Remarks:
This song came out in 1989. It is sung in Innu-aimun, an Algonquian Cree language known by only about 10,000 people in Quebec and Labrador in Canada. It is a cousin of the Native languages spoken all along the Atlantic coast of North America as far south as North Carolina. Pocahontas and Squanto spoke a language like this.
Kashtin is one of the more successful First Nations bands in Canada. They have had some success even in Greenland and France. They are Innus (Montagnais) from the Maliotenam reservation near the mouth of the St Lawrence River in eastern Quebec.
See also:
- songs, the 1980s
- Welcome to Native American Heritage Month 2017
- Basque whalers – whom the Innu knew
- Adele: Hello – a music video also shot in Quebec
- Munsee – a cousin of Innu-aimun spoken in and near Manhattan
- Pocahontas
Lyrics:
In Innu-aimun:
Tshinanu ui tshissentetau
Tshinanu tshinanu
Tshinanu uauatetau
Tshinanu tshmeshkananmenu
Tshinanu u… u… u…
Tshituassminut
Tshinanu u… u… u…
Tshinanu ui tshissentetau
Tshinanu tshinanu
Tshinanu uauatetau
Tshinanu tshmeshkananmenu
Tshinanu u… u… u…
Tshituassminut
Tshinanu u… u… u…
Tshinanu ui tshissentetau
Tshinanu tshinanu
Tshinanu uauatetau
Tshinanu tshmeshkananmenu
Tshinanu u… u… u…
Tshituassminut
Tshinanu u… u… u…
Tshinanu u… u…
Shtapuenanu
In English translation:
All of us
All of us
Let us look at our way of life
Our children
Our grandfathers
All of us
All of us
Let us look at our way of life
Our rivers
Our lands
This is our reason
Source; Fandom.
I LOVE this song. I heard Kashtin doing Son of the Sun on multi artist CD quite a few years ago. It took me a while to discover them because the name was spelled Kastin on the CD. When I found this duo’s music I bought every CD they made. I really like Son of the Sun also. After hunting around I found Willie Dunn’s cds. I am Nipissing but sadly know nothing of my culture or language.😢 but am so glad I have these great cds to listen to even if I don’t understand that language either.
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Such a fantastic song. We lived in NWT for a bit and heard it there. Hauntingly beautiful!!!!
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