Indigenous Language Songs

Take a listen to some beautiful music from the Amazon rainforest and learn about the people and a recent film from this area. 

🎶 The song is a chant from Yube, the son of Ninawa Pai da Mata. Ninawa Pai da Mata is a well-known Chief of the Novo Futuro Village, of the Huni Kuin people in Acre, Brazil. He is a respected knowledge keeper, talented musician, and recognized in many countries for his healing work through medicine.

 🎬 The film is called Eskawata Kayawai - The Spirit of Transformation. It’s about the Huni Kuin people experiencing cultural and spiritual renaissance after decades of slavery during the rubber plantation era. They were forbidden to speak their language, marked with numbers, and couldn't live their culture. "It took more than 20 years of hard work, prayers, and cultural strengthening undertaken by the spiritual leader Ninawá Pai da Mata so that…

Take a journey to the land of the Mapuche People and the language of Mapudungun!

Gonzalo Luanko, known as "Luanko", is an urban artist who started in the hip-hop culture as a teenager. He is a practising history teacher who has released at least 5 albums. “His discography contains an attractive lyrical work in verses that alternate from Spanish to Mapudungun, rescuing the native language and delivering the message to new generations for the reconstruction of the Mapuche culture.”

This song is called Trapi and comes with a great beat and an artistic, traditional video. Trapi is a chili pepper used “to protect the house from evil forces, to clean spaces with its smoke, to warm the body in the face of the cold, to give flavor to meals. The chili pepper has a deep meaning for our culture, instead of gold metal chains, in our music we use Trapi…

Try something different with a short video that breaks down some amazing language attributes coming from Eastern South Africa!

It’s 2 minutes and 48 seconds long. I got to the 2-minute mark before my mind was blown and I couldn’t repeat it. How far do you get? 🤔

Read more here: Man Demonstrates How Clicks Work in the Zulu Language

The song is called ‘Mother Earth’ and has no lyrics but uses traditional music from the Andes and a video that speaks for the land and life there. Wuauquikuna is the name of the group and means ‘brothers’ in Quechua. The brothers from Ecuador have devoted their lives and been inspired by folklore music. Their favourite instruments include “Quena, quenacho, chinese flute, zampoñas, rondador, panflute, toyos.” They’ve spent decades travelling, preforming, and sharing their music and culture with the world.

You can learn more about them here: wuauquikuna-official.com

Or listen to more music here: Wuauquikuna Official - YouTube

This creative song and video is by Beatrice Deer! ˚*༓☾ Beatrice Deer was born in Quaqtaq, Nunavik, Québec, and is a singer-songwriter now based in Montréal. She has won several awards and has just released her 7th album. Her website says she is half Inuk and half Mohawk and she sings in 3 languages: Inuktitut, English, and French. This song is called 'The Storm’ and comes with poetic lyrics listed in all 3 languages.

Beatrice released her 7th studio album just a few days ago; a children's album of traditional Inuktitut songs! It’s called 'Little Songs' and includes 15 traditional Inuktitut folk songs. She says it’s “a way to preserve musical traditions and share them with future generations.”

You can listen to a 1-minute interview and sample of the album here: Beatrice Deer releases new album of children's songs in Inuktitut | CBC.ca

Or learn more here: https://beatricedeerband.com/