This one might need some explaining...

[grav_ity]

This is a sad story.

Once upon a time there was a native tribe in Canada who called themselves Wyandot. The Iroquoians called them Wendat. The French settlers thought that their hairstyle was reminiscent of a boar's bristles, hure, and called them the Huron Indians. Lake Huron, and the county I grew up in, is named for them.

The Wendat had the misfortune of getting caught on the wrong side of European Imperialism. The Jesuits corralled them, basically, most famously at St. Marie-Among-The-Hurons, which is north of Toronto, and attempted to convert them to Catholicism. About half converted. Smallpox crept into the camp, killing both Christian and non-Christians alike.

And then the English decided they'd rather have the Iroquois than a native group with French support, so they strongly encouraged the Iroquois to take them out. The Iroquois obliged them, wiping out entire settlements and showing mercy to none. North America has eight Catholic martyrs, and all of them are the Jesuits who were tortured. The Wendat were dispersed, the language nearly obliterated, and the culture shoved into such strange places as Oklahoma.

But there's a song.

Brébeuf wrote it in the Wendat language. He was the first (and probably only) European to master it fully. It was translated into French and English over the years. This version has different English lyrics than usual, but it's Heather Dale which only makes it more amazing.

Jesus your king is born, Jésu est né. Jesous Ahatonhia

This is Canada. Our beginnings. Our cultures. Our epic, epic failures. Our chance.


(um, if someone would rip that for me, I'd be eternally grateful)


ETA: Here is the album (sache8), if anyone (sache8) wants to have a gander (sache8).

Comments

[wojelah.livejournal.com]

That's just beautiful. Almost otherworldly.

[grav-ity.livejournal.com]

Man, the first time I heard it was in the middle of summer, in a crowded sweat lodge, sung by the native Miq'mak who play the Wendat at St. Marie, and I had CHILLS. I didn't hear the English until much later, and it's still as awesome (though it's often overdone), but this is just...stunning.

[sache8.livejournal.com]

Okay. It is imperative that you meet Tirzah when you come for the GORT because this song was ten seconds from being finished when I went... "Isn't that the same lady that sings that Mordred song that Tirzah introduced me to?"

Yup. It was. ;-)

Thanks for the link(s) and backstory. Beautiful!

[grav-ity.livejournal.com]

See, I think my problem is that I assume everyone has heard of Heather Dale because I assume that I learned everything from the internet. But it's not always true! I will play you as many of her songs as you can STAND (they're not all Arthurian), I promise. ;)

[azarsuerte.livejournal.com]

I've always loved that song, even though I knew only part of the story behind it. :-\ I love the way the story is transposed and the music is just so haunting. Gorgeous version of it; I may have to look into getting that album.

[grav-ity.livejournal.com]

I really love the English lyrics. I'm not sure I've ever heard a full version of the French. The Wendat one just destroys me every time.

The other songs on the album all look pretty good as well. Heather has a knack for blending songs, and she always goes with the original language where possible.

[mirabile-dictu.livejournal.com]

Very beautiful, and thank you for explaining the background. That is all new to me (a Californian).

[grav-ity.livejournal.com]

The English lyrics that I "grew up" with are more of a re-write in the same theme:

'Twas in the moon of wintertime
When all the birds had fled
That mighty Gitchi Manitou
Sent angel choirs instead
Before their light the stars grew dim
And wandering hunters heard the hymn

Jesus your King is born, Jesus is born
In excelsis gloria

Within a lodge of broken bark
The tender Babe was found
A ragged robe of rabbit skin
Enwrapp'd His beauty round
And as the hunter braves drew nigh
The angel song rang loud and high

Jesus your King is born, Jesus is born
In excelsis gloria

The earliest moon of wintertime
Is not so round and fair
As was the ring of glory

[ From: http://www.metrolyrics.com/the-huron-carol-lyrics-crash-test-dummies.html ]

On the helpless infant there
The chiefs from far before him knelt
With gifts of fur and beaver pelt

Jesus your King is born, Jesus is born
In excelsis gloria

O children of the forest free
O sons of Manitou
The Holy Child of earth and heaven
Is born today for you
Come kneel before the radiant Boy
Who brings you beauty, peace and joy

Jesus your King is born, Jesus is born
In excelsis gloria

...but I still adore them. It's just SO PRETTY. And sad.

[world-of-blade.livejournal.com]

AH! I see why you said that to me *note to self- look at your flist quicker*

Very awesome song, and very awesome explanation.

[grav-ity.livejournal.com]

:)

[world-of-blade.livejournal.com]

*running back in after listening to it for a second time*

Okay, it makes me almost cry. It is so lovely. Then when you know the story....*cries*

Thank you so much for sharing. :)

[grav-ity.livejournal.com]

Dude, I totally cry EVERY TIME I HEAR THE SONG. Whether it's in English or not!

[world-of-blade.livejournal.com]

Then I am in good company. ;D

Now I have to go look up everything Heather Dale has done.

[grav-ity.livejournal.com]

Man, she is AMAZING. I keep forgetting that I didn't learn about her from the internet. ;)

[eldanna.livejournal.com]

Would that make her less amazing?

See, I'm a useful friend!

[grav-ity.livejournal.com]

Oh, she's still amazing! ;) It's just that 90% of my obscure musical knowledge comes from the internet, so I always assume that everyone already knows about her when in fact they do not.

[eldanna.livejournal.com]

But she'd be thrilled to know that people are spreading the word.

She comes to Edmonton sometimes.

[grav-ity.livejournal.com]

I plan to keep checking!

[melyanna.livejournal.com]

Wow. That song is fascinating.

Oklahoma's history can be interesting at times because it's such an unnatural mix of tribes. Everywhere I've lived, there have been towns with Indian names that I first encountered in Oklahoma, and it's because they started somewhere and ended up all together there. This is a story I'd never heard before, but courtesy of Google I've learned that the Wyandotte nation in Oklahoma is actually not very far from where my parents met.

[grav-ity.livejournal.com]

Oh, so there's a reason it's Oklahoma? Was it just "outside" as of the late 1600's?

If you ever come to visit me (uh, in Ontario, obviously), I will take you to St. Marie-Among-the-Hurons. It's not always an easy history, but it's too important to sweep under the rug.

[melyanna.livejournal.com]

Yeah, there's a reason it's Oklahoma. The Indian Removal Act of 1830 essentially forced the vast majority of tribes east of the Mississippi to move west of it. A lot of tribes wound up in eastern Oklahoma and Kansas. Most of the focus of that act was on the five "civilized" tribes who were in Southern states, but it happened everywhere. Some tribes just went more easily than others.

[grav-ity.livejournal.com]

I figured it might be something like that. I know most of the Wendat nation died after the Iroquoian attacks (starvation and exposure for the most part), and their relocation to Quebec makes sense but I was fuzzier on Oklahoma.

(They're not really the same "tribe", but six groups that speak similar languages, so the Ontario one pretty much got wiped out completely at the end of the 1600s.)

[melyanna.livejournal.com]

It looks like the Wendat were settled for a while in southern Michigan and Ohio. As I said, most of the focus when you learn about Indian relocation is about the five civilized tribes getting kicked out of the South and the Seminole wars, but it did happen everywhere in the country.

[grav-ity.livejournal.com]

Hey, we were talking about google-fu and mine has, uh, failed me.

Do you think you could find the version of this song translated by Fr. H. Kierans? Just the words are fine, but if you happened to find the actual song, that would be AMAZING.

Edit: beyond the two verses on the Heather Dale site.

Edited again: never mind me! I'm an idiot who forgot to google by the lyrics instead of the title of the song. *head desk*

[emmy-roo.livejournal.com]

I've sung this one, and the story behind it made me cry. I think it's amazing that the story of Christ can be accessible to all people. I also love the Jesuits and their history, because they were one of the only religious groups who believed that Christianity and cultural traditions could walk hand in hand (which is why so many of them were martyred). If only other religious (and even secular) groups of the time were as broad-minded as the minority group of Jesuits who did work like this.

[grav-ity.livejournal.com]

I really do admire Father Brebeuf. He genuinely cared, I think, and had he known about disease and whatnot, I know he would have approached his mission differently. His death gave me NIGHTMARES when I was little, though.

[eldanna.livejournal.com]

If I knew you were at all interested, I would have let you borrow the CD after you discovered Heather. I've owned This Endris Night since it was released. Actually, I'm pretty sure it was one of the ones Peter Dale gave me before it actually came out.

I have NO IDEA where it is.

[grav-ity.livejournal.com]

I am buying it. At some point in the future. I don't know when exactly.

[lone-pyramid.livejournal.com]

(um, if someone would rip that for me, I'd be eternally grateful)

avi here.
mp3 here.

(I did something stupid and doubled the file extensions, so you'll probably have to rename them. Also, I am not in the mood for sad!songs, so I don't know if this actually worked. I can try again if it didn't.)

[grav-ity.livejournal.com]

Awesome, thank you. I'm at work, but I'll check them when I get home.

[emmy-roo.livejournal.com]

You just made my day. Thank you so much. I don't know you but I love you.

[lone-pyramid.livejournal.com]

Random love makes me gleeful. :D

(There's this free program called Any Video Converter. You can d/l stuff from YouTube, and -- as the name suggests -- convert from one file type to another.)

[emmy-roo.livejournal.com]

You may have just revolutionized my whole life.

[lone-pyramid.livejournal.com]

Merry Christmas? (Or whatever timely celebration you may observe.)

[emmy-roo.livejournal.com]

I'm down with Christmas! Right now, though, it's all about Advent and Chanukah.

[lone-pyramid.livejournal.com]

Happy Chanukah then! (As I am way unreligious, 'Advent' to me really just means 'advent calendar' which means chocolate. Thus, happy chocolate*!)

*no offense meant, of course. :) I am all for celebrate whatever the heck you want, as long as it doesn't hurt others.

[emmy-roo.livejournal.com]

Haha, no offense taken! I'm a deeply religious Christian (Catholic-leaning in my theology and approach to social justice, but liberal-Protestant in my views about church management) and my parents raised me with the knowledge and celebration that Jesus was a well-educated and pious Jew. So we often celebrated Jewish holidays. I lived on the south side of Chicago for the first nine years of my life, attended summer camp with all my friends at the local JCC, and went to Akiba Schechter day school as a young child, where my parents were so careful and respectful that my sister and I were by far the most kosher children there! I would very much like to raise my children celebrating other religions holidays, because I believe that most religions have more in common than they do separating them.

[lone-pyramid.livejournal.com]

Sounds like your parents had good heads on their shoulders. :)

I love to meet people who believe but who are not all, Thou shalt believe what I believe or go to hell! We were never raised with any particular religious beliefs so I've sort of cobbled together my own belief system, but as I said, I'm all for people believing in whatever they want as long as it doesn't cause harm to others... or try to force your beliefs on others. I get wanting to share all that is good and wanting people to live the best they can, but if someone doesn't agree, well, that doesn't interfere with your beliefs, does it? Live and let live, and all. :)

Heh. From Any Video Converter to a discussion about religion. You can find it all on LJ!

[meresy.livejournal.com]

I always liked that song, ever since learning it in Grade... 6? Something like that. We sang a version in my high school choir -- I think I can still sing the alto. :)

[colej55.livejournal.com]

That story is repeated over and over in the US and in places like Africa. So shameful! I have dear friends who won't consider Christianity because of missionaries who have helped to destroy cultures around the world.

I live exactly on the Trail of Tears and we have a mission cemetery full of native Americans who died along the way. It makes me both sad and angry. I love the Lord with all of my heart, but I don't always like Christians - especially those who forget the 2nd commandment to love their neighbors as themselves. Missions work is great if it doesn't make a culture or tribe vulnerable to another group. The goal is to help, not harm. Brébeuf obviously got it.

The song is lovely and haunting! Thank you so much for sharing it and the story. If the rips you received don't work, I'll do them for you. If there are other songs you want, just point the way. E-mail is good for that. ;)