Native American music, Music of the indigenous peoples of the Western Hemisphere. The Americas are home to hundreds of indigenous communities, each with its own distinctive history, language, and musical culture. Native Americans transmit music primarily through oral tradition. Some genres require more formal teaching methods. Several communities have developed indigenous systems of music notation, but these are used as memory aids, not as teaching tools. In the 21st century it was common for Native Americans to supplement oral tradition with audio and video recordings for teaching, learning, and preserving traditional repertories. Native American performances integrate music, dance, spirituality, and social communion in multilayered events. Preparations for performances include musical composition, rehearsal, instrument making or repair, and the assembling of dance regalia. The hosts or sponsors of an event prepare the dance ground, food for participants and guests, and any gifts. Participants, meanwhile, prepare themselves spiritually through fasting, prayer, and other methods of purification. The ceremonies may last several days and may involve a number of communities. In addition, unseen spirit beings are usually thought to take part. In Native North America (i.e., present-day Canada and the United States) six musical style areas exist: Eastern Woodlands (including Northeast and Southeast Indians), Plains, Great Basin, Southwest, Northwest Coast, and Arctic. North American Indians emphasize singing, accompanied by percussion instruments such as rattles or drums, rather than purely instrumental music. Music, dance, and spirituality are tightly interwoven in a worldview that perceives little separation between sacred and secular. Indigenous Mexican and Central American music may be divided into four main geographic areas: Northwestern Mexico, Central Mexico, the Maya area, and the Atlantic Coast. Many indigenous peoples in Mexico and Central America retain Indian identities and languages and also practice Roman Catholicism and speak Spanish. Musical instruments, genres, and styles borrowed from European culture were adapted to indigenous tastes and incorporated into traditional repertories. Mexican and Central American Indians emphasize instrumental music more than singing, and much of the traditional music from this region is performed by ensembles. South American Indian music falls into four main geographic areas: Andean Highlands, Tropical Forest, Southern Cone, and circum-Caribbean. Music and dance are intertwined among South American Indians, and music is central to indigenous South American healing practices. While each community has its own preferred vocal sound, many South American Indians use special techniques to alter or mask the natural voice. Native Americans have extensive histories of regional interaction; over time this enriched and broadened their musical lives. Reciprocal participation in collective ceremonies among peoples of the Eastern Woodlands for centuries resulted in a complex network of musical exchange, extending from Florida, U.S., to Ontario, Canada. From the 1500s through the 1700s, Native Americans borrowed and adapted many European musical instruments. The Maya people of Chiapas, for example, play on some musical instruments and in some genres that were imported from Spain in the 1500s but that survived only among the Maya. The colonists also transported enslaved Africans to the Western Hemisphere who introduced new drums and other instruments to indigenous peoples from the southeastern United States to Suriname. New musical trends emerged in the 1800s as indigenous communities began to develop their own hymn repertories, fiddle traditions, and marching bands. American Indians began publishing their own hymnals for use in Christian worship during the first half of the 19th century. Other musical innovations of the 1800s were associated with the development of new belief systems such as the Indian Shaker Church, the Ghost Dance, and the Native American Church. The most significant innovation in Native American music during the 1900s was the development of the powwow, a collective celebration involving music and dance performed throughout North America. Powwows generally promote indigenous culture, spirituality, and social unity. Other significant 20th-century developments were the rise of Native American popular music and the nearly simultaneous renaissance of indigenous musics. Some Native Americans became involved in popular music early on, but it was not until the 1960s that Native American popular music came of age. Native American musicians participated in many genres, including jazz, rock and roll, blues, country, folk, gospel, rap, hip-hop, new age, norteño, and reggae. Their lyrics expressed issues and concerns in both English and indigenous languages. Some of the best-known Native North American popular musicians were Buffy Sainte-Marie (Cree), Philippe McKenzie (Innu [Montagnais]), Joanne Shenandoah (Oneida), and Joy Harjo (Creek); well-known Native North American groups included Redbone, XIT, and Ulali.