Minto Songs Project Siri G Tuttle Alaska Native

Minto Songs Project Siri G. Tuttle Alaska Native Language Center University of Alaska Fairbanks

The Minto Songs Project n Funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities n Digital Humanities Program, “We The People” initiative n Sponsored by the University of Alaska Fairbanks n 18 Months – May 2008 to October 2009 n $50, 000

Project Goals n Organize recordings of Minto songs at: n n Alaska Native Language Center Ethnographic Center in Lund, Sweden Private collections Document the origin of all songs n n Who composed them What was their purpose n Translate song lyrics as directed by elders n Present organized collection to the Village of Minto n Publish a book and recording for use in school

Types of songs n Songs that honor people n Songs for dancing and fun n Love songs n Lullabyes

Songs to honor people n Ta’a

Songs for dancing and fun n “Squirrel” n Yusi, yusi n Dlek toniyo n Oh, ho oh (etc. ) n Dlek dlek n K’wda

Love songs n Love Song by Little Peter n “Menhti xwts’e’ niłdhot, iłgu se’ot n n n Menhti xwts’e’ niłdhot!” “Far from Minto, there is my wife. Far from Minto!”

Lullabyes n “Nax beni beghw udahdelik!” Nax beni, yega nechoya nek’atrex Lo, lo lo. n Amen!

What we’d like to do n Talk to people about songs they know about, and learn their history n Write down song lyrics in Menhti Kenaga’ and translate them when appropriate n Make a song book for the community n Provide good quality digital recordings of all the songs we work with n Organize the materials into. html format so that web-based applications will be easy to set up

What would you like to do?

Thank you for listening.