The Acousticians

A Grandfather's Story
By Gary Ferrington
Copyrighted 1997 - All Rights Reserved

My grandfather once told me about a unique group of people who lived in the Great Basin east of the Cascade Mountains in Oregon. They were known as the Acousticians. Few have ever heard of these people but my grandfather had. In his youth he worked as a fisherman on the untamed Columbia River with another young man by the name of Earman. Earman, it seemed, was the last direct descendent of these vanished people.
Earman told my grandfather that the Acousticians were very much like the other First Peoples who lived in Oregon before the arrival of the Europeans. They hunted, fished, and collected berries and roots. In the early days they lived in the caves along large ancient lakes.
There is some evidence that these people might really have existed in that an archeologist, a few years ago, discovered a child's sandal in a cave near present-day Fort Rock. The sandal was estimated to be over ten thousand year old!
My grandfather said that Earman would tell him many stories about the Acousticians as they spent long hours together loading salmon caught in the fish wheels which dotted the banks of the Columbia at the beginning of this century.
Earman said that the Acousticians were able to listen to and understand the land on which they lived. Now, my grandfather didn't believe for a minute that the land talked to these people like I'm talking to you. No, he said, Earman told him that the Acousticians listened to sound of the rhythmic patterns of the river, the crackle of lightening and thunder, the snapping of twigs in the fire, and hundreds of other sounds too many to describe here. Each sound had a message and told a story about the land, the water, the sky and about the special relationship between sound and all living things.
This ability of the Acousticians to listen to the land was a gift which was passed from one generation to another. It was a gift that parents gave to their children by teaching each boy and girl how to listen to the soundscape in which they lived.
Now we might wonder why anyone would want to listen to the land. Especially so today when there seems to be so much noise! Airplanes roar overhead, traffic sounds fill the streets, boom boxes blare in the parks, and people seem to have to shout to be heard above the din! We want to close our ears because it's so loud. But there was a time when the world was much less noisy and one could seemingly hear forever so peaceful was the quiet land.
The wind spoke many messages important to daily life. Children learned to listen to it early in the morning. If they could hear a high whispering sound coming from the east they knew it meant that by afternoon the day would hot and dry. Any journey from home would require that one be near water and seeking shade from the sun's broiling glare would be wise.
In Winter the sound of the east wind blowing outside the cave meant that a blizzard may shortly arrive. On such days it felt good to stay under the soft deer hide blankets to keep warm. When the children heard the wind blowing gently from the west they new that spring rains would soon moisten the land.
Since life frequently found family groups hunting for food along dry creek beds miles from home, it was important to listen to the sky. The sound of distant thunder was often heard. Thunder was always listened to as it told the people if it was only a distant passing storm or one which might come rolling across the Basin and cause harm. Sometimes these storms could be very violent with torrential rain. The creek beds would quickly fill with rushing water and if one were in the way they may not survive. Knowing when it was time to seek shelter was important.
The children also learned to listen to the sound of circling hawks looking for rabbits and other prey. Meat was also important to the Acousticians. Knowing where small animals could be found contributed to the family food supply.
In the spring one could hear the clacking of the pheasant as it darted about searching for food amongst the brush. If one were lucky they could find fresh eggs in it's nest along the lake shore.
The earth sounds not only provided the Acousticians with knowledge about the weather or help them in searching for food, it also entertained and amused them.
The dawn chorus of the morning bird song was always pleasant. Children learned from their parents how to imitate the various melodies. It seemed as though one could spend hours talking with the birds if you listened and knew how to respond to their calls.
Some children made small flute-like instruments to imitate the song of birds and the sounds of animals. In many ways the Acousticians, because they could listen so well to the soundscape, made their own wonderful sounds which reflected the natural world around them. They sang songs which responded to the rhythmic pulses of the river. They raised their voices imitating the wind blowing through the pine trees or across the sage brush which covered much of their land. Their own music blended with the sounds of the natural world.
Earman told my grandfather about one particular story that grandpa remembered quite clearly.
One summer morning the Acousticians were out gathering roots for the coming winter. It was not an unusual morning. The world seemed in balance and the people sang as they worked together.
Then a young mother, who was tending to her child, heard a very soft, but very disturbing deep sound like that of a distant black bear. She could see no bear, but as she sat on the ground playing with her little girl, she could feel the sound vibrating in the earth.
She called to the others who stopped singing and listened. An old woman amongst them shrieked in alarm. Something terrible was going to happened she said. Then it became quiet once again.
The Acousticians continued to gather roots and other edibles. But they no longer sang. They listened and every once in awhile they could feel within their bodies and hear with their attentive ears a long low rumbling.
Again the old woman became disturbed for she had experience this same sound in her youth. She feared for the worse. She told the others that they needed to take shelter. The sound everyone could now hear and feel convinced them that something sad was about to happen and they quickly set out to find a cave which might give them protection.
Along the way they encountered another group of people who also were out gathering food supplies for winter. The Acousticians told these people about the sounds they could hear and feel. But the other people said they could neither hear or sense any sounds. They thought the Acousticians to be a bit strange in their fears and that they were letting the imagination of an old lady cause needless concern. The other people moved on to the south along a dried river bed leading to a distant mountain still covered with last winter's snowy blanket.
Earman told my grandfather that the Acousticians continued their search for safety. Each time they heard and felt the sound vibrating they quickened their pace. Finally, they came to a cave situated high on a ridge above the basin. They frantically climbed up the rocky slope and took refuge inside.
The cave itself became a sound chamber and the rumble within the earth was greatly amplified. But the Acousticians felt safe within its solid rocky walls. From up here they could barely see the other people they had encountered still gathering food stuff as they headed toward the distant mountain where abundant huckel berries awaited them.
Suddenly, what had been a disturbing rumbling in the earth followed by moments of quiet, became a thunderous roar and the ground began to violently shake. With great amazement the Acousticians looked to the south at the snow capped mountain just as it seemingly lifted skyward in one giant cloud of dark gray smoke, steam, ash, and rock.
The great snow fields instantly melted sending cascading streams of water down ancient dry river channels. The other people whom the Acousticians had encountered could no longer be seen as the Great Basin filled with smoke, ash, and the roaring of water and debris
Earman told my grandfather that this was the great eruption of Mt. Mazama which covered all of what is now Oregon, Washington, and Idaho in tons of volcanic ash. We now know the mountain area as Crater Lake National Park.
The land laid barren afterwards and the once fresh water lakes became filled with mud and the fish died. The trees died too and the morning birds no longer sang. There were no more deer or bear and most all living things had ceased to exist except for the Acousticians who had taken shelter when they had listened to the earth's warning.
This was the last summer that the Acousticians remained together as a clan. Since there was little to eat they decided they could best survive if small groups would go in different directions in search of sustenance. And so ended the Acousticians as a unique group of people.
It was some seventy years after my grandfather had heard this story that he too one day felt the low vibrating sound within the earth. Then the explosive sound of Mt. St. Helen in Washington state filled the modern sky with ash and debris causing great destruction to the homes of those who had settled in the lands of the First People.
Unlike the Acousticians, the people of today had sensitive instruments to measure the mountain's potential to erupt. But even with all their tools few had listened carefully to the land to understand what it was about to do.
Some of these people, like those who had ignored the warnings of the Acousticians, perished in the great floods and clouds of ash which followed the mountain's explosive eruption.
My grandfather told me that Earman had taught him to give attention to the soundscape. In nature sounds, he said, there are many messages to be heard. Listening connects each of us to the ways of all living things.