Since time immemorial, Indigenous people have connected to the land; an inspirational source for music. Traditional songs have come about from dreams, ceremonies, listening to nature, prayer and life experiences.

For many nations music is believed to be sacred, primarily for its purpose; songs  are gifts for celebration, to honour, to ultimately connect to spirit. In spite of failed colonial attempts (i.e. residential schools) to silence Indigenous voices, traditional music is thriving  today. Contemporary artists have also adopted many musical styles to speak up  against injustices, dispossession, and have used music as a form of resistance. Many  artists have also shared unique cultural histories, perspectives and  languages. In doing so, Indigenous artists have fostered dialogues and understanding which have and continue to  radically shift  the Canadian paradigm  of whom First Nation, Métis and Inuit  people are. Speak  Up! will showcase an annual selection of First Nation, Métis and Inuit artists from across Canada who have left their mark on culture through music.

Curator's Introduction

Click here for a text transcription.

Speak Up! is curated by David McLeod (member of the Pine Creek First Nation, MB), Indigenous programming consultant.

• Edmund Bull

  

  Edmund Bull is renowned for his talent as a musician in both traditional and contemporary genres. He and the Red Bull Singers are World Champion vocalists and drummers respected across “NDN Country.” (...Read more)

• The Bearhead Sisters

  

  The Bearhead Sisters are a trio who hail from Paul First Nation, Alberta. Their harmonious voices and cultural pride have garnered them serious recognition and accolades...(Read more)

• Leela Gilday

  

  A passionate singer-songwriter and soulful performer, Leela Gilday’s voice comes from the heart of the north, weaving within it stories of the land, water and voices of her people...(Read more)

• Willie Thrasher

  

  Willie Thrasher is an Inuk singer-songwriter from Aklavik, Northwest Territories. Born in 1948 into the traditional Inuit culture of the western Arctic, his father was a whaler and hunter...(Read more)

• Tom Jackson

  

  Recording artist to some, celebrated actor and author to others, philanthropist to most: Tom Jackson is extraordinarily passionate about creating change. A bass-baritone voice for food banks, the disenfranchised, the traumatized, and an Ambassador for the Canadian Red Cross, Jackson is a “minstrel with a mission” and renaissance man...(Read More)

• Elisapie

  

  Elisapie is an Inuk singer-songwriter, actor, and activist born and raised in Salluit, a small village in Nunavik (the northern region of Quebec). Integrating Inuit themes and language with rock music, she makes her culture resonate with finesse by mixing modernity and tradition...(Read More)

• Ferron

  

  Ferron (Métis, born Debbie Foisy) is an acclaimed folk singer-songwriter and poet who is recognized as one of Canada’s most prolific folk musicians and one of the most influential artists to rise out of the women’s music movement. Ferron started playing guitar at age 11 and left her Richmond, BC home at 15, making her professional debut in 1975 almost a decade later...(Read More)

• Fawn Wood

  

  Fawn Wood’s deep connection to her family, Cree culture, and community is rooted within traditional music. She grew up immersed in the cultural and musical traditions of her parents: her father, Earl Wood, is from Saddle Lake Cree Nation and performed with Northern Cree; her mother, Cindy Jim-Wood, taught her the traditions and Salish chants of the Whonnock and Stl’atl’imx peoples...(Read More)

• Drezus

  

  Drezus (born Jeremiah Manitopyes) is a Plains Cree rapper and activist based in Calgary, AB. As a young man he faced violence and multiple jail stints but found purpose and meaning through music, culture, and self-discovery...(Read More)

• Kashtin

  

  Kashtin gained international attention for their unique style of music that incorporates Innu – an Indigenous language with as few as 13,000 speakers – and other elements of their culture. The duo made up of Claude McKenzie and Florent Vollant officially formed as “Kashtin” in 1984, an Innu word meaning "tornado."...(Read More)

• Eekwol

  

  Eekwol (born Lindsay Knight) is a rapper/educator/activist and community motivator from the Muskoday First Nation in Saskatchewan. Her passion for hip-hop, born from the genre’s attention to political, socioeconomic, and racial inequality began at the age of 16 soon flowered into her first independent album in 1998...(Read More)

• Susan Aglukark

  

  Susan Aglukark is an Inuk musician, community activist, and children’s author whose blend of Inuit folk music traditions with pop songwriting has made her a recording star in Canada. She has nine albums released to date and has been the recipient of three Juno awards...(Read More)

• Curtis 'Shingoose' Jonnie

  

  Curtis ‘Shingoose’ Jonnie is a member of the Roseau River Anishinabe First Nation. He was born Curtis Jonnie in 1946 and became widely known as "Shingoose” or ‘Goose’ - a nickname which originated from his great-grandfather...(Read More)

• Andy DeJarlis

  

  Andy DeJarlis, is renowned as a Métis fiddling master. He won his first fiddling contest in 1935 and became a prominent fiddle entertainer on the prairies, particularly for radio appearances on CJRC radio between 1935-1943 in Winnipeg...(Read More)

• John Arcand

  

  John Arcand is a master of traditional Métis fiddling. He has dedicated his life to being an educator, performer, and advocate of Métis culture; to promote and popularize a rich musical heritage...(read more)

• Willie Dunn

  

  
  Singer-songwriter, filmmaker, and political activist Willie Dunn was an uncompromising force in Canadian folk music... (read more)
  

• Dr. Duke Redbird

  

  
  Dr. Duke Redbird, Elder, Wisdom Keeper, activist, educator, and artist... (read more)

• Tanya Tagaq

  

  
  Tanya Tagaq is an award-winning Inuk throat singer, visual artist and best-selling author from Cambridge Bay, Nunavut... (read more)

• Seventh Fire

  

  
  Seventh Fire was an eclectic rock band formed in Ottawa in 1989... (read more)

• Leonard Sumner

  

  
  Anishinaabe MC/Singer/Songwriter Leonard Sumner's storytelling originates and flows from the shores of his homeland known as the Little Saskatchewan First Nation located in Treaty 2 Territory... (read more)

• Northern Cree

  

  
  The Northern Cree Singers are an acclaimed powwow group, founded in 1982 by brothers Steve, Earl and Randy Wood from the Saddle Lake Cree Nation in Alberta... (read more)

• War Party

  

  
  Hailing from Maskwacis, Alberta, War Party was a groundbreaking Cree group with a long-standing legacy in Canada’s hip-hop scene... (read more)

• Jeremy Dutcher

  

  
  Classically trained vocalist and musician Jeremy Dutcher creates music that stretches across a century of history... (read more)

• Alanis Obomsawin

  

  
  Alanis Obomsawin is a celebrated singer-songwriter, director and activist... (read more)

• Kinnie Starr

  

  
  Kinnie Starr is a genre-defying, Calgary born and raised, mixed-blood European/Mohawk artist blazing an influential trail... (read more)

• Charlie Panigoniak

  

  
  Charlie Panigoniak (ᓵᓕ ᐸᓂᒍᓂᐊᖅ), recipient of the Order of Nanavut, was a groundbreaking Inuk guitarist/singer-songwriter/storyteller who many northerners consider to be "the father of Inuktitut music"... (read more)
  

• Northern Haze

  

  Founders of Inuktitut rock, Northern Haze trace their beginnings to the mid-seventies, when bandmates Kolitalik Inukshuk, Naisana Qamaniq, James Ungalaq, Elijah Kunnuk and John Inooya bonded over gritty rock music in their small arctic village, Igloolik, Nunavut... (read more)

Thank You

With great appreciation
Artists and artist management for their contributions to the exhibition
National Music Centre Indigenous Programming Advisory Committee (more info)

Design and Development
Curated by David McLeod
Original Speak Up! design by Tim Neal (The Engagement Party)

Ongoing updates of Speak Up! are proudly supported by