NORTH AMERICAN INDIGENOUS MUSIC SEMINAR
UNIT 4 - IDENTITY AND DECOLONIZATION: INDIGENOUS NOW LANGUAGE RECLAMATION
Language carries culture.
DANCING ON OUR TURTLE’S BACK “Indigenous languages carry rich meanings, theory and philosophies within their structures. Our languages house our teachings and bring the practice of those teachings to life in our daily existence. The process of speaking Nishnaabemowin, then, inherently communicates certain values and philosophies that are important to Nishnaabeg being. Breaking down words into the “little words” they are composed of often reveals a deeper conceptual—yet widely held—meaning. This part of the language and language learning holds a wealth of knowledge and inspiration in terms of Aanji Maajitaawin [to start over; the art of starting over; to regenerate]. That is because this ‘learning through the language’ provides those who are not fluent with a window through which to experience the complexities and depth of our culture.” (p. 49)
DANCING ON OUR TURTLE’S BACK ➤ “Listening to the sound of our voice means that we need to listen with our full bodies—our hearts, our minds and our physicality. It requires a full presence of being. It requires an understanding of the culturally embedded concepts and teachings that bring meaning to our practices and illuminate our lifeways. In regenerating our languages, an enormous task in and of itself, we must also ask our Elders and fluent speakers to teach us through the language, using specific words as windows into a deeper, layered understanding. We must listen and take with us those sounds that hold the greatest meaning in our own lives and in our resurgence.”(p. 61)
INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES IN NA ➤ Canada now: 60 languages in 12 language families ➤ 75% are “definitely,” “severely,” or “critically” endangered (UNESCO) ➤ Cree, Inuktitut, and Objibwa (Anishnaabemowin) ➤ USA now: 100+ languages ➤ endangered ➤ Navajo = 50% of Indigenous population ➤ Mexico now: 100,000+ speakers = 15 languages ➤ Mayan, Uto-Aztecan languages ➤ Nahuatl = 1 million+ speakers
JEREMY DUTCHER ➤ Toronto-based composer, singer ➤ Wolastoq (Maliseet) ➤ Tobique First Nation (northern New Brunswick)
WOLASTOQIYIK ➤ Maliseet: “broken talkers” (Mi’kmaq) ➤ Wolatoq = “Beautiful River” ➤ agriculture: corn, beans, squash ➤ hunting, fishing ➤ gathering ➤ Wabanaki (“People of the first light”) Confederacy ➤ 1606-1862; 1993-
➤ “part composition, part musical JEREMY DUTCHER ethnography, part linguistic reclamation” ➤ album: Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa ➤ field recordings: early 1900s ➤ William H. Mechling ➤ Wolastoqey = language
“ “...the younger generations are not able to sing the Indian Songs, so that in all probability the music of the malecite [Maliseet] will die out with this generation.” -William H. Mechling (1913)
Jeremy Dutcher
JEREMY DUTCHER ➤ “Nipuwoltimk” ➤ “Pomok Naka Poktoinskwes” ➤ “Honor Song” ➤ George Paul : "This is a song that came to me while I was fasting for my people. The message in this song is for all people to work together and help each other the way our creator would want us to be as human beings here upon Mother Earth, and as children of our creator we must always have respect for each other. So join hands and honour the life you have with dignity because you are a part of the creators work. Show the world that love and forgiveness can bring about world peace.”
GLOBALIZATION OF HIP HOP
DECOLONIZATION “…the repatriation of land and life” (Tuck and Yang 2012)
“WORD: HIP-HOP, LANGUAGE, AND INDIGENEITY IN THE AMERICAS”- JENELL NAVARRO ➤ Process of decolonization: “1) disseminating a conscious pan-indigeneity through lyricism and alliance building, 2) retaining and teaching Indigenous languages in their songs, and 3) implementing a radical orality in their verses that revitalizes both Indigenous oral traditions/ storytelling and the early message rap of the 1970s and 1980s.” (p. 2) “I am intentional about my argument that the use of ancestral languages in Indigenous hip-hop be considered an act of decolonization. Ultimately, in order to decolonize the Americas ‘land and life’ must be returned. Significantly, ancestral languages are such an integral part of Indigenous life that the revitalization of language produces material e ff ects for Native peoples. In this way, I agree with Tuck and Yang, that the process of decolonization cannot remain relegated to the realm of discourse and metaphor. My understanding of decolonization, consequently, is that it is a process that involves both ideological work – for both the colonized and the colonizer – that Tuck and Yang seem to understand as the process of returning “life” to Indigenous people, and material self-determination or returning land and resources to those subject to settler colonialism. Thus, ancestral language acquisition for each generation defies linguistic genocide and maintains life in many ways such as communication with elders and ancestors.” (p. 4)
NAVARRO ON THE URBAN CONTEXT “Furthermore, these Indigenous artists like Tolteka lay claim to urban space in this music along with their Indigenous identities in order to disrupt past/present and rural/urban dichotomies. This is significant because post-racial discourse has ascribed Indigeneity to the past and the rural/reservation: meaning within the parameters of post-racial ideals, Indigenous people do not exist and, even if they are granted some level of existence, it is outside the bounds of modernity. Specifically, then, post-racial discourse has implied that not only are we beyond race, but we are particularly beyond any moment where racial pride and identity should matter. Thus, when Indigenous artists like Tolteka and Tall Paul overtly assert their presence, and do so in urban contexts, they suggest not only that race/ethnicity most certainly matters, but also that it cannot be relegated to a past and outside of the symbols of modernity and futurity: the urban center.” (p. 10)
TALL PAUL (PAUL WENELL, JR) ➤ Anishnaabe, Oneida ➤ Leech Lake Indian Reservation in Minnesota ➤ lives in Minneapolis ➤ “It was an identity struggle for me. I really didn’t know what being native meant when I was growing up. It had been washed out of my family, partly through forced assimilation. I would go to pow-wows and went to some of the sweats when I was a kid, but I was not around other native people enough to identify with it or take much pride in it. I think there’s a generational transition, and people my age are starting to take pride in it more. I hope to become more accustomed to the traditions and pass them along to my kids one day.”
Homelands of Anishinaabe and Anishinini, ca. 1800
“PRAYERS IN A SONG” Mii-wenji nagamoyaan Gichi-manido wiidookawishin ji-mashkawiziyaan (That is why I am singing) (Great Spirit help me to be strong) Nimishomis wiidookawishinaam ji- Mii dash bami'idiziyaan aabajitooyaang anishinaabe izhitwaawin (So that I can help myself) (Grand father help us to use the Native ways) Miizhishinaam zaagi'iiwewin mii-ji-bi-gikendamaan keyaa anishinaabe (Show us all love) bimaadiziwin Ganoozh ishinaam, bizindaw ishinaam (so that we'll know how to live the Native way/the good life) (talk to us, hear us) ➤ Q. How do the lyrics reflect the relationship between language and identity? ➤ Q. What is the significance of having English and Anishnaabewomin lyrics? ➤ Q. What is the significance of having educational tools like hip hop lyrics in the video?
MEXICA ➤ language = Nahuatl ➤ territory = valley of Mexico ➤ Teotihuacan ➤ Toltec ➤ Aztec
TOLTEKA ➤ LA-based Chicano (Mexica) rapper ➤ English, Spanish, Nahuatl ➤ What’s in a name? ➤ reject Spanish surname ➤ “tolteka” = artisan in Nahuatl
Liner notes (2008): This is the Map of Disturnell. It was graciously given to us by the Hopi Nation. It is the official map which was used for the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, when the U.S. purchased over half of México for $15,000,000 in 1848. Here, we see that “ Antigua Residencia de los Aztecas” [the ancient home of the Aztecs] is found in the area where Utah is located today, meaning, that according to this official document, this is our ancestral homeland. Noting this is in no way about returning the land to the Mexican government or anything of that nature, [because] they are in essence, just as European as the U.S. government. This is about acknowledging that we are native to the land currently found within the man made borders of this country. We are native to this continent, and we are not illegal aliens.
“DECIMAS” ➤ Si no sabian,/ La lengua es Nahuatl/ Una de las [sic] idiomas mas advanzadas/ Sagradas/ Que se habla de Aztlán/ Donde yo nací/ Hasta Nicaragua ➤ If you didn’t know/ the language is Nahuatl/ one of the most advanced languages/ sacred/ that is spoken from Aztlán/ where I was born/ all the way to Nicaragua
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