Bell Hammer Song

The Algonquin of Lacrosse

A Song Cycle of the Maritime Tribes of the Northeast

This fifth song cycle visits the culture of the Algonquin tribes of Northeastern America. The great Algonquin war game of lacrosse, or "the Little Brother of War," demonstrates the skills of tribal players with net and ball. The songs in this cycle celebrate the sport of lacrosse as mediator of tribal negotiations.

The consequences of the European settlements in North America, that is, homesteads, trading posts and missionary encampments, are written into the songs, speaking to unresolved problems of early tribal genocides and reservations as a pox (curse) of broken treaties. The first peoples of the North American continent asks questions which need to be answered. The correction of shared vision requires historical facts and tribal testimonies of the survivors. The "Indians" were the first pilgrims, thus, are our own very selves, our original faces, before the common era.

The songs also celebrate the sporting traditions of maritime society, even gambling, which was not mundane. With regard to the traditions of fishing and hunting, the native peoples only took game for their survival, not to be confused with a degraded sportsmanship, where animals are killed in confined habitats for the purpose of trophy displays alone. In the past, the wildlife always had a better chance than the hunter to succeed in the hunt. The indigenous peoples took their game with humility and reverence, offering prayers and thanksgivings to the animal spirits for their sacrifice.

Songs:

The Algonquin of Lacrosse

Dreaming the Hunt

Footpaths, Handholds

Smudge with Sage, Sweat with Smoke

On Gallows Tree

Manitou

The Rolling of Thunder

Thirteen Moons

Henry Thoreau

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References