Native American Heritage Month is a great time to highlight a relatively unknown part of one of the most special cities on the globe: the contribution of Native Americans to the musical universe of New Orleans.
Native Americans’ contribution to New Orleans’ music and culture is as deep and varied as were their relationships with New Orleans’ first Europeans, Africans, settlers and slaves.
The founder of New Orleans Jean Baptiste Bienvillle, along with his brother, observed some of the music and ceremonies of Native Americans in Louisiana. But one of the first European chroniclers was Antoine-Simon Le Page du Pratz. Du Pratz had a close relationship with Native Americans, especially the Chitimacha, during his 16-year stay in the territory. Du Pratz first described what he saw in his book History of Louisiana, published in 1758…