PORTAGE was composed for Zeitgeist New Music Ensemble and premiered at Studio Z in February, 2024

PORTAGE employs sounds from the end of Minnesota Point (Neyaashi in Ojibwe) in Duluth, a long narrow sand spit that extends to a natural canal between Minnesota and Wisconsin. The short portage allowed Native people to pass between Gitchigami (Lake Superior) and Gichigami-ziibi (the outlet of the St. Louis River). After European settlement, shipping traffic increased with the building of the Salt Ste. Marie canal connecting Lake Superior to Lake Michigan and subsequently increased competition between Minnesota and Wisconsin. Eventually the manmade canal spanned by the aerial lift bridge was dug, securing access for Minnesota and decreasing traffic through the natural canal. Ore boats use both canals, for the Allouez docks in Wisconsin, and the Canadian National docks in Minnesota.

Composition, field recording / Sara Pajunen