Week 6: Take a Musical Trip
For my musical trip, I decided to take a trip back to where I attended high school, Utqiagvik, Alaska. Also known as Barrow, my family and I have lived there for roughly 7 years and I have seen and listened to some great Iñupiaq music and performances. Living there gave me a great opportunity to see the value and cultural significance of music and dance. During any get together or celebration, multiple dance groups perform to drummers. While the music I have listened to does not necessarily speak any words but if they did it was usually Iñupiaq. It is made up of mostly chants and dance moves. The above video is at a celebration called Kiviq. This is a gathering and celebration that occurs every other year where a bunch of different cultural groups meet. All the other villages of the North Slope are invited to several days of singing and dancing, and sharing of food. Mostly, it means Iñupiat dance groups from all over the place, sometimes people even come in from Canada and participate