ATMuse> The Music of Multicultural America 
 
from  ""Nimiidaa!" [Let's all dance!]: Music and Dance of the Northern Intertribal Powwow." by Christopher A. Scales and Gabriel Desrosiers, pg. 160-185
In The Music of Multicultural America, 

Edited by Kip Lornell and Anne K. Rasmussen

 

2015, The Northern Wind Singers.

This is an example of a “Word song,” which is a song that features a mix of vocables and lyrics in an indigenous language. In this case the language is Ojibwa or Anishinaabemowin. The song is most often sung for intertribal dancing. The “sacred circle” refers to the dance arena or “dance arbor” at a powwow grounds where all of the dancing takes place. Composed by Gabriel Desrosiers and performed by The Northern Wind Singers. From the CD album Bimaadiziwin, which is available for purchase or download at www.cdbaby.com.

 

Lyrics

Apii chii gosha naa gijikenaagosem ginaanimiyeg omaa giwiigwaaminaning 


Translated Lyrics

It is with great feeling that you look so good dancing here in our sacred circle.

The view of a grassy entrance with a large dancing area in the background in which a group of dancers in regalia stand in a circle and are watched by standing spectators.
The new dance arbor (the “sacred circle”) at the Mount Pleasant Powwow grounds. Photo by Christopher Scales.

Permission Information: Copyright - Northern Wind / Northern Wind (888295245951). This recording is used with the permission of Gabriel Desrosiers.

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