Abenaki Song a metaphor for cultural recovery
Thursday July 2, 2009
Jane Lindholm
Colchester, VT
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The song Kwawtam is performed here by Abenaki singer Marge Bruchac, a historical consultant and a traditional Abenaki singer with a PhD in Anthropology. She's joined by her husband Justin Kennick, and the song was written by her nephew Jesse Bruchac.
Marge Bruchac says,"This song, roughly translated into English from Abenaki, asks the question, "Toni alonsan?" meaning, "where are you going?" I see the prayer to the ancestors ("Wlioni, nokomes," etc.) in the midst of this song as a metaphor for Abenaki cultural recovery, in the sense that the answer is, "We are going home."
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