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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
 Posted - 07/28/2007 : 15:53:18
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My daughter's closest friend's grandmother (who was of Paiute and German ancestry) died recently, and my daughter will be attending an all night "Sing" (or "Cry") for the departed lady tonight in or near Las Vegas.
Since this is in Vegas, I presume the lady was of Southern Paiute ancestry. (It seems the Northern and Southern Paiutes are more closely akin to the Ute people than to one another.)
I'm quite curious about this ceremony, and will be finding out all I can about it from my daughter. (She hopes to use her Blackberry to text me from the Sing tonight, one of the rather odd combinations of activities one sees in this strange century.)
I'd appreciate any and all comments or links people might have about a Paiute "Sing." Hopefully, what happens in Vegas will in this case not stay in Vegas, and I'll be able to update the events here.
I know it will sound almost racist (to non-Indians) for me to ask a Native American of a wholly different nation about this, but it has been my experience that Indians tend to know a great deal about other native people. So, Chippewa, I know yours is Ojibwa ancestry, but can you tell me anything about the Paiute Sing for the dead?
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
Edited by - HalfMooner on 07/28/2007 17:26:42
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 07/29/2007 : 01:12:51 [Permalink]
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This note, based on texting with my daughter:
They are in the Moapa Indian Reservation, which she describes as being "dirt-poor, worse than Oakland." Weather is sweltering, even at 1 AM. Singing and dancing going on from dusk to dawn, with a water break at midnight. Someone related to the deceased must be singing and dancing at all times. Same song is being sung, over and over and over. I did not get a clear answer as to whether peyote is being used.
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
| Edited by - HalfMooner on 07/29/2007 01:13:38 |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 07/29/2007 : 18:16:58 [Permalink]
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Reading up on the "Sing," I have discovered that there is a complex 142-song cycle, collectively called the "Salt Song," that is sung during these funerary rites (and also, traditionally, during trading and gathering expeditions, as when visiting the California coast for salt).
Since it was sung in Southern Paiute, my daughter may have thought the singing was more repetitive than it actually was. Only a handful of Southern Paiutes know the whole cycle. The Salt Song, as I understand the idea, is required to allow the spirits of the dead to pass on to the afterlife.
My daughter hasn't been online with her Blackberry since I last reported last night. She was thoroughly exhausted at that time (1 AM), and is now probably either resting or flying home to the Bay Area.
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
| Edited by - HalfMooner on 07/29/2007 21:20:19 |
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Vic Daring
New Member
49 Posts |
Posted - 07/30/2007 : 11:50:04 [Permalink]
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| So. Any word. Was she all strung out on the devine cactus? |
The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed. |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 07/30/2007 : 13:06:13 [Permalink]
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I just now contacted my daughter again. She's fine, but still tired. I think she got overheated and dehydrated. No, turns out they did not use peyote at the Sing. Just lots of Southern Paiute people from all over California, Nevada, and Utah, including singers and dancers from other bands. And a big potluck dinner. My daughter's pretty busy at work now, but she'll tell me more tonight.
And welcome to SFN, Vic Daring!
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
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Chippewa
SFN Regular
USA
1496 Posts |
Posted - 08/06/2007 : 16:22:25 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by HalfMooner
...it has been my experience that Indians tend to know a great deal about other native people. So, Chippewa, I know yours is Ojibwa ancestry, but can you tell me anything about the Paiute Sing for the dead? |
Hi HalfMooner - I'm not that familiar with the specific song rituals of Paiute people, though all-night singing is not uncommon to a bunch of different tribes including my own. (The Southern Paiute people are called the "Nuwuvi" in their own language.)
In my younger days in Arizona, (where Chippewa rarely roam,) I had some Indian friends, (as well as other tribes like New Yorkers, Hoosiers, etc.,) and some of my Apache friends - (what wild folks they are too!) - would sing the all-night ritual Yeibechai chant. This is something few people have heard and you have to be invited to attend in person, but there are recordings sung by various "teams". It is nothing like your standard lyrical "Indian" vocal music or sweet sounding New Age style flute music - by the Navajo musician, Carlos Nakai. Yeibechai is wild, impassioned, loud and rhythmic, ranging from low tones to almost screaming falsettos, imagine a kind of all-night loud, vocal rendition of Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring". The Paiute songs are probably not like that. But I digress.
So I cannot add much about the Paiute "Salt Songs" except that they probably last all night and culminate with the release of the deceased person's spirit at dawn, with the last songs concluding as the sun rises. A rather beautiful idea.
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 08/06/2007 : 16:57:14 [Permalink]
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Thank you, Chip.
I've often heard it said that funerals are for the living, not the dead. I suspect that for the Nuwuvi (unlike their ancestors, the Olwuvi) these Salt Songs must serve largely that same emotional purpose, regardless of the ritualistic meaning. But it just occurred to me also: Knowing one's own people will gather from near and far in one's memory could be a kind of deep consolation to a dying person.
I'm not religious or "spiritual" in any sense, but I can understand the need for rites of passage.
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
| Edited by - HalfMooner on 08/06/2007 16:57:58 |
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Daughter attending a Paiute Sing
