The most commonly recognized of these deities, is Kokopelli:
Depicted across the southwest in petroglyphs dating back to 750 A.D, Kokopelli is one of the oldest deities on the continent. It is unknown where he originated, but he was quite popular with the Ancient Pueblo peoples, including the Anasazi and Hopi tribes. Today, his image adorns countless pieces of pottery, clothes and art. He was thought of as a sort of trickster god, whose music had the capability of joing the natural and supernatural worlds.
This joinging was a defining characteristic of sacred Native American music ceremonies. Although not much is known about these ceremonies, as they are kept sacred and not for the public, it is known that the primary functions of these ceremonies were healing, to bring success in war and huinting and to recount history and creation myths. They would normally consist of drum circles accompanied by elaborate dances, with an elder or holy man singing or speaking the stories and blessings.
However, the most sacred of these songs had strictly symbolic meanings, rather than literal. Many were sung in vocables, or a string of syllables that held religious significance but were not written in the tribes' native tongue. This practice has been integrated into secular folk music over time, and continues to be a popular form of musical expression.
Apart from it's use in ceremonial ritual, music was a very important part of daily life as well. Folk songs were used to accompany every-day activites, such as courtship, play, meditation and work. Individual tribes developed very unique ways of playing and vocalising music, such as the Inuit peoples of the Northwest coast and arctic Canada.
The Inuit are known for their peculiar form of Throat Singing, in which the singers manipulate the resonances created as air travells from the lungs, past the vocal folds, and out the lips to produce melody. Normally, this is performed by two females, who sit or stand face to face and create rythmic patterns using each others' mouths as resonators. Below is an example of Inuit Throat Singing:
Circle Dances were an extremely popular form of secular music, with dances being developed for nearly every aspect of human and animal life. Below is a Sun Dance, meant to celebrate the sun's daily journey through the sky:
