A silent clapboard church on a barren Arctic landscape is more than just a place of worship: it is a symbol that can evoke fraught reactions to the history of Christian colonization. In the Inuit homeland of Northern Labrador, however, that church is more likely to resonate with the voices of a well-rehearsed choir accompanied by an accomplished string orchestra or spirited brass bands. The Inuit making this music are stewards of a tradition of complex sacred music introduced by Moravian missionaries in the late 1700s – a tradition that, over time, these musicians transformed into a cultural expression genuinely their own.

Called Upstairs is the story of this Labrador Inuit music practice. It is not principally a story of forced adoption but of adaptation, mediation, and agency, exploring the transformation of a colonial artifact into an expression of Inuit aesthetic preference, spirituality, and community identity. Often overlaying the Moravian traditions with defining characteristics drawn from pre-contact expressive culture, Inuit musicians imbued this once-alien music with their own voices. Told through archival documents, oral histories of Inuit musicians, and the music itself, Called Upstairs tracks the emergence of this Labrador Moravian music tradition across two and a half centuries.

Tom Gordon presents a chronicle of Inuit leadership and agency in the face of colonialism through a unique lens. In this time of reconciliation, this story offers a window into Inuit resilience and the power of a culture’s creative expressions.

Called Upstairs explores the transformation, under centuries of Inuit stewardship, of a music practice introduced by Moravian missionaries in the late 1700s. A story of adaptation and mediation, the book presents a chronicle of Inuit leadership and agency in the face of colonialism.“Tom Gordon's own journey - from his early absorption with reams of manuscripts in Labrador choir lofts to an active engagement through listening, observing, recording, becoming an apprentice and participant in the Nain choir, and ultimately initiating collaborative projects with Labrador Inuit musicians and community members - is what makes this a particularly rich account of musical tradition. In Called Upstairs, he shares his unique understanding of this music and its development gained through experience with a wide spectrum of readers.” Maija Lutz, author of Hunters, Carvers, and Collectors: The Chauncey C. Nash Collection of Inuit ArtTom Gordon has served as director of Memorial University of Newfoundland’s School of Music, chair of the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council, and relief organist at the Nain Moravian Church. He lives in St John’s, Newfoundland.

In memory of Bruce G. Trigger

Series editors: John Borrows and Arthur J. Ray

The McGill-Queen’s Indigenous and Northern Studies series publishes books about Indigenous peoples in all parts of the northern world. It includes original scholarship on their histories, archaeology, laws, cultures, governance, and traditions. Works in the series also explore the history and geography of the North, where travel, the natural environment, and the relationship to land continue to shape life in particular and important ways. Its mandate is to advance understanding of the political, legal, and social relations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples, of the contemporary issues that Indigenous peoples face as a result of environmental and economic change, and of social justice, including the work of reconciliation in Canada. To provide a global perspective, the series welcomes books on regions and communities from across the Arctic and Subarctic circumpolar zones.

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