Everyone Here Spoke Sign Language: Hereditary Deafness in Martha's Vineyard

In an isolated community with high genetic risk of deafness (not as high as I thought-- I remembered it as 1 in 6, it was actually 1 in 155), everyone knew the local sign language, deaf people weren't isolated, and deafness wasn't thought of as a distinguishing characteristic.

I wonder whether societies like that do as much with music as societies without a high proportion of deaf people.