Lakota

#1511 The Densmore Repatriation Project

#1511 The Densmore Repatriation Project

Clay Jenkinson speaks with David Swenson about the ethnomusicologist Frances Densmore and her work with the Lakota in the Dakotas beginning in 1911. David has spent the last year working on The Densmore Repatriation Project, re-cataloging and restoring her wax cylinder recordings.

At Standing Rock in 1911, Frances Densmore met with dozens of tribal elders and recorded traditional songs on wax cylinder. Densmore documented this work in her book Teton Sioux Music which became a touchstone for learning about Lakota/Dakota culture. The Densmore Repatriation Project reintroduces the songs with new recordings made by contemporary Native singers.

Dakota Access Pipeline

Dakota Access Pipeline

"These people deserve our commiseration. They only wanted to be left alone. They didn't invite Columbus or Henry Hudson or any of the Europeans to come and discover America." 

— Thomas Jefferson, as portrayed by Clay S. Jenkinson