Silences So Deep by John Luther Adams

Author:John Luther Adams
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

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One winter morning I boarded a jet in Fairbanks at 45 below and flew north—across the Yukon River, the Brooks Range, and the Arctic coastal plain—to Utkiagvik (Barrow), where it was a balmy 33 below (although with the wind chill it was closer to 80 below). I’d come for Kivgiq, the Messenger Feast—three nights of traditional Iñupiaq drumming, singing, and dancing. Groups from all the Iñupiat villages in Alaska and four villages in Arctic Canada had come to the northernmost point in Alaska for this midwinter festival of feasting, gift giving, and celebration.

By this time, I knew a few Iñupiaq songs, at least roughly. Their angular melodic contours, asymmetrical rhythms, powerful unison choruses, and deep, explosive drums had become integral parts of the soundscape of my life. The rhythmic foundation of 2 + 3 or 2 + 2 + 3 had been my point of departure for the three drum quartets in Earth and the Great Weather. Sometimes called the Iñupiaq “heartbeat,” this asymmetrical pulse is both more sophisticated and more energizing than the steady 4/4 backbeat of rock ’n’ roll. After a strong dance group from the Arctic coast, even the best rock bands sound rhythmically square.

Kivgiq is not held every year. It occurs after a prosperous hunting season, when there is enough material wealth to allow for widespread gift giving. At the heart of it is Kalukaq (the Box Drum Dance)—an elaborate ceremony grounded in the myth of Eagle Mother, who brought the gift of music and dancing to the People.

Before the dancers enter, two men bring out a tall extension ladder, which they prop against the rafters. One of them climbs the ladder and lowers a rope that’s already been hung in place. A third man brings out the box drum and ties it to the rope, where it hangs, swinging freely. The drum is made of plywood, about one foot by one foot by three feet in dimension. It’s painted bright blue and yellow. The top is finished with jagged edges (representing mountain peaks) and adorned with a single eagle feather.

The drummers, singers, and dancers enter, chanting in unison to the steady clicking of sticks on the rims of the drums. The box drummer sits on a chair facing the wooden drum, his back to the audience. He wears a headdress made from the head and wing feathers of a loon. Several young male dancers take their places sitting on the floor, facing him.

The ensemble of twelve frame drummers (all men) sits in a single, long row. The drummers are dressed in bright blue qaspaqs. Most of the women, in vibrant red, sit in three rows behind the drummers. But several younger women stand facing the box drummer, holding long wands tipped with feathers.

When everyone is in place, as the chant continues, the frame drummers begin playing full force, until the box drummer cuts them off with a wildly irregular beat. In silence, he begins an elaborate series of gestures. He bows forward from the waist, extending his right arm above his head, full length on the floor.

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