Gaelic culture at forefront of World Gaels' Jam
EDITOR’S NOTE:
World Gaels' Jam takes place online in English from April 26 to May 1. Cape Breton Post reporter Elizabeth Patterson recently spoke to one of the organizers, Amber Buchanan from Grass Cove near Iona, about the event.
POST: Could you explain what is a Gael Jam?
AMBER BUCHANAN: It's very hard to describe. It's better experienced than described. It is a very experiential thing so each person who experiences it will have a different description of what it is. It makes it kind of elusive for those who are modern-minded who want to understand and explain things definitively and easily. But it's a way of coming together in a group of people, that prioritizes the people in a room and the relationships in the room over an agenda.
We started the Gael Jams in 2013. This is like the eighth or ninth jam in Nova Scotia. On our website (https:// www.novascotiagaelsjam.org/dhachaigh-home) you can read the testimonials. Initially they were made for youth but they have since branched out to become intergenerational which is really great.
POST: How has the pandemic affected this event?
BUCHANAN: The whole thing will be on Zoom and this is brand new … it wasn't something that anybody ever considered before the pandemic — it was very much in-person. Obviously it's going to be very different than an in-person jam. You can't compare the two — it's like comparing apples to oranges — it's a very different experience. But certainly it's quite impressive what can actually be done when the intention is there to create an inclusive welcoming, safe environment …
We've never had this many people apply to a Gael Jam before as we do right now. I think it's become very accessible. I think people right now in the pandemic are really valuing connection and they're missing it and valuing it and they're craving it. This is an opportunity for connection and people are just like ... I need that. They realize that connection with other human beings and with community is part of the fertilizer that feeds their lives. It's helping everyone to grow and stay together. To continue on and doing the work that people are doing people need the support.
POST: How does Gael Jam differ from other such events?
BUCHANAN: We like to be very flexible in where we go with our gathering and we prioritize people over an agenda. That is a very rare occurrence. We're living in a time where people are very divided, people can no longer hide their trauma and I would say that every single human has trauma so part of what the jam does is allow people space to be where they are, space to be who they are in that particular moment ... It's just a space where we get to really be where we are. We don't have to stuff down tears of grief as we see our native speakers dying in front of us when in reality that deserves to be grieved. That's a worthy thing to grieve and how do we move forward as a community if we can't first acknowledge and accept where we are right now.
POST: Where is the Gaelic community now?
BUCHANAN: ... I would say we are in a moment in which we are experiencing incredible loss of our group of native speakers. There are very few native speakers left and for anyone who is not involved in a cultural group or Gaelic, they might say that's too bad but it's much more than that. These native speakers are carrying with them a way of being in the world, a way of seeing — when you walk in to see a native speaker, the way that they sit with you and visit with you is very different than the modern way of being with somebody ... We are in a place of loss but my perspective is that we're at an edge of growth right now — it's not certain or determined where that growth is going to lead and I think that things like Gael Jam are really important because we can try to engage an old system that has previously oppressed us as a people like colonial structure, patriarchal structures, we can try to engage with those structures to rebuild the Gaelic community or we can do it from within.