Indigenous music of Canada encompasses a wide variety of musical genres created by
Aboriginal Canadians
In Canada, Indigenous groups comprise the First Nations, Inuit and Métis. Although ''Indian'' is a term still commonly used in legal documents, the descriptors ''Indian'' and ''Eskimo'' have fallen into disuse in Canada, and most consider the ...
. Before European settlers came to what is now Canada, the region was occupied by many
First Nations
First Nations or first peoples may refer to:
* Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area.
Indigenous groups
*First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including:
**First Natio ...
, including the West Coast
Salish and
Haida, the centrally located
Iroquois
The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...
,
Blackfoot and
Huron
Huron may refer to:
People
* Wyandot people (or Wendat), indigenous to North America
* Wyandot language, spoken by them
* Huron-Wendat Nation, a Huron-Wendat First Nation with a community in Wendake, Quebec
* Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi ...
, the
Dene
The Dene people () are an indigenous group of First Nations who inhabit the northern boreal and Arctic regions of Canada. The Dene speak Northern Athabaskan languages. ''Dene'' is the common Athabaskan word for "people". The term "Dene" ha ...
to the North, and the
Innu and
Mi'kmaq
The Mi'kmaq (also ''Mi'gmaq'', ''Lnu'', ''Miꞌkmaw'' or ''Miꞌgmaw''; ; ) are a First Nations people of the Northeastern Woodlands, indigenous to the areas of Canada's Atlantic Provinces and the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec as well as the nort ...
in the East and the Cree in the North. Each of the indigenous communities had (and have) their own unique musical traditions.
Chanting
A chant (from French ', from Latin ', "to sing") is the iterative speaking or singing of words or sounds, often primarily on one or two main pitches called reciting tones. Chants may range from a simple melody involving a limited set of n ...
– singing is widely popular and most use a variety of musical instruments.
History
Traditionally, Indigenous Canadians used the materials at hand to make their instruments for centuries before
Europeans immigrated to Canada.
First Nation bands made
gourds
Gourds include the fruits of some flowering plant species in the family Cucurbitaceae, particularly ''Cucurbita'' and '' Lagenaria''. The term refers to a number of species and subspecies, many with hard shells, and some without. One of the earl ...
and animal
horns Horns or The Horns may refer to:
* Plural of Horn (instrument), a group of musical instruments all with a horn-shaped bells
* The Horns (Colorado), a summit on Cheyenne Mountain
* ''Horns'' (novel), a dark fantasy novel written in 2010 by Joe Hill ...
into
rattles, many rattles were elaborately carved and beautifully painted.
[Indian & Northern Affairs Canada](_blank)
– Canadian Government information PDF on First Nation music In woodland areas, they made horns of
birchbark
Birch bark or birchbark is the bark of several Eurasian and North American birch trees of the genus ''Betula''.
The strong and water-resistant cardboard-like bark can be easily cut, bent, and sewn, which has made it a valuable building, craftin ...
and
drumsticks of carved
antlers
Antlers are extensions of an animal's skull found in members of the Cervidae (deer) family. Antlers are a single structure composed of bone, cartilage, fibrous tissue, skin, nerves, and blood vessels. They are generally found only on males ...
and wood. Drums were generally made of carved wood and
animal hides.
Drums and rattles are percussion instruments traditionally used by First Nations people.
[Veterans Affairs Canada]
– Canadian Government section on First Nation music and dance These musical instruments provide the background for songs, and songs are the background for dances. Many traditional First Nations people consider song and dance to be sacred. For many years after
Europeans came to Canada, First Nations people were forbidden to practice their ceremonies.
That is one reason why little information about First Nations music and musical instruments is available.
Traditionally
Inuktitut did not have a word for what a European-influenced listener or
ethnomusicologist's understanding of ''music'', "and ethnographic investigation seems to suggest that the ''concept'' of music as such is also absent from their culture." The closest word, ''nipi'',
includes music, the sound of speech, and noise. (Nattiez 1990:56)
Today, a revival of pride in First Nations art and music is taking and beauty of traditional
First Nations art
Visual arts by indigenous peoples of the Americas encompasses the visual artistic practices of the indigenous peoples of the Americas from ancient times to the present. These include works from South America and North America, which includes ...
, music and
musical instruments. Drums are closely associated with First Nations people. Some people say, "Drumming is the heartbeat of Mother Earth." First Nations made a great variety of drums. Healers sometimes use miniature drums. There are also tambourine-shaped
hand drum A hand drum is any type of drum that is typically played with the bare hand rather than a stick, mallet, hammer, or other type of beater.
Types
The following descriptions allude to traditional versions of the drums. Modern synthetic versions are a ...
s, warrior drums,
water drums, and very large
ceremonial drum
Ceremonial drums are membranophones and idiophonic slit drums, which are played in a ritual context cult, religious or ceremonial social occasions by indigenous peoples around the world, often accompanied by singing or chanting.
Some ceremonial dr ...
s. Their size and shape depends on the First Nation's particular culture and what the drummer wants to do with them. Many are beautifully decorated. In many First Nations cultures, ''the circle'' is important.
It is the shape of the
sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...
and
moon
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...
, and of the path they trace across the sky.
Many First Nations objects, such as
tipis and
wigwams
A wigwam, wickiup, wetu (Wampanoag), or wiigiwaam (Ojibwe, in syllabics: ) is a semi-permanent domed dwelling formerly used by certain Native American tribes and First Nations people and still used for ceremonial events. The term ''wickiup'' ...
, are circular in shape.
Traditional villages were place. First Nations people are recovering the knowledge, history often arranged with the dwellings placed in a circle.
To this day, many First Nations people hold meetings sitting in a circle. Meetings often begin with a prayer, with the people standing in a circle holding hands.
Hand carved wooden flutes and
whistle
A whistle is an instrument which produces sound from a stream of gas, most commonly air. It may be mouth-operated, or powered by air pressure, steam, or other means. Whistles vary in size from a small slide whistle or nose flute type to a lar ...
s are less common than drums, but are also a part of First Nations traditional music.
Chippewa men played flutes to serenade girlfriends and to soothe themselves and others during hard times. The
Cree,
Iroquois
The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...
and
Maliseet made and used whistles. Archaeologists have found evidence that both wooden whistles and flutes were used by the
Beothuk
The Beothuk ( or ; also spelled Beothuck) were a group of indigenous people who lived on the island of Newfoundland.
Beginning around AD 1500, the Beothuk culture formed. This appeared to be the most recent cultural manifestation of peoples w ...
, an extinct tribe who lived in
Newfoundland until the early days of European settlement. The
human voice is the primary
instrument of all First Nations. As it is in most
ancient music, singing is the heart of First Nations traditions. Every song had an original owner. Songs belonged to a society,
clan,
rite Rite may refer to:
* Ritual, an established ceremonious act
* Rite of passage, a ceremonious act associated with social transition
Religion
* Rite (Christianity), a sacred ritual or liturgical tradition in various Christian denominations
* Cath ...
,
ceremony, or
individual. In some cultures, one could buy the right to sing a song owned by an individual. The original owner would then teach the buyer to sing the song. Many traditional songs are still sung by First Nations people who follow traditional ways.
Many artists also now combine First Nations and Inuit music with mainstream
popular music
Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fu ...
genres such as
country
A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while ...
, rock,
hip hop or
electronic dance music. Between 2014 and 2018, the
Polaris Music Prize
The Polaris Music Prize is a music award annually given to the best full-length Canadian album based on artistic merit, regardless of genre, sales, or record label. The award was established in 2006 with a $20,000 cash prize; the prize was incr ...
has been won three times by First Nations or Inuit musicians;
Tanya Tagaq
Tanya may refer to:
* Tanya (Judaism),an early work of Hasidic philosophy by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi.
* Tanya (name), a given name and list of people with the name
* Tanya or Lara Saint Paul (born 1946)
* List of Mortal Kombat characters#T ...
won in 2014 for ''
Animism
Animism (from Latin: ' meaning ' breath, spirit, life') is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence. Potentially, animism perceives all things— animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather syst ...
'',
Buffy Sainte-Marie
Buffy Sainte-Marie, (born Beverly Sainte-Marie, February 20, 1941) is an Indigenous Canadian-American ( Piapot Cree Nation) singer-songwriter, musician, composer, visual artist, educator, pacifist, and social activist. While working in these ...
won in 2015 for ''
Power in the Blood'', and
Jeremy Dutcher won in 2018 for ''
Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa''. (
Lido Pimienta
Lido Pimienta (born 1986) is a Colombian Canadian musician, singer, and songwriter. She rose to prominence after her 2016 album, '' La Papessa'', won the 2017 Polaris Music Prize.[La Papessa
The High Priestess (II) is the second Major Arcana card in cartomantic Tarot decks. It is based on the 2nd trump of Tarot card packs. In the first Tarot pack with inscriptions, the 18th-century woodcut Tarot de Marseilles, this figure is crowne ...]
'', is also of South American indigenous descent.)
The compilation album ''
Native North America, Vol. 1'', released by
Light in the Attic Records
Light in the Attic Records is an independent record label that was established in 2002 in Seattle, Washington by Matt Sullivan. The label is known for its roster of reissue projects and for its distribution catalog. Light in the Attic has re-rel ...
in 2014, collects many rare and out-of-print songs by First Nations and Inuit musicians from the era in which the rock and country and folk genres were beginning to emerge as influences on Indigenous music.
["Light in the Attic Unearths the Forgotten History of First Nations Music with 'Native North America' Compilation"]
'' Exclaim!'', 8 October 2014.
Music areas
Northeast Woodlands
Inhabiting a wide swath of the United States and Canada, Eastern Woodlands natives, according to Nettl, can be distinguished by
antiphon
An antiphon ( Greek ἀντίφωνον, ἀντί "opposite" and φωνή "voice") is a short chant in Christian ritual, sung as a refrain. The texts of antiphons are the Psalms. Their form was favored by St Ambrose and they feature prominentl ...
y (
call and response
Call and response is a form of interaction between a speaker and an audience in which the speaker's statements ("calls") are punctuated by responses from the listeners. This form is also used in music, where it falls under the general category of ...
style singing), which does not occur in other areas.
Their territory includes
Maritime Canada
The Maritimes, also called the Maritime provinces, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. The Maritimes had a population of 1,899,324 in 2021, which makes up 5.1% of Ca ...
,
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...
,
U.S. Mid-Atlantic,
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lak ...
and
Southeast
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...
regions. Songs are rhythmically complex, characterized by frequent metric changes and a close relationship to
ritual dance. Flutes and whistles are solo instruments, and a wide variety of drums, rattles and striking sticks are played. Nettl describes the Eastern music area as the region between the Mississippi river and the Atlantic. The most complex styles being that of the Southeastern Creek, Yuchi, Cherokee, Choctaw, Iroquois and their language group, the simpler style being that of the Algonquian language group including Delaware and Penobscot. The Algonquian speaking Shawnee have a relatively complex style influenced by the nearby southeastern tribes.
The characteristics of this entire area include short iterative phrases, reverting relationships, shouts before, during, and after singing,
anhematonic pentatonic
A pentatonic scale is a musical scale (music), scale with five Musical note, notes per octave, in contrast to the heptatonic scale, which has seven notes per octave (such as the major scale and minor scale).
Pentatonic scales were developed ...
scales, simple
rhythm
Rhythm (from Greek , ''rhythmos'', "any regular recurring motion, symmetry") generally means a " movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions". This general meaning of regular re ...
s and
metre
The metre (British spelling) or meter (American spelling; see spelling differences) (from the French unit , from the Greek noun , "measure"), symbol m, is the primary unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), though its prefi ...
and, according to Nettl, antiphonal or responsorial techniques including "rudimentary imitative polyphony". Melodic movement tends to be gradually descending throughout the area and vocals include a moderate amount of tension and pulsation.
Plains
Extending across the
American Midwest
The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...
into
Canadian Prairies
The Canadian Prairies (usually referred to as simply the Prairies in Canada) is a region in Western Canada. It includes the Canadian portion of the Great Plains and the Prairie Provinces, namely Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. These provin ...
, Plains-area music is
nasal, with high pitches and frequent
falsettos, with a
terraced descent
Melodic motion is the quality of movement of a melody, including nearness or farness of successive pitches or notes in a melody. This may be described as conjunct or disjunct, stepwise, skipwise or no movement, respectively. See also contrapunt ...
(a step-by-step descent down an
octave) in an unblended
monophony.
Strophe
A strophe () is a poetic term originally referring to the first part of the ode in Ancient Greek tragedy, followed by the antistrophe and epode. The term has been extended to also mean a structural division of a poem containing stanzas of varyi ...
s use
incomplete repetition Incomplete repetition is a musical form featuring two large sections, the second being a partial or incomplete re-presentation or repetition of the first. Nettl, Bruno (1956). ''Music in Primitive Culture'', . Harvard University Press.
This form is ...
, meaning that songs are divided into two parts, the second of which is always repeated before returning to the beginning.
Large double-sided skin drums are characteristic of the Plains tribes, and solo
end-blown flute
The end-blown flute (also called an edge-blown flute or rim-blown flute) is a woodwind instrument played by directing an airstream against the sharp edge of the upper end of a tube. Unlike a recorder or tin whistle, there is not a ducted flue v ...
s (flageolet) are also common.
Nettl describes the central Plains tribes, from Canada to Texas:
Blackfoot,
Crow
A crow is a bird of the genus '' Corvus'', or more broadly a synonym for all of ''Corvus''. Crows are generally black in colour. The word "crow" is used as part of the common name of many species. The related term "raven" is not pinned scientifica ...
,
Dakota
Dakota may refer to:
* Dakota people, a sub-tribe of the Sioux
** Dakota language, their language
Dakota may also refer to:
Places United States
* Dakota, Georgia, an unincorporated community
* Dakota, Illinois, a town
* Dakota, Minnesota, ...
,
Cheyenne
The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. Their Cheyenne language belongs to the Algonquian language family. Today, the Cheyenne people are split into two federally recognized nations: the Southern Cheyenne, who are enr ...
,
Arapaho
The Arapaho (; french: Arapahos, ) are a Native American people historically living on the plains of Colorado and Wyoming. They were close allies of the Cheyenne tribe and loosely aligned with the Lakota and Dakota.
By the 1850s, Arapaho ba ...
,
Kiowa
Kiowa () people are a Native American tribe and an indigenous people of the Great Plains of the United States. They migrated southward from western Montana into the Rocky Mountains in Colorado in the 17th and 18th centuries,Pritzker 326 and e ...
, and
Comanche, as the most typical and simple sub-area of the Plains-Pueblo music area. This area's music is characterized by extreme vocal tension, pulsation, melodic preference for perfect fourths and a range averring a tenth, rhythmic complexity, and increased frequence of
tetratonic scales. The musics of the Arapaho and Cheyenne intensify these characteristics, while the northern tribes, especially
Blackfoot music, feature simpler material, smaller melodic ranges, and fewer scale tones.
Nettl
Arapaho music includes ceremonial and secular songs, such as the ritualistic
Sun Dance
The Sun Dance is a ceremony practiced by some Native Americans in the United States and Indigenous peoples in Canada, primarily those of the Plains cultures. It usually involves the community gathering together to pray for healing. Individua ...
, performed in the summer when the various bands of the Arapaho people would come together. Arapaho traditional songs consist of two sections exhibiting terraced descent, with a range greater than an octave and scales between four and six tones. Other ceremonial songs were received in visions, or taught as part of the men's initiations into a society for his age group. Secular songs include a number of social dances, such as the triple metre
round dances and songs to inspire warriors or recent exploits. There are also songs said to be taught by a guardian spirit, which should only be sung when the recipient is near death.
Northwest Coast
Open vocals with
monophony are common in the
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Tho ...
and
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
, though
polyphony
Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice, monophony, or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords, ...
also occurs (this the only area of North America with native polyphony). Chromatic intervals accompanying long melodies are also characteristic, and rhythms are complex and declamatory, deriving from speech. Instrumentation is more diverse than in the rest of North America, and includes a wide variety of whistles, flutes, horns and percussion instruments.
Nettl describes the music of the
Kwakwaka'wakw,
Nuu-chah-nulth
The Nuu-chah-nulth (; Nuučaan̓uł: ), also formerly referred to as the Nootka, Nutka, Aht, Nuuchahnulth or Tahkaht, are one of the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast in Canada. The term Nuu-chah-nulth is used to describe fifte ...
,
Tsimshian
The Tsimshian (; tsi, Ts’msyan or Tsm'syen) are an Indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast. Their communities are mostly in coastal British Columbia in Terrace and Prince Rupert, and Metlakatla, Alaska on Annette Island, the only r ...
,
Makah
The Makah (; Klallam: ''màq̓áʔa'')Renker, Ann M., and Gunther, Erna (1990). "Makah". In "Northwest Coast", ed. Wayne Suttles. Vol. 7 of '' Handbook of North American Indians'', ed. William C. Sturtevant. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Instit ...
, and Quileute as some of the most complex on the continent, with the music of the Salish nations (
Nlaka'pamux
The Nlaka'pamux or Nlakapamuk ( ; ), also previously known as the ''Thompson'', ''Thompson River Salish'', ''Thompson Salish'', ''Thompson River Indians'' or ''Thompson River people'', and historically as the ''Klackarpun'', ''Haukamaugh'', ''Kni ...
,
Nuxálk, and
Sliammon
The Tla'amin First Nation (Comox language: ɬəʔamɛn), formerly Sliammon Indian Band or Sliammon First Nation, is a First Nations self governing nation whose lands and traditional territories are located on the upper Sunshine Coast in southwes ...
, and others directly east of the Northwest tribes) as being intermediary between these Northwest Coast tribes and Inuit music. The music of the Salish tribes, and even more so the Northwest coast, intensifies the significant features of Inuit music, their melodic movement is often pendulum-type ("leaping in broad intervals from one limit of the range to the other"). The Northwest coast music also "is among the most complicated on the continent, especially in regard to rhythmic structure," featuring intricate rhythmic patterns distinct from but related to the vocal melody and rigid percussion. He also reports unrecorded use of incipient polyphony in the form of drones or parallel intervals in addition to antiphonal and responorial forms. Vocals are extremely tense, producing dynamic contrast, ornamentation, and pulsation, and also often using multiple sudden accents in one held tone.
Arctic – Sub-Arctic
Nettl describes Inuit music as recitative-like singing, complex rhythmic organization, relatively small melodic range averaging about a sixth, prominence of major thirds and minor seconds melodically, with undulating melodic movement.
Inuit
The
Inuit
Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories ...
are well known for
Inuit throat singing
Inuit throat singing, or ''katajjaq'' (Inuktitut syllabics: ᑲᑕᔾᔭᖅ), is a distinct type of throat singing uniquely found among the Inuit. It is a form of musical performance, traditionally consisting of two women who sing duets in a cl ...
or katajjaq, an unusual method of vocalizing found only in a few cultures worldwide.
Narrow-ranged melodies and declamatory effects are common, as in the Northwest. Repeated notes mark the ends of phrases.
Box drums
A box (plural: boxes) is a container used for the storage or transportation of its contents. Most boxes have flat, parallel, rectangular sides. Boxes can be very small (like a matchbox) or very large (like a shipping box for furniture), and c ...
, which are found elsewhere, are common, as a
tambourine
The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though ...
-like
hand drum A hand drum is any type of drum that is typically played with the bare hand rather than a stick, mallet, hammer, or other type of beater.
Types
The following descriptions allude to traditional versions of the drums. Modern synthetic versions are a ...
.
Cree
Much
Cree song takes the form of repeated sections delineated by rests and melodic or rhythmic patterns, though not all repetitions are exact.
Contributions of First Nations music to Canadian culture
Edward Gamblin
Edward Gamblin was a country rock singer-songwriter, who is widely credited as one of the most influential artists in the history and development of First Nations music as a genre, as one of the first artists ever to build a successful career by focusing primarily on First Nations audiences rather than pursuing crossover appeal.
["A pioneer of aboriginal music, he gave voice to his fellow residential school survivors"]
. ''The Globe and Mail
''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...
'', 25 August 2010.
Donald Harvey Francks
Donald Harvey Francks or ''Iron Buffalo'' born in
Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
, British Columbia. He is a drummer, poet, native nations champion, motorcyclist, author and peace activist. He is interested in
Tibet
Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa, Taman ...
and supports
Greenpeace. He appeared many times at
George's Spaghetti House
George's Spaghetti House was a jazz club located at 290 Dundas Street East in Toronto.
History
In 1956 entrepreneur Doug Cole (1925–2012) bought the restaurant, keeping the existing name. Cole began to feature jazz at the restaurant on weekend ...
, a
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...
jazz club that was the equivalent of New York's
Birdland. He was also known to sit in on drums at the
Colonial Tavern
The Colonial Tavern was one of the most famous jazz venues in Canada from the 1950s till its closure in the late 1970s. It was located at 201–203 Yonge Street in Toronto, Ontario (now an open lot between 197 Yonge Street and 205 Yonge Street) wh ...
and other Toronto afterhours clubs and jazz venues.
Robbie Robertson
Robbie Robertson is a Canadian singer-songwriter, and guitarist. He is best known for his membership in
The Band. He was ranked 78th in ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
'' magazine's list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time. Robertson was born to a
Jew
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...
ish father and a
Mohawk Mohawk may refer to:
Related to Native Americans
* Mohawk people, an indigenous people of North America (Canada and New York)
*Mohawk language, the language spoken by the Mohawk people
* Mohawk hairstyle, from a hairstyle once thought to have been ...
mother and took his stepfather's last name after his mother remarried. He had his earliest exposure to music at
Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation
Six Nations (or Six Nations of the Grand River, french: Réserve des Six Nations, see, Ye:i’ Níónöëdzage:h) is demographically the largest First Nations reserve in Canada. As of the end of 2017, it has a total of 27,276 members, 12,848 of ...
, where he spent summers with his mother's family. He studied guitar when he was a youth and has been writing songs and performing since a teenager. From 1987 onwards, Robertson released a series of four solo albums, his first was
self titled
An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''.
Usage of the word
The term ''epon ...
followed by ''
Storyville'', ''
Music for the Native Americans
''Music for'' The Native Americans is a 1994 album by Robbie Robertson, compiling music written by Robertson and other colleagues (billed as the ''Red Road Ensemble'') for the television documentary film ''The Native Americans''.
The album was Ro ...
'', and ''
Contact from the Underworld of Redboy
''Contact from the Underworld of Redboy'' is an album by Robbie Robertson. It was released in 1998 by Capitol Records. The album is composed of music inspired by Aboriginal Canadian music (including traditional Aboriginal Canadian songs and chants ...
''.
Jerry Alfred
First Nations singer and storyteller
Jerry Alfred helps to preserve
First Nations
First Nations or first peoples may refer to:
* Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area.
Indigenous groups
*First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including:
**First Natio ...
language
Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of ...
and traditions. Jerry is the Northern Tutchone (too-SHOWnee)
"Keeper of the Songs." He lives in
Pelly Crossing, a village in central
Yukon
Yukon (; ; formerly called Yukon Territory and also referred to as the Yukon) is the smallest and westernmost of Canada's three territories. It also is the second-least populated province or territory in Canada, with a population of 43,964 as ...
, 300 kilometres north of
Whitehorse
Whitehorse () is the capital of Yukon, and the largest city in Northern Canada. It was incorporated in 1950 and is located at kilometre 1426 (Historic Mile 918) on the Alaska Highway in southern Yukon. Whitehorse's downtown and Riverdale areas ...
. He was born in the nearby community of Mayo.
Jerry managed to keep his Tutchone language despite many years spent in a
residential school. Like his father before him, Jerry was named a Song Keeper at
birth. A Song Keeper collects songs and sings them at potlatches and other First Nations ceremonial occasions. A self-taught guitarist, Jerry combines
modern guitar techniques and the traditional music of his people. His 1994 recording, "Etsi Shon" (EET-seeshown) or "Grandfather Song" helps to
keep his language and the spirit of his people alive.
Don Ross
Don Ross, guitarist and composer, is the son of a
Mi'kmaq
The Mi'kmaq (also ''Mi'gmaq'', ''Lnu'', ''Miꞌkmaw'' or ''Miꞌgmaw''; ; ) are a First Nations people of the Northeastern Woodlands, indigenous to the areas of Canada's Atlantic Provinces and the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec as well as the nort ...
mother and a
Scottish immigrant father. He is a band member of the Mi'kmaq community at Millbrook,
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland".
Most of the population are native Eng ...
. Don was born and raised in
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...
and speaks both French and English. He earned an honors degree in fine arts (music) at
York University
York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...
in Toronto.
He is one of the most respected musicians in Canada and is known as one of the top guitarists in the world. In September 1996, Don won the prestigious U.S. National Finger style Championship for the second time and is the only guitarist to have done so. In 1988, Don was the first Canadian, and first Indigenous person, to win this prize.
Don is a master of "fingerstyle" technique, which is like the technique used for classical guitar. His music is strongly influenced by
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...
,
folk, rock, and classical music, creating a personal style. Don calls his style "heavy wood!"
Buffy Sainte-Marie
Buffy Sainte-Marie
Buffy Sainte-Marie, (born Beverly Sainte-Marie, February 20, 1941) is an Indigenous Canadian-American ( Piapot Cree Nation) singer-songwriter, musician, composer, visual artist, educator, pacifist, and social activist. While working in these ...
was born into the
Cree community of
Fort Qu'Appelle
Fort Qu'Appelle is a town in Canadian province of Saskatchewan located in the Qu'Appelle River valley north-east of Regina, between Echo and Mission Lakes of the Fishing Lakes. It is not to be confused with the once-significant nearby t ...
, Saskatchewan. She received a PhD in Fine Arts from the
University of Massachusetts Amherst
The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, ...
. She is a songwriter, performer and artist who has written huge hit songs that were performed by other famous artists including
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...
,
Barbra Streisand
Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers awar ...
, and Neil Diamond.
Her song, "Up Where We Belong" won an Academy Award.
Buffy has earned many other awards, including an Academy Award for Best Original Song, Academy Award and the United States award for Lifetime Musical Achievement in the Arts.
She has also received a medal of recognition from Queen Elizabeth II. France named her "Best International Artist of 1993." Buffy continues to draw large crowds to her performances, with an audience of 100,000 in one Denmark concert. But she has never forgotten her beginnings and her people, and she regularly performs in the smallest First Nations communities. Nor does she forget other musicians. In 1993, she helped to create a special award category within the Juno Awards competition to recognize the best recordings of Canadian Indigenous musicians. Buffy received a Lifetime Achievement Award in Arts at the 1998 National Aboriginal Achievement Awards.
Kashtin
The duo quickly became popular regionally in Quebec, and in 1988 they were featured in a documentary on the Innu for a Quebec television station. They were soon brought to Montreal to record, and released their self-titled debut album in 1989. Although that album was recorded in their native Innu-aimun language, spoken by just 12,000 people in the world, the album quickly became a major hit in Quebec, and soon in English Canada as well, eventually being certified double platinum. The singles "E Uassiuian" and "Tshinanu" were popular hits for the band.
Leela Gilday
Leela Gilday is a singer and songwriter, born and raised in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. She is one of the North's better known performing artists. Since her early start in music, Leela has been nominated at the Juno Awards for "Best Music of Aboriginal Canada (2003)" and has won three awards in 2002 from the Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards: Best Female Artist, Best Folk Album, Best Songwriter. She won the Juno Award for Aboriginal Recording of the Year, 2007 Juno for Aboriginal Recording of the Year for ''Sedzé'', her second album.
Glen Meadmore
Glen Meadmore is an actor and performance artist currently residing in Los Angeles. He has been described as "...the world's greatest exponent of the genre known as gay Christian punk".
[Homocore at MBLGTCC](_blank)
He is sometimes referred to as "Cowpunk". working as a performance artist, appearing at the famed punk, avant garde, artist scenester hangout nightclub the Anti-Club where he became renowned for his outrageous performances. During this time, he met African American queer political performance artist Vaginal Davis and the two formed the band Pedro, Muriel and Esther, also known as Pedro, Muriel and Esther, PME, one of the earliest Queercore, queer punk bands to emerge.
Derek Miller
Derek Miller, born in Six Nations, Ontario, Six Nations on 29 October 1974, is an Aboriginal peoples in Canada, Indigenous Canadian singer-songwriter. He is a two-time winner of the Juno Award for Juno Award for Indigenous Music Album of the Year, for his albums ''Lovesick Blues (album), Lovesick Blues'' and ''The Dirty Looks''. Derek has been brought to the attention of veteran and well respected musicians, such as Daniel Lanois and Buffy Sainte-Marie.
Black & Grey
Black & Grey is a Canadians, Canadian pop rock/Alternative rock, alternative band from Membertou First Nation, Membertou,
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland".
Most of the population are native Eng ...
in Cape Breton County, Nova Scotia, Cape Breton County made up of members: Brandon Johnson, Daniel Paul, Michael Mellen, and Tyler Mellen. They have had one Black & Grey (EP), self-titled EP released in 2013, and three successful singles to hit radio waves, "Goodbye Misery" (which was dedicated to Suicide of Amanda Todd, Amanda Todd), "What Makes You Who You Are", and "Pretty Little Nightmare". They currently are working with East Coast Music Association, ECMA award-winning producer Jamie Foulds for a full-length LP to be released in 2016.
See also
*Aboriginal rock
*Canadian hip hop#Aboriginal hip hop, Aboriginal hip hop
*
Blackfoot music
*Iroquois music
*Kwakwaka'wakw music
*Music of Canada
*Indigenous Canadian personalities
References
;Citations
;Bibliography
*
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Further reading
*
External links
First Nations Music in Canada– Indian and Northern Affairs Canada
Aboriginal Sound Recordings: Music and Song– Library and Archives Canada
Songs and Music: Aboriginal– Aboriginal Canada Portal
– The Canadian Aboriginal Festival
Musique NomadeAboriginal Music Program
{{Folk music, state=collapsed
:First Nations musical groups
First Nations music