tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5086026991280831425.post8720151865245577737..comments2024-03-18T11:38:13.384-02:30Comments on Elfshot: Dorset Drums: A 1500 year old song?Timhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11473674521424237610noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5086026991280831425.post-3029358718208078472014-02-22T11:23:43.730-03:302014-02-22T11:23:43.730-03:30It is interesting, isn't it? I agree, the Dor...It is interesting, isn't it? I agree, the Dorset deserve to have their story remembered and told, even though they aren't around to do so with their own stories, songs, and voices. If this is a piece of written music, whether its secular or religious in nature, I think the Dorset deserve recognition for that.Timhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11473674521424237610noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5086026991280831425.post-82301724318243168472014-02-22T01:04:55.699-03:302014-02-22T01:04:55.699-03:30Incredibly interesting. It's a sensitive topic...Incredibly interesting. It's a sensitive topic but worth pursuing because there's something admirable and powerful about resurrecting a sound that's been silent for over a thousand years. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02356255347965654646noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5086026991280831425.post-50203277789779605182014-02-21T19:06:26.062-03:302014-02-21T19:06:26.062-03:30That's a good point. I should have provided a...That's a good point. I should have provided a bit more context. The people who made these drums belonged to a distinct cultural group who lived in the Arctic prior to the arrival of the Inuit. Archaeologists call them Dorset and the Inuit called them Tunit. Unfortunately, the Tunit have disappeared and have no descendants to tell their stories. The ideas that I mentioned in this blog post and the videos about Dorset shamanism aren't direct accounts of their religion from Dorset sources, but projections and interpretations made by archaeologists and art historians as a way to understand the material culture that the Dorset/Tunit left behind.<br /><br />In the specific case of Button Point, the nearest living community is Pond Inlet. Inuit living in Pond Inlet saw sites eroding in their area, including Button Point, and brought artifacts to the local priest, Fr. Guy Mary-Rousselière, who acted to salvage the sites in the Pond Inlet area as best that he could. Many of the artifacts collected by Mary-Rousseliere are now cared for in the Canadian Museum of History. Unfortunately, Father Guy and many of his notes from his years of excavation were lost in a fire in 1994. <br /><br />I don't have any specific knowledge that would have belonged to Dorset/Tunit shamans, only a general understanding of the sort of role and expectations of a shaman within any shamanistic culture. Archaeologists have been puzzling over the meaning of Dorset art for decades, but unfortunately there are not any Dorset shaman around to ask for guidance. I wish I could ask a Dorset shaman what those tick marks on the drum mean. Maybe they would tell me or maybe they wouldn't. Maybe they'd tell me a story that they'd think I'd like to hear, that might be the truth or might not be. Still, it is one of the frustrating things about trying to understand the Dorset culture that there are no people to ask why they lived the way they did and why they made the peculiar things that Inuit and archaeologists find on the land today.<br /><br /><br />Timhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11473674521424237610noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5086026991280831425.post-41596976457466088212014-02-21T18:26:47.826-03:302014-02-21T18:26:47.826-03:30Very interesting ...I can see your passion for thi...Very interesting ...I can see your passion for this Im hoping before you shared this sacred information you were given permission from the First peoples...It always great practice and shows them respect ...some First peoples groups are very cautious about sharing sacred songs, items etc with anyone..especially when it involves shaman or medicine women or men ..ty <br /> :-)<br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16291443208796989281noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5086026991280831425.post-8094825241765638922014-02-21T11:57:36.240-03:302014-02-21T11:57:36.240-03:30I think you are right. They do seem like the most...I think you are right. They do seem like the most likely areas to receive the most pounding over the lifetime of the drum, so damage in that area makes sense.Timhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11473674521424237610noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5086026991280831425.post-91410561683559376802014-02-21T11:52:36.412-03:302014-02-21T11:52:36.412-03:30The locations of the damaged area on the frame of ...The locations of the damaged area on the frame of the drum, at the [possible] '4 tick marks', was the area of the drum I most commonly hit with the stick when I just picked it up to play.LoriWhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04450142685082437734noreply@blogger.com