Boosey & Hawkes
This work is dedicated to the Indigenous children who were sent to residential schools in Canada and never returned home
Mijuajijik - children?
Kisi nputi’oqsip menaqaj nike - you can die properly now
Wtqutalneksip - you were buried?
aqq - and
Netulwa’lukwetip - alone?
nasik - but
Elasumulek nike - we honor you now?
Aqq - and?
Me Kisikasalulnuk – you can’t be wiped away
Kisi nputi’oqsip menaqaj nike - you can die properly now
Meskeyi ti - I am deeply sorry?
Tan wenik weskwia’tijik- those which remain?
Asite’lmkik ankite’tmenew - allow them to think about it?
meta - because
Kisi nputi’oqsip menaqaj nike - you can die properly now
Kesikawsistu’tipiknik - they spoke loudly as one?
Wskitqamu’k - on earth?
Ewlisutuwinen - hear our plea?
Eymutiekaptipik - we were here?
kisi Wtkutalinamitipnik - buried?
Mu awantasualinen - do not ignore us?
Kisi nputi’oqsip menaqaj nike - you can die properly now
When, several years ago, I had the opportunity to meet Mi’kmaq artist Michelle Sylliboy, the encounter marked me profoundly: in her I found a wounded yet strong woman who was open to dialogue.
Having received a commission from the OSM to write a piece to be performed alongside Gustav Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde, I immediately asked Michelle Sylliboy to collaborate with me. I was thrilled—and somewhat daunted—by the prospect of setting music to a Mi’kmaq text. Michelle went on to write a breathtaking poem inspired by the tragic discovery of the remains of Indigenous children who were taken from their families to attend residential schools in Canada, never to return.
Michelle’s poem served as the starting point for every aspect of my composition: both the musical and the semantic dimensions. I wanted to do justice to the Mi’kmaq language, which is melodically fluid, rhythmically complex, and full of unexpected accentuations in its melodic contours.
Without being silenced by rancor, the text harbours a tremendous spiritual force. In Mi’kmaq culture, death is seen as a continuation of life, but in order for life to continue after death, a proper burial is required. Having been robbed of these traditional burial rites, Michelle’s text enacts the mourning process through its tenderness, and offers hope that these children may proceed, in peace, to leave the Earth and embark on this ‘continuation of life.’
‘Listen to us, do not ignore us,’ pleads Sylliboy.
I would like to thank Michelle Sylliboy and soprano Emma Pennel for their generosity in helping me to understand the phonetics and agogics of the Mi’kmaq language.
I am also grateful to the Natoaganeg Language Committee who helped Michelle Sylliboy with the pronunciation of the Mi’kmaq Language: Lois Augustine, Madeline Ward, Josie Trevors, Freda Simon, Mary Ginnish and Carol Ann Francis
And finally, I would like to express my gratitude to the Residency in Postignano (Italy) where I began work on this piece in the summer of 2024.
-Ana Sokolovic