Follow The Rhythm:

Understanding Music And

Mental Health

Quentin M. Sakeva

Hopi

Connection Between my Community and the Okanagan People

Responsibility and cultural connections are very important to an indigenous person, though you must know who you are and what you must have to do through cultural activities or through language. If we don't recognize these important factors in our community, we find loss of identity. Connection through the earth, through people and nature, as source states “ I cannot be separated from my place or my land.”

Through myself I find community and through my mind and thought, I remember my homelands and I remember by traditional doings, by repeating and knowing the meaning of songs through language. I find myself attached to this place I call home and I call people family no matter the blood relation, I am in a community. It's a responsibility to keep doing your traditions because it takes time to know and understand everything of the significance of knowing what the practices your ancestors have been doing. From a young age, understanding language and practices are important , because you develop with that language and you will always remember that language through life. From the importance that you grew up with, the connection of the emotional self, physical self, spiritual self, and thinking intellectually. You are aware of the land from the back of your hand, your spiritual self connecting to its environment and your emotional self is how you feel about it. Everyone connects through these outlets of tradition and culture. In the Okanagan language, Okanagan represents “The ones who dream together and land together.” The Okanagan people strive for its community, even if you are a distant relative, you share the same skin. After talking about the meanings and importance of identity, Armstrong gets to show how identity can truly have so much power alone. After reading the article, it shows me that other communities across the world have similar beliefs to my community. Armstrong describes her introduction of herself by saying, ̈It tells them what my connection is, how I need to conduct myself, what I need to carry with me, what I project, what I teach and what I think about, what I must do and what I can do,” this shows me that both of our communities view our identity more and our identity as our own person. Armstrongs community and my community and my peers have many aspects into how we identify and introduce ourselves.

The Music in Chaco Canyon

The first dated evidence of human occupation of Chaco Canyon was in 900s BC, but they say that human occupation of Chaco Canyon likely began much earlier. “Chaco Canyon served as a major center of ancestral Puebloan culture.” The canyon was a highlight of ceremony, trade, and direct link to the Four Corners Area unlike anything before or since. This was the continuing traditions, songs, language and a people of harmony. They say that this was the start of our people before migrating into other locations. These people became the Pueblo Peoples of New Mexico and the Hopi of Arizona and maintain their connections with Chaco today.

As time continued and colonizers started arriving, 1680 briefly unified the Pueblo peoples of New Mexico and their neighbors together against the arrival of Coronado and his people. They began building missionaries and a “few of the Franciscan priests tolerated traditional religious practices as long as the Puebloans attended mass and maintained a public veneer of Catholicism.” “Others weren’t tolerant, establishing totalitarian theocracies in their designated provinces, characterized by ruthless suppression of religious practices and persistent abuse of Pueblo labor.” The priests destroyed kivas, forbade ceremonial practices, and desecrated or destroyed sacred objects. Taking away our songs, tradition and culture.

NPS.gov Homepage (U.S. National Park Service https://www.nps.gov/index.htm National Parks Service December 7, 2022

Taking traditions and cultural identity in Native Americans.

We faced schools that impacted us as native people and as human beings.

“The Bureau of Indian Affairs' (BIA), Indian agents played large roles in the "resocialization" of Native Americans into Anglo-American culture. Such institutions were created to "whiten" Native Americans and supplant their culture and language with American ideals and English. Trauma suffered at the boarding schools has made an impact on tribes and has resulted in large loss of Native languages, culture, and traditions. “ Far away from home, and away from themselves, the boarding school era isolated native children from their communities and changed them into anglo-americans.

Strathman, Nicole, et al. “Student Snapshots: An Alternative Approach to the Visual History of American Indian Boarding Schools.” MDPI, https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0787/4/4/726. Accessed 27 March 2023.

Covid-19 in impacts

Through Covid, a lot of communities halted their traditions and concerts were stopped but Globally, we were all isolated. “Structure every single day. To stay confined at home for much of every day is a psychological challenge for many people. When you can't go out everyday like you used to, it’s not easy to maintain a regular daily schedule.” Being isolated is a struggle, whether it's been through covid or in general, but we can encourage and support engagement with activities pleasurable by the person with benefits for physical, mental, and spiritual well-being. Regular scheduling is supportive for people at risk of delirium, which is characterized by a disturbance of circadian rhythm. Like myself I always have to keep going, my body, my mind, and my thoughts, and I listen to music to help me to keep on track and focused. I do this with art and my homework. This is a basic need for me to not feel away from my home and be confident in myself. There are “TV and YouTube channels adapted for older adults with proper physical and mental programs (e.g. exercise programs, mindfulness practice, and music programs)” can also be very useful as a basic need for other people.

Goldberg, Emma. “Teens in Covid Isolation: 'I Felt Like I Was Suffocating' (Published 2020).” The New York Times, 5 October 2021, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/12/health/covid-teenagers-mental-health.html. Accessed 27 March 2023.

Assimilation era

People need these basic needs in their daily lives, a therapeutic way that relieves stress and anxiety. “Many mental health conditions first appear in youth and young adults, with 50% of all conditions beginning by age 14 and 75% by age 24,”. Untreated or inadequately treated mental illness can lead to high rates of school dropout, unemployment, substance use, arrest, incarceration and early death. As a Native person we’ve seen these results happen in the boarding school era and are still continuing today in other schools . “Schools can play an important role in helping children and youth get help early. School staff and students can learn to identify the warning signs of mental health emerging and hire counselors to assist.

New Mexico failed “to provide students—especially low-income, Native American, English language learner (ELL), and students with disabilities—the programs and services necessary for them to learn and thrive, and challenged the state’s failure to sufficiently fund these programs and services.” They also failed to comply with state and federal laws regarding the education of Native American and ELL students, including the New Mexico Indian Education Act.

What I want people to understand about the history of the trauma of people's past is how we can transpire from it.

Indian Reorganization Act of 1934

An ACT To conserve and develop Indian lands and resources; to extend to Indians the right to form business and other organizations; to establish a credit system for Indians; to grant certain rights of home rule to Indians; to provide for vocational education for Indians; and for other purposes.

Action Plan 1

American Indian Religious Freedom Act 1978

The American Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1978 (AIRFA) (42 U.S.C. § 1996.) protects the rights of Native Americans to exercise their traditional religions by ensuring access to sites, use and possession of sacred objects, and the freedom to worship through ceremonials and traditional rites. “A Native American boy from the Tewa Dance Troupe (Nambe Pueblo) performing at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico USA.” Blaine Harrington III,https://www.blaineharrington.com/image/I0000bGUNl9v3TJY. Accessed 27 March 2023

Grammy

Founded in 1998, around 40 years after the first Grammy Awards were held, the Native American Music Awards (or Nammys) honor and showcase the best Indigenous music from musicians in North America.

“The Road to the GRAMMY Awards – GRAMMY Museum.” GRAMMY Museum, 10 July 2020, https://grammymuseum.org/museum-at-home/the-road-to-the-grammy-awards/. Accessed 27 March 2023

Esther Martinez Act 2006

To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services, as part of the Native American languages grant program, to make three-year grants for educational Native American language nests, survival schools, and restoration programs.

“Home.” YouTube, https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2017/08/18/istock-586379824_custom-741b39cd56655a0f4bbd70245b26576c774b4049.jpg. Accessed 27 March 2023.

In 2018, in the Yazzie/Martinez v. State of New Mexico lawsuit, the court ordered the state to provide a sufficient education to all public school students.

Basham, Teddy. “Kids Win Big In Yazzie Case: New Mexico Court Says State Must Address Systemic Discrimination — Impact Fund.” Impact Fund, 10 September 2018, https://www.impactfund.org/social-justice-blog/nm-kids. Accessed 27 March 2023.

Understanding music and mental health through music therapy

“Music has also proven to be effective across a variety of treatment scenarios for conditions ranging from premature birth to depression to Parkinson's disease.” Music therapy helps when it comes to diseases but not only can it regenerate and boost antibodies cells in the protecting bacteria, “Music enters our brains is the triggering of pleasure centers that release dopamine, a neurotransmitter that makes you feel happy. This response is so quick, the brain can even anticipate the most pleasurable peaks in familiar music and prime itself with an early dopamine rush.”

What does music create?

Music is a language formed of formed with sound for the best way of communication. Music is not only just for entertainment. It's a powerful tool that can help regain confidence, you can even control your emotions and focus.” It can cause strong emotional reactions to songs that have strong connections,” from a ted talk from Lucia Clohessy.

Music Therapy and Mental Health | Lucia Clohessy | TEDxWCMephamHigh

Navarro Ms, Antonia Mt-Bc. “And the Beat Goes on: Music Therapy’s Role in Treatment.” Ellenhorn, 10 Nov. 2016, www.ellenhorn.com/blog/and-the-beat-goes-on-music-therapys-role-in-treatment. Accessed 23 March 2023

Music in schools?

While those emotions can be controlled by your daily playlist. Music with high intensity “can cause distractions” than those who listen to a slower pace song. Now we can see how specifically music influences our brain, thanks to a study of an award winning teacher, Nancy Barlie.

Barile, Nancy. “Should You Let Students Listen to Music in the Classroom?” Western Governors University, https://www.wgu.edu/heyteach/article/should-you-let-students-listen-to-music-in-the-classroom1709.html. Accessed 23 March 2023.

Music in SFIS.

For years students were privileged and aloud to listen to music in class and in study hours until this school year of 2022-23 school year. I want the school too allow students to listen too music when studying to help with mental issues and generate conductivity in students brains to improve in school and in social life.