Isu Le: Songs of Ordinary Days

About this book

Featuring artworks by Caroline Kuki

In her new book, Inakali Assumi has attempted a recreation of the spirit of a Sümi tradition, now no longer in practice. It is the Ìsǘ Le, which she translates as this morning’s songs. In addition, she calls it songs about the mundane. But her poems are far from mundane. A more acceptable translation of Ìsǘ Le, also offered by the poet, is ‘songs about everyday activities’. Beginning with the first poem, which is based on the first day of the week, Sunday, and echoes her father’s words, ‘You must never be sad on a Sunday’, the volume of poems offers glimpses into a bright and happy childhood, a time of life that is remembered in verse. — Easterine Kire

Author’s Note: The Sümi ancestors had an exceptional kind of folk songs called Ìsǘ Le, which were songs about everyday activities; songs sung along the way to the field and while going forth to hunting expeditions. These were songs about simple moments of joy and sorrow surrounding daily experiences and activities. Though the early history of the Sümis were not written by themselves and were documented by the colonisers and outsiders, these folk songs were a proof that they were documenting their lives in the only way they knew, that is, through their songs. Drawing inspiration from this, the book is titled, Ìsü Le: Songs of Ordinary Days.