On the SDMB, people have posted questions before on “that Asian song used in segues to scenes in the Far East in movies”. After hearing yet another generic Native American-sounding song on the local community radio station, with no attribution or RDS data, I’m wondering what tribe is associated with the stereotypical Native American music heard in old Westerns and contemporary world music shows on public radio. Basically, drums, jingling, and vocalizations that, to my untrained ear, sounds like “hey yuh hey yuh huy yo huy yo hey yo huy yuh huh yuh” ad infinitum.
I always associate this kind of chanting & dancing with the Plains tribes, though I’m afraid that I’m not enough of an expert to narrow it down more than that. Here’s an example from the Lakota Sioux.
A good cinematic example is from “Little Big Man” near the end, when Old Lodge Skins dances his death dance. It can be seen here, at about 1:16