Mister Graber's Opus

Story by Jennifer Kirby, photo by Matt Unrau
CrowNews.Net

    In 1973 Dave Graber was hired as a music teacher in Busby and began his education in Native American song and dance.  He learned that it was not just the words that were different.  He learned that music is not a universal language.  He learned that he had lots to learn — and lots to offer.

Graber teaches traditional Crow songs to children at Crow Agency School.  Graber is not Crow nor does he consider himself fluent in the Crow language, but he has learned to recognize words and speak them correctly so that he can teach the children in his music classes. 

He has become familiar with the patterns and the unique scales of the Northern Plains musical style so that he can teach the children how to sing the songs in the traditional way.

He understands how important it is for children to have a sense of
belonging and identity and that learning traditional music can help
children develop both.

“When a child is confronted with a package of identity and belonging
patterns that are foreign to their culture they go through a cultural
disconnect that interferes with their learning process, they don’t feel
comfortable, and educational experiences need to be set in an
environment that is comfortable. Native American people know this.  In
the Western European tradition there has been a sense that you can’t
learn anything unless you are stressed,” says Graber.

He admits that
his classroom has some of the European influence but after teaching
music to Native American children for 35 years, he understands the
importance of the comfort that comes from being connected to the
patterns of ancestral language.

Soon after moving to Busby with his wife Bonnie, Graber became
involved in a project to compile a Cheyenne Hymn book.  In 1978 he and
his family moved to Kansas.  He worked with the Oklahoma Cheyenne to
finish the hymn book. 

In 1984 the Graber family moved back to Montana. David taught music
in Lame Deer for two years and then settled into a position in Lodge
Grass until his retirement in 2001.  After retiring, he and Bonnie went
to China and stayed for two years.

Graber hopes to work with educators at MSU-Billings this fall to
develop a music education curriculum that emphasizes the importance of
cultural identity learned through Native American song and dance.