How have indigenous healing traditions used music and dance?

Indigenous healing traditions have long utilized music and dance as essential components of therapeutic and spiritual practice, viewing them as powerful tools for restoring balance and health within the community.12

Therapeutic Roles and Rituals

In many cultures, music and dance are integrated into formal healing ceremonies led by shamans or ritual specialists. These practices often involve:134
* Spirit Communication: Music and dance serve as a bridge to the spiritual realm. For example, among the Shona people, mediums enter trances through mbira music to connect with ancestral spirits. Similarly, Native American shamans may receive healing songs through visions or dreams, which are then used to invoke natural or magical powers during ceremonies.135
* Exorcism and Cleansing: Ritual societies, such as the Bori cult among the Hausa or the Ajun organization of the Jukun, use dance and song to address psychological or spiritual disorders, often through exorcism or initiation rites.1
* Vocal Techniques: Healing practices frequently employ specialized vocal techniques. South American shamans may mask their voices—by cupping their hands or using vapors—to symbolize the presence of spirit beings during curing rituals. Among the Mapuche, female shamans perform tayil songs, which are essential to healing rituals and recount ancestral lineages.46

These traditions emphasize that music is a gift from the Creator or spirit beings, and its performance is a sacred, collective responsibility that fosters social cohesion and cultural vitality.3