Sounds from the heart : Native American language and song

Abstract

Our world is witnessing the rapid extinction of indigenous cultures through colonization. This thesis is presented not to amplify decolonization but to honor the value and meaning of the oral society and its indigenous peoples through their culture's traditional and necessary components of language and song. The basis of this thesis pertains to the author's tribal relatives, the Coast Miwok original people of California known as Tamal Michchawmu which literally translates as the People of the West Coast. The author chooses to use this work as an advocacy for the worldview of indigenous peoples, particularly to matriarchal societies in which the Tamal Michchawmu are included. In this thesis, stories and interviews with scholars and with Native Americans studying their language and singing their songs as well as the author's personal experiences are included as support to the theory that language and song are formed from the foundation of a philosophy that is grounded within a peoples relationship with the land. My thesis question is: If this worldview is resurrected, how can it contribute to its indigenous people in a modern society?