9412983 Feld This project involves the dissertation research of a student in cultural anthropology from the University of Texas. The student will study how Native Americans on the Apache San Carlos reservation in Arizona adapt and refashion American popular culture in constructing their Indigenous identities. Focusing on contemporary popular music, the student will conduct participant observation among a range of musical practitioners. The central focii of the project will be the formal properties of various musical expressions, the social positions of the participants, the way the music deals with contemporary power relations of Indians and the dominant culture, how historical, biographical and emotional issues are encoded in the songs. The student will play music with local musicians, and will transcribe and analyze musical and linguistic texts, and interview musicians and listeners about life historical experiences with popular music. This research is important because popular music is a major part of the self-identification of young people. By studying the role of music in minority life, how people adapt dominant culture to express their subordinate existence, the project will add important understanding of minority cultures in the stressful condition of culture contact in contemporary life. This knowledge will be valuable to a wide range of social actors and institutions, from schools, who need to know how to motivate students towards academic interests, to work places, who need to understand what young people are interested in to deal with them successfully.
