Fascinating debut from Cherokee musician keeping his language alive.
Agalisiga “Chuj” Mackey is a Cherokee singer songwriter who lives in the Cherokee Nation in Northeast Oklahoma. With only 1,500 first language speakers left – his aim with his debut album was simple – to revitalise the Cherokee language by bringing it into any possible aspect of modern life. He sings the whole album in Cherokee – and he feels it’s the only way to keep his language alive after the government worked so hard to kill it. The American government’s attack on the Cherokee language was a devastating blow that tore families apart. Mackey says that there was a feeling that the language and culture couldn’t thrive in this world and that parents wanted to pass on only things of value to their children and they chose not to pass the language and culture along because they were made to believe it had no value. He’s fighting passionately against this and this wonderful album is a proud testament to that goal.
Mackay grew up on a creek bank in the small traditional Cherokee community of Kenwood – and country music runs deep in Native American communities and his music roots come in many country and blues forms such as Hank Williams, Robbie Robertson and Link Wray. The album contains nine originals and two interesting covers. For Mackey these songs were easier to write in Cherokee that in English. as his language is a tonal one. “You sing your words” he says – and he points out his language is remarkably adaptive – letting songwriters write out an entire sentence in English. as one long rhyming word in Cherokee.
The album opens with ‘Tsitsutsa Tsigesv’ which is about his childhood growing up in Kenwood and references the Cherokee reverence towards nature and the turning of the seasons. Lovely acoustic strumming builds to the addition of keyboards and percussion and his voice is warm and beautiful. His passion for Hank Williams comes in the second track – a cover – “Akisodane Yigatloyiga” – which is a translation of Hank Williams’ ‘I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry.’ It’s a deeply respectful cover which Williams would have been truly proud of.
Things get a little darker with ‘Ahyvdawalohi’ which tells the story of a deranged man named Thunder, who’s driven mad and murderous. Guitar, violin and harmonica blend in a glorious melange. ‘Dvkiyohiselvi’ is a translation of Bob Dylan’s song ‘I Shall Be Released’. In translating the song. it proved quite challenging for Mackey. “He leaves a lot of room for interpretation,” Mackey explains, “and Cherokee is not a language that leaves a lot of room for interpretation. It’s very direct and specific. What I say is what I mean, and that’s how the language is built.” It’s a respectful and superb cover.
Interestingly, one of the toughest songs to write for Mackey was ‘Ginaliyosv’ – a romantic song. It was challenging as there’s no word for love in Cherokee and he found he had to write this song in English first and then translate it into Cherokee. “Love is a hard thing to talk about in Cherokee because I think in our culture, traditionally, it was something that you didn’t have to say. A person knew that you loved them by how you treated them” he says.
This is a beautiful album – with hints of Taj Mahal and the Australian Gurrumul – the listener is taken into a calm and tranquil musical world and the musicianship and writing are superb. Strongly recommended.
