Music to a baby's ear

CBC

16-06-2025

Passing strength onto little ones through song
Your browser does not support the video tag.
Pause
by Candace Maracle CBC Indigenous Jun. 16, 2025
Among some nations, when a baby is born they are sung into this world.
In Haudenosaunee culture, seed songs or chants have been a way to welcome babies. For other Indigenous peoples in North America, lullabies are a way to calm both mother and baby, and other songs for children pass on important lessons.
They're steeped in the history and strength of the nations they come from and continue to evolve today.
ADVERTISEMENT
Kanahne Rice is Kanien'kehá:ka (Mohawk) from Kahnawà:ke, just south of Montreal. Singing with her three-year-old daughter, Ienoronhkhwa'tsherenhá:wi, is a part of their daily routine.
'Throughout my pregnancy I sang her this one lullaby that really only comes to me when I really need it,' said Rice.
'Anytime I needed it after that, when she was here with us, I sang her the song and it just calmed both of us right down and just made me feel so grounded and connected to, you know, Spirit,' she said.
Seed songs originate from the Haudenosaunee Creation story, Rice said.
Skywoman sang them to the seeds she brought with her from Skyworld to help them grow. At the same time, these songs helped to uplift her mind from loneliness.
Baby song
Some mothers sing these songs to give thanks for their life-sustainers, fertility and to calm and uplift mother and baby, she said, prenatally and during post-partum care.
'It's a really important part of the healing and that transitional process to becoming a mother. And lullabies and seed songs are really there to uplift our spirits and continue that knowledge,' said Rice.
Still meant to serve this purpose today, seed songs are also considered lullabies. But they're sacred and not to be shared outside of the culture.
Singer/songwriter Bear Fox, who is Kanien'kehá:ka from Akwesasne, on the Ontario-Quebec-New York state border, said seed songs 'are like ceremonial songs and we don't sing them publicly.'
'It's just something for us to connect to those seeds with and those songs that we learn are so ancient,' she said.
'And we want to carry it on and keep those songs for ourselves because the seeds will recognize it.'
Bear Fox wrote a lullaby that can be shared called Baby Song.
In 2001, a friend who was about to become a grandmother for the first time asked her to write a song to welcome her grandbaby into the world.
'So I sat down and I wrote what I would say to my own babies,' she said.
She said for parents who don't speak Kanien'kéha (the Mohawk language) fluently, Baby Song is a good way to introduce the language to their newborn.
The lyrics thank the baby for being alive and remind them to walk a good path in life, to respect themselves and that they'll be loved forever.
Robert Munsch's children's book Love You Forever was translated into Kanien'kéha with the lullaby Baby Song accompanying its release.
It's a cherished favourite in Haudenosaunee communities.
Teioswáthe, a singer from the Mohawk Nation at Akwesasne said, 'I've heard of a lot of families using it for the birth of their babies and it's really nice to hear that.'
Songs that teach
Other traditional songs for children are meant to impart a lesson.
Lois Suluk-Locke, an Inuk singer and storyteller from Arviat, Nunavut, said she learned a lot of legends and traditional songs from her father.
images expandA performance in Arviat, Nunavut.
Among her favourites is a story about two orphaned sisters who shapeshift into different natural beings and elements finally becoming thunder and lightning.
'I believe it is to teach people you treat orphans and people with respect because you never know what they will become,' she said.
Suluk-Locke said instilling lessons about responsibility or setting boundaries is an important aspect to their songs and legends.
'It is pretty dangerous up here so we tell scary stories,' she said.
'Keep off the ice, don't go venture out and the importance of a community of raising everyone's child as your own.'
Song of resilience
The Muscogee Nation of Oklahoma has a lullaby rooted in the tragic history of the Trail of Tears.
Pipe Nocv was created by Muscogee mothers during the forced removal of Native Americans from their homelands in the southeastern part of the United States to Oklahoma.
Eli Rowland-Chang, director of the Muskogee Language Program in Okmulgee, Okla., said she knows a version of the lullaby by heart.
'The forced removal for the Muskogee people is known as Nene Istemethlketvn, which means the road of suffering,' said Rowland-Chang.
'They would circle us in firearms and cannons and that would scare - basically the idea was to scare our people into not going anywhere, running off, fleeing during the night.'
images expandThese are close-up images of Johnnie Diacon's mural that depicts the long journey of his people, the Muscogee, along the Trail of Tears. The mural is at the Museum of Native American History in Bentonville, Arkansas.
Within that circle, mothers created lullabies to sing to the sound of the bugle horn the military played.
'We still sing this song today, even now,' said Rowland-Chang.
'And it represents not just like a beautiful lullaby song for us, it represents the strength of our Muskogee women and their ability to create positivity and hope and find resilience in times of extreme hardship to get our people through.'
About the Author
Related Stories
Footer Links
My Account
Profile
CBC Gem
Newsletters
Connect with CBC
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
Instagram
Mobile
RSS
Podcasts
Contact CBC
Submit Feedback
Help Centre
Audience Relations, CBC
P.O. Box 500 Station A
Toronto, ON
Canada, M5W 1E6
Toll-free (Canada only):
1-866-306-4636
TTY/Teletype writer:
1-866-220-6045
About CBC
Corporate Info
Sitemap
Reuse & Permission
Terms of Use
Privacy
Jobs
Our Unions
Independent Producers
Political Ads Registry
AdChoices
Services
Ombudsman
Public Appearances
Commercial Services
CBC Shop
Doing Business with Us
Renting Facilities
Accessibility
It is a priority for CBC to create a website that is accessible to all Canadians including people with visual, hearing, motor and cognitive challenges.
Closed Captioning and Described Video is available for many CBC shows offered on CBC Gem.
About CBC Accessibility
Accessibility Feedback
© 2025 CBC/Radio-Canada. All rights reserved.
Visitez Radio-Canada.ca