Talent was shining and music filled the air in Montreal with a concert at Cabot Square on National Indigenous Peoples Day on Friday.
The free concert was organized by the Native Women’s Shelter of Montreal, with Pop Montreal and Resilience Montreal.
The show featured multiple artists, including two-time Juno winner Aysanabee, the Beatrice Deer Band, Sinquah Family Hoop Dancers, and more.
“I really wanted it to be something joyous and fun,” said Nakuset, the executive director of the Native Women’s Shelter “Working in the Indigenous community, we have a tendency to always be working in crisis, a lot of helping people, supporting people, helping them find their way. But today we’re inviting everyone to come here and just enjoy the amazing talent that we have lined up.”
For the Oji-Cree singer-songwriter Aysanabee, music is a way to share stories of his grandfather and his experiences in residential schools.
“I think the fact that we’re able to confront that and acknowledge it, because yeah, it’s not something we’re supposed to get over, it’s supposed to be something that we recognize because it’s a part of us and we move forward with that,” said the musician.
“We’re still here,” added Nakuset. “We’re still making steps towards showing our beauty and showing our passions and showing our strengths, and you’ll see later on that it’s not just Indigenous People that come here. There’s a lot of non-Indigenous people that come here and they learn things.”
This day is also a fitting occasion to celebrate strides made towards reconciliation. Aysabanee is pleased to see Indigenous artists receiving greater recognition in music industry.
“Even at the Junos this year, it was the most indigenous nominees there ever was, I think,” he said. “For a long time, there would only ever be like four nominees or five nominees, and they would always be in the Indigenous categories. This year, there was, I think, when they tallied everyone up there was like 74 people and spread across not just the Indigenous category but across all genres.”