| Summary: | For the Flathead Indians of western Montana, the most important single fact about music and its relationship to the total world is its origin in the supernatural sphere. All true and proper songs, particularly in the past, owe their origin to a variety of contacts experienced by humans with beings that are superhuman and the source of both individual and tribal powers and skills. A sharp distinction is drawn by the Flathead between what they call 'make-up' and all other songs. Merriam's work in the relationship of ethnography and musicology is considered a primary source in this field of anthropology.
|
|---|