#tutelo

[hummingbee-lievable]

Song of the Day #10 (yayyyy, double digits!):

Mahk Jchi (Heartbeat Drum Song): Ulali, Pura Fé, Soni Moreno, Jennifer Kreisberg

Mahk Jchi tahm boo-ee

yahm pi-gih-dee

Mahk Jchi tahm boo-ee

kahn speh-wah eh-bi

Mahm-pi wah ho-ka yi nonk,

tah hond tah-ni kih-yee tai-yee

Ghee weh meh yee-tai-yee,

Nan-ka yaht yah moo-ni-yeh wah-jhi-seh

English translation:

Our hearts are full and our minds are good

Our ancestors come and give us strength

Stand tall, sing, dance and never forget who you are

Or where you come from

Track 2 on 'Music for the Native Americans', produced by Robbie Robertson and the Red Road Ensemble.

Fun fact: This compilation was created for the documentary 'The Native Americans'. It was Robertson's first time creating music inspired by his Mohawk heritage. His children show up in the album, with son on drums for a few of the songs, and his daughter singing backing vocals for 'Coyote Dance'. The language of the song is a mix of Tutelo and Saponi, which are dialects of the Sioux nation from the Ohio Valley.*

Personal blurb: I had a friend tell me years ago that I seem to be a morning song person, while they were a night song person. I'm not certain I buy into that perspective (because aren't we all a balance of everything?) but I came across this song marked 'Cherokee Morning Song' on YouTube (thank goodness for the hidden features the algorithm unroots) and fell in love with it; the whole album just followed suit.

I think mentioning Robbie Robertson last night got this stuck in my head this morning. 😋

To me, music is the perfect communal place to gather for cultural appreciation. How lucky we are to get to share in the joy this song brings.

*Reference:

Mahk Jchi - The Bird Sings

Mahk Jchi is a haunting song written by...

[nonlovesongoftheday]

Mahk Jchi (Heartbeat Drum Song) - Ulali

Mahk Jchi tahm boo-ee yahm pi-gih-dee Mahk Jchi tahm boo-ee kahn speh-wah eh-bi

Mahm-pi wah ho-ka yi nonk, tah hond tah-ni kih-yee tai-yee Ghee weh meh yee-tai-yee, Nan-ka yaht yah moo-ni-yeh wah-jhi-seh

Our hearts are full and our minds are good Our ancestors come and give us strength Stand tall, sing, dance and never forget who you are Or where you come from

"Mahk Jchi is a haunting song written by the Native American women’s group Ulali. The song is in a compilation of Tutelo and Saponi languages, now extinct dialects of the Sioux nation from the Ohio Valley. There is a commonly mistaken translation of this song widely circulated on the internet but the translation below has been confirmed by the artist. This song takes an investment in learning and is more complex for choral, oral-tradition learning, but do-able and worth it." - The Bird Sings

[all-fake-everything-blog]

[clatterbane]

Lawson describes the Tutelo as “tall, likely men, having great plenty of buffaloes, elks, and bears, with every sort of deer amongst them, which strong food makes large, robust bodies.” (source)

Just reminded of that quote again ;) Sure I posted it before, but I’m not great at consistent tagging and searching didn’t turn it up.

But, there’s my problem: not enough bear meat. To make you strong like bear! 😂

Not gonna lie, I really could use some of that these days. Shame it doesn’t work that way.

(Seriously, though, to repeat myself? Even the old-school scientific racists describe my folks as “Tall and broadly-built, robust,” with “a typically massive body build, and frequently tall stature". They’ve even got an Appalacid subtype–who knew? Now we’re just obviously lazy with bad diets causing high BMIs and health disparities. Fashions change…)