Sounding Decolonial Futures: Decentering Ethnomusicology's Colonialist Legacies

Zeisberg 17 “Weaver Dance Song”

Zeisberg labels this piece as “Weaver Dance Song,” sung by Moses Walking Stick of the Eastern Cherokees (recorded June 1938). It is unclear who did the recording: did Zeisberg witness the performance live or consult a recording made by someone else, in which case he might have credited that individual? It is also unclear where the recording was made. Later arrangements in the collection reference an Indian Fair. Did Zeisberg attended one of these, in Missouri or somewhere else, making the transcriptions on the spot? Did he travel to the Eastern Cherokee Reservation in North Carolina? There are some gaps in the historical record and we can only postulate possible answers.

It is clear, however, that Zeisberg himself made the original transcriptions and then arranged the material, as the collection includes a page with an item titled "First Impression of Weaver Dance Song." This arrangement is certainly more complex than the single melodic line provided in that jotting.  






 

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