Conditions Governing Use

The collection is subject to all copyright laws. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright, beyond that allowed by fair use, requires the researcher to obtain permission of copyright holders.

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research. The records have been digitized, and access copies are available on-site.

Custodial History

The collection was donated by Karen Gravelle in May 2017. She inherited the records from her father who received them from his brother prior to 1953.

Preferred Citation

Pueblo Chant Recordings (SC-26). Gift of Karen Gravelle. VMFA Archives, Richmond, Virginia.

Processing Information

The records were rehoused and the original wrappers retained.

Biographical Note

In the late 1940s, a San Juan Pueblo Indian from Gallup, New Mexico, Manuel Archuleta, or Tse-We Ant-Yen (Rain God), used his life savings to launch Tom Tom Records. It would be the first Native-owned record label. A stock and file clerk at the Albuquerque Indian School by day, Archuleta supplemented his incoming by lecturing about American Indian music at the University of New Mexico and signing traditional songs at public schools.

Distributed primarily in the Southwest, Tom Tom's releases - originally on 78-rpm discs and later collected as a pair of twelve-inch albums, "Indian Chants, Volumes 1 and 2" - are remembered more for their historic importance than their commercial success.

Source: Heartbeat, Warble, and the Electric Powwow: American Indian Music

Arrangement

The collection is organized into one series.

Series 1

Chant Recordings, [late 1940s]