Oklahoma Ozark Foothills Analysis

In the chapter, On the Illinois: The Making of Modern Music and Culture in the Oklahoma Ozark Foothills, The Oklahoma Ozark area is a physical and cultural transition zone between the Great Plains and the eastern woodlands. This area has been considered home to many of the Cherokee people since their removal by U.S. soldiers and settlers beginning in the 1820s (pg. 239). The Cherokees has lived in the Oklahoma Ozark area longer than any other ethnic group compared as of currently. The Cherokees not only brought unique cultural attributes, they also shared many cultural traditions with non-Indian residents of Oklahoma and with their Arkansas and Missouri neighbors (pg. 241). One reason for incorporating their culture was that in the beginning …show more content…
He applied and explained this assertion throughout the chapter, such as how the author explains that songs can be used to reveal different elements of history, geography, conflict, and cooperation (pg. 239). An example of how the author applied the assertion is where the author included a verse from the song, “The Buffalo Skinners.” This song, along with other songs that were known by cowboys, was carried were the first of a long time movement of music between Texas and Oklahoma, which included the Ozarks (pg. 244). Basically, the lyrics in the song give insight to their personal experience and what they had to go through at that time that was significant enough that they would want to write it into song. With the musical tradition of the Oklahoma Ozarks, their main residents being the Cherokees, originally it was folk music but over time as different cultures came along and influenced their musical style and tradition, different genres flourished and some of the genres even mixed together as well. The music tradition was heavily influenced mainly through intermarriage, however despite the intermixing of cultures the Cherokees preferred traditional indigenous dances and rituals as their preferred form of entertainment and spiritual practice (pg. 241-242). The significance of the intermarriage and the different cultural influences that happened to traditional Oklahoma Ozark music is that, we would not have the different varieties of music we would have today if it were not for the intermixing of cultures that happened the Oklahoma Ozark Cherokees and other ethnicities. There is more variety of music for people to discover and enjoy more of, which in turn and bring people closer