David Hodges, hip-hop producer, youth worker, and Director of N'we Jinan, talks to RPM about the growth of the N'we Jinan project and Skicin GenerationVol.4, with music produced from four communities of the Wabanaki Confederacy, dropping August 12.
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Formerly known as the Aboriginal People's Choice Music Awards, the newly re-dubbed Indigenous Music Awards announced their 2015 nominees today at a livestreamed press conference in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Celebrating 10 years of Indigenous music and culture, the IMAs support the wide range of music being made throughout Indian Country. Produced in partnership with the Manito Ahbee Festival, this year's awards week will be held September 9-13, 2015.
Hip-hop continues to be huge at the IMAs, with acclaimed artists Drezus and City Natives leading the nominations with four each—including Best Duo or Group, Best Hip-Hop CD, Best Music Video, and Single of the Year—while Los Angeles duo Lightning Cloud holds it down with three nods, including facing off against Drezus amid a strong list of contenders for Indigenous Entertainer of the Year.
Also look out for some fierce competition on the pow wow recording trail, where heavy hitters Black Bear, Cree Confederation, Northern Cree, Northern Voice and Stoney Creek are vying for Best Contemporary Pow Wow CD honours.
Voting in every category is now open to the public, so support the Indigenous music culture that we all love by visiting indigenousmusicawards.ca to cast your vote for your favourite artists and recordings.
BEST ALBUM COVER DESIGN
BEATRICE DEER - Fox BLACKSTONE - Kaskite Asiniy ENTER-TRIBAL - Hitting The Trail FLORENT VOLLANT - Puamuna HELLNBACK - #FOE=Family Over Everything
BEST ACOUSTIC FOLK CD
CARY MORIN - Tiny Town CHELSEY JUNE - Finding Me JASON BURNSTICK & NADINE L’HIRONDELLE - Wrapped in Daisies JOSEPH STRIDER - Carbon 14 KELLY JACKSON - Renditions Of The Soul
BEST COUNTRY CD
ARMOND DUCK CHIEF - The One BOB E. LEE WEST - The Tree JODY THOMAS GASKIN - Born on the Rezz KIMBERLEY DAWN - Til The Cowboys Come Home THELMA CHEECHOO - Stay
BEST GOSPEL CD
CARL CRANE - Northern Man “A Little Bit of Me” DAWN KARIMA - The Stars Of Heaven DIANNE FOSTER - Holy Mighty Fire KELLY MONTIJO FINK - Don’t Let Me Forget YVONNE ST. GERMAINE - If You See My Savior
BEST DUO OR GROUP
CITY NATIVES DEE ERIN BAND GHOST TOWN ORCHESTRA INDIAN CITY JULIAN TAYLOR BAND
BEST HAND DRUM CD
ANTONE & CHIEFS - Antone & Chiefs BEARHEAD SISTERS - Our Angels MANITOU MKWA SINGERS - Manitou Mkwa Singers WAYNE SILAS, JR. - Infinite Passion YOUNG SPIRIT - Nitehe Ohci - From the Heart
BEST FLUTE CD
DAVID ROSE - Wind Dance Under the Moon JAN LOOKING WOLF - Wind Dreamer RYAN LITTLE EAGLE - My Songs My Stories STEVEN RUSHINGWIND - Red Beaten Path TONY DUNCAN & DARRIN YAZZIE - Singing Lights WILLIAM GREENLAND - The Journey Beyond
BEST INDIGENOUS LANGUAGE OR FRANCOPHONE CD
FLORENT VOLLANT- Puamuna JAAJI - Nunaga (My Home, My Land) JONATHAN MARACLE - Karonyakdadeh Hymns of Mohawk Elders SEWEPAGAHAM - Sewepagaham
BEST INDIGENOUS MUSIC STATION / RADIO PROGRAM
A CONVERSATION WITH DAWN KARIMA NATIONAL ABORIGINAL MUSIC COUNTDOWN (NCI FM) NATIVE TRAILBLAZERS RADIO NATIVE WAVES RADIO
BEST INDIGENOUS SONGWRITER
ARMOND DUCK CHIEF - The One JASON BURNSTICK & NADINE L’HIRONDELLE - My Headstart Preschool JOSEPH STRIDER - Seven Arrows LIGHTNING CLOUD - Meet Me At The Pow Wow TOMSON HIGHWAY - Taansi, Nimiss WILL BELCOURT AND THE HOLLYWOOD INDIANS - Burn It Down
BEST INSTRUMENTAL CD
GERONIMO PAULETTE - Hard Road Out Of Hell MWALIM DA PHUNKEE PROFESSOR - Awakened By A Noon Day Sun SEAN BEAVER - Torn
BEST INTERNATIONAL INDIGENOUS RELEASE
AYRAD - Ayrad EMMANUEL JAL - The Key QUIQUE ESCAMILLA - 500 Years of Night TASHA T - Real Talk THE BASS INVADERS - Dance of the Fox
BEST MUSIC VIDEO
CITY NATIVES - Straight Chief’n DREZUS - Warpath INDIAN CITY - One Day KELLY DERRICKSON - Idle No More LIGHTNING CLOUD - Walk Alone
BEST NEW ARTIST
DEE ERIN BAND GABRIELLE KNIFE KELLY DERRICKSON KICKIN KROTCH NITANIS ‘KIT’ LARGO
BEST PEYOTE CD
DONJAY NELSON - Good Morning Dawn JAKE TYNER, EDMOND POOCHAY AND LANCE CROWE - Good Memories JOE TAHONNIE JR. - Ceremony LOUIE GONNIE - Spiraling, Ascending With Prayer SILAS & PIERCE BIGLEFTHAND - Northern Cheyenne Peyote Healing Songs
BEST POP CD
CLASSIC ROOTS - Hack The Planet JAMIE COON - Day After Day NIIKO SOUL - Neon Warrior TOMSON HIGHWAY - Patricia Cano sings songs from The (Post) Mistress VICTOR PATRICK - Bound by Roots
BEST POW WOW CD - CONTEMPORARY
BLACK BEAR - Come & Get Your Love: The Tribe Session CREE CONFEDERATION - Kihtawasoh Wapakwani NORTHERN CREE - Northern Cree Breaking Boundaries NORTHERN VOICE - In Land We Trust STONEY CREEK - Dedicated
BEST POW WOW CD - TRADITIONAL
CHIPPEWA TRAVELLERS - Honouring Our Biish (Water) NORTHERN WIND - Northern Wind Bimaadiziwin TRAIL MIX - Str8 Forward
BEST PRODUCER / ENGINEER
ARMOND DUCK CHIEF - The One BEARHEAD SISTERS - Our Angels DREZUS - Indian Summer GHOST TOWN ORCHESTRA - Ghost Town Orchestra NIIKO SOUL - Neon Warrior
BEST RAP / HIP-HOP CD
CHIEF ROCK - A Warriors Journey CITY NATIVES - Red City CODY COYOTE - Lose Control DREZUS - Indian Summer HELLNBACK - #FOE=Family Over Everything
BEST ROCK CD
DEE ERIN BAND - Broken Road MIDNIGHT SHINE - Northern Man SCATTER THEIR OWN - Taste The Time THE DEEDS - Mother Nature WILL BELCOURT AND THE HOLLYWOOD INDIANS - Annie Baby
BEST TELEVISION PROGRAM / PROMOTION OF INDIGENOUS MUSIC
ABORIGINAL UNITY EXPERIENCE GUILT FREE ZONE THE CANDY SHOW
INDIGENOUS ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR
ARMOND DUCK CHIEF CARY MORIN DREZUS LIGHTNING CLOUD RELLIK STEVEN RUSHINGWIND
SINGLE OF THE YEAR
BLACK BEAR - Come & Get Your Love II CITY NATIVES - Straight Chief’n CODY COYOTE - Warrior INDIAN CITY - Duet KELLY JACKSON - After All This Time RELLIK - My Voice
Although we're not totally sold on the idea of the federal government designating one day a year to celebrate Indigenous culture, at least it's an opportunity to check out some amazing performances by Indigenous artists.
And, as June 21st also marks the summer solstice, there are more than enough reasons to get out of the house and show your love for all things NDN, First Nations, Aboriginal, Native, Métis, Inuit, and Indigenous.
There are many different events being planned across the country (here, here, and here, for example), so we were hard pressed to narrow things down.
But here are eleven decidedly great ways to spend the solstice and National Aboriginal Day this year.
The Métis Nation of Alberta and their affiliate organization, Métis Crossing, will be hosting a celebration for National Aboriginal Day on June 21st. Located at the Métis Crossing Historic Site (south of Smokey Lake, Alberta), between 11:00 AM and 6:00 PM, the day's events will include an open stage jam, cultural interpretation, a genealogy exhibit, games, on-site concession, and an elder’s lounge. For more info click here.
Acclaimed Mohawk singer-songwriter and hip-hop artist Kinnie Starr, Métis cellist and experimenter Cris Derksen, and jazzy alterna-folk artist Binaeshee-Quae will perform on June 20th and 21st respectively, as part of the Luminato Festival's New Canadian Music Series which runs daily at the Festival Garden Stage in Toronto. For more info, check out: https://luminatofestival.com/festival/2015/new-canadian-music-series
Led by founding Artistic Director Tekaronhiáhkhwa Santee Smith, Kaha:wi Dance Theatre (pronounced Ga-Ha-Wee) is an artist-based dance company known for their energetic and innovative performances that blend traditional and contemporary styles. KDT will be performing as part of Ottawa's Summer Solstice events at Vincent Massey Park. On Saturday, June 20th at 1pm, KDT will perform the piece Medicine Bear, which weaves a magical narrative of traditional Iroquoian stories: how the Bear Clan came to be known as the “Keeper of the Medicines” and the hunter who discovered the gift of healing. Plus, don't forget about the full traditional powwow going on all weekend too. For more info, visit: http://www.ottawasummersolstice.ca/
The Annual National Aboriginal Day Celebration on Coast Salish Territories will once again be held at Trout Lake on Sunday, June 21st. It’s a community-based full day of events that celebrates the diversity of Indigenous Peoples from across Canada. First Nations, Métis & Inuit peoples gather to share their experiences, stories, songs, traditional games, dances & spirit with each other & the general community. All events are FREE, all Aboriginal community members & supporters are welcome; and it's a family-friendly event, with no alcohol or drugs permitted. There's a full day of activities, but get there early before the pancakes run out! For more information visit: http://www.vafcs.org/events/aboriginalday/
Celebrate National Aboriginal Day with justice in Halifax: by joining other like-minded people to support the Mi'kmaq Nation in Nova Scotia, and taking up national calls by Indigenous and allied organizers to implement the 94 recommendations put forth by Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The work of reconciliation belongs to all of us, and Halifax organizers are taking the lead. But no matter where you live, why not start learning more about how you can bring more truth and more justice into this colonial world of ours. Here's more information on how Nova Scotian organizers are gathering and getting started for NAD: http://solidarityhalifax.ca/2015/06/statement-celebrate-national-aboriginal-day-with-justice/
Anishinaabe MC/singer/songwriter Leonard Sumner will be one of many performers taking part in the Indigenous Arts Festival at Fort York in Toronto. Fusing elements of hip-hop, country, and rhythm & blues, his music appeal cuts across age lines, allowing his style to be enjoyed by people who typically 'aren't into rap'. Sumner will be rocking the festival mainstage on Saturday, June 20th at 5:30pm. For more information, click here.
Featuring three days of performances on an outdoor stage in the plaza at the Royal BC Museum in the heart of downtown Victoria, BC, the Aboriginal Cultural Festival will run from June 19-21, 2015. Each day will be dedicated to a coastal nation: there's a Coast Salish Nation Day, a Nuu-Chah-Nulth Nation Day, and a Kwakwaka'wakw Nation Day. All weekend the festival will open with performances from the two local Host Nations and follow with shows from Aboriginal performers from across the province as well as a show from 3-time World Hoop Dancing Champion Alex Wells. Full schedule and info at: https://www.aboriginalbc.com/victoria-aboriginal-festival/
Second in size only to Winnipeg's #ADL2015 celebration, Edmonton will be putting on a full day's worth of events on June 21st, culminating in a mainstage show that will feature some incredible Indigenous performers—including the idiosyncratic experimentalism of Ghostkeeper, the full-blown, blues rock of Derek Miller, and the powerful contemporary country sounds of Crystal Shawanda. Definitely worth checking out. For more about Edmonton's 9th annual Aboriginal Day celebration, click here.
With his new album, Unrefined, recently released to the world, Don Amero is taking to the Aboriginal Day Live mainstage alongside his buddy Brett Kissel, and Los Angeles-based hip-hop duo Lightning Cloud, to rock The Forks in Winnipeg. Look out for a special rendition of a new song that Amero and Kissel wrote a few months back, called "Rebuild This Town". Oh, and RedCloud will be incorporating crowdsourced words and ideas into his freestyles during Lightning Cloud's set. You don't want to miss 'em. For more on #ADL2015 in Winnipeg, check out: http://www.aboriginaldaylive.ca/winnipeg/winnipeg-live-concert/
You may have seen ATCR before, but not like this. A Tribe Called Red will be bringing the electric pow-wow out of the nightclubs and into the park—Malkin Bowl in Stanley Park to be precise—for a massive, outdoor Indigenous throwdown on Saturday, June 20th. This one isn't free, but it's definitely worth the price of admission. The Tribe will rock the spot alongside Blondtron & Waspy, the amazing Git Hayetsk Dancers, and local DJ crew Klash Akt. Get down to the bass-heavy sounds of DJ NDN, Bear Witness, and 2oolman rocking a stage surrounded by the sunset, sea, and ancient cedars. An Aboriginal Day meets summer solstice taste of Indigenous dance music perfection? Sounds like it to us. More info and tickets available here: http://malkinbowl.com/a-tribe-called-red/
In Canada's Northwest Territories—the only place in the country where National Aboriginal Day is a statutory holiday—you can experience a summer solstice that lasts well into the night. Join other northerners in Inuvik, NWT on June 21st for a day of events celebrating the local Gwich'in, Inuvialuit and Métis people and cultures. From traditional drumming, dancing, and foods, to a Midnight Sun Run in celebration of the summer solstice's warm temperatures, experience what it's like to be out in the sunlit streets long after midnight, above the Arctic Circle. And that photo above? That was taken at 1:30am in late May. Learn more about NAD celebrations in the NWT here: https://www.facebook.com/Inuvik.NWT.Canada
Kicking off last week in Portland, Oregon, the inaugural One Flaming Arrow Festival is bringing an incredible array of contemporary Indigenous art, music, readings, film screenings, panels, performances, and concerts to the Indigenous lands of the Chinook/Multnomah peoples.
The brainchild of Demian DinéYazhi, Kaila Farrell-Smith (both of R.I.S.E.), and Carlee Smith, One Flaming Arrow launched a successful crowdfunding campaign this winter to bring together radical Indigenous voices from across Native america for a 12-day celebration of contemporary Indigenous arts.
The festival features a stellar lineup that includes:
In between the low-rider bike workshops, storytelling sessions, art installations, poetry performances, and an Indigenous Futurisms film night curated by Grace Dillon, the festival is also showcasing some of the finest in Indigenous music culture.
On Tuesday, June 9th, Diné experimental/noise musician Raven Chacon (of Postcommodity), White Mountain Apache violinist Laura Ortman, and the Diné electro-queerpostpunk duo Discotays will throw down at the Holocene. Event info is below.
The One Flaming Arrow Festival continues through June 14th. Check the festival program for the full schedule of events.
One Flaming Arrow offers stark and powerful evidence of the Indigenous artists at the forefront of the contemporary creative arts. May this year be the first of many to come.
Listen to an OPB radio interview on the One Flaming Arrow Festival
JUNE 9th: Laura Ortman & Raven Chacon Performance and the Discotays at the Holocene!
9:30pm-11:30pm Holocene: 1001 SE Morrison, Portland 97214 Join us on June 9th, 2015 at the Holocene in Portland, Oregon for Raven Chacon & Laura Ortman + Discotays. We have the honor of showcasing two award-winning multi-instrumentalists, Indigenous composers Raven Chacon & Laura Ortman along with the musical styling of Discotrays.
Tickets available here
DISCOTAYS (Diné) are a music duo from Navajo Nation, comprised of artists Hansen Ashley & Brad Charles. Their music has been adored by the likes of Kathleen Hanna and can be described as post-punk electro & queerpostpunk / queerpostsurf / queernowave.
Laura Ortman (White Mountain Apache) has performed with Stars Like Fleas, the Dust Dive & Silver Summit, & composes music for art installations & films in the form of the Dust Dive Flash. She plays violin, Apache violin, piano, electric guitar, musical saw & samplers. Ortman has created music for films by Martha Colburn & Indigenous filmmakers Blackhorse Lowe, Alan Michelson, & Raquel Chapa, among others.
Raven Chacon (Diné/Chicano) is a chamber music composer & experimental noise artist. Chacon is a member of the Indigenous art collective, Postcommodity, with whom he has developed multi-media installations that have been exhibited internationally. Both his solo work & his work with Postcommodity has been presented at the Sydney Bienale, Kennedy Center, Adelaide International, Vancouver Art Gallery, Musée d’ art Contemporain de Montréal, The San Francisco Electronic Music Festival, Chaco Canyon, & Performance Today. Tickets are $8 in advance & $10 at the door. 21 and over.
Watch Raven Chacon, Live at End Tymes in New York City
Joey Stylez has been quietly transforming his style with each album in his catalogue.
"Pride of Lions", the lead single from his new EP, offers up his latest incarnation: an adept blend of club-oriented 'Aboriginal trap' music, swagger-filled hip-hop, and a slick pop hook, courtesy of Dragonette's Martina Sorbara.
Get into it below.
STREAM: Joey Stylez - "Pride Of Lions (feat. Dragonette)"
Look out for Joey Stylez' latest EP, Grey Magic, due out later this summer.
JOEY STYLEZ - SUMMER 2015 TOUR DATES July 16 @ Le Belmont, MONTREAL, QC July 17 @ CC's Entertainment Centre, ELSIPOGTOG FIRST NATION, NB July 23 @ Blnd Tgr, TORONTO, ON July 24 @ Ritual, OTTAWA, ON July 25 @ The Arena, OBEDIJWAN, QC July 31 @ Newfies Pub, THUNDERBAY, ON Aug. 1 @ Assiginack Curling Club, WIKWEMIKONG, ON
Watch Joey Stylez & Carsen Gray - "Love Trap"
After premiering her infectious lead single, "As Long As You Are Here", last week, we're happy to bring you an exclusive album stream of Mariame's debut EP, Bloom, released today on N'we Jinan Records.
Bloom is a dynamic introduction to the rising Cree/Algerian singer's accomplished take on contemporary pop and R&B that weaves well-crafted hooks, airtight production, and Mariame's assured vocal presence throughout the EP's six songs.
Opener "Now You Know It" is a confident statement about coming through heartbreak stronger than ever, while "Electric" amps up the energy into a dancefloor-ready club anthem. "All For You" is a lovestruck ode to remaining true to yourself and "staying afloat / even when times get rough"—a recurrent theme of optimism and strength that runs throughout the album.
Halfway through Bloom, however, the record drops into one of its most emphatic statements: a decidedly 21st century take on Indigenized pop music. "Native" spins a tale of cultural recovery, renewed strength, and love for her people, and it features expertly chopped vocal samples and a fire verse from the legendary and multitalented Apsáalooke hip-hop artist Supaman.
"Vulnerable" traces a moving story of a young girl's experience confronting past experiences of abuse and violence—but moving above and beyond them. Concluding the EP, "As Long As You Are Here", Mariame's impassioned lead single, closes the album with power and poise.
Picking up the Indigenous pop/R&B torch lit by the likes of Inez Jasper, Mariame is a young artist blazing her own way into popular music consciousness. And, at 24, she's just getting started.
STREAM: Mariame's Bloom EP
Download Mariame’s debut EP, Bloom, on iTunes.
Thanks to a #SwayintheMorning mega cypher featuring Minnesota-based MCs Tall Paul and Knox, we just got put on to Thomas X.
Part of the 100 Souls crew and Rez Rap Records, the Red Lake Anishinaabe MC is making moves and today he dropped his new EP, Have a Good Day.
Stream and download it for free on his bandcamp and support underground emcees putting in love and much work to support true hip-hop culture and Indigenous pride.
Have a Good Day is on some throwback to the boom bap era vibes, without dwelling in nostalgia. Thomas X kicks his laid back cadence with confidence and persona, weaving personal stories of struggle and survival over solid production from Mike the Martyr.
In the absence of institutional support and a larger urban scene, the Rez Rap crew has had to do it for themselves—building their production and audience brick by brick, listener by listener.
Thomas X holds it down on that front, filling the EP with bold declarations of love for his people, family, and homeland, while standing up to represent his nation and community.
Salute to all the Indigenous lyrical warriors on the come up. Now give Thomas X a listen.
FREE DOWNLOAD: Thomas X - Have a Good Day EP
Following K-otic 1's killer "Idle No More Invasion Day Mixtape 2013" from last winter, the Brizzy Blacks are keeping the beats banging and the rhythms of resistance rocking with this new compilation of music for the movement.
The Brisbane Blacks "exist for the sole purpose of awakening the Black CONSCIENCE, raising Black AWARENESS and articulating the Black RESISTANCE"—all of which can be heard in righteous hip-hop form on this dope new mixtape, which was just released as a free download, following a wave of nationwide protests throughout Australia against the colonial celebration of "Australia Day" on January 26th.
The Invasion Day Mixtape celebrates the resistance and resurgence of Indigenous peoples in "Australia" to rise up and reclaim their presence in occupied and colonized lands. As MC Triks and bAbe SUN spit on their anthemic track: "We Still Right Here". And that's something we can get behind. Solidarity, brothers and sisters. This is a perfect first #MixtapeMonday of 2014.
Check the full track list and download the mixtape below.
INVASION DAY 2014 MIXTAPE - FULL TRACK LIST
1. BLACK SHIELD - "Your ENEMY is my ENEMY"
2. Boomerang Effect - "da Brizzy Blacks"
3. Lorna Munro - "Peace Lines"
4. GUERILLA TACTICS - "Dedication"
5. La' Teila - "Propose a QUESTion?"
6. MC Triks ft. Black Shield - "Fist Like This"
7. ?PRE ft. bAbE SUN and C.P.G. - "Why is My/HIStory such a Mystery?"
8. Provocalz ft. Dara and Black Shield - Stand Strong 03:37
9. Grammar - "So Sophisticated" (Brisbane Music Group)
10. Black Shield - "We Still Right Here(intro.)"
11. MC Triks and bAbE SUN - "We Still Right Here"
12. Uncle Paul - "My Land Will Not Be Taken!"
13. La' Teila - "SMILE on my face"
14. MC Triks - "Australian Black Originals(ABO)" Co-Produced by MC Triks
15. Callum-Clayton Dixon - "LAND, LAW, LANGUAGE, LIFE &LIBERATION"
Back in the mix again is Tobique First Nation hip-hop artist Beaatz with his new track One Last Time featuring fifteen-year-old Tobique First Nations MC Speechless, Eskasoni MC Gearl and Ill Fundz also out of Tobique First Nation. One Last Time speaks on the injustices suffered by Indigenous cultures around Turtle Island through the eyes of these young hip-hoppers coming out of the east coast of Canada.
DOWNLOAD: Beaatz - "One Last Time"
Originally from the Piapot Cree Indian reserve in the Qu'Appelle Valley, Saskatchewan, Canada, she was raised in Wakefield, Massachusetts, before being welcomed back to the Piapot Cree during a Pow Wow ceremony in 1964. During the course of her career, Buffy Sainte-Marie has received honorary Doctor of Laws and Letters degrees from a variety of reputable institutions such as the University of Regina in her home territory of Saskatchewan, and Emily Carr University and the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, BC, among others. In the last 48 years she has put out eighteen albums. Buffy Sainte-Marie has been covered by Donovan, Joe Cocker, Neil Diamond, Giovanni, Janis Joplin, Courtney Love and many others.
During these two interviews, Ms. Sainte-Marie recalls memories from the 1960's era of grassroots social movements, when she was just beginning her career as a traveling singer-songwriter. At that time, Ms. Sainte-Marie was traveling to cafes and campuses around North America, writing and performing songs that weren't typically found in mainstream music which, as she describes them, were "original to me, but an absorption and a reflection of what I was seeing on the streets and in college campuses."
It was a time when reactionary political activism in resistance to the Vietnam War and other political injustices had spread throughout student unions and subcultures across North America. Many artists had taken stances on political issues - John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Bob Dylan, and many others began using music to speak out against corruption and human rights violations being perpetrated by both foreign and domestic governments. On the show, Ms. Sainte-Marie performs her 1964 anthem Universal Soldier, a song portraying anti-war sentiment sewn through and through which speaks to the political climate at that time. "I wrote Universal Soldier in the basement of The Purple Onion coffee house in Toronto in the early sixties. It's about individual responsibility for war and how the old feudal thinking kills us all."
It is inspiring to hear Ms. Sainte-Marie speak of her convictions and her motivations for being onstage, as she tells Democracy Now that it was always the messaging in her music that she felt protected by and which gives her the confidence to be on stage. She describes her motivation for writing Now That The Buffalo Is Gone, a song written during the Seneca Nation's battle with the United States in its effort to build the Kinzu Dam, which would eventually flood their traditional territories and force hundreds of Seneca to relocate from 10,000 acres of land they had occupied under the 1794 Treaty of Canandaigua. Ms. Sainte-Marie acknowledges the unbalanced and often biased perspectives offered by mainstream media as a motivating factor in writing the song, which speaks to the damage that misrepresentation can cause in relations between First Nations and surrounding national governments - a challenge which sounds all too familiar 50 years later.
This author has grown up hearing the songs of Buffy Sainte-Marie from the tops of kitchen tables in many family member's homes, and for that reason, it is an honor to present this article and these two interviews for RPM's readers. Enjoy.
Watch: Democracy Now's Full Length Interview with Buffy Sainte-Marie below:
In the course of creating the documentary Still This Love Goes On: The Songs of Buffy Sainte-Marie, Philip Coulter listened to literally hours and hours of the CBC Radio interviews the songwriter gave over the past 30 years. Coulter reacquainted himself with Sainte-Marie's body of work (eighteen albums since 1964) and had his own face-to-face interview with her in Calgary this past April.
As a result of the Vancouver Dialogues Project, an initiative delivered by the City of Vancouver in partnership with 27 diverse community organizations comprising the project's steering group, Dialogues Youth Vancouver has been developed as a community-led engagement initiative - driven by youth for youth. Using new technologies and various social media tools, the project hopes to engage a large audience of youth between the ages of 17 and 25.
The project's developers intend to facilitate dialogue both online and offline. The purpose of using a web-based engagement campaign in concert with an offline strategy is so that feedback generated online might inform the topics, themes, speakers and outcomes of the offline engagements. The project is designing a series of dialogue sessions and a conference in June 2012 to address and challenge issues being faced by many youth today.
From the Dialogues Youth website:
"We value community, accessibility, self-determination, representation, and equity. We also value dialogue for challenging discrimination, systemic oppression, and colonialism--as well as sharing strengths and celebrating our cultures. Through dialogue, we believe that youth can influence history.
We hope to build alliances between Vancouver’s First Nations, Urban Aboriginal and immigrant/non-Aboriginal youth. We want to learn your goals. What is your vision for an inclusive Vancouver? How do you define inclusiveness and accessibility? What does self-determination look like to you? How would you like to be represented by your leaders? When will you feel equity in your city?
Through a series of Dialogues Youth Sessions and a conference in June 2012, we hope to answer these questions. However, we need your help. Follow us and join the conversation."
Dialogues Youth depends on community engagement to inform the dynamics of the sessions and conference. Through the use of Twitter #hashtags and by signing up to stay in touch, audience members can identify key themes, discussion topics, and relevant issues for youth around the subject of First Nations, Urban Aboriginal and immigrant/non-Aboriginal relationships in Vancouver. Vancouver youth can influence who the project interviews for it's blog posts and who will be speaking to them during Dialogues events.
Remember to connect on Facebook! Stay in touch - Dialogues Youth Vancouver #vandialogues on Twitter.
Revolutions Per Minute is a global new music platform, record label, and boutique agency for Indigenous music culture. RPM’s mission is to build a visionary community of Indigenous artists and to introduce Indigenous music to new audiences across Turtle Island and around the world. Our main site, RPM.fm, has featured the work of more than 500 Indigenous artists and shared their music across our social networks of more than 275,000 followers.
RPM Records is the first of its kind: a label for contemporary, cross-genre Indigenous music, run by Indigenous people. Selected by The FADER as one of “5 New Canadian Record Labels The Entire World Should Know”, RPM Records artists include Ziibiwan, Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, Exquisite Ghost, and Mob Bounce.
