ONTD Original: 10 Indigenous Artists to listen to on July 1st (Part IV)
ART BY MERVIN WINDSOR (Haisla, Heiltsuk)
SPOTIFY PLAYLIST | PREVIOUS YEARS POSTS ➡ 2020 2021 2022
It's July 1st! Which means it's time for another 10 Indigenous Canadians to listen to! This year I decided to focus on female and two-spirit* artists. There are a few repeats from previous years but sometimes music is so good, you got to mention them again! I also wanted to highlight the continuing issue of Murdered and Missing Women, Girls and Two-Spirit (MMIWG2S) in Canada.
*“Two-Spirit” is a term used within some Indigenous communities, encompassing cultural, spiritual, sexual and gender identity. The term reflects complex Indigenous understandings of gender roles, spirituality, and the long history of sexual and gender diversity in Indigenous cultures.
[TRIGGER WARNING: Discussion of Murdered/Missing WG2S in Canada]In Canada there are currently an estimated 4000 murdered and missing Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit folks based on reports from 1956 to 2016. Due to the sheer number of MMIWG2S there is no accurate number. In 2019 the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls released 231 calls for justice. The calls covered 18 areas needing reform, including education, justice and health. Since the report, only two of the calls have been completed with more than half of them not even being started. Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit peoples are three times more likely to be victims of violence and six times more likely to be murdered in Canada. This has led to MMIWG2S often being labelled as genocide.
The red hand print has become a symbol for MMIWG2S "A red hand over the mouth has become the symbol of a growing movement, the MMIWG2S movement. It stands for all the missing sisters whose voices are not heard. It stands for the silence of the media and law enforcement in the midst of this crisis. It stands for the oppression and subjugation of Native women who are now rising up to say #NoMoreStolenSisters."
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BUFFY SAINTE-MARIE
Click to viewHow do I describe Buffy Sainte-Marie?! She's been making music since the 1960s and has been a trailblazer in more ways than I can ever explain. She was one of the first public figures to use the term "genocide" to describe the treatment of Indigenous peoples in North America. She was the first person to breastfeed on TV when she was a cast member of Sesame Street. She was banned from American radio stations by the Johnson and Nixon administrations for her protest music (a ban that some stations still have to this day). She was the first Indigenous person to win an Oscar (for Best Original Song, Up Where We Belong). Buffy truly is an amazing person and she continues to blaze a path at 82 years old with no signs of stopping.
QUANAH STYLE
Quanah Style has been described as Canada's most infamous two-spirit/trans artist. Quanah has said that as a young child she never fit in or connected to the boy's powwow dances. When she was 13 her family moved to Victoria where she was introduced to the LGBTQA2+ community, it was then that she realized she was trans. She had her own reality series on World of Wonder called "Quanah: TransOp," which documented her facial reconstruction surgery. She's also appeared on "Making It" (season 1) and "Canada's a Drag" (season 2). She has toured with Buffy Satine-Marie, Peaches, Lady Bunny, Amanda Lepore, Bif Naked and more. She advocates for the drag community to be more inclusive of trans performers. "Being true to myself means living my life how I want to, unapologetically," Quanah says. "Trying to be somebody you're not is an uncomfortable place to be in in your life. When you are trying to make everybody else happy and [are] overly concerned with what everyone else thinks...it can really wear you down."
NIMKISH
NIMKISH was originally a poet before turning to music. With her music, she wants to "honour the past, look ahead to the future, and bask in the resplendent present all at once." She wants her music to give affirmation to past pain while also living in the moment. She recorded her most recent album in 2020, following the death of her father. As she dealt with the grief of that loss and the loss of everything that year, each track focuses on a different type of coping mechanism she used. Her first project Heartbreak On The Coast was a conceptual album about her exploring her sexuality and the first girl she fell in love with.
ANACHNID
Anachnid's name takes inspiration from her spirit animal, the spider. "The spider, has eight legs, and she embodies many complex personalities on stage and in life: venomous spirit, young woman in love, caring grandmother..." While she primarily performs in English, she also sings in French and often incorporates Indigenous languages into her music.
JEREMY DUTCHER
Jermey Dutcher is a two-spirit "song carrier" who blends classical opera training with traditional Indigenous music. Jermey often sings in Wolastoqey/Maliseet which is considered an endangered language. He uses his music to help preserve the language from being lost. His songs often reflect issues faced by Indigenous peoples in Canada. He recently appeared as a guest judge on Canada's Drag Race, collaborated with Yo-Yo Ma and did an NPR Tiny Desk concert.
SHAWNEE KISH
Shawnee uses her music as a form of storytelling and describes music as medicine. She was the winner of CBC Music's Searchlight competition in 2020 and was one of the winners of the Allan Slaight Juno Master Class program for artist development in 2021. Shawnee identifies as two-spirit and is married to rugby player Jen Kish.
PIQSIQ
PIQSIQ is made of sisters Tiffany Ayalik and Inuksuk Mackay. They are traditional Inuit throat singers (katajjaq) who do both ancient songs and come up with their own compositions that combine haunting melodies and otherworldly songs. They perform improvisational looping live, creating a dynamic audience experiences that changes with every show. Last year they released a cover of Ave Maria that combined opera vocalizations with throat singing.
CRIS DERKSEN
Cris is a two-spirit cellist who combines classical music with traditional Indigenous music. Her music is often described as "electronic cello" or classical traditional fusion. During her time at the University of British Columbia, Cris was the principal cellist for the UBC Symphony.
LAURA NIQUAY
Laura is a folk/rock singer who distinguishes herself by singing in her native language, Atikamekw (a variety of Algonquian Cree). She uses her music to transmit the values of her culture. Her shows are often described as a rollercoaster of emotions with Laura using her music to take the audience on a journey.
KANEN
Kanen is an Innu artist who just released her first full-length album this year. Based in Quebec, Kanen sings in both French and Innu aimun. She is a member of Florent Vollant's Nikamu Mamuitun collective. She has also been associated with the Wapikoni Mobile filmmaking collective, for which she directed the short film Battles (Batailles) and appeared as herself in Sonia Bonspille Boileau's documentary film Wapikoni. Her music combines pop, electronic and grunge.
heeey ontd, i'm baaaack i know who are you?. i can't believe this is my fourth big update of this playlist! i originally started it while taking an online class on indigenous history because i wanted music while i was doing the readings and just kept adding to it, i've been so overwhelmed by the support i've gotten. i also want to apologize if the playlist has disappeared from anyone's libraries. for some reason i've had an ongoing issue of this playlist vanishing and/or losing it's title, art and description. i've tried reaching out to spotify for help but crickets. but i promise it's still there, i would never delete this!
anyways, have a great weekend! go eat some bannock!
sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13