Fernanda, would you tell us a bit about your professional background?
I studied a Bachelor of Arts with a major in Music Theory. I am a professor specializing in general theory, have a master's degree in Musicology, and am currently completing my PhD in Latin American Cultural Studies. I completed all of my higher education at Universidad de Chile.
Since 2011 I have dedicated to historical musicology, with a strong emphasis on heritage preservation, enhancement, and dissemination of musical collections. I have carried out projects at the Seminario Pontificio Mayor of Santiago, the Heritage Library of the Recoleta Dominica's Church of Santiago, the Andrés Bello Central Archive of the Universidad de Chile, and also at the Music Archive of the National Library.
I work as an academic in the Department of Music at Universidad Chile and am currently a member of the Board of Directors of the Chilean Musicology Society, serving as its first vice president.
What is ethnomusicology?
If musicology was the systematic study of music (composers, genres, repertoires) with the aim of producing new knowledge about this discipline, ethnomusicology was conceived in Europe as the study of the music of non-European peoples, and was recognized as an independent discipline since the mid-20th century. There has recently been an opening to understanding ethnomusicology as the study of traditional oral musical practices, and the folk music of all peoples. While it was previously considered the study of non-Western music, instruments, and practices, the concept has expanded to include the study of music in culture and social context, encompassing all practices, repertoires, and instruments of popular music.
Martin Gusinde recorded different aspects of the life of the Fuegian people, and one of them was their musical expressions. Thanks to the techniques of the time he was able to record some of their songs, which will be displayed in a digital exhibition we will be holding in conjunction with the Pre-Columbian Museum.
What aspects should we -those of us with less scientific knowledge- consider in order to appreciate them?
Martin Gusinde, a German national, carried out four research trips to Tierra del Fuego and Patagonia. He captured 30 wax cylinders containing recordings of men and women belonging to the Selk'nam, Yámana, and Kawésqar peoples. These sound recordings were intended for ethnic demarcation purposes, not for his personal use but to be sent over to the Phonogramm-Archiv in Berlin, where specialized musicologists could analyze them and expand the repository of musical expressions that were considered "exotic and primitive" at the time.
Gusinde wanted to cooperate with the Phonogram-Archive of Berlin, given that he knew that the records would be used as part of a global program of collected musical records, intended to explain the mechanisms in which music spreads and evolves. Thus Gusinde was key, as mediated to make it possible for the musical expressions of these peoples to be classified, preserved and studied.
First, the sound recordings captured on the wax cylinders represent the evanescent musical expressions of members of the Selk'nam people, who were at Punta Remolino. Thus, it is important to understand that these recordings were not "rehearsed" as we understand music today, but rather represented the spontaneous, everyday musical expression of these people.
How can we put Gusinde's legacy into historical perspective? What technology did he have at his disposal?
Gusinde was part of the first generation of ethnographic and anthropological studies that sought to study humankind and their culture. As a missionary of the Divine Word, he developed his religious vocation serving in the most remote corners of the planet. This, combined with his anthropological and ethnographic interests, led him to record for posterity, under his own worldview as an enlightened European man, governed by the evolutionary paradigm, the life expressions of the peoples of the southern regions.
That is the perspective that should be taken into account when it comes to analyse his legacy. Gusinde was part of a generation of intellects that wanted to record every way of life, to analyse and study them within these models based on the idea of evolution and cultural progress. This is why he did not record their music and sounds so they could listen to or have a record of their own vocal expressions, but rather to send them as samples to where they could be interpreted under Western scientific criteria.
There is no doubt about about their anthropological, ethnomusicological and historical value, but also there is a cultural or heritage value that refers to the rich identity of the indigenous peoples who inhabited these territories. As important (and/or exotic) as they may have been for German anthropologists and ethnomusicologists at the time, these records are valuable for the descendants of those peoples, and for shaping the identity of Chileans as well.
Generally speaking, these sound recordings are the oldest recorded by people belonging to these indigenous communities, and while they are clearly not "Yámana, Selk'nam, or Kawésqar music," they are examples of these cultural representations, which were part of the daily lives of these communities.
This process of "capturing" the recordings was carried out using the portable recording technology available at the time: a phonograph, with a recording device and wax cylinders as a storage device for the sound recordings. Once completed, the recordings were sent to Berlin for analysis by specialized musicologists.
From your own experience and studies, what musical aspects of the Fuegian music can make us distinguish these peoples from one another?
I could not state a simple answer to that question, because no music reduces to "certain" features, more keeping in mind that, in first place, they are all evanescent expressions, which means that they express something from the moment and not "the" music from such cultures, just like the Western understands the musical expression. Music, as something temporary, exists only in the time it is expressed and lived, more when it is part of the cultural and social life or expression of a community. On the other hand, music cannot be reduced to its Western understanding, such as pitches, melodies, tones or scales, which can even be captured in written expressions on paper, because it was not conceived within that cultural framework.
How important is it for our society that we can hear the voices of our indigenous peoples, recorded 100 years ago, today? How can we value this heritage more today, and why should it be a heritage for Chileans?
They are considered heritage because they are the oldest expressions that exemplify the musical expression of the Selk'nam, Yámana, and Kawésqar peoples, who formed part of Chilean territory. Raising awareness of those expressions, that were a relevant part of the daily lives of the indigenous peoples who inhabited the southernmost tip of our country, enriches the cultural heritage and identity of our society.
As peoples who were subjugated, dominated, colonized, acculturated, and ultimately extinct under the new living conditions imposed on them, valuing their cultural expressions becomes an act of vindication that recognizes their identity their contribution to current generations.
These recordings also serve as means of understanding and recognizing the great variety and ethnic richness that our territory has harbored. The contact and relationship of these peoples with nature, which is also expressed in their music, unique to their territory, allows us to identify ourselves today as mestizo people, heirs to traditions and cultural traits that date back to immemorial times.
Recovering, accessing and valuing sound recordings that were captured almost a century ago, virtuously closes a circle, returning these examples of everyday music to their place and culture of origin.
What limitations do you think exist in our country to better understand this cultural wealth left to us by our people? Do you think there's an opportunity for change today?
One is the lack of awareness of the cultural wealth of our indigenous peoples. This is also reflected in the exoticization they experienced, placing them in the place of an "other" instead of accepting them as part of our identity construction as a nation.
Today's Chileans are the product of the blending of many indigenous peoples with foreign immigrants. Valuing this cultural and ethnic mix would allow us to value our heritage.
Another limitation is the lack of accessible information for younger generations about the cultural life of indigenous peoples. Creating exhibitions and generating information that is easily understandable by the community, will allow them to appreciate the cultural richness of our ancestors, as well as the value of our surviving indigenous peoples.
I believe there is an opportunity for change, as new generations are open to valuing diversity, as well as recognizing the richness of our indigenous peoples.