“As Inaccessible as Ever”: Unpacking Printed Native American Music as Primary Sources in Intellectual History and Popular Culture

This article examines the trajectory of two Native American songs transcribed by French Jesuits in the seventeenth century, their subsequent inclusion in printed books in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and their use by historians and entertainers in the twentieth century. The study focuses on how these songs, initially part of Native American oral and aural tradition, were transformed into primary-source evidence for historical research and racialized entertainment. This is an intellectual and cultural history that uses history-of-the-book and bibliographical methodologies to understand the discipline of history’s formation in the academy. The article argues that converting these songs into written musical notation inherently altered their meaning and context. It highlights how transcribing music by ear involves subjective interpretation and the loss of crucial performative elements. Furthermore, reproducing these songs in printed form further distanced them from their original cultural context, making them susceptible to misinterpretation and appropriation. The fact that these changes occurred as history was founded as a discipline is crucial to understanding the argument. The study employs a multidisciplinary approach, drawing on historical documents, musical scores, and popular-culture materials. It examines the role of women scholars, such as Emma Helen Blair and Edna Kenton, in making these sources accessible to a broader audience through their work on primary-source anthologies. However, it also points out the unintended consequences of this accessibility, as the songs were increasingly decontextualized and used to perpetuate romanticized and inaccurate portrayals of Native American culture. The work of Blair and Kenton is central to the formation of history as a discipline in the academy, especially as they worked with and for men like Reuben Gold Thwaites and Frederick Jackson Turner. The research concludes that the transformation of these songs into historical sources and entertainment props reflects the complex relationship between scholarship, popular culture, and the representation of Native American culture in the twentieth century. It raises critical questions about authenticity, ownership, and access to Indigenous cultural expressions. Finally, this study emphasizes the importance of considering notated music as a historical primary source, acknowledging its limitations and potential for misinterpretation.