Sounds of Native Oklahoma: The Significance of Fred Cardin, Jack F. Kilpatrick, and Tessie Mobley for the Musical Culture of America

Abstract

By showcasing three biographies of notable twentieth-century Native American musicians, this project provides a cultural context for debating issues of inclusion in the development of American classical music life. The research deviates from established musicological protocols to examine the concerns of cultural appropriation and exoticism in greater detail. Consequently, this approach delves into the musicological trends that have excluded Native Americans from the study of twentieth-century concert culture in the United States. With the aim of incorporating these narratives into American classical music curricula, the narratives explore musical profiles through the lenses of burgeoning discussions about the historical invisibility of Native Americans in the United States. This work contributes to recent efforts broadening the discussion about what constitutes music history in America by driving attention to subjects that American musicologists often overlook. Though mixed-race Native Americans have been criticized in other disciplines for being used as assimilationist figures, this work contradicts such an imperialist perspective. Evidence in this project suggests that cultural relations between white and indigenous peoples during the early twentieth century were more than antagonistic. These three musicians fought against ideologies in urban environments that discriminated against and oppressed Native Americans. In this thesis, Native American artists Fred Cardin, Jack F. Kilpatrick, and Tessie Mobley are regarded as contributors to the communication and preservation of indigenous identities in North American culture. By revealing these biographical accounts of opposition to assimilation, this work reframes some of the prevalent misconceptions about Native Americans in the history of America and its classical music.