Thicke Blog 2: The Inuit of Alaska

 Guys, it's been quite a musical journey. We got to visit the amazing Native Americans, Africans, Arabic,etc, and dive deep into their music culture. Today is our last stop, and it's a big one. Let's take one more dive into the music culture of the Inuit. 

 Who are the Inuit?

    The Inuit are Indigenous people that are native to the arctic of North America, parts of Greenland and some have even been found in Russia. To some people, the term "Eskimos" is more familiar, but this term is pejorative to some Inuits (pejorative is disapproval or expressing contempt for those who may not know because I definitely didn't know) because they believe that word is an ethnic slur. But let's travel back some, about 8,000 years ago the first Inuits settled in the Arctic, but no one really knew they existed till 5,000 years ago. Because of the evidence left behind all those years ago we learned that they survived in closely connected villages. Hunted seals and whales to provide food, shelter, and clothing. And similar to the Native Americans, French and English explorers arrived and brought diseases, killing a lot of the Inuit people. This caused tension, even today between the Inuit and foreigners. Although the Inuit community wasn't entirely destroyed, in the  mid-20th century Canada and the US took measures to ensure the Inuit could preserve their language, culture, and history. The two countries' governments even gave land to the Inuit to help them rebuild their villages.

Oh and two more things that I always wonder about the Inuit, Do they live in Igloos? and Is Eskimo kissing a thing in their culture? Sooo Yes and Yes! Inuit would use homes made of ice and snow to help shelter them from the harsh cold, but in modern days most Eskimos live in houses, but igloos are still used for camping trips. Anndd Igloos are actually pretty good insulters of body heat, yes they melt a bit because of the sun and constant body heat, but after an Inuit leaves, they freeze up again. As for the Eskimo kiss, it is actually an Inuit way of greeting each other called a kunik Due to the climates Inuit live in, their nose and eyes are usually the only things exposed. Another theory, proven true was that Inuits put their noses closes to inhale the breath of a loved one. In their culture inhaling a lover's breath is erotic, (not gonna lie it's kind of romantic too, in a spicy way). And there's a chance their tongues could freeze if they exchange saliva. Sooo that could be a big part of it. 

Inuit Music 

    Traditional Inuit music is used for several purposes, for entertainment, a game, storytelling, and it's used in certain ceremonies. Their music is also all about drums, singing, and chanting. (very similar to Native American music, but with Inuit spicy). There are about five different categories in traditional Inuit music: Pisiit, Ayaya, Iviutiit, Katajjaq, Drum dancing.

Pisiit 

Pisiit is Ancient Inuit music that consists of chant-like songs telling the stories of survival, joy, resilience, and healing. These songs are how the Inuit tell their history and carry it through generations. They are their personal songs, that charter to each Inuit specifically.  Pisiit songs are also sung with only drum accompaniment.

Ayaya

Ayaya are songs meant for people to express themselves, to get out whatever was on their mind and turn it into a song. The songs are never written out, they're purely improvised according to the person's feelings and thoughts. A song that was personal to them and this song would often be shared during dinner time.

 Iviutiit

In Inuit Culture they do not express anger. They believe it is emotion only for very small children. Instead, they express their anger through songs of embarrassment called Iviutiit. Iviutiit songs are meant to poke fun at others, think of it like break dancing instead of fist fighting. They believe the funnier a song is about the person and the harder people laugh, then there are fewer chances evil spirits will could into your home, heart, and take over your life. (sadly couldn't find an Iviutiit song).

Katajjaq

Throat singing. Yup, you heard me, Katajjaq is throat singing in Inuit. This type of singing is traditionally performed by two women facing each other; One is the beat and the other the melody. Their singing is a mixture of husky chanting, low growling, and imitations of nature. It is also a competition between the two women. Whoever stops, laughs, or runs out of breath loses.

Though this type of singing may sound easy, it's not it takes years of training and practice, usually, girls begin singing when they are very young and are taught by their mothers or grandmothers. (also I would take a small look at the videos gives you some extra history and it's pretty cool!)

 

agile16mm

3 subscri

Drum Dancing

So I want you to imagine a dance circle. You're in middle school at the 8th-grade dance and someone starts a dance circle. Everyone is getting hyped up and jumps in the middle to show off their moves. THIS is what drum dancing is, but instead of the funky beats we're used to, the music is provided by a drummer and sometimes accompanied by Ayaya singers and the drummers are the music and the dancers. Usually, the audience waits for the drummer to step up, and if they don't, singers summon a drummer to the floor by singing their Pisiit song. Each drummer steps up shows off their moves and skills, then stops and makes room for the next. Originally, drum dancing was during gathers to celebrate successful hunts or to honor someone's death. And different tribes have different ways of drum dancing, some have several drums at once while others dance. 

Musical Instruments

In Inuit music, it only has two categories of instruments, Percussion and String. In Percussion the main instrument is a wooden drum called the qilaut. It's made from boiled and bent strips of wood, dehairded animal skin. and is usually struck by a qatuk, aka a wooden beater. The next instrument that has been recently introduced to the Inuit, but only a few groups play it, is called a Jew's Harp (do you remember from my Indian blog?). The other percussion instruments are just small drums and rattles, the Qilaut is the most used and popular in Inuit music. 

(Jew's Harp)

(Qilaut)

The string instruments are just two the Tautirut and the Kelutviaq. The Tautirut is basically you're violin but with an Inuit twist. And the Kelutivaq is a one-string fiddle/lute. It's usually played by the Inuit tribe called the Yup'ik of Nelson Island and southwest Alaska. (Sadly I also Couldn't find a picture or video of the Kelutivaq). 

(Tautirut)

That's all for now and the rest of the semester guys!

It has been a pleasure blogging for you all. 

P.S not sure why the font is red and there's a green dot at the top. I tried to get rid of them but they are determined to stay. Sorry about that :(

ok, now I'm gone.

Works cited: 

“PISIIT COURSE: INUIT ANCIENT SONGS FROM THE MASTERS!” PISIIT COURSE: INUIT ANCIENT SONGS FROM THE MASTERS! | Qaggiavuut!, 27 July 2018, www.qaggiavuut.ca/en/news/pisiit-course-inuit-ancient-songs-masters.

“Traditional Inuit Music.” Teacher as Researcher, 6 June 2017, leapintothevoidwithme.wordpress.com/2016/04/12/traditional-inuit-music/.

McMahon, Mary. “Who Are the Inuit People?” WiseGEEK, Conjecture Corporation, 17 Oct. 2020, www.wisegeek.com/who-are-the-inuit-people.htm.

Bednar, Ruth. “Eskimo Kiss: Origins and Myths.” Life Persona, Life Persona, 14 Feb. 2016, www.lifepersona.com/eskimo-kiss-origins-and-myths.

Writter, Staff. “Who Lives in Igloos?” Reference, IAC Publishing, 6 Apr. 2020, www.reference.com/world-view/lives-igloos-328f0224d34bc75c.

“Inuit Music.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 1 Mar. 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inuit_music. 

Cool Stuff 4: Indian Music

                                                                      

Namaste my fellow Valkyries!

(that's hello in Hindi)

                    

Can you guess where we're going in today's blog? Yes! it's Japan! Nah I'm kidding, it's totally India. I've always loved India's music and customs. Today we're digging a little bit deeper. I want to know what type of Indian music is out there, the exotic Indian instruments, and what goes on in Bollywood. Let's get into it.

Genres of Indian Music

    Indian music is divided into three main categories: Indian Classical, Folk, and Modern. So, classical Indian music is one of the most popular genres after western classical music. This music genre is also divided into two mainstream: Hindustani music, that is northern Indian tradition and Carnatic music that belongs to the South Indian traditions (Also if you'd like to know the differences between the two, there's a chart down below). Now, what are the characteristics of Indian Classical? Well, usually Indian classical music is monophonic (which is a melody and no accompaniment), and is melodically based on certain ragas and rhythmically talls. 

Difference Between Carnatic and Hindustani Music

Carnatic	Hindustani
72 ragas	6 major ragas
Instruments: Veena, Mridangam, and Mandolin	Tabla, Sarangi, Sitar,  and Santoor
Influences: Indigenous	Afghan Persian  and Arab
Only one particular prescribed  style of singing	Several sub-styles
Freedom to improvise	Scope to do variations  and improvise
Both Instruments and Vocal have  equal importance	More importance to vocal music

(Hindustani Vocals are more focused upon)

(Carnatic because of the Venna instrument the lady is playing)

    Next, we have Indian folk music. In folk music, there are seven different forms of it, but for my fingers sake I'm going to go into detail about three: bhangra, Rajasthani, dandiya (but if you wanna know the other four click here). But before we divide deep into these different forms, let me tell you a bit more about Indian folk music. Unlike, classical music, folk is centered around dancing, most of it is anyway. So In bhangra music, it's very upbeat and originated in Punjab, this form of music usually involves instruments like the dhol and dholak drums. Now, if you want a more western sound Rajasthani your guy. Rajasthani is all about symphony string, percussion, and string instruments, with a cup full of melodious renditions of folk singers. This form is also one of the most popular music forms in India. And last but not least is dandiya music. This type of music is the modern music side of folk that influenced traditional music. Below you'll see videos of that are dances and others are not. But try your best to listen to music in the dancing ones.

(Rajasthani)

( bhangra)

(Dandiya)

    And finally, we have modern Indian music, which is called Indipop, not Indie pop. Indie pop is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. While Indipop is Indian pop music. In 1966, pop music originated from a playback Singer named Ahmed Rusdi song called: Ko Ko Korina, in the South Asian region. And eventually, the music was adopted by India. In the 1980s Pop music in Indian started to become super popular guys like there were Pakistani singers, and siblings duos popping up, selling millions of copies. By the late 2000s, Indipop and Filmi music start competing. Due to the sudden rise of Film music,  many pop singers dropped their record labels and started singing for movies. As of today Indipop consist of remixing past Indian movie songs and adding new beats to them. Below you'll meet Chammak Challo, a famous Indian pop singer, enjoy :)

Interesting Indian Instruments

    So, there are A LOT of instruments in Indian and we've talked about a few in class, but really wanted to find some exotic ones and I found one that was pretty cool. The instrument is called the Morchang,  it's a mouth harp. The Morchang is mostly used in Carnatic music and categorizes under lamellphones which is just plucked idiophones. The instrument is made of metal, shaped like a horseshoe, and has two parallel forks that form the frame of the harp and the metal tongue in the middle. The instrument works by the musician hitting a little lever at the end of the harp, when it's hit it makes vibrations and the musician blows into it to make different pitches and rhythms. The act of playing this instrument is called the Morsing. Below you'll see a picture and someone playing the instrument. 

   

    

Bollywood

So for those who don't know what Bollywood is the name for the Indian movie industry. (you probably knew that tho) but something you may not know is that Bollywood movies are pretty sexist. Female Bollywood actress career usually starts slowing down when they hit their 30s or when they get married. Bollywood is all about showing the  "youthful" sexy bodies of women and 30 is considered old and undesirable in their eyes. Then in Bollywood movies, Heroines don't really exist. Women usually get roles that stroke the man's ego and aren't too loud, flirty, overweight, or funny. Commonly their characters fulfill the female stereotype: feminine, delicate, slim, sexy, quiet, a nice girl. Next, you have Bollywood movies that glorify domestic violence and controlling the women you love. The movies also justify hitting women as a way to display affection. (so affection am I right?) There are loads of other problems in Bollywood that revolved around sexism and even drug usage. It's pretty crazy guys, but their dances are off the chain. Below you'll see a picture from a Bollywood film, and a song that calls out the sexism in Bollywood :) enjoyyy

    

(Domestic violence) 

(this songs also says Vagina alottttt, so if you don't like it you should probably skip)

That's all folks... peace!

Works cited:

Shweta Mohtawww.technospot.in/about-shweta-mohta/A housewife with a passion for travel, et al. “Types of Indian Music.” Technospot.IN, 29 Aug. 2019, www.technospot.in/types-of-music-in-india/.

Admin. “Hindustani Music and Carnatic Music - Major Differences and Similarities.” BYJUS, BYJU'S, 9 Sept. 2020, byjus.com/free-ias-prep/difference-between-hindustani-and-carnatic-music/.

“Indian Pop.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 4 Nov. 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_pop.

“Morsing.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 7 Oct. 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morsing.

Subramanian, Saranya. “10 Times Sexism in Bollywood Proved That We Need to Smash the Patriarchy.” Mirchi Play, Your Guide to Entertainment Online – Music, Web Series & Movies, 9 Sept. 2020, mirchiplay.com/humour/10-times-sexism-in-bollywood-proved-that-we-need-to-smash-the-patriarchy/.