Letters January 21, 2002 Issue

YOUR LETTERS

with contributions from Tina Wynecoop, Joe Smuin, Port Coquitlam, Lee Thursby

Your "Items of Interest" column is a special feature. But may I point out a bit of misinformation in an item from the November 26, 2001, issue about original American music transcending historical roots? The item states that African American spirituals are "the original American music." Not so! Such a statement does a disservice to the traditional music of Native Americans, whose home this continent was long before Africans were so unkindly uprooted from their own homelands and brought to North America.

I invite the readers to use an Internet search engine and type in "Frances Densmore" and "Alice C. Fletcher," to learn about two intrepid women who conducted campaigns at the turn of the last century to capture North American indigenous music before it vanished from memory. I know with certainty that these original American songs are still being sung today—just as the music of African Americans is being gathered and sung thanks to the wonderful "Spirituals Project."

Tina Wynecoop
Colbert, Washington

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