Choice 评论

This book makes an unusual contribution to the large body of literature dealing with Native American music and its cultural context. Most important, it reports on the musical life of women in one Indian tribe, helping to balance a body of scholarship that has concentrated largely on men's musical activities. Second, it tells readers about music in the lives of individuals, as comprehensively as space permits, concentrating on repertory, musical taxonomy, and roles of different kinds of song in the five women's lives. Further, it is the first detailed account of Shoshone musical ethnography. Largely a straightforward ethnomusicological account, this book is not heavily theoretical. It is interestingly written, includes considerable verbatim materials from interviews, and is readily accessible to the educated general reader. The author is well known for her earlier contributions to Shoshone and Ghost Dance music. The book is accompanied with a one-hour cassette, available either separately or as part of a combined offer. It contains 26 songs from field recordings. The book is well indexed, with good bibliography, and has helpful photographic and musical illustrations. B. Nettl University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign