Kondiaronk Territory
Upper Peninsula of Michigan
August 2023 & 2024
Kondiaronk was a 17th century philosopher and Chief of the Native American Wendat people at Michilimackinac in New France. Michilimackinac is the Ojibwe name for present-day Mackinac Island and Mackinac County. Early settlers of North America applied the term to the entire region along Lakes Huron, Michigan, and Superior.
In other words, Kondiaronk was a Yooper, like me!
He led and preserved his people in the face of war and destruction. He also played a key role in shaping the future of the North American continent, including brokering The Great Peace of Montreal.
Kondiaronk was a revered orator who regularly debated in both Europe and North America. In a supper debate with the Governor of Montreal, he said, “I have spent six years reflecting on the state of European society and I still can’t think of a single way they act that is not inhuman, and I genuinely think this can only be the case as long as you stick to your distinctions of ‘mine’ and ‘thine’. To imagine one can live in the country of money and preserve one’s soul is like imagining one could preserve one’s life at the bottom of a lake.”
He has been credited by some as the inspiration for the Enlightenment Movement, the philosophical movement that brought secular thought to Europe and reshaped the ways people understood liberty, equality, and individual rights. In other words, he may have been the inspiration for the ideas that serve as the foundation of the world’s strongest democracies.
Interestingly, Kondiaronk also lived happily under a matriarchy!!
Of course, I have been to Fort Mackinac countless times, and at some point, I will play this work in the middle of Mackinac Island, but in the meantime, still nursing a sprained ankle, here I am, in Kondiaronk’s territory, paying homage to this great man, on his land, and the land that raised me as well.
With love to Guillermo Lago for this amazing contribution — what a beautiful, thoughtful, inspiring creation.
Another important connection — the diaries that inspired the book The Dawn of Everything, which in turn inspired Guillermo Lago, were published in Amsterdam, Guillermo’s home.
An homage — Homenaje a Kondiaronk — officially premiered last summer. Performed on all highpoints since. Field recording this summer. Studio recording coming soon.
I’m also super excited to announce that carries weight has its first sponsor (included in field recording) — the Wee Stand — an amazing ultra compact, award winning travel stand made by The Noisy Clan in Edinburgh.