Paper short abstract:

Responding to a decline in salmon stocks, the Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in First Nation have created a song calling the fish home. This paper explores this practice of calling in through song, examining its foundations in the stories of the region and tracing its resilience through periods of colonial impact.

Paper long abstract:

In response to a critical decline in Chinook salmon stocks, members of the Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in First Nation of Dawson City, Yukon created a song called 'Luk Cho Anay', or 'Big Fish Come'. The song calls the fish back home through the water, and was inspired by Elder Angie Joseph-Rear. When asked by other community members what made her such a successful fisher, Angie responded that she'd sing to the fish, calling them in to her; 'You gotta sing to it!' she said. Based on ethnographic fieldwork with the Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in, this paper will explore this practice of calling in the non-human through song. 'Luk Cho Anay' is a contemporary continuance of similar musical practices that are central in Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in ethnohistory and oral tradition. As such, I will examine the foundations of this musical phenomenon in the 'long ago stories' of the region, tracing its resilience through periods of colonial impact and historic rupture in the oral history of the Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in, and finally, exploring its role in both contemporary subsistence practices and expressive culture. This practice of calling in, but one example of the broader, under-examined diversity of shared musical practices at the human-animal interface, both demonstrates and reaffirms the sociality and personhood of non-human beings within the Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in lifeworld.