Finding the "Frontier" in a Page of Music: Imperial Evidence and the Legacy of Settler Colonialism

Abstract

A page with music printed on both sides is inserted between two pages of a 1722 book published in Paris about Native Americans in North America.1 The songs are likely from the Illinois people, possibly part of a Calumet ceremony.2 There are seven staff lines per page in treble clef with no bar lines, representing two songs, divided from one another by an unobtrusive double bar line on the first page. The first song features a predominantly quarternote melody with a repeating descending contour set to what seem to be vocables (ni na ha). The second song is longer and more melodically and rhythmically elaborate with lyrics. The page offers no titles or attribution. Features that would be of great consequence for identifying the songs or how to perform them are left out. There is no indication of tempo and no translation. The page is unusual for its time because it has music printed from engraved plates on both sides. The volume contains numerous engraved inserts—elaborate maps, detailed illustrations of dwellings, representations of cooking practices and dress—but those are only printed on one side. Printing from an engraving entailed pressing an inked metal plate into a piece of paper. This left an indentation on the page; it was messy