Algonquin Water Song

November is Native American Heritage Month in the United States, and I am bringing you along with me on my learning journey as I seek to find meaningful and appropriate ways to recognize it in my elementary music classroom. As someone who did not grow up in North America and does not have any Native American heritage in my family, I have been on a constant learning journey for the last two decades since moving to the United States to learn more about North American Indigenous music, and appropriate ways for me, as an outsider, to share it with my students. One thing I learned years ago is that not every Native American song I learn, even if it is presented accurately, is appropriate for me to perform, teach, or share. Today I have a song to share that is specifically written for outsiders like me to learn and teach, and I am excited to share it with my students!

The song is called the Algonquin Water Song. You can read all about the background of the song, see a lovely video recording of it, and find the lyrics on the website dedicated specifically to teaching others about the song here. You can also find an English translation of the lyrics on this website, and a demonstration and explanation of the sticks used to accompany the song in this video. This video shows another demonstration that includes shakers as well.

For those, like me, who may not be familiar, the Algonquin people are an indigenous tribe now in Eastern Canada that speaks Algonquin, one of many Algonquian languages. It's important to note that while the 2 terms are very similar they are not the same.

I want to primarily be a source to point other teachers to culture bearers to learn directly from them, not from me, so I'm not going to share any specific teaching strategies or lesson ideas other than the sources listed above for this song specifically, but here are some ideas of larger thematic units into which this song could be incorporated:

I hope this sparks some ideas and, most importantly, points you in the right direction to research the song and other indigenous resources to incorporate respectfully in your own classrooms!