# The standard "Native American" tune **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 4, 2008, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-standard-native-american-tune/470976 "2008-11-04T02:08:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-standard-native-american-tune/470976/1 "2008-11-04T02:08:50Z")
Because this: > **[The standard "Asian Tune"](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=491038)** > > So, there’s this little nine-note tune that seems to universally say “Asia” in much the same way that, perhaps, a few bars of Rule, Britannia! indicates an English setting or flavor. Here is a variation of the ditty I’m talking about: ... gets done every so often and the Native American tune is just as well established a cliche but I have never seen it discussed here. It is a staple of cartoons. It starts with the drums BUM bum-bum-bum BUM-bum-bum-bum often followed by the TAN-tan tan-TAraran. Sometimes followed by the hand over the mouth hollering thing. Here is hoping that a Bugs Bunny fan will provide a link to an episode where it can be heard. Anyone any ideas as to where this came from? ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-standard-native-american-tune/470976/2 "2008-11-04T02:22:50Z")
> [@Sapo](#): > > It starts with the drums BUM bum-bum-bum BUM-bum-bum-bum often followed by the TAN-tan tan-TAraran. Actually, I think it’s bum-BUM-bum-bum bum-BUM-bum-bum and tan-TAN TAN-taraRAN. ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-standard-native-american-tune/470976/3 "2008-11-04T02:29:36Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > Actually, I think it’s bum-BUM-bum-bum bum-BUM-bum-bum and tan-TAN TAN-taraRAN. This is why I searched youtube for half an hour to have the sound. My searching skills suck. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-standard-native-american-tune/470976/4 "2008-11-04T03:06:47Z")
Isn’t it a part of a piece titled _In a Persian Garden_? ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-standard-native-american-tune/470976/5 "2008-11-04T04:10:53Z")
We did have a thread on this a while back, and I recall finding a cite that the tune originated with…_actual Native Americans_! It was apparently lifted from real war chants, incorporated into Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, and then made its way forward through our culture from there. When I have time I’ll try to find that thread, or my cite, but that may not be until Thursday. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-standard-native-american-tune/470976/6 "2008-11-04T04:20:11Z")
I thought it was Powerhouse, by Duran Duran. ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-standard-native-american-tune/470976/7 "2008-11-04T10:14:52Z")
> [@spoke-](#): > > We did have a thread on this a while back, and I recall finding a cite that the tune originated with…_actual Native Americans_! It was apparently lifted from real war chants, incorporated into Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, and then made its way forward through our culture from there. When I have time I’ll try to find that thread, or my cite, but that may not be until Thursday. I understand that the drum beat itself is a beat that is actually used by some Native Americans, some dislike it because it is very basic. Something like the cliche white song being “The Itsy Bitsy Spider”. ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-standard-native-american-tune/470976/8 "2008-11-04T10:17:51Z")
> [@LouisB](#): > > Isn’t it a part of a piece titled _In a Persian Garden_? John McCormack’s early 20th Century piece? ![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/jfEqR2M8RUc/maxresdefault.jpg)https://www.youtube.com/embed/jfEqR2M8RUc?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque I don’t think so. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-standard-native-american-tune/470976/9 "2008-11-04T10:26:18Z")
The “tan-TAN TAN-taraRAN” part is from Dvorak’s “From a New World.” ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-standard-native-american-tune/470976/10 "2008-11-04T10:45:45Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > The “tan-TAN TAN-taraRAN” part is from Dvorak’s “From a New World.” Interesting. [Dvorak said](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphony_No._9_(Dvo%C5%99%C3%A1k)): > [@](#): > > I have not actually used any of the [Native American] melodies. I have simply written original themes embodying the peculiarities of the Indian music, and, using these themes as subjects, have developed them with all the resources of modern rhythms, counterpoint, and orchestral color. So maybe the cite I found before was in error. (?) ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-standard-native-american-tune/470976/11 "2008-11-04T16:32:44Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > The “tan-TAN TAN-taraRAN” part is from Dvorak’s “From a New World.” I don’t have it right now, but it rings right. Would you happen to know what movement and ball park when in it? (I am trying to fish it from weirdo websites that don’t make it a fun hearing)