Speak(er) to the Land by John Hill
Speak(er) to the Land was produced by John Hill with editorial support from Aliya Pabani on behalf of the Constellations podcast series. Thanks to the University of Wisconsin Oneida Language Dictionary Project.
"This piece is a prayer and poem which speaks directly to the ancestors and the future generations through language. A prayer and a promise.
It's goal is to send a message to generations passed and generations to come in the Oneida language, which is endangered by settler-colonial violence. The piece features two voices, the English voice, which is static and unmoving, and the Oneida voice, which moves in a counter-clockwise motion, representative of traditional Haudenosaunee dance practices. When Sky Woman, our great-grandmother, danced on the great turtle's back, she did so in a counter-clockwise motion, and so the Haudenosaunee people do so to honour her.
Haudenosaunee people understand our responsibility to the land that gave birth to us, and so this piece is an address to not only the generations that have long since returned to the land, but those who are set to inherit this land. Across Turtle Island, Indigenous people are fighting to protect their ways and the land, and this poem is a message, a promise, to the next seven generations that we will not stop fighting on behalf of the land and the water and the non-human beings.
This piece is dedicated to Maria Hinton, the Oneida speaker heard at the end of the piece, and to Ima "Akoh" Johnson, Mohawk-Cayuga faithkeeper and language teacher. Without them, I would have no courage to speak. This piece is also dedicated to the land and its defenders everywhere." - John Hill
John Hill
John Hill (he/they) is a queer artist and working class poet from Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. He is of the Oneida nation and Turtle clan, from Six Nations of the Grand River. His work deals with themes of colonialism, enchantment, justice, solidarity and magic.
Deep Wireless 16 Compilation Album
Deep Wireless 16 is curated on the theme Digital in Nature and produced by New Adventures in Sound Art (NAISA) for the 2022 edition of the Deep Wireless Festival of Radio & Transmission Art.
Editions 9 through 15 of the Deep Wireless Compilation are available on NAISA's Soundcloud site. Previous compact disc editions can be heard online at naisa.ca/media-archive/compactdiscs/
Copyright of the works belongs to the artists who have agreed to have their work on this compilation album.
Note that Deep Wireless 16 is not available for download. Community and public radio or internet broadcasters should contact NAISA directly for access to the works for airplay. Contact naisa@naisa.ca for more information.
Artistic Director: Darren Copeland
Executive Director: Nadene Thériault-Copeland
Image Illustration: Prashant Miranda
