Hopi Music Repatriation Project

Podcast: Returning Hopi Songs–A Hopi Perspective

trevor99 — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 12:04:32 +0000

We hope you enjoy this podcast with Hopi Cultural Preservation Office (HCPO) repatriation coordinator, Lee Wayne Lomayestewa. Along with his duties at HCPO, Lomayestewa is an active traditional leader at Shungopavi village, rancher, and father. Lomayestewa offers insights into the role of Hopi song in Hopi society, a Hopi perspective on the Federal repatriation process, and discusses what is at stake in the return of recorded Hopi voices from the past to contemporary Hopi life.

Click here to download: Podcast with Lee Wayne Lomayestewa (MP3)

HMRP on Native America Calling

trevor99 — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 13:40:28 +0000

The Hopi Music Repatriation Project will be featured on Native America Calling (check local affiliates here) with Columbia University Music Department Chair, Aaron Fox, and HMRP lead researcher, Trevor Reed. The program invites community listeners to join with experts in a discussion of critical issues for indigenous people. The program will air on Friday, October 29, 2010 at 10 am Pacific / 1 pm Eastern Time and will be rebroadcast at 4 pm PT/ 7pm ET

Native America calling is heard on 52 stations throughout the United States and Canada, with approximately 500,000 listeners.

Link to the like webcast at www.nv1.org.

What is Community-Partnered Repatration? Podcast with Aaron Fox, Columbia University

trevor99 — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 20:26:12 +0000

We wanted to share this podcast with ethnomusicologist and Columbia University Music Department Chair, Aaron Fox, in a timely way as we have very good news to report. Fox along with Columbia University Earth Institute Post-Doctoral Fellow, Chie Sakakibara, have reached an important milestone in their effort to repatriate music from Columbia University’s Center for Ethnomusicology to the Iñupiaq community. On June 16, Fox and the Iñupiat History, Language, and Culture Commission reached a preliminary agreement to return the rights to Laura Boulton’s 1946 series of Iñupiaq recordings to their community of origin. The details of this important announcement can be found here.

Congratulations to all involved! We hope you enjoy this interview with Aaron Fox and invite your comments.

Follow this link to download (32 mins):HMRP Podcast #01: Aaron Fox for iPod (30MB Sound/Images)

For MP3 audio only, click this link: HMRP Podcast #01: Aaron Fox MP3 (15MB audio only)

HMRP Presentation to NAISA

trevor99 — Fri, 21 May 2010 02:03:30 +0000

Trevor Reed, HMRP lead researcher, will present the results of preliminary work to return the Laura Boulton collection to villages and societies within the Hopi Tribe on Friday, May 21, 2010 in Tucson. The invitation was extended by the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association, and Mr. Reed will be joined by representatives from the Cook Inlet Tribal Council, Peabody Essex Museum, University of Arizona, and the Newberry Library McNickle Center. Chairing the panel will be Kevin Grover from the National Museum of the American Indian.

Unabridged text of the paper to be presented is available here: NAISA Hopi Voices.

We thank NAISA and the selection committee for their interest in this project.

Repatriation Initiative Receives Endorsement from Hopi Elders

trevor99 — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 22:33:45 +0000

At the invitation of the Hopi Cultural Preservation Office, HMRP presented the results of this summer’s research to the Hopi Cultural Resources Advisory Task Team (CRATT) at its December 17, 2009 meeting. CRATT, a body of Hopi village and clan representatives who advise the Hopi Cultural Preservation Office (HCPO), provided valuable insights into how the Hopi recordings in the Laura Boulton Collection at Columbia University could be repatriated to the Hopi people.

The support of CRATT members and Leigh Kuwanwisiwma, HCPO director, during the meeting provided significant momentum for HMRP as the project moves forward with additional research this summer. The goal of this first meeting with CRATT was primarily to outline the project, present a few of the recordings as examples of the more than 6 hours of Hopi music archived in Columbia’s Center for Ethnomusicology, and to find out how the collection might be of use to Hopi villages and clans. The opinion given by these traditional leaders was overwhelmingly in favor of returning the recordings and the copyrights to the Hopi people. Just how the recordings might be used and the specifics of who should hold the rights were the subject of significant dialog, and additional conversations on these topics will be the the theme for additional meetings with HCPO and CRATT over the course of this year. As Kuwanwisiwma explained, “There is a delegated authority vested in CPO and our CRAT team here, but how to work it out–how to protect the music–that’s all of our job here to do.”

Several of the songs presented were familiar to CRATT members, and some have perpetuated almost identically through the collective memory of kiva societies and villages. CRATT members were able to recognize and identify many of the voices and songs on the recordings. Perhaps the highlight of the event was the presentation of one of the recorded kööyemsi (mud head katsina) songs recorded by Laura Boulton in Hoatvela (Hotevilla) around late July of 1940. Nearly every member of CRATT joined in to sing, showcasing how many of the songs captured by Boulton continue to be a vibrant part of Hopi life nearly 70 years later.

HMRP thanks HCPO and CRATT for their invitation to present these songs and for their support of this important project.

HMRP Achieves Common Ground with First Nations Composer Initiative

trevor99 — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 21:34:47 +0000

The First Nations Composer Initiative (FNCI), a program of the American Composers Forum, announced last month a Common Ground award to fund travel, educational programs, and other elements of HMRP’s Summer 2009 research. According to their press release announcing the grant winners, “The FNCI is committed to supporting activities that build the careers of Indigenous creative musicians, including commissions, residencies, performance and production, travel/study, and outreach.” As HMRP seeks to return valuable cultural property to the Hopi community, especially composers, musicians and Hopi students, the Project found a common voice with FCNI’s purposes.

HMRP gratefully acknowledges the generocity of the Ford Foundation’s IllumiNation portfolio, which funds the FNCI Common Ground grantmaking program.

Columbia University’s Teachers College Awards Dean’s Grant to fund HMRP

trevor99 — Fri, 29 May 2009 14:33:39 +0000

New York City based Teachers College at Columbia University has awarded its Dean’s grant to support research by the Hopi Music Repatriation Project this summer. According to Monica Lewis who coordinated the selection process, the proposals were very competitive. “[HMRP's] selection should be particularly gratifying as the proposals submitted for these awards were very strong.” The Dean’s Grant is provided to individuals at the University who are conducting original research that will provide educational benefits to their field. As HMRP seeks to involve students in the repatriation process, it found a unique fit with the goals of the award.

HMRP Receives Lynn Reyer Tribal Development Award

trevor99 — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 22:02:30 +0000

Lynn Reyer Award for Tribal Community Development has been awarded to the Hopi Music Repatriation Project for its work in returning traditional music to the reservation. The award, given to researchers based on the quality and relevance of projects that assist in the development of indigenous communities, will help HMRP fund its repatriation work this summer. Ted Jojola, President of the Society for the Preservation of American Indian Culture which oversees the award, explained that proposals this year were “very competitive . . . with many outstanding projects being submitted from across the country.” HMRP thanks the Lynn Reyer Award board and the SPAIC for their support of this important effort.

Hopi High Students to Lead the Way in Repatriation Efforts

trevor99 — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 02:04:00 +0000

Students from Hopi Jr./Sr. High School will now play an active part in the first phase of HMRP. Hopi Language Program Founder Anita Poleahla announced a commitment to host a special session with students to listen to and discuss the HMRP recordings and develop strategies for using them on the reservation. Hopi Jr./Sr. High School serves 8 – 12th graders on the Hopi reservation and is located in Keams Canyon, AZ. Ms. Poleahla’s Hopi Language courses are now in their second year and have seen meaningful improvements in Hopi teens’ ability to use their native language. One of the keys to the Language Program’s success is that the courses have a strong cultural focus–Ms. Poleahla believes understanding the contexts behind the words and grammer make learning the language more acessible and exciting.

Ms. Poleahla also leads Mesa Media, Inc., a non-profit organization aimed at restoring the Hopi language on the reservation, which produces curriculums, teaching aids, and books and also engages in education courses for Hopi Language classroom teachers and assistants. Ms. Poleahla’s innovative language curriculum has also included releases of two major albums of Hopi music as well as several regional radio broadcasts.

Center for Ethnomusicology Supports HMRP for Summer 2009

trevor99 — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 02:57:37 +0000

Thank you to Professors Anna Maria Ochoa and Aaron Fox for your support of this important endeavor. Columbia Unviersity’s Center for Ethnomusicology and the Program in Ethnomusicology have generously pledged financial and equipment support to the project for Summer 2009. The funds will be used to offset research costs associated with the the return of nearly 130 recordings of Hopi songs from Columbia’s archives back into the hands of the original performers, their descendants, and the tribe. In addition, the Center has offered to loan recording equipment to HMRP to document its activities on Hopi this summer which will allow us to document interviews with family of the recording artists and other community events surrounding the return of the recordings to their rightful owners. Thank you!