by Bill McLain
The last U.S. census showed only slightly more than 53,000 Apache Native Americans, accounting for only 2.8 percent of the total Native American population in the United States.
Unlike other Native Americans, the Apaches had no tribal organization and lived in small autonomous bands. In 1874, the U.S. government forcibly moved 4,000 Apaches to a barren reservation in Arizona where they were deprived of all rights and lacked proper food and shelter. They turned to Geronimo and asked him to lead them to freedom. This is how he became a leader of such a large group of Apaches.
Geronimo’s Apache name was Goyathlay, which means “one who yawns.”
One of the first statements of the U.S. Congress under the new Constitution was from a declaration issued in 1787, which said, in part, “The utmost good faith shall always be observed toward the Indians, their lands and property shall never be taken from them without their consent….”
DID YOU KNOW?
The Native Americans have contributed greatly to our culture. Many of the foods that are common today were unheard of in Europe. It was the Native Americans who taught the colonists how to gather and use this food.
The list of Native American food is long, but here are just a few items to give you an idea of what we owe to the Native Americans: corn, squash, pumpkins, beans, chili peppers, pecans, sassafras, cranberries, and maple syrup. By the end of the twentieth century, over one third of all food produced in the United States came from crops of Native American origin.
Much of our language comes from Native American words, including moose, caribou, raccoon, opossum, chipmunk, skunk, hickory, squash, avocado, bayou, savanna, tomato, potato, toboggan, dory, and caucus. Over 2,200 words in our language have been taken directly from Native American languages.
So much of what we take for granted today comes directly from Native Americans. Perhaps we should learn how to say the Apache word for “thank you.”
What is the origin of the word “jazz”? (Does the lady sing the blues near a maple tree?)
No one knows for sure how the word “jazz” originated. There are almost as many different explanations as there are people writing about jazz. Three theories, each relating to someone’s name, are widely accepted.
Some think the word came from Mr. Razz, a band conductor in New Orleans around 1904.
Others believe the word was coined around 1895 and was derived from the name of a Mississippi drummer named Charles Washington, whom everyone called Chaz.
The third theory holds that the word “jazz” was derived from the name of Charles Alexander, who made the song Alexander’s Ragtime Band famous. Because his name was always abbreviated on programs as “Chas.,” people pronounced it Chazz. When the band’s music became exceedingly lively or “hot,” fans would yell out “Come on, Chazz,” which later became “Jazz,” and eventually referred to music of that type.
Some scholars have tried to trace the word “jazz” to the following cultures but have not as yet been able to prove their theories:
Arabic “chasse” (a dance step)
Arabic “jazib” (one who allures)
African “jaiza” (sound of distant drums)
Hindu “jasba” (ardent desire)
To add to the confusion, jazz was at one time a verb for sexual intercourse and still is so used in some of today’s slang.
It is believed that jazz had its embryonic beginnings in plantation brass bands around 1835 and developed a more formal structure when ragtime music was introduced. Ragtime music takes its syncopated rhythm from march music and is generally considered to be the forerunner of jazz. Scott Joplin was the “King of Ragtime.”
In the 1920s some of the famous jazz groups were the New Orleans Rhythm Kings and bands led by Jelly Roll Morton, King Oliver, and Louis Armstrong. The music of these groups included improvised solos and later led to the Chicago style of jazz.
FACTOIDS
Ragtime composer Scott Joplin’s best-known piece is the Maple Leaf Rag. Although no one knows how it got there, a large maple tree is growing at his gravesite.
Green Dolphin Street is a standard jazz tune. It is also the name of one of Chicago’s largest jazz nightclubs, the name of a fictitious street in London in the 1800s, the title of a novel by Elizabeth Goudge, and the title of a 1947 movie made from her novel.
Jelly Roll Morton was a professional piano player in the bordellos of New Orleans. Although he was one of the first ragtime piano players, he was ridiculed for later claiming he had “invented” jazz in 1902.
DID YOU KNOW?
One can’t talk about jazz without mentioning the greatest female jazz singer of all time, Billie Holiday.
On the darker side, Billie Holiday was self-destructive, an alcoholic and a heroin addict who was drawn to violent men who exploited her.
On her professional side, she was one of the most remarkable singers of the century. Although she had no training, she had a vivid musical style that created intricate musical effects. Most of all she was noted for the intensity of her singing. She lived every word she sang. Whether she was singing of love or pain, it seemed as if she was experiencing it right then and there. People believed her and often cried when she performed. Her voice would envelop whoever heard her in such a way that no listener was ever the same again. As Billie herself once said, “What comes out is what I feel.”
She came from an impoverished family and her father abandoned the family when she was young. After school she scrubbed floors until she was exhausted just to earn enough money for her and her mother to survive. She grew up alone and felt unloved.
Her unhappy life did not improve as she got older. Her years as a singer had their highs and lows. She had years of fame with occasional days of happiness. But her sadness created some of the greatest songs of our time.
Billie Holiday died in 1959 when she was only 44 years old.
What is the origin of the phrase “It’s not over until the fat lady sings”? (It’s difficult to sing when you’ve just been stabbed to death.)
In many operas, the final scene ends with an aria sung by a lady singer, so the opera isn’t over until she completes her last song. For many years female opera singers tended to be large. Therefore, you could say that the opera isn’t over until the fat lady is done singing. Today the expression means that you should never assume something is finished until you’re sure. Sometimes, a situation that appears to be completed is only going through a temporary pause.
Some opera haters find it amusing that in a final operatic scene, the heroine is killed and with her dying breath belts out a lengthy solo that can be heard throughout the entire opera house.
FACTOIDS
The oldest performing opera singer was Victor Han, a Russian, who sang onstage in Moscow at the age of 90.
Rossini wrote The Barber of Seville in just 11 days. A good copyist would take 20 days just to copy the score that Rossini wrote.
In the opera Don Giovanni, one scene calls for an actor to descend into hell. One portly singer got stuck in the stage trapdoor used for his descent. No matter how hard he pushed or pulled, the singer remained stuck. Finally, a voice from the audience yelled out, “Don’t worry, hell is already full!”
When the opera Carmen premiered, critics said it was immoral, obscene, and had no artistic value. Hardly anyone attended the next few performances. The composer, Georges Bizet, died three months later. Since his death, Carmen has become one of the most popular operas of all time.
In 1871 there were 3,000 theaters in Italy where an opera could be performed. By 1992 the number had dwindled to 840, of which only 36 were theaters used primarily for opera.
A fan once wrote to Giuseppe Verdi and asked to be reimbursed for all of his expenses because Verdi’s opera Aida didn’t arouse any emotions in him. Verdi paid the expenses but only after the fan signed an agreement that he would never again listen to any of Verdi’s operas.
During an argument between conductor Arturo Toscanini and singer Geraldine Farrar, Miss
Farrar said, “Remember, the audience pays to see my face, not your backside.”
DID YOU KNOW?
Opera has a long and rich history. However, if you’re not an opera fan, you might have difficulty understanding the difference between an opera and a musical.
An opera is basically a drama set to music. Performers sing melodious songs (called “arias”) or recite lines in a form of sung speech (called “recitative”). Operas tend to be tragedies. If an opera is not tragic, it is called a “comic opera.” There are many famous and popular operas, including Aida, Carmen, Madama Butterfly, and Rigoletto. The play and film Evita may be considered a modern opera. It has a tragic ending and there are no spoken words at all. All the lines are sung.
A musical, on the other hand, typically has a sentimental plot interspersed with songs and music. A musical typically, but not always, has a happy ending, and includes spoken dialogue in addition to songs. Many times, it also has elaborate dance sequences. Early musicals included The Student Prince, Babes in Toyland, The Desert Song, and the many works of Gilbert and Sullivan such as The Mikado and H.M.S. Pinafore. More recent musicals that are closely related to opera include Porgy and Bess, Show Boat, and West Side Story.
Hollywood produced many musicals from 1929 on. Examples of Hollywood musicals include The Merry Widow, Broadway Rhythm, Anchors Aweigh, Annie Get Your Gun, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Kismet, Gigi, and such all-time classics as Singin’ in the Rain and An American in Paris.
The opera houses may be dwindling in Italy, but musicals are alive and well in the United States.
More questions? Try these websites.
WORD WIZARD
http://wordwizard.com:80/
If you love words, you’ll love this site. You have to join (it’s free) but it’s well worth it. The site describes the origins of hundreds of words and phrases. It also defines slang words and has a dictionary of famous insults, as well as other fascinating sections devoted to words.
PHRASE FINDER
http://www.shu.ac.uk/web-admin/phrases/search.html
Looking for a phrase to describe something? This site will help you out. For instance, enter the word “fish” and you’ll see a long list of related phrases such as “kettle of fish,” “drink like a fish,” and “like shooting fish in a barrel.”
DICTIONARY OF PHRASE AND FARLE
http://www.bibliomania.com/Reference/PhraseAndFable/
Ever wonder where the term “pin money” or “bell, book, and candle” came from? You’ll find the explanations for thousands of phrases on this website.
WEBSTER’S DICTIONARY
http://www.m-w.com/
Merriam Webster’s Dictionary and Thesaurus are on the Internet. Enter a word in the Dictionary box to find its definition, or enter a word in the Thesaurus box to display synonyms.
ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS
http://www.ucc.ie/info/net/acronyms/acro.html
You can enter an acronym and see what it stands for, or you can enter a word and see which acronyms contain that word.
Literature
What are the fourteen Oz books written by L. Frank Baum? (We’re off to see the Wizard.)
L. Frank Baum wrote fourteen books about Oz. After writing the first two books, he turned out one a year for the next twelve years. The dates and titles of his books are:
1900 The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
1904 The Marvelous Land of Oz
1907 Ozma of Oz
1908 Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz
1909 The Road to Oz
1910 The Emerald City of Oz
1913 The Patchwork Girl of Oz
1914 Tik-Tok of Oz
1915 The Scarecrow of Oz
1916 Rinkitink in Oz
1917 The Lost Princess of Oz
1918 The Tin Woodsman of Oz
1919 The Magic of Oz
1920 Glinda of Oz
After the death of L. Frank Baum, Ruth Plumly Thompson continued to write the Oz books, producing one a year from 1921 to 1939.
FACTOIDS
According to Baum family legend, L. Frank Baum was telling neighborhood children a fairytale full of wonderful characters he had created. One little girl said, “Oh, please, Mr. Baum, where did they live?” While thinking, Baum glanced around the room and saw a filing cabinet. The top drawer was labeled A-N, the bottom drawer was labeled O-Z. He turned to the little girl and said, “They all lived in the land of Oz.”
The Wizard of Oz was a Broadway musical 37 years before the MGM film version was made. It had 293 performances and then went on a tour that lasted 9 years.
L. Frank Baum’s most famous book had four different titles (The Emerald City, From Kansas to Fairyland, The Fairyland of Oz, and The Land of Oz) before it became The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
Australians refer to their country as Oz. They abbreviate Australia as “Aus,” which is pronounced “ahs” or “oz.” Hence the nickname.
Five pairs of Dorothy’s ruby slippers were made for the film. Over 5 million people a year view a pair on display at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. Another pair sold for $165,000 at an auction in 1988.
Although written almost a century ago, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is still being published and can be purchased today in most bookstores.
DID YOU KNOW?
Traveling the yellow brick road was hardly smooth going.
Buddy Ebsen of television’s Beverly Hillbillies fame was the original Tin Man. Unfortunately his lungs became coated with the aluminum powder used in his makeup and he almost died. The studio replaced him with Jack Haley, saying that Buddy Ebsen had pneumonia.
The new Tin Man, Jack Haley, didn’t fare much better. He suffered a severe eye infection from the makeup and had to stay at home in a dark room until it cleared up. When he returned to the set, his 40-pound costume prevented him from sitting down and he had to rest on a slant board between takes.
After three days of filming, the director realized that the shiny Tin Man was supposed to be rusting, so they had to scrap the footage and reshoot the scenes with a Tin Man speckled with rust. The mistake cost the studio over $60,000.
The film wasn’t even safe for witches. Betty Danko, the stand-in for the Wicked Witch of the East, was hospitalized after the witch’s broom exploded during a flying stunt and injured her leg. Margaret Hamilton, the Wicked Witch of the East, suffered third-degree burns when another stunt failed. But Hamilton had her revenge. Her shrill cackle blew out sound tubes when she recorded her dialogue.
A sarus crane, rented from the Los Angeles Zoo, attacked the straw stuffing in Ray Bolger’s scarecrow costume and the actor had to hide in his dressing room until the bird was caught. The poor actor also started getting tiny lines in his face because his mask was glued on and peeled off every day for four months.
Weeks after completing her role as the Wicked Witch, Margaret Hamilton complained that her face still had a faint green tint.
The Cowardly Lion costume worn by Bert Lahr was so hot that after each take both Lahr and his costume had to be blow-dried with compressed air.
To add insult to injury, the actors were not allowed to eat in the commissary because it was thought their bizarre costumes might make other studio employees lose their appetites.
There were many potholes along the yellow brick road.
How many pages were in the longest book ever written? (Hope this isn’t part of your assigned reading lesson.)
The Yongle dadian, an encyclopedia of the Chinese Ming dynasty, had 22,937 chapters in 10,000 volumes. Over 2,000 Chinese scholars worked on the book for 5 years before it was finished.
In modern times, the Spanish encyclopedia La Enciclopedia Univeral Ilustrada Europeo-Americana has 105,000 pages.
The longest modern work of fiction is the 40-volume novel Tokugawa leyasu by Sohachi Yamaoka.
Although he did not write lengthy books, Isaac Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of our time, having written over 400 books. His works cover a wide
range of both fiction and nonfiction subjects. In fact, he is the only author in this country to have a book listed in every Dewey decimal category.
When speaking of long books, we typically refer to printed works or works created on paper. There are many other types of ancient books such as the 15,000 clay tablets left by the ancient Hittites.
FACTOIDS
Early writing and reading was handled in many different ways. Some writing was written and read left to right, some right to left, some top to bottom, and some back and forth, alternating from line to line. In the sixth century B.C. most Mediterranean cultures agreed to use left-to-right reading and writing. However, the Hebrews kept their right-to-left writing.
The oldest known book to have been printed mechanically is the Gutenberg Bible.
The library of Alexandria was designed to hold all the books that existed in the world at the time (295 B.C.) and contained 700,000 volumes. It was damaged by fire during a siege by Julius Caesar in A.D. 47. Civil wars later inflicted more damage and by A.D 400 nothing remained of the once great library.
Although libraries in the United States are supported with less than one percent of our tax dollars, they are used by over two thirds of the population.
Some experts believe that the first books were created by the Sumerians over 5,000 years ago. The Sumerians had a cuneiform alphabet with letters made up from a triangular symbol. The symbol could be made with the point facing up, down, left, or right. Combinations of the various symbol positions formed specific letters. A wedge-shaped tool was pressed into clay tablets to form the letters. The tablets were then dried or fired so they would last. Some of these “books” even had clay envelopes.
