Ancestral Voices Prophesying War!

Language and Oral Tradition: Music and Dance of the Kanak

Wade Davis, Explorer for National Geographic, stated: "a language is not just a body of vocabulary or a set of grammatical rules: a language is a flash of the human spirit, it's the vehicle through which the soul of each particular culture comes into the material world." Nowhere is the soul of a particular culture more manifest than through the music and dance of that culture.

New Calednoia is the Home of the Kanak Peoples

This week I researched a bit about the Kanak people of Melanesia. These people lived in an aural world made up of the sounds of: "the roaring of the sea, the whispering of leaves in the wind, the crackle of fires, the birds, the insects, winds, rains, hurricanes, trees crashing down, floods." They made the music through which their culture manifests its soul to the world on wooden bark clappers, bamboo stamping-tubes, slit drums, conch shells, and various flutes.

Pertaining to War

The rhythmic sounds of song and dance were interwoven into important tribal events: preparation for war is a prime example. Learning to dance was an important part of Kanak warfare. Not that they had dance battles, or anything. During  battle, Kanak warriors avoided the spears and the arrows of their enemies by relying on agile, rhythmic motions they learned through their culture of dance. In fact, the various tribes of the Kanak would never leave for war without first holding a war dance in which they showed off their skill and agility.

One function of this particular pre-war pastime was to give respected village elders an opportunity to spot the strengths and the weaknesses of their warriors. There were specific medicines associated with any weakness a warrior might have. The medicine men (who were too old to go to battle themselves) would then take the special medicine as a proxy for the warrior who would go on to battle.

Everything from the complex system of medicines to training for the war dance was passed through the medium of oral knowledge.

Pertaining to Trade

Trading opportunities were celebrated by song and dance. A pilou-pilou was an important event for the Kanak in which economic, artistic, and social transactions and transitions took place. Everything from a transaction of trade to an initiation of manhood to an announcement of the end of a mourning period could take place. 

Their traditional dances, from the pilou-pilou (used in ritual ceremonies and trade), to the more mimetic dances used to prepare for war, expressed what was important to them. Preserved from generation to generation without any written form of communication, these Melanesian practices epitomized the importance of transferring knowledge orally.

Personal Reflection

I find it fascinating to contemplate the degree to which the natural soundscape may have influenced the development of music in the islands. Whereas wind and waves and cacophonous war influenced the texture and sound of their music, we see that electronic, crashing, percussion sounds tend to dominate modern music from our culture (have you heard of dubstep?)

Also, the occasions and subject material for music and dance speak volumes about the values of a particular society or person. Are there certain events in our lives that we prepare for by song or dance? I know there's always music on in the gym. Pump up songs help prepare me for sports. What other ways are music and dance incorporated into the major events in your life? How does it reflect the human spirit?