Princess Watahwaso/INdigenous peoples day
In solidarity with indigenous people in New York City and the US, NY1920s marks Indigenous Peoples Day with this post. While for last year’s post for Indigenous Peoples Day, we used the occasion to survey some invocations of Native American culture in 1920 New York, this year, we have opted for a more focused approach.
One hundred years ago today… Lucy Nicolar, whose stage name was Princess Watahwaso, was chairing the music program for an upcoming meeting of the Veterans Association of Women War Workers (“War Workers Installation,” The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 29 October 1921, p. 10).
Nicolar in 1920. Photo by Mary Dale Clarke. Musical Courier (April 22, 1920). Wikicommons
Nicolar was probably the best known Native American in the NYC entertainment world. A member of the Penobscot Nation, she had been performing and recording music for five years, often incorporating an activist component to her work.
Nicolar in 1916. Lyceum News (November 1916). Wikipedia.
Her repertoire included traditional Native American music and songs composed in imitation of those traditions, plus standard concert hall fare and also . On April 7, 1920, she performed at NYC’s Aeolian Hall. The New-York Herald reviewed it enthusiastically.
New York Herald, 8 April 1920, p. 11. Newspapers.com
Nicolar recorded frequently for Victor Records. Earlier in 1921 (on May 16th), she had recorded “Apache Indian Chant,” and “Invocation to the sun-god.” These, unfortunately, do not seem to be extant.Listen to her “Four Penobscot tribal songs,” from 1917, here.
Victor Records had made a real name for itself by recording music that went beyond the usual parameters of US popular music. We have featured some of this, such as in our posts for April 15, June 1, and June 8, 1921 and February 27, August 23, and October 27 of 1920.
– Jonathan Goldman, October 11, 2021
TAGS: Indigenous culture, Native American, women in entertainment, singers, voice, traditional, recordings