The Inuit peoples, who lived in the northern regions of modern-day Canada, were a very widespread group. It is difficult to talk about a single unified “Native American” culture in any of these regions, and the Inuit are particularly difficult due to being spread out thinly over the northern half of a continent. Additionally, sources are even more scant for this region, where the extreme environment drove many outside travelers back. As such, little is known about the 18th Century musical tradition of the interior of the Inuit lands.
The Moravian missionaries in the Canadian Labrador region made music a very high priority, and European-style brass bands and string ensembles were kept alive by the church in the town through the 18th Century and up until the 20th. As Beverly Diamond puts it, “Recent studies […] demonstrate that, over time, the European styles were indigenized and new compositions were created by the Inuit.” [1] This suggests the music of the European missionaries had a sizeable impact on the music of the Inuit people in the 18th Century, at least in the eastern part of North America.
From the other side of the continent, a European cargo officer named William Beresford watched a performance from the Native people of Norfolk Sound, which today sits near Sitka, Alaska. Beresford was educated in musical notation, and while on the voyage in 1787 he produced a European-style transcription of the song he observed. His transcription describes a song led by the Chief, accompanied by the men and women of the tribe. The Chief would conduct these concerts while wearing a robe and shaking a rattle made of sticks. This music also lasted a long time: “this mirth generally continues near half an hour without intermission.” [2] This suggests that the music for the Inuit on the Pacific coast was a special occasion, an event involving the entire tribe for long periods of time. Indeed, the western side of the continent was more prone to dramatic styles of music. As Diamond writes, “in these western Arctic regions, mimetic story songs are performed by dancers wearing decorative gloves [or] masks.” [1] This suggests that the long musical performances that Beresford witnessed were a form of dramatic storytelling for the Inuit community he saw.
However, this narrative style is just one genre, and it seems to be the exceptionally long one. Other genres of traditional Inuit music were much shorter. One example of this is aqausit, which is described as “short songs of endearment made for loved ones, especially one’s children.” [1] This shows that Inuit music had multiple distinct genres, and that music was used largely to communicate ideas, be they dramatic stories or feelings of love. These genres would likely have had many different branches and incarnations given the number of Inuit tribes and the vast amounts of land they inhabited.
[1] Diamond, Native American Music, p. 37
[2] Crawford, quoting Beresford, America’s Musical Life, p. 13