Grief Sounds for The Ancient Ones - To Grandmother and Grandfather Trees
The videos message
From the fragile lessons of the past…
We call back the ancient fertility of the soil.
We must do this through the relationship, we as humans, have with the land,
or the last of the remaining undercarriage in the ancient forests will be extinct.
An extinction event is occurring...
By cutting the remaining old growth forest, thousands of species and organisms on the planet will be lost forever. We must bring our truest expression and emotions in our response to climate change.
This song, simply titled Grief, is inspired from an Irish poem and a Finnish 'keen' overlay, followed by a Coast Salish women's warrior song. This video is dedicated to the diverse living ecosystem of thousands of unique and rare species, of organisms, insects, plants, lichen and animals currently in the undercarriage of the Ancient Old Growth Forest at Fairy Creek, on Vancouver Island, Canada. This undercarriage is at risk of extinction due to government sanctioned logging. This precious and vulnerable ecosystem will never be replaced upon our Earth once taken. If the last remaining thousand-year-old forest is gone, this delicate and diverse undercarriage will no longer exist.
Explanation
The Ancient sounds of 'Ahone', 'Obh', 'Obhan', 'Ochon', 'Avan', 'Voi', 'Oi', 'Ah', are traditional sounds of grief in many ancient cultures around the world, specifically the cultures where my ancestors are from. These sounds and words are often found in songs where expressions of deep grief, sorrow and sadness are expressed. In the version of this video, these sounds of grief are expressed to the ancient land, trees and undercarriage for the devastating results of gross logging practices and government sanctioned logging which is destroying the ancient and sacred forests here in Canada. These are ancient sounds being sung to ancient trees in a modern-day dilemma. The old growth rainforest has a sponge floor that absorbs carbon more than any other place on the planet due to the thousands of years of layering, slowly releasing oxygen into the air.
The ancient trees in the Pacific Northwest are known as the sacred Grandmother and Grandfather trees, estimated to be between 1,000 and 3,000 years old. They are currently being destroyed by vile commercial logging practices. The Ancient grief sounds in this video, are common to many indigenous cultures around the world and are referred to as keening or grief sounds, sounds of sorrow, or crying sounds which are used to express sadness. These ancient sounds and current images speak to the degradation of the eco system and the destruction of the last remaining Old Growth Forest, currently being logged at Ada'itsx/ Fairy Creek, on Vancouver Island. The Forest Defenders, in direct action, are currently protesting with blockades to protect this ancient temperate rainforest on ancestral Pacheedaht and Ditidaht Territory, the last 2.7% of intact Ancient Forest watershed in Canada.