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Kyra Shaughnessy & Stephen Augustine - In Our Shadows

from La Rencontre by Kyra Shaughnessy

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about

This song was inspired by a Mi'kmaq word, ji-ja-amij, that my friend & knowledge carrier Stephen Augustine shared with me during a visit to his home on Unamak'i (Cape Breton). He also explained that the word for moon in Mi'kmaq literally translated means "she who borrows her light from the sun," which I included in the English lyrics.

The Mi'kmaq words in the song are a rough translation of the following story explaining ji-ja-amij:

"One of the principles or values of our culture and our Mi'kmaw traditions is the idea that we cannot step on our ancestors, meaning that we cannot step on the shadows of other people who are older then us. We have to respect their shadows. When I was a little kid growing up, I was about 7 - 8 years old and I was on a baseball field with my grandfather. I was running around playing and all of a sudden I got a hit on the head and I looked and he said "watch out! You're stepping on your ancestors...those shadows are representations of our ancestors and you're not respecting them very much if you're stepping on them."

He explained to me that because of Grandfather sun, who is the second level of creation besides the giver of life, Grandfather sun shines upon us when we're on the earth and when it shines on us it allows us to see our shadows and in our language "ji-ja-amij " means those dark images that follow us around, but the spiritual terminology means "a persons spirit"... the explanation of the elders was that spirits are also those images that follow us around, our shadows, and they're there to guide us and protect us and look after us.

So ji-ja-amij is the term we use for our ancestors and for our shadows... we're connected to them by our feet and we have the blood of our ancestors flowing in our veins and in our hearts and also through breath ....the center of our body encompasses the spirit and we are attached to our shadows the same way we are attached to our ancestors. We have great grandfathers whose blood is flowing in our veins and we're attached to them after they're gone by their spirits, and so the image of the shadows..."

lyrics

*see "about this track" section for the transcription of Stephen Augustine's loose translation of the Mi'kmaq words in which he explains the multilayered meaning of the word ji-ja-amij and the connection between our shadows and our ancestors in traditional Mi'kmaq culture...

seasons ever changing as she who borrows her light from the sun
turning and returning
language made of movement
these songs that we remember,
these stories that we know
ancients living on in our blood

and in our shadows
and in our shadows
and in our shadows
and in our shadows...

is it that nothing is forever
or every being is now
is there a time outside of time where we could live if we knew how
to let each breath be an unfolding
of a truth we've come to know
ancients living on in our blood


and in our shadows (we watch where we're walking...)
and in our shadows (we watch where we're walking...)
and in our shadows (we watch where we're walking...)
and in our shadows (we watch where we're walking...)

credits

from La Rencontre, released February 16, 2020
Words: kyra shaughnessy, stephen augustine
Music: kyra shaughnessy
Vocals: kyra shaughnessy, stephen augustine
Guitar: kyra shaughnessy
Arrangements: kyra shaughnessy

Recorded by cédric dind-lavoie
mixed by cédric dind-lavoie & louis morneau
mastered by louis morneau

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Kyra Shaughnessy Waterville, Québec

Kyra Shaughnessy’s music and writing invoke presence and awakening. Of mixed heritage, born, raised and unschooled in Québec, composing in multiple languages across genres, Kyra’s work represents a unifying vision of humanity through an artistic practice grounded in a holistic perspective of healing and respect for the interconnectedness of all life. ... more

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