Could “America’s Next Top Hitmaker” be a Cree gangsta rapper? On June 25, Hank “Jigap” Visitor learned that he’d been selected for the popular contest run by Rolling Stone magazine. The winner will receive $10,000, a concert showcase in Austin, Texas, and a mentoring session with hip-hop legend Busta Rhymes.
Kahnawake was the place to be July 13-14, as the 32nd Echoes of a Proud Nation Pow-Wow danced and drummed its way into the record books with over 20,000 people coming together to celebrate Mohawk traditions. Blistering temperatures over 30 degrees did nothing to discourage the crowds. Iced strawberry juice was in high demand as people eagerly soaked up a spectacular 48-hour event where the sunshine and celebration seemed infinite.
For Mattmac’s highly collaborative third album, All Eyes on Us, the award-winning Oji-Cree trap-pop musician worked with 15 Indigenous artists from across Turtle Island to create a powerful statement that apans the spectrum of hip-hop and its numerous sub-genres.
The theme of roots is ever-present in the work of documentary filmmaker Janine Windolph. Roots tie Windolph’s family to their land, their Indigenous heritage, their ancestry, and one another. Through cataloguing the experiences of her kin, her intensely personal documentaries speak to the collective memory of Indigenous peoples. Film becomes her conduit for remembrance.
Red Fever, the newest documentary from Cree filmmaker Neil Diamond and co-director Catherine Bainbridge, explores the roots of cultural appropriation to reveal the profound influence of Indigenous cultures on the world’s fashion, sports, arts and even politics.
Cree students overcame jittery nerves May 22 to make powerful speeches at a public-speaking contest.
A recent art exhibition at Montreal’s Dawson College showcased the creative talents of the 20 young Indigenous students in the Journeys program. The artwork reflected their experiences in this First Peoples transition program over the past school year as they settled in the city and explored options in higher education.
The Montreal Science Centre is set to whet your appetite with an exhibition that will delight food enthusiasts. Featuring renowned chefs like Normand Laprise, Paul Toussaint, Colombe St-Pierre, Charles-Antoine Crête and Cezin Nottoway, the Banquet exhibition promises to be a culinary extravaganza.
A new APTN series called Warrior Up! is highlighting the stories of young Indigenous changemakers exemplifying what it means to be a modern-day warrior. Launched May 11, it’s been airing weekly on Saturday mornings and available for streaming on APTN lumi.
The documentary Wilfred Buck dances between the past and present, between the earthly and the celestial. It traces the journey of Cree astronomer Wilfred Buck from the Opaskwayak Cree Nation in northern Manitoba as he overcomes the demons of his youth to reclaim ancestral knowledge of the cosmos.
