Introduction
The Music & Performing Arts Library has thousands of recordings available to stream online or play on DVD, CD, and LP!
To search for audio and video in the catalog, you can either start with a keyword search for a specific performer, style, or song title in the library catalog or use the advanced search to do a subject search for Indians of North America--Music. Make sure to use the "Material Type" filter to restrict your search to "Sound Recordings" or "Video/Film" depending on your needs.
When you click into the item records for different materials, check the material's location and format information to see if it is available to stream or if it exists in physical form on DVD, CD, or LP. For more help distinguishing identifying format information, see our Introduction to Audio & Video Formats.
If you're hoping to browse, see the recommendations listed below for a place to start!
Online Streaming Collections
The two databases listed below are great resources to browse and stream music by indigenous artists and communities. To see a wide selection of recordings, you can use the advanced search feature in Smithsonian Global Sound (linked below) to limit by cultural group; you can either check the box next to "American Indian" or limit your results further to explore the musical traditions of a particular tribe.
- Smithsonian Global Sound This link opens in a new windowIncludes the published recordings owned by the non-profit Smithsonian Folkways Recordings label and the archival audio collections of the legendary Folkways Records, Cook, Dyer-Bennet, Fast Folk, Monitor, Paredon and other labels.
- DRAM Online This link opens in a new windowA scholarly resource of recordings, including CD quality audio, liner notes and essays from New World, Composers Recordings (formerly Composers Recordings Inc./CRI) and other important labels. The basis for the collection is the diverse catalog of American music recordings by New World Records.
Free Online Resources
- Native RadioNative Radio showcases the diversity of Native American music, featuring recordings and information about indigenous artists working in a variety of styles including pow wow, traditional, new age, blues, pop/rock, folk/country, rap/hip-hop, and more.
Selected Recordings from the Catalog
Kwakiutl : Indian music of the Pacific NorthwestCall Number: Online ResourceThis album contains songs of the Kwakiutl people collected by Dr. Ida Halpern (1910–1987). Halpern, an Austrian-born Canadian musicologist, studied Native music from several tribes along the coast of British Columbia, including the Haida, Tlingit, Coastal Salish, Nootka, and Bella Coola.
Best of WalelaCall Number: Online ResourceWalela, the cherokee word for Hummingbird and the symbol for inspiration for this family of women singers. They are Rita Coolidge, her sister Priscilla Coolidge and Priscilla's daughter Laura Satterfield.
An anthology of North American Indian and Eskimo musicCall Number: Online ResourceThis collection contains songs from across the North American continent: from the Plains Cree to the Inuit in the Arctic, from Northwest Coast Potlatch music to the sounds of the Southeastern Seminoles. The 50 songs center on social themes such as courting, grieving, hunting, and religious ceremony, and represent the utilitarian musical tradition of Amerindian peoples.
Natay, Navajo singerCall Number: MPAL DISC M1669 N27Born and raised at Standing Rock, on the Navajo Reservation near Crown Point, New Mexico. Humanitarian and artist who produced both radio and records of traditional singing, flute-playing and drumming of the Navajo, Hopi, Zuni, Pueblo, Kiowa and Tewa nations. Later in his career he blended these styles with those of popular music, including folk and jazz.
Heartbeat : voices of First Nations women.Call Number: Online and MPAL CDISC M1669 H42Powerful living music from Native women in the United States and Canada includes performances rarely heard beyond these artists’ communities. Ceremonial and social songs traditionally sung by women, other music now performed by women, and material that combines traditional and contemporary themes and musical forms.