Music shared through technology is aiding in the resurgence of Indigenous Cultural Awareness.
Indigenous Culture is being celebrated and shared through music. In the past First Nation artisits like Buffy Sainte Marie and Susan Aglukark were considered an exception. Presently we are seeing more Indigenous artists being celebrated in mainstream entertainment not just for their musical talent, but also for their contribution to Aboriginal Culture. Many of the songs written and performed by these artists share language, traditional song, drumming and dance as well as messages about traditions, the impact of colonization and histories of Indigenous Peoples.
In a CBC interview singer and songwriter Art Napoleon said he choose to produce his album “Creeland Covers” entirely in Cree in order to share a little of the language with others. While groups like A Tribe Called Red are using their popularity to increase awareness about the hardships Indigenous Peoples face worldwide.
Catalina Johnson writes in a bandcamp daily article “The Anti-Colonial Beats of Indigenous Hip-Hop” that music, especially Hip-Hop, which is really a form of oral storytelling allows artists to take back the narratives of their people. Indeed one Hi-Hop musician, JB the First Lady, notes Hip-Hop did not only allow her to learn her language, but also connected her with traditional songs, dancdes and ceremonies. “Our songs, our dances, our ceremonies, and our language comes from the land,” she explains. “That’s why land is very important to people here in Turtle Island. It’s a direct link to our ancestors and to Creator.”
Sources:
- Johnson, Catalina Maria . “The Anti-Colonial Beats of Indigenous Hip-Hop.” Bandcamp Daily, 18 July 2016, bandcamp.com/2016/07/18/indigenous-hiphop-feature/.
- Monkman, Lenard. “Tom Petty song Wildflowers lives on in Cree language.” CBCnews, CBC/Radio Canada, 4 Oct. 2017, http://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/tom-petty-cree-cover-1.4327630.
- Napoleon, Art. “Creeland Covers.”