Beyond
Beadwork
Soundscapes
“In thinking through the relations between law and sound it is important to attend to both the physical/material as well as the cultural aspects of a soundscape – that is, it is both a world and a culture constructed to make sense of that world.”
(Ruth Buchanan & Jeffrey G Hewitt, 2017)
I have long been curious about how sound interacts with law and learning, ever since my first reading of Ruth Buchanan and Jeffery Hewitt’s piece quoted above. Emerging research in the field of acoustic jurisprudence speaks to both my mind-knowledge and my heart-knowledge, and compliments my understanding of music often used as a vehicle for carrying and transmitting Indigenous legal knowledge.
Popular music, meanwhile, is often woven into both my research ceremony and my teaching practice.
Song lyrics from Taylor Swift to Joni Mitchell punctuate my academic writing, and music fills my classrooms.
In the summer of 2019, one of my Learners issued a moratorium on fiddle tunes in our community spaces, having apparently reached a John Arcand auditory saturation point. I make no apologies – I have said before and I will say it again, if my soul were a song it would be the Teardrop Waltz.
Left without a soundscape for our Thursday morning beading circles, we embarked on the collaborative creation of a playlist. Every week participants were invited to add a song to the list that ultimately grew to over eight hours of music reflecting the tastes, moods, and feelings of the Beauty of Beaders at that moment in time. I invite you to listen to the sounds of beading circle here:
March 19, 2020 I launched a challenge
to our community to develop a comforting community playlist to sustain us during what we understood at the time to be the following two weeks of quarantine.
Beyond Twitter, we activated the Faculty listervs and also took requests via Instagram and text message. What emerged was a beautiful auditory experience that lasts over nine hours. You can engage with the soundtrack of the first days of pandemic isolation, #LawWithHeartHibernatesForHealth, here.
Walking Together
Drum Collaboration
My first foray into drum making was a humbling and rich learning process that engaged my children, leadership in my Faculty, Learners, and alumni.
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I got a head start by purchasing a drum-making kit from Tribal Spirit Music. It was, in fact, an interaction at a pow wow with the owners that got me to thinking about drum making in the first place.
My children participated in preparing the bits and bobs, and eventually I brought my bin of wet hide to the office where I worked with the Dean to create the drum. While she ultimately sounded fantastic, many lessons were learned about stretching, lacing, and manipulating the hide. The handle is off balance and the edges are not smooth, but she is full of hopeful intentions and best efforts.
An alumnus, Kelly Duquette, returned to the Faculty to paint the drum. The children and I painted approximately 4 leaves, and it was amongst the most stressful seven minutes of my art-life. The actual most stressful moments came the following day when, after much debate around the office table, I sealed the front of the drum with a water-based sealant.
The elements painted on the drum are personal to me, my children, and the giftee. The drum is held in the private collection of Adam Dodek.
Scentscapes and
Dissertation bundles
When considering the submission of my dissertation, the idea of sending a PDF into the void of the internet held no appeal. Ultimately, the work was originally presented to examiners, Learners, and community members as part of a knowledge bundle. Printed versions of the work were accompanied by physical nourishment that aligned with some of the themes explored and were intended to be consumed while engaging with the work.
Foodstuffs varied depending on the physical location and the dietary requirements of the reader. For example, local bundles contained fresh berries, a package of Oreos, and a can of Diet Coke. Bundles sent by mail contained shelf-stable cola and berry-flavoured gummy candies that would survive their journey through the post. Vegan- and sugar-free options were sourced for readers with allergies and specific requirements.
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All readers were offered art cards designed by Métis artists. The cards were sourced directly from the artists’ websites or through local Indigenous-owned shop BeadedDreams.ca and served as a space to allow me to describe the contents and the origins of each item in the bundle.
Indigenous readers were offered ceremonial whole-leaf tobacco wrapped in broadcloth with their bundles where appropriate and possible.
All items were smudged using medicines gifted to me by my Learners before the bundles were tied.
Some bundles were wrapped in kokum scarves purchased from a young and mighty entrepreneur from Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg First Nation (kokomscrunchies.ca). Other bundles were presented in bags sewn from beadwork-printed fabric by Rachel Leck, Assistant Dean of our JD program.
All bundles were tied with home-tanned moose hide scraps sourced through Cvltvre Bead – Culture Through Craft (cvltvrebead.com), adding to the multi-sensory experience of engaging with the work through its contribution to the scentscape of the project.
