T. PATRICK CARRABRÉ

2.     Kwis na xwey (Birth): The title, “when you were born”, conveys the belief that birth is sacred because we all come from the water found in our mother’s womb.

 

3.    Shúkw’em (Ceremony): In Coast Salish communities, shúkw’em (spiritual cleansing) is often performed in different contexts by women who brush or cleanse with wet cedar boughs, otherwise known as xwip’i7án in the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh language.

4.    Slúlum (Song): Traditionally, family members owned water songs and these songs were passed on to teach cultural values and beliefs. The words lúlum (to sing) and slúlumcht (our song) signify the purpose of song in building relationships and teaching water ethics. Personal power songs are often received when Coast Salish people are in or around water.

5.    Úxwumixw (Identity): While water teaches us about identity in terms of the village and family from which someone comes, it also shows us our place in the world. The phrase i7xw wa méymeýem (everything is a ripple) exemplifies that human beings are not dominant over the natural world – we are but a ‘ripple’.

 

Métis composer T. Patrick Carrabré was commissioned to write the musical score with text in the Squamish language chosen, gifted, and taught to Elektra by Rebecca Duncan.

This was a reconciliation project by Elektra. I strongly encourage you to watch not only the 28-minute music video but also the Listener’s Guide, which gives great depth of cultural context and explains our process.  These and a 17-minute Squamish Language Pronunciation Guide will be available permanently and free on the Elektra YouTube channel.

Jeanette Gallant and Mi’kmaq filmmaker Shelley MacDonald created the storyboard, and filmmaker Mike Southworth of Collide Entertainment accompanied the choir to various Metro Vancouver locations as guests from the Coast Salish and Interior Salish cultures shared their knowledge and world views on the importance of water and the role of Indigenous women water stewardship.

Don Harder and Grant Rowledge captured the audio recording, following which Southworth directed the creation of the video. Each movement is introduced by one of Elektra’s First Nations collaborators in terms of what water teaches about relationships to the land, each other, and to ourselves.

Elektra is grateful in the creation of this work for the contributions and indigenous teachings of Rebecca Duncan (Tsitsáyxemaat), Squamish; Mary Jane Joe (Nk’xetko), Interior Salish, Elder; Nadia Joe, Interior Salish (Mother’s side) and southern Tutchone-Tlingit, specifically the Crow Clan of the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations (Father’s side); Candice Halls-Howcroft, Squamish; Faye Halls (Yeltsilewet), Squamish, Elder; Shelley MacDonald, Mi’kmaq “Ugpi’Ganjig” (Eel River) and Scottish; Harrison Dobos (Binkïca), Champagne and Aishihik; Cheyenne Halls-Howcroft, Squamish; and Bob Baker (S7aplek), Squamish, Elder.