AIRS 4th Annual Meeting: 2012

Title: "People of the Cloud" in the Evergreen State
Authors: Maren Haynes (University of Washington)

Abstract

For the 2011-2012 academic year, I received a fellowship from AIRS to explore sung music
performed by Mixtec people indigenous to Oaxaca, Mexico, who have immigrated to the Skagit
Valley of Washington State, the majority as undocumented migrant laborers. My paper offers
perspectives on Mixtec musical culture through the lens of this year-long field project and
incorporates interdisciplinary theoretical approaches from Mixtec history (Ortiz, Stephens),
linguistics (Flannery), anthropology (Nicholas), and children’s musical cultures (Campbell, Lum
and Marsh). The resultant project offers comprehensive information detailing both musical and
extramusical issues impacting the underserved and underrepresented Mixtec-speaking
population in Washington State. My research highlights the fluidity with which Mixtec children
navigate their binational musical and cultural identities. Through the lens of children’s music, I
focused on music production and performance, use of technologies, and multigenerational
informal music education in church and home settings. Attention to the church community
provides a thorough overview of musical and sacred culture for Mixtecs in the Skagit Valley,
illuminating community-based approaches to music acquisition and transmission. Through the
lens of interdisciplinary research in singing, my paper attends to the identity and autonomy of
the vibrant community historically, religiously and musically while simultaneously revealing
unmet needs unique to multigenerational Mixtecs in northwestern Washington which hinder
the community’s ability to prosper.