Finding Aids to Special Collections in the VMFA Archives | Pueblo Chant Recordings SC-26
Special Collection 26 (SC-26)
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Archives
Margaret R. and Robert M. Freeman Library200 N. Arthur Ashe Boulevard
Richmond, VA 23220-4007
Business Number: 804-340-1495
library@vmfa.museum
URL: https://vmfa.museum/library/special-collections-archives/
Courtney Yevich Tkacz, VMFA Archivist
Administrative Information
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
Related Materials - University of New Mexico Libraries
Manuel Archuleta Collection of Pueblo Indian, Navajo and Hopi Music, circa 1940, MSS 830 BCContainer List
- Audio SC-26 Box 1 Item: RG262133 RG262133
Deer, Elk & Antelope Game Hunting Song/Buffalo Dance Song (San Felipe) by Thunder Bird, Red Fox and Yellow Bird[late 1940s]
- Audio SC-26 Box 1 Item: RG262134 RG262134
Chant of the Buffalo Dance/Dance of the Corn Maidens (San Juan Pueblo) by White Leaf Lighting - Koong-Wee[late 1940s]
- Audio SC-26 Box 1 Item: RG262135 RG262135
Sundown Round Dance Songs/Hoop Dance Songs by Taos Pueblo Indian Chorus[late 1940s]
- Audio SC-26 Box 1 Item: RG262136 RG262136
Sundown Round Dance Songs/Hoop Dance Songs by Taos Pueblo Indian Chorus[late 1940s]
- Audio SC-26 Box 1 Item: RG262137 RG262137
Zuni "Komanchee" Song/Zuni "He-Le-Le" Song by Zuni Indian Chanters under direction of Ed (Rain Water) TsyiteeYaa-Nee-Wa, A Pleasure Dance Song/Social Dance Song by Hopiland ChantersZuni "Komanchee" Song/Zuni "He-Le-Le" Song by Zuni Indian Chanters under direction of Ed (Rain Water) TsyiteeYaa-Nee-Wa, A Pleasure Dance Song/Social Dance Song by Hopiland Chanters[late 1940s]
- Audio SC-26 Box 1 Item: RG262138 RG262138
Yaa-Nee-Wa, A Pleasure Dance Song/Social Dance Song by Hopiland Chanters[late 1940s]
- Audio SC-26 Box 1 Item: RG262139 RG262139
Hopi Youth Corn Dance with Notched Wood Rhythm Accompaniment by Hopi Ceremonial Chanters/Mudhead Funmakers Song by Hopi Chanters[late 1940s]
- Audio SC-26 Box 1 Item: RG262140 RG262140
Navajo Skip Dance Song/Navaho Feather Dance Song by Navaho Chorus Group[late 1940s]