THE SILVER DEER TOUR

Nigel Shaw and Carolyn Hillyer
with singer Tatyana Lar and translator Oksana Kharouchi
from the Nenets tribe in Yamal Province, Siberian Arctic.

Following a very successful concert tour during July 2009 with Tatyana Lar from the Siberian Nenets tribe, it is now possible to buy a CD of her traditional and contemporary songs. All proceeds from the sales of this album are sent to Tatyana.

We would like to thank all those who came to the concerts and workshops, and who made both Tatyana and Oksana feel so welcome. Since her return to Siberia, Tatyana has let us know that her visit to England 'was the best concert tour of her life' and she sends her thanks to everyone for having given her the opportunity to present something of the Nenets culture to audiences in England.

Our tour with Tatyana and Oksana grew from a meeting in Moscow during 2007 at the gathering of Northern Indigenous Peoples. With the help of Russian journalist Ruslan Alikulov, we made our first connection with Tatyana and, over the following two years, together we shaped a plan for her to travel to the UK to present her work. We encountered many administrative problems and delays along the way but with the support of the Department of Interregional and International Relations in Yamal, and the last minute help of staff in the Moscow British Embassy, Tatyana collected her entry visa on the way to the airport...three days later we were performing the first concert of our tour!

This was a rare and special opportunity to experience Nenets culture at close hand. With Oksana providing beautiful and lively translations, we heard ancient and traditional songs from the reindeer herding tribes of Siberia as well as some of Tatyana's own original work. During the talks and workshops we learned about daily life on the tundra, costume and craft traditions, folk medicine and family rituals. We learned to sing some songs in Nenets and tasted a special tea brewed from birch burr that has been ground and roasted in flame. During the women's culture day on Dartmoor we sewed traditional needle cases using thread we had made from reindeer sinew.

During a tour that witnessed many extraordinary moments, highlights included Tatyana singing a Nenets rap in the storm-swept marquee on Dartmoor; the demonstration around the roundhouse fire of how Nenets women use hot iron pans, spit and steam to clean both homes and bodies; all four of us beating fast drums and weaving together Nenets and English voices on the dance song 'Solar Tambourine' (from the Ancestors album) and the beautiful connections that happened between many of us that came to participate in these events, connections that bridge the vast distances of land and politics and culture.

Below is a selection of photos from the tour taken by Nigel Shaw,
Cedar Shaw, Tony Arihanto, Sue Murphy and others.

Songs from my heart CD £11