VA - Canada: Jeux Vocaux Des Inuit (1989)

Recorded 1960 in Pelly Bay, 1975 in Gjoa Haven, 1976 in Pond Inlet, 1977 in Igloolik, 1978 in Ivujivik, 1980 in Spence Bay & Eskimo Point.

90 types of gestures and games are (mostly) sung by two people facing each other, sometimes alternating arm movements, sometimes holding shoulders, crouching, dropping to heels and then standing up; they make throat sounds, pant, quack like ducks, and make other noises, with half of the games telling a story. Some songs are made by two women with their heads side by side singing into a basin, or alternately by one woman singing into metal bowls which act as a resonator (in older times, they used water bags made from caribou hides). Some games are based on single words repeated in a sequencing pattern drawn from a story -- without the whole story ever being told; there are stories of fish, dogs, and even one of a woman who counts the stars to find out how many children she will have, but the stars are covered by cloud and fog. There are games to make your friends laugh, and to imitate the sound of zero degree weather. It is enjoyable for the sound of the songs, and fascinating for the sheer variety, and depth, of their poetry and philosophy of experience. ("Blue" Gene Tyranny)