Passamaquoddys perform in capital

Homegrown: The Music of America Presented by the Library of Congress" hosted two members of the Passamaquoddy Tribe on Wednesday, September 15. Blanche Sockabasin and Wayne Newell are the first Native Americans from east of the Mississippi to perform in this series, which began in 2002. After the noon session at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., the duo performed a more tightly structured show on the Millennium Stage at the Kennedy Center at 6 p.m. That show was broadcast on the Internet and is available at <www.kennedy-center.org/programs/millennium>.

Both Passamaquoddy elders are well-known locally, as were the songs in their Kennedy Center program that runs 56 minutes. Accompanying themselves on hand drums, the two began with three welcoming songs. Newell sent a hello to the local children listening online. They followed with two songs from the Penobscot Nation, including the snake dance. Other songs included a romance, "The Humble Song," two set to the music of English hymns, and one with a tune from Stephen Foster. Along the way, Newell explained bits of Wabanaki history. He dedicated one song to John Wallace Stevens, long-time tribal governor who Newell says "was why I came back home."

Blanche Sockabasin danced on stage to the well-known "Pine Needle Dance." Then Newell told the cricket story in both Passamaquoddy and English. They finished with "The Healing Song," a protest song, and the canoe paddling song.

Owing to the demands of recording, the Kennedy Center program was faster and the songs shorter than the one at the Library of Congress, where they had greater flexibility. Newell says he and Sockabasin "decided to do a variety and chose a lot of faster songs, but we tried to stick to the eastern" because so many people in America only think of Native Americans as western.

As if to complete the electronic circle, Newell noted during the Kennedy Center performance that his cell phone was vibrating. His grandchildren were watching and texting him.