This
journey really began in 2002 with the recording of
the ANCESTORS album. The music featured original archive
recordings of Siberian Arctic tribal peoples. These
unique songs and chants captured our imagination and
our respect.
Early in 2007 we contacted RAIPON (the Russian Association
of Indigenous People of the North) to discuss a concert
tour in September. We learned that they were running
the second Regional Expo at the All Russia Exhibition
Centre in April.
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St
Basils Cathedral, Moscow |
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It
was a major journey to even find the exhibiton hall
in the huge VDNK park. Once we had arrived we found
an amazing selection of craft, carrvings, clothes, instruments
and CDs brought from all over Siberia. The tribal peoples
present included Korjak, Even, Chukchi, Selkup, Nanaicy,
Tuvan, Saami and Altai. We learned that some of the
cultures are thriving but that there is a constant threat
from government and international corporations aiming
to exploit the natural resources of the tribal lands. |
Even
drummers and dancers |
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There
were some wonderful performances of drumming and chanting.
It was interesting to see that many of the performers
were young people obviously taking great pride in
their ancient musical heritage. In one performance
the young drummers were joined by a grandmother who
danced with as much passion and joy as she would have
done in her youth. |
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Even
grandmother dancing |
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Carolyn
with Koryak grandmother |
Carolyn
drums while the grandmother dances |
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We
felt quite nervous performing our music to the tribal
people. We had some words translated into Russian
explaining why we were there and what lay at the heart
of our music. Carolyn sung a song in Russian called
'People of Home'. We are still not sure if anyone
understood her accent! We finished with 'Legend of
the Solar Tambourine' from the Ancestors album and
dedicated it all to tribal people present. |
Performance
at the event |
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There
were many extraordinary individuals at the event.
Umka (which means polar bear) is a Chukchi hunter
and performer now based in Moscow. He played drums
with us on 'Solar Tambourine' and afterwards spoke
with us about his life. After exchanging gifts, he
offered to send us a DVD containing instructions of
how to prepare a whale carcass! |
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Umka,
Chukchi drummer and dancer |
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Of
all the performers, the most outstanding voice belonged
to Tatiana from the Nenet tribe. She is a famous singer
and has performed in New York for the United Nations.
We presented her with a gift of a drum stick. This
stick was decorated with hundreds of threads, each
one representing a prayer or good wish and tied by
people who attended our concert in Hitchin just before
we travelled to Russia. This was intended as a blessing
between our land and hers. We felt honoured to have
had the opportunity to meet these wonderful people
from the edge of the world. |
Nigel
& Carolyn present Tatiana with a drumstick |
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We
arrived in Russia equipped with only about four Russian
phrases that we could remember. However we were able
to communicate with people and understand something
of their lives thanks to the generosity and patience
of some English speakers. A special thankyou goes
to Ruslan Alikulov, a journalist who has worked extensively
in Siberia and who kindly spent much time helping
us to understand these cultures. Some of the above
pictures were also taken by him.
We were able to organise concerts for our return to
Moscow in September. Details will appear soon on this
site and we look forward to meeting our friends again.
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Carolyn
with our friend & interpreter, Ruslan |
Information
in English can be found on the RAIPON web site - www.raipon.org
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