David Thornton - Indigenous Perspectives on Song

Cooper says in his "A Time Before Deception" that "...accuracy is sometimes more important than, and sometimes identical to, aesthetics. One Navajo elder stated, 'Our people have always described a singer as 'good' rather than as 'beautiful' in describing his performance.' It seemed far more important to the elder that the song be sung by one who would faithfully remember each part of it, who would actually provide an accurate conduit for the gods to enter the earth, than that the singer have a talented or trained voice."

-The Navajo view of singing is much different than the modern view of song. It is interesting how the focus of the Navajo here is seen to be accuracy of the song rather than the talent behind it. Singers these days are not given a chance if they do not have talent in singing. From Sacred Communication's perspective though of the Navajo, the accuracy of the song is what creates the interaction with the Divine. For the gods to enter the earth the song must be on point rather than simply made beautifully sung. I think this perspective is unlike any other way of looking at singing than i have ever come across because genuine relation to Sacred Communication. It also is a great encouragement regardless of modern circumstances for me because i do not have any singing talent. Therefore, i have not been encouraged to sing in the past for nearly any situations. It is a great outlook to focus on personal accuracy in Sacred Communication rather than modern society's view of having to have talent in order to sing.