Of Yamanas and Inuits

Yamana man holding oar

 The Yamana, or Yaghan people were the southernmost inhabitants of the earth. They are often grouped with the Selk'nam people as well other groups that lived in Terra del Fuego in the south of both Argentina and Chile, but they are a distinct other group with their own unique language. I've written a lot about the Selk'nam before as I have been intrigued by their remarkable traditions of body painting and the cosmogenesis it enacts. I reproduced two photographs of Selk'nam people, taken by Martin Gusinde in the early 1920s, in my art appreciation textbook You are an Artist. It was also Martin Gusinde who was the first to record the Selk'nam as well as their neighbors to the south the Yamana. Canto Yamana, at #58 in the Top 100 2020, is a recording from 1923 of a shaman. When Gusinde writes about the music of the Yamana he talks about boatmen songs. The singing of the Yamana, according to the early anthropologist Erich von Hornbostel, is the most primitive of the world, using only two notes. 

Baker Lake Eskimo and Laura Bolton

 

While the drawings for the Top 100 2020 continue to be made until all 100 are done, I started the Top 100 for the year 2021 already. The Top 100 2021 exhibition is scheduled for next summer in Dublin, Ohio and I felt like starting early. I also didn't paint much for a while and now with my studio in working order it is really nice to be out of the house. (A lot of activities, such as my job, are still being done from home.) I had a plan. The concept for the new 100 paintings was to paint double portraits, featuring the musician on one side of the canvas, and the one who recorded it on the other. I figure the juxtaposition is an interesting one. I have now one done and a second one started. I'm still not 100% sure how to tackle certain aspects, like text, in the painting. I experimented here but may change the markings later. The 1 in the top right corner means it's number 1 in the Top 100 2021. This may change because the making of the list for this year is in progress. I am certain, however, that Girl's Game, sung by Agnutnak and Matee, two-fifteen year old Inuit women from Baker Lake, Canada, will be part of the list when it is final. The song was recorded by Laura Bolton in 1974 at Baker Lake and appeared on the Folkways album The Eskimos of Hudson Bay and Alaska. The photograph I used to paint the young woman was taken by Bolton and was included in the liner notes for the record. The song was also listed last year. When I painted an image for the Top 100 2020 I used the same photo. I did include the rest of the family then.