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some signals some signals apaches some signals war path

Tribal Tensions

smoke signals ominous times ahead...

"Show respect to all people, but grovel to none."
 - Tecumseh

"It is better to have less thunder in the mouth and more lightning in the hand."
 – Apache

"This war did not spring up on our land, this war was brought upon us by the children of the Great Father who came to take our land without a price, and who, in our land, do a great many evil things… This war has come from robbery – from the stealing of our land."
 – Spotted Tail

written in 2021
© Richard Coffey - All Rights Reserved

Tribal Tensions

Although there are some who glorify Native Americans as peaceful nature-loving innocents totally victimized by the rapacious white European newcomers, one must remember many Native American tribes were seemingly always at war with each other. Archeological remains of palisades and other fortifications have been found across North American that date back to times before Europeans first arrived North America.

Native Americans tribes often clashed over hunting ground rights and powerful First Nations such as the Iroquois had a curious form of warfare called mourning wars, which were raids to avenge the warriors killed in a previous battle. Mourning wars' fundamental purpose was to abduct members of an enemy tribe as compensation.

Colonization
Once European settlers arrived, Native Americans were increasingly driven westward forcing easternmost woodland tribes onto areas occupied by Midwest and Prairie tribes. This naturally led to increased conflict. Finally, despite the lofty rhetoric of the United States founding fathers, the history of relations between Native Americans and the federal government of the United States has been fraught with conflict and war:

"To many Native Americans, the history of European settlement has been a history of wary welcoming, followed by opposition, defeat, near-extinction, and, now, a renaissance. To Europeans and Americans, it has included everything from treatment of Native American nations (a) as equals (or near-equals); (b) to assimilation; (c) to exile ; (d) or to near-genocide." - National Geographic Resource Library

Smoke Signals
Smoke signals were often used by Native American Indians as a means to quickly communicate messages visually over long distances. Simple warnings and alarms, were conveyed by means of columns or intermittent puffs or clouds of smoke.

See the links below in the Further Info section for continued study.

About the Music:

This tune is dedicated to Dean Soucy: a true gentleman who bought, built and nurtures Quarry View in Portland, CT. It's an amazing place (I've posted about it previously) and Dean is a generous and kind visionary who sponsors a drum cirlcle there and provides a large assortment of drums and percussion for anyone who'd like to particpate in the twice-weekly event.

The Big Frame Drum
I arrived early for one session and he allowed me to sneak off to the side and play his amazing large frame drum. I recorded a groove and a few different sounds which became the rhythmic foundation for this tune. Later on I created a few higher drum tones using Audacity but the bulk of the sounds are digitally unaltered.

Flutes?
The Native American Bass flute is featured and the tune modulates from Fm to Dm. Additional flutes are added behind the solo on the fade out...

Frame Drum