The Natives and
Rag Time Music

A foremost scholar in the field of Native American Music insisted that the American Indian had a guiding roll in the development of Rag Time:

“Most people instinctively assign it to the Negro; but the Indian also, according to Natalie Curtis Burlin (1875-1921: pictured above), is to be credited with a hand in it. The syncopation, which is a predominant feature of all Rag Time, as she observes in ‘The Craftsman’, is an absolutely essential element in the songs of our North American Indians of many tribes.”

Also discussed are the efforts of Geoffrey O’Hara to make the earliest recordings of Native American Music on behalf of the U.S. Library of Congress.