Tønder Festival has a new feature in its 2018 programme: the music of indigenous cultures, with musicians representing the original populations of Canada, Greenland, Australia and northern Scandinavia.
Claus Vittus, radio host and music journalist, expounds on the music and the cultures and has interviewed some of the musicians: Mari Boine, Vassvik, Rasmus Lyberth, Dan Sultan and William Prince. Read more and listen to podcasts of the interviews here.
Mari Boine sustains the centuries-old shamanist tradition, the singing of the original inhabitants of the far Scandinavian north, the Sami.
"I sing in the Greenlandic language, but I'm not singing about Greenland. I'm singing my thoughts," says 66 year old Rasmus Lyberth.
The Australian pop rock star Dan Sultan uses his status to speak on behalf of Aboriginals.
"A sami joik singer doesn't have to be singing about a river for his song to sound like a river," explains Torgeir Vassvik.
William Prince is descended from the original Peguis people in Canada. His music, however, is mainly inspired by gospel, country and rock.
The podcast and articles on Tønder Festival's theme about the music of indigenous peoples is sponsored by the independent institution Tempi, which works for the interests of roots music in Denmark.
Tønder Festival also collaborates with the IWGIA organisation, the International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs.
