“Dogs don’t sing that well. Cats do.”: Sound, Music, and the Environment in Mi’kmaw Expressive Culture. Tulk, J. E. In July, 2011. abstract bibtex Sound, music, and the environment are inextricably linked in Mi’kmaw (First nation in eastern Canada) culture. As Sable has observed, many Mi’kmaw songs “mirror the sounds, rhythms and features of nature, both with words and onomatopoeically” (1996, 259). Some Mi’kmaq assert that their traditional songs were learned from birds (Wallis and Wallis 1955), while others today look to animals to inspire new creations. In Mi’kmaw legends and myths, creatures of all orders (whales, squirrels, and even clams) communicate by “singing.” The term welta’q, often used in relation to music, actually means “it sounds good” and therefore encompasses a much broader range of sounds than common in western conceptions of music. In this paper, I examine sound, music, and the environment as they appear in Mi’kmaw expressive culture. I trace the origins and explanations of traditional songs (and their related dances), while also probing artistic expression by creatures and forces of nature as described in oral sources (for example, earthquake and thunder “dancing”). Rather than analyzing these texts as examples of mimicry or anthropomorphism, I question what they tell us about artistic communication between creatures in the natural environment and humans, how conceiving of them as such could impact environmental studies. Drawing upon conversations with and presentations by traditional singers, I begin to develop a hierarchy of animals according to their singing abilities and their value in the creation of new compositions. Drawing on Sable’s (1996) work regarding the use of traditional songs in science curriculum, I then consider how traditional and modern musical compositions promote environmental awareness and “careful listening,” while encouraging stewardship for the land.
@inproceedings{tulk_dogs_2011,
title = {“{Dogs} don’t sing that well. {Cats} do.”: {Sound}, {Music}, and the {Environment} in {Mi}’kmaw {Expressive} {Culture}},
abstract = {Sound, music, and the environment are inextricably linked in Mi’kmaw (First nation in eastern Canada) culture. As Sable has observed, many Mi’kmaw songs “mirror the sounds, rhythms and features of nature, both with words and onomatopoeically” (1996, 259). Some Mi’kmaq assert that their traditional songs were learned from birds (Wallis and Wallis 1955), while others today look to animals to inspire new creations. In Mi’kmaw legends and myths, creatures of all orders (whales, squirrels, and even clams) communicate by “singing.” The term welta’q, often used in relation
to music, actually means “it sounds good” and therefore encompasses a much broader range of sounds than common in western conceptions of music.
In this paper, I examine sound, music, and the environment as they appear in Mi’kmaw expressive culture. I trace the origins and explanations of traditional songs (and their related dances), while also probing artistic expression by creatures and forces of nature as described in oral sources (for example, earthquake and thunder “dancing”). Rather than analyzing these texts as examples of mimicry or anthropomorphism, I question what they tell us about artistic communication between creatures in the natural environment and humans, how conceiving of them as such could impact environmental studies. Drawing upon conversations with and presentations by traditional singers, I begin to develop a hierarchy of animals according to their singing abilities and their value in the creation of new compositions.
Drawing on Sable’s (1996) work regarding the use of traditional songs in science curriculum, I then consider how traditional and modern musical compositions promote environmental awareness and “careful listening,” while encouraging stewardship for the land.},
author = {Tulk, Janice Esther},
month = jul,
year = {2011},
keywords = {interspecies, musique?}
}
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Some Mi’kmaq assert that their traditional songs were learned from birds (Wallis and Wallis 1955), while others today look to animals to inspire new creations. In Mi’kmaw legends and myths, creatures of all orders (whales, squirrels, and even clams) communicate by “singing.” The term welta’q, often used in relation to music, actually means “it sounds good” and therefore encompasses a much broader range of sounds than common in western conceptions of music. In this paper, I examine sound, music, and the environment as they appear in Mi’kmaw expressive culture. I trace the origins and explanations of traditional songs (and their related dances), while also probing artistic expression by creatures and forces of nature as described in oral sources (for example, earthquake and thunder “dancing”). Rather than analyzing these texts as examples of mimicry or anthropomorphism, I question what they tell us about artistic communication between creatures in the natural environment and humans, how conceiving of them as such could impact environmental studies. Drawing upon conversations with and presentations by traditional singers, I begin to develop a hierarchy of animals according to their singing abilities and their value in the creation of new compositions. 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