"HERE COMES THE BAND!": Cultural Collaboration, Connective Traditions, and Aboriginal Brass Bands on British Columbia's North Coast, 1875-1964

Historically, these bands ranged considerably in form and function, from extracurricular school bands, to full-blown uniformed marching bands representing an entire village, to Salvation Army bands, and, by the 1950s and 1960s, to dance orchestras and jazz ensembles that played not only on land but also on cannery-operated ships and coastal fleets. Missionary publications, reports, and letters from the field, local newspaper articles, or the minute books kept by some of the bands themselves reveal how Aboriginal social, political, and cultural interests were served and advanced through musical performance.