Songs Of The American Indian

Originally Aired: May 26, 1937 In Cavalcade of America #84, "Songs Of The American Indian," the program presents an authentic celebration of Native American culture through music and legend, featuring Kuruks Pahitu (Lone Bear), a Pawnee singer and Juilliard scholarship winner who serves as both performer and narrator. Through song and storytelling, Lone Bear shares the creation legend explaining how the Great Spirit and Moon Mother fashioned the white man, black man, and finally the perfectly bronzed American Indian. The episode portrays traditional ceremonies, from the sunrise ritual led by the medicine man to a mother's lullaby for her papoose, and depicts an elaborate courtship where a young brave wins his maiden with flute music and the ceremonial blanket song. The narrative takes a dramatic turn when it becomes a reenactment of Lone Bear's own life story. His father Atius and mother Atira sit troubled in their teepee with Purao, the tribal medicine man, discussing their son's transformation after returning from school in the white man's world. Kuruks has become distant and strange, caught between two cultures, and the medicine man gravely observes that the young man has lost faith in the ways of his people.