blessing my new drum

[vrrodriguez3]

I am Yaqui and in my tribe its kind of rare to have a women singing other than latin or the mens music in our tribe..when I went down to the s'kallam tribe in seattle I sang with them an made great friends.there tribe sings together with drums rattles and the most beautful music when they sing it In there language.my fostor grandmother is going to give me a drum from one of the singers hand made from deerskin and ceader tree..I'm going to finally follow my dream and make yaqui music of my own I'm just afraid that I will get in trouble for not asking permission to do so ..my nana is healer and my drumecu needs to be blessed because of its long journy and I have to make my own design on my drum.I'm really excited but nervous at the same time.but I wonder whose really has the right to stop me from singing my language..should I follow my tradtions or make music of my own as a women singer?

[BettaHeart]

hello vrrodriguez3, i am from the souix nation and was raised in my people's traditional ways. I believe if you have been given signs that this path is right for you and will strengthen you as a woman of your tribe then i would say yes. If i were you I would make preparations to talk with the healer/shaman about this and if it is protocol(?) in your tribe give an offering that all goes well, if you know what i mean lol, sometimes i feel i dont make sense to others with the way i speak.

All the best to you in your journey.

[vrrodriguez3]

Inepo allea (I'm happy ) betta heart,to hear your advice...I just want to sing and your right .(thank you) choku'tesia..

[BettaQi]

I am happy for you that you are bringing this gift to your nation.

I was born Pinay (Filipina) but raised very American.

I began drumming West African style and our group did a lot of cultural outreach.

Then I moved to Japan and learned taiko drumming. When I moved to NYC, I became part of a performing group that also did many cultural outreach programs.

There is a history of sexism in both styles of drumming and being part of the shift in consciousness about gender was a big partpf my friends' and my experience,

Often I helped lead drum circles for women's and youth self-awareness and spiritual retreats. The vibrations of the drum clear so many stuck energies from our systems that profound healing takes place.

I feel you are a wonderful fountain of healing for your people and I honor you.

[AngesRadieux]

Just popping in to say I admire your ability to sing the traditional music. I don't know much about Yaqui music, but I've heard traditional music from other tribes and the vocal techniques are just so unique. I've been singing for quite some time and I can't even begin to figure out how some of the sounds I've heard are produced and I certainly couldn't make my voice behave that way. When I was in global music we listened to some traditional music from another country and our professor asked the voice majors to try to imitate one of the sounds we heard and we were all like "0.o But...! They...! How...?!"

And there was this piece, I think it was a Sioux grass dance, but I'm not completely sure... It was a couple years ago and some of the pieces I studied have begun to blend together a bit... But there was this swooping sound and I couldn't understand how they got their voices to do that. But it was awesome, because it sounded so much freer than what I'm used to hearing. But the sheer range of pitches there was incredible. Generally, across the board every time I heard traditional music from a culture I was otherwise unfamiliar with the vocal techniques were just so radically different from what I'm used to. It was amazing.

Anyway, I'll stop rambling now. But good for you for being able to sing that way! I find the differences in the way the voice is used varies so much from one culture's music to another's. I admit, I'm a bit jealous.

[TheCrabbyTabby]

I just wanted to say that I love Native American tribal music and traditions. Sometimes, I wish I were Native American myself, but then I feel like I am not being true to my heritage. I just hate that my people brought so much pain suffering and damage to others.

I am of German/Belgian decent, with a splash of Irish/Scottish somewhere in there. So yeah. Its self explanatory.