, I would like to relate my understanding of certain basic concepts of Longhouse philosophy, and to explore how this world view challenges the way we write ethnographies and folklore....

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