An Overdue Salute in ‘Indian Veterans’

Native American participation in the U.S. armed forces has rarely been properly acknowledged. The story of Ira Hayes, a Pima tribe member who helped raise the flag at Iwo Jima, is fairly well known. But few are aware of the fact that Native Americans have served bravely and died honorably in every American war.

Rykodisc Records, seeking in some small way to acknowledge their contributions, has released “American Warriors: Songs for Indian Veterans.” The album, co-produced by former Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart and Thomas Vennum Jr., is an anthology of Native American powwow songs, dedicated to Indian war veterans. Its 13 tracks, which document more than a century of Native American participation in warfare, focus on the ancient tradition of using music and dance as part of the ritual preparation for battle.

Included is a particularly fascinating early song, “In the South the Birds Are Flying,” recorded in 1910 at an Ojibway reservation in northern Wisconsin on an Edison wax cylinder. The singer, Eniwube, a medicine man, was 90 years old when he recorded the song, which is intended to provide protection for a warrior.

There also are recordings of five previously undocumented Lakota victory dance songs composed after the Battle of Little Bighorn and passed down in oral tradition. The performer is Edgar Red Cloud, great-grandson of Chief Red Cloud, a participant in the defeat of Custer.

Four Winnebago songs honor each of the major branches of the armed forces. And, acknowledging the continuing role of Native American service personnel, the Blackfoot tribe’s Black Lodge Singers offer a newly composed “Indian Boys From Desert Storm.”

“With these songs,” says producer Hart, “American Indian people . . . retain the history of defending what they will always see as ‘their’ country.”

Aloha Jam: If you think Hawaiian music is all about steel guitars, luaus and grass skirts, check out the sixth annual Aloha Concert Jam Festival on June 28 and 29 at the Rainbow Lagoon in Long Beach. The program, which ranges broadly from traditional to contemporary, is filled with major Hawaiian artists. Prominent in the schedule are some of the most talented practitioners of slack key guitar--a uniquely Hawaiian style of playing that calls for unusual guitar tuning. Slack key specialists the Pahinui Brothers (sons of the late legend Gabby Pahinui) and Dennis Kamahaki will perform, as will the adventurous Ledward Kaapana. Other acts--Sistah Robi, Harold Kama Jr. and Kalapana--fuse Hawaiian traditional sounds with everything from country and blues to jazz and reggae. Information: (909) 606-9494.

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On Record: Elektra Nonesuch Records, a world music pioneer with acts such as the Gipsy Kings, the Bulgarian Voices, Caetano Veloso and Cesaria Evora, has begun a relationship with London’s World Circuit Records, the company’s first licensed label. Three recordings are scheduled for release this month: Malian singer Oumou Sangare’s “Worotan,” Senegalese singer Cheikh Lo’s (discovered and produced by Youssou N’Dour) “Ne la Thiass” and the Madrid-based trio Radio Tarifa’s “Rumba Argelina.”

The Nonesuch/World Circuit connection also has scheduled several attractive Cuban music CDs for release later this summer. The key initial album is “Buena Vista Social Club,” a collaboration between guitarist Ry Cooder and a group of Cuban musicians that includes the remarkable 77-year-old pianist Ruben Gonzalez. Gonzalez is also featured on his own album, “Introducing Ruben Gonzalez,” and Cooder performs on the third of the initial releases, “A Todo Cuba La Guata,” with Juan de Marcos Gonzalez’s Afro-Cuban All Stars.

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Around Town: Not exactly around town, but the World One Festival begins Saturday in Monterey, Calif., with a strong, two-day lineup, including Los Lobos, percussionist Zakir Hussain, the brilliant Nubian oud player Hamza el-Din, the Brazilian jazz of Airto Moreira and Flora Purim and the English folk-rock of Steeleye Span. Information: (888) 443-4643. . . . Axiom of Choice, an intriguing Persian-oriented ensemble appears June 18 at Largo. . . . Marisa Monte, a noteworthy Brazilian singer who blends traditional styles with a strong contemporary pop sensibility, plays the House of Blues, June 23. . . . Caetano Veloso, a creator of Brazil’s energetic tropicalia in the ‘60s and ‘70s, and one of Latin America’s most vital artists, makes his debut Los Angeles appearance June 25 at the Pantages Theatre.