Sherenté Mishitashin Harris (2023, Painting and Ethnic/Indigenous Studies)
Wetucks Teaches the Original People to Make Drums, 2021
Stretched deerskin hand-drum on wooden frame, painted with acrylic and ink
The shapeshifter, culture hero, giant, and trickster, Wetucks embodies life and the journeys of the ancestors. Wetucks offered gifts and teachings to the Narragansett people that have allowed us to live in balance with all creation. Wetucks taught the Narragansett how to divide and skin and brain tan the deer. How to hold ceremony for the deer and how to carry it back to the village. When we put on our snowshoes and sing our songs we remember the guidance Wetucks offered the ancient ones. As my younger brothers come of age and make drums of their own, our stories of origin and creation resurface in the present, and the cycle begins again.
Deer Song Lyrics:
Kitteomp, Nukeetoohomom, Neetuonk, ooweanun kunayeutamonk,
Great buck/deer, I sing of your birth, the burden you bear.
Tanadtupattog ut ohteuk, nunootham kuttah tatagkom.
Grazing in the field I hear your heart beating.
Wetucks Teaches the Original People to Make Drums, 2021
Stretched deerskin hand-drum on wooden frame, painted with acrylic and ink
The shapeshifter, culture hero, giant, and trickster, Wetucks embodies life and the journeys of the ancestors. Wetucks offered gifts and teachings to the Narragansett people that have allowed us to live in balance with all creation. Wetucks taught the Narragansett how to divide and skin and brain tan the deer. How to hold ceremony for the deer and how to carry it back to the village. When we put on our snowshoes and sing our songs we remember the guidance Wetucks offered the ancient ones. As my younger brothers come of age and make drums of their own, our stories of origin and creation resurface in the present, and the cycle begins again.
Deer Song Lyrics:
Kitteomp, Nukeetoohomom, Neetuonk, ooweanun kunayeutamonk,
Great buck/deer, I sing of your birth, the burden you bear.
Tanadtupattog ut ohteuk, nunootham kuttah tatagkom.
Grazing in the field I hear your heart beating.
From The Witching Hour, Granoff Center for the Creative Arts, January 23 - February 26, 2023
