Cover from the cassette (author's collection).
Navajo Peyote Songs Volume 1, by Kevin
Lewis and produced by Millard Clark, is a 1990 release by Indian Sounds on
cassette that I picked up while visiting the Little Bighorn Battlefield the
same year (then The Custer Battlefield). While I don’t understand Navajo, and
they are not indigenous to the Dakotas, I found the recording a nice
counterpoint to The Songs of the Seventh Cavalry. The
rhythmic chanting provides a meditative space to immerse oneself in another
culture. The full recording is provided below.
Lewis, according
to ALLMUSIC,
is of Navajo/Cherokee heritage and a medicine man trained to sing peyote songs
by his grandfather Bud Lewis, who lived to 116 years. As a result, the lineage
of tradition from the Old West to our ears is only one generation removed from
that era. Herschel Kaulaity, of Cheyenne/Kiowa heritage, provides the drumming.
There are twenty tracks; however, no titles or times are provided, nor are
there any liner notes. While this is a missed opportunity to educate the
listener, this does allow us to get lost in music that feels more like an
expression of nature than the typical over-produced commercial effort. Volume
II was released on CD in 1992.
The one break in
the spiritual tone comes about 17 minutes into the recording when Lewis, caught
up the ritual, begins chanting “Happy Birthday” over and over. While it must
have some significance, without a translation it seems a little incongruent
with the rest of the album. Rather than some peyote-induced wordplay, a Native
American listener familiar with Navaho informed me that it is a blessing for
someone who has lived to see another year. It would be nice to see a re-release
of this album with translations to allow the non-Native listener to more fully
appreciate it.
The artwork
below is not from the album, but from a former student of mine of
Apache/Mexican descent who incorporated Southwestern Native-themed psychedelic
imagery in his work. Click on the link below to listen to the full album on the
Aeolus 13 Umbra YouTube channel.
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