The Importance Of Indigenous Music

Indigenous cultures all around the world practice their own versions of religion. They have their own unique worldview, myths, ethics, communities, and rituals. Each community has their own set of beliefs that set them apart from the “world religions” of Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, and Buddhism. One thing that many of these indigenous people share is their importance of music in their everyday lives, or in their rituals. Music is a language that everyone can understand despite the language barriers. It tells stories of the past and brings hope for the future. The Santhals of the Indian subcontinent use singing and music as an accompaniment to their ritual and non-ritual events. There are five types of songs, according to Mathur, that are sung by the people: cosmology, agricultural cycle, forest songs, rites of passage, and protest and dissent (108). The songs are specific to the ritual and may last for several hours. Their melodies are not as simple as western music seems to be. The ascent and descent of their songs are not linear and therefore create the unique sound (Mathur 107). They use these songs during rituals to secure a good harvest and other social events such as weddings. An example of a ritual that uses multiple songs for various purposes is a wedding. During weddings, singers tell the origin story of their people (Mathur 108). This is one of their cosmology songs. The story tells how Ṭhãkur jiu created two birds who laid two eggs. From those eggs