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Seminole Medicine Chants and Songs

 Collection
Identifier: MSS 0569

Scope and Content

The original six grooved discs have been digitized and are available in mp3 files in the University of Florida’s Digital Collections.

Seminole 1: Grooved Disc 7.1 a 00:05:28, Unidentified Seminole chant, Matteson on the historical and project background and Seminole clans; 7.1 b 00:05:38, Seminole chant and Matteson narrative on Seminole clans.

Seminole 2: Grooved Disc 7.2 a 00:05:41, Medicine chants for deer sickness and Matteson on Seminole healers; 7.2 b 00:05:41, Fire Song and Matteson on Seminole healers and the supernatural.

Seminole 3: Grooved Disc 7.3 a 00:05:33, Medicine chant for the giant sickness and Matteson on Seminole healers and the Seminole cosmology; 7.3 b 00:06:30, Water People and Water Animal chants and Matteson on Seminole belief in the transmigration of souls.

Seminole 4: Grooved Disc 7.4 a 00:05:43, Buzzard, Sun, Moon, Morning Star, Red Star, Three Stars, Two Stars, and Seven Stars chants and Matteson on Seminole medicines; 7.4 b 00:05:46, Parts of the Body Dance (from the Green Corn Dance) and Matteson on the importance of tobacco in Seminole healing rituals.

Seminole 5: Grooved Disc 7.5 a 00:05:26, Rattlesnake Song and Horned Owl Song from the Hunting Dance and Matteson on various Seminole medicinal rites; 7.5 b 00:05:45, Unidentified chant and Matteson on Seminole widows and the Green Corn Dance.

Seminole 6: Grooved Disc 7.6 a 00:03:26, Feather Dance chant and Matteson on the importance of documenting Seminole folkways before the elders die off; 7.6 b 00:03:22, Seminole war songs.

Dates

  • Creation: circa 1940s

Creator

Language of Materials

Includes materials in English and Creek (Seminole).

Access

The recordings are available for research; however, for preservation of the original discs, researchers should use the digitized versions of the recordings.

Biographical/Historical Note

In the 1940s, Naturalist J. Harold Matteson of Miami made phonograph recordings of Seminole healers who performed traditional Seminole medicinal chants and songs. Matteson refers to the Seminoles he recorded as part of the "Big Cyprus People"; however, it is unclear if he made the recordings at the Big Cyprus Seminole Reservation. Although other researchers had previously recorded Seminole songs and dances, the recordings Matteson made have remained unpublished until the University of Florida's Special and Area Studies Collections had them digitized and uploaded to the University of Florida’s Digital Collections in 2020.

Extent

6 Items (Six double-sided, 78 rpm grooved discs with a total duration of 01:04:00)

Abstract

Recordings of Seminole medicine chants and songs. Naturalist J. Harold Matteson recorded the chants and songs and includes a historical narrative.

Location

University of Florida Smathers Library Building

Acquisition Information

There is no donor information available for this collection.

Alternative Format Available

Digital reproductions of selected items in the Seminole Medicine Chants and Songs are available online via the University of Florida Digital Collections (UFDC). Please read the Permissions for Use statement for information on copyright fair use, and use of UFDC digital objects.

Title
A Guide to the Seminole Medicine Chants and Songs
Status
Completed
Author
Finding aid created by R. Boyd Murphree
Date
September 2020
Description rules
Finding Aid Prepared Using Dacs
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Description is written in English.

Repository Details

Part of the Special and Area Studies Collections, George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida Repository

Contact:
George A. Smathers Libraries
PO Box 117005
Gainesville Florida 32611-7005 United States of America
352-273-2755