{"id":5919,"date":"2021-10-30T15:59:38","date_gmt":"2021-10-30T20:59:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/?p=5919"},"modified":"2021-11-04T09:41:06","modified_gmt":"2021-11-04T14:41:06","slug":"frances-densmore-and-the-well-meaning-white-woman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/2021\/10\/30\/frances-densmore-and-the-well-meaning-white-woman\/","title":{"rendered":"Frances Densmore and the \u201cWell-Meaning\u201d White Woman"},"content":{"rendered":"

As we enter into this section of our class and begin to grapple with the complexities of Native American song collection, I really wanted to avoid talking about and uplifting white voices. However, I woke up in a \u201cI hate Frances Densmore\u201d mood, and decided that a bit of nuance and background might be necessary to really understand what she was trying to accomplish with her work. Furthermore, Densmore can be compared to a broader trend, the trend of white women \u201cfighting\u201d for Native rights.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Frances Densmore devoted 50 years of her life to the study of Native American culture and music. When asked \u201cwhy,\u201d she responded;<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

An advertisement for one of Densmore’s lectures on the music of Native Americans<\/p><\/div>\n

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\u201c\u2018I heard an Indian drum.\u2019 Densmore would then relate the story of how as a young girl she often fell asleep to the distant sound of the drumming of her Dakota neighbors on an island near her hometown of Red Wing, Minnesota. These sounds, she contended, somehow became a part of her, constantly calling her back home and reminding her of\u00a0 some larger work to do.\u201d 1<\/sup><\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Densmore studied music from a young age, and continued her education at Oberlin Conservatory from 1884 to 1887. In her studies, she came across the work of Alice Fletcher, an anthropologist who worked significantly with Native Americans in the Great Plains area. In working with Fletcher, Densmore sought to distinguish herself from the \u201cfeminine disciplines\u201d of humanitarian work and philanthropy, including that of the \u201cWomen\u2019s National Indian Association.\u201d However, the distinction was merely in name alone. Densmore\u2019s morals and those of the Women\u2019s National Indian Association aligned on more than one front.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Women\u2019s National Indian Association encouraged governmental assimilationist programs and did missionary work within native communities under the guise of sentimentality, feminism, and Christianity. Their main drive was to replace the governmental goal of annihilation with assimilation. These women \u201cgrasped a colonialist mission with a Kipling-like compulsion they dubbed the \u2018white woman\u2019s burden.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As defined to its missionaries the work of the Association, among Indians is to teach these to make and properly keep comfortable homes\u2026 to teach them the English language; and above all and constantly, <\/span>to teach them the truths of the Gospel, and to seek their conversion to genuine and practical Christianity. <\/span><\/i>2<\/sup><\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Despite her urgent and intense urge to avoid association with groups such as these, Densmore\u2019s philosophies aligned well with these.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In one letter, she went so far as to argue her preference for separating children from their mothers, contending that \u201cto see her child grow up a lazy, shiftless, ignorant Indian would ultimately cause the dark skinned mother more pain than to part with the child.\u201d She concluded (in culturally insensitive language commonly used by reformers to justify their assimilationist policies toward Native people) that even former Indian \u201cwarriors\u201d now demanded \u201cWe wantum edjcate.\u201d <\/span>3<\/sup><\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Behind all of her work lies this philosophy. This philosophy drove her, not the sentimentality of \u201chearing an Indian drum.\u201d Her ultimate goal and understanding of Native American \u201cissues\u201d were directly tied to an inherent and deep rooted feeling of white supremacy. As we continue our research, we have to keep these philosophies in mind. We can recognize the worth of her work, but we need to be cognizant of the fact that undeniably, Densmore subscribed to harmful supremacist views, and as we continue to do research, we at least attempt to do better and rectify her errors.<\/span><\/p>\n

FOOTNOTES <\/span><\/p>\n

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1 <\/a>Patterson, 29.<\/span><\/p>\n

2<\/a> “Missionary Work of the Women’s National Indian Association.” 1<\/span><\/p>\n

3 <\/a>Mathes, ix.<\/span><\/p>\n

BIBLIOGRAPHY <\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Mathes, Valerie Sherer. <\/span>Women\u2019s National Indian Association: A History<\/span><\/i>. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2015.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

“Missionary Work of the Women’s National Indian Association.” Philadelphia: November 17th, 1885. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n
Patterson, Michelle Wick. \u201cShe Always Said, \u2018I Heard an Indian Drum.\u2019\u201d In Travels with Frances Densmore: Her Life, Work, and Legacy in Native American Studies<\/i>, edited by Michelle Wick Patterson and Joan M. Jensen, 29\u201364. University of Nebraska Press, 2015. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.2307\/j.ctt1d98bg6.6.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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As we enter into this section of our class and begin to grapple with the complexities of Native American song collection, I really wanted to avoid talking about and uplifting white voices. However, I woke up in a \u201cI hate … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3549,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5919","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7jEhR-1xt","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5919","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3549"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5919"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5919\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6008,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5919\/revisions\/6008"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5919"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5919"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5919"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}