Going to the Nation: the idea of Oklahoma in early blues recordings

This paper considers references to Oklahoma in blues recordings from 1924 to 1941, and the paradox that, although the reality of life for African-Americans in that state was little different from life in the Deep South, the recordings usually speak of migration to Oklahoma in optimistic terms. The n...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Popular music 2007-01, Vol.26 (1), p.83-96
Main Author: SMITH, CHRIS
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
African American literature
African American studies
African Americans
American Indians
American literature
Black history
Blues music
Bogan, Lucille
Carr, Leroy
Collective memory
Composition
Countries
Ellison, Ralph (1914-1994)
Former slaves
Keresiouan languages
Lewis, Furry
Musical recordings
Musicology
Native Americans
Native North Americans
Patton, Charley
Racism
Smith, Bessie (1894?-1937)
Statehood
Territories
Tribal land
War
White people
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Summary:This paper considers references to Oklahoma in blues recordings from 1924 to 1941, and the paradox that, although the reality of life for African-Americans in that state was little different from life in the Deep South, the recordings usually speak of migration to Oklahoma in optimistic terms. The notion that the Indian Nation (a.k.a. ‘the Territory’) had been a refuge for runaway slaves is rebutted, together with the conclusion that optimistic references in the blues preserve this idea as a collective memory. What is being recalled is rather the period between the Civil War and statehood (1907): the former slaves of Native Americans in Oklahoma became tribal members, gaining the civil and property rights accorded to tribes-people, and the black townships movement offered the prospect of autonomy and self-government on the frontier. Two songs which take a negative view of Oklahoma's Jim Crow reality are also considered.
ISSN:0261-1430
1474-0095
DOI:10.1017/S0261143007001146