Filling in the Spaces Between Growls/Breathes/Gasps

Listen to the gorgeous song "Uja" by Tanya Tagaq as you read this poem. The music video for this song is also extremely beautiful, in my opinion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCuayGvy3i8

:00-:06   Like ticking clocks, 

               We gaze at each other, 

               Back and forth.

:07-:16    There is heat rising between us, in this frigid space--

                It is ours to crawl inside, a mutual need.

:17-:23    C'mon, no need to be afraid. 

                I'm waiting. 

:24-:33    Lull into the respite of my tune;

                I'm not trying to seduce you, 

                Since we are one, after all. 

                Don't worry. I know what to do. 

:34-:41    I don't want the beast to become of you

                Any more than you do.

                If you listen to me now,

                Your spirit will know no more fear

                In letting go of its balloon.  

:42-1:06  This charge between us works like lightning.

                You and I can't hear anything else

                Besides the push of predation and the pull 

                Of another body.

1:07-1:13 We are the same; can't you hear it?

                Extracting emotion from sounds and meaning from loss, 

                There is always something to do, 

                 Somewhere to go. 

1:14-1:46 It's easy to drift away to an igloo
                Where your worries can mingle in a cramped body,
                But as the Highway of Tears is no place for an Inuit,
                So is the demon world no place for a seal.
1:47-1:54 Stay here, still, in the sensations of this moment.
1:55-2:02
                This part is over now.
                I will see you again, at the next hunt.
2:03-2:36 You have been so good to me,
                And I will fulfill your sacrifice.
                Uja,
                Means
                More
                Than
                Blood.
2:37-2:43 Though your skin is what makes the earth glow down below,
                Your soul is most precious.
2:44-2:49 Drink snow, you never truly go.
           
___________________________________
 

About my interpretation of the song:
     The song "Uja" doesn't have words, so I decided it would be fun to try to do a close listen of the song to derive a poem from the sounds! "Uja" refers to seal skin, which is a prime source of income among Inuit people. As someone who prefers not to eat the flesh of animals, I wrote this poem to try to understand why people of animist belief systems choose to engage in the killing of other species. Traditionally, Shamans perform specific rituals when hunting. They used charms and dance to communicate with the animal and would make offerings to the spirit. This practice of respect would increase the chances of the spirit returning in the body of another animal who would be willing to sacrifice itself for the hunt again and decrease the chances of the spirit reappearing as a demon. For seals in particular, shamans would feed it melted snow to prevent it from going thirsty. Inuits also believed that the souls of sea mammals resided in their bladder.
      I don't believe that humans can convince any person or animal that their death is justified in the hunting process unless that human and person or animal has an extremely intimate relationship in which the value of one life (the hunter) is understood to be more crucial than the other. However, in aboriginal cultures of colder climates where harvesting plants is difficult, treating the animals that must be hunted for food with such profound respect, even if the animals do not grasp this respect, is especially noble.

Why this song?
     Since stumbling upon the musical tradition last night, I've been obsessed with throat singing, from the Inuit tradition in particular. In aboriginal nations of parts of Canada/Greenland/Iceland, this type of sound making developed as a way for women to pass the time while men were out hunting. Two women would face one another holding each others' arms, one starting out with a rhythmic breathing pattern, and the other improvising over this pattern to produce sound in between the gasps. The first person to lose their breath or start laughing would lose the game or competition.
     Tanya Tagaq is unique in that she is a native Inuit who did not grow up with the throat singing tradition, yet has developed to make a musical career out of her talent. Aboriginal peoples of Canada have only obtained recognition of their rights since Section 35 of the Constitution Act was legalized, and throat singing was banned under Catholic priests for almost a century. Now, throat singing is slowly being revived as a way to honor ancestral culture. Tagaq, while surrounded by Inuit lifestyle in Cambridge Bay of the indigenous territory of Nunavut, Canada, grew up listening to Western rock and punk music, and she discovered throat singing in high school.
     I am so fascinated by the connection between throat singing and nations that experience cold climates (throat singing is characteristic of Mongolia and Siberia as well). During class, the topic of winter and climate has come up numerous times, and I can't help but smirk because I frankly adore winter. Over the past few weeks, I have become so much more enamored with the idea of living in a place where it is cold and snowy all the time. Perhaps it has something to do with the work ethic (as Izzy mentioned) of people who must prepare for a harsh winter. The notion of coping with nature's challenges and the relationship between human and animal spirits is prevalent among Native American and First Nation spiritual accounts, which I have been reading about for my independent project.