A Taste of RumSalt: An Original MOA Podcast

Join the Museum of Anthropology at UBC for a journey of musical discovery from Asia, to Europe and the Americas. Learn about what it takes to create a new album as Vancouver-based musician Alex Morison composes his new album using audio archives and field recordings and collaborates with Indigenous poets and award-winning musicians throughout the process. This monthly podcast is created for audiophiles, the culturally curious, and lovers of the bizarre.

In this final episode of A Taste of RumSalt, host and Composer in Residence Alex Morison invites Nacho Nyak Dun First Nation story keeper, Louise Profeit-LeBlanc, into his creative process. Profeit-LeBlanc teaches us about the power of Indigenous stories, her responsibilities as a storykeeper and the importance of justice in the work of reconciliation.

This episode is the culmination of collaboration, inspiration, and awakenings. By pairing newly composed music created by seven musicians from the larger RumSalt Orchestra, Morison creates a soundscape for Profeit-LeBlanc’s telling of the story Snowy Owl. The music envelops her oration in a soundscape of music and emotion. All of the music was collectively composed in response to her story and voice, and guided by the musicians’ instincts. This podcast marks the conclusion of Alex Morison’s artist residency at MOA.

Interview Guest

Louise Profeit-LeBlanc

Profeit-LeBlanc is a Traditional Storyteller from the Nacho Nyak Dun First Nation of the Yukon Territory in Northern Canada. Her 30 year commitment to the cultural and artistic heritage of her people includes being co-founder of two seminal organizations of the Yukon: the Yukon International Storytelling Festival and the Society of Yukon Artists of Native Ancestry.

Over eleven years, Profeit-LeBlanc contributed to advancing Aboriginal art in Canada through her position at Canada Council for the Arts, where she served as coordinator for the Aboriginal Arts Office, in Strategic Initiatives. During that time she also worked with local festivals and inner-city school programs, sharing traditional stories and providing a framework of curriculum for teachers to use in their classes.