Treaty One Territory – The sākihiwē festival is working with NCI FM to take pre-recorded concerts by Indigenous artists to radio audiences across Manitoba and beyond. The series, entitled sākihiwē music Thursdays, began on October 14 and will conclude on December 16.
“We believe that art or cultural deserts have the same negative affects on our mental health that food deserts have on our physical well-being,” explains Festival Director Alan Greyeyes. “And when music festivals were forced to move their programs online we tried to figure how to reach Indigenous families in rural and remote communities who don’t have the same access to high speed Internet or technology as families in suburban Winnipeg.”
Each of the six episodes includes an hour-long radio performance on NCI FM, which reaches 80% of Manitoba or an estimated 140,000 daily listeners (and an estimated 46,666 listeners per episode), and a four-song video premiere on Facebook and YouTube (follow the sākihiwē festival on Facebook and subscribe to the sākihiwē festival’s YouTube channel for scheduling details).
Tataskweyak Cree Nation’s Sebastian Gaskin kicked everything off last week with an incredible performance that included several unreleased songs and Fontine, a nehiyaw iskwew singer/songwriter with family ties in Cowessess First Nation, is set to hit the airwaves and Internet on October 21.
Pangnirtung’s Joey Nowyuk (folk music) and Misipawistik Cree Nation’s Jade Turner (country music) will perform in November and JUNO Award winners Murray Porter (blues music) and Celeigh Cardinal (roots music) are confirmed for episodes in December.
sākihiwē music Thursdays schedule:
- October 14: Sebastian Gaskin (website / watch now)
- October 21: Fontine (set reminder)
- November 4: Joey Nowyuk (website)
- November 18: Jade Turner (website)
- December 2: Murray Porter (website)
- December 16: Celeigh Cardinal (website)
Download photos of the artists here.
Aboriginal Music Manitoba Inc. (AMM) and NCI FM launched the sākihiwē music Thursdays project in February with financial support from the Province of Manitoba’s Safe at Home Manitoba program. The original season included performances by the legendary C-Weed Band, Inuit throat singer Nikki Komaksiutiksak, Mezzo Soprano singer Rhonda Head, singer/songwriter Billy Simard, country artist Desiree Dorion, and fiddle master Patti Kusturok.
NCI FM is available on the FM dial in Manitoba and online at ncifm.com/listen-live.
AMM acknowledges the Government of Canada’s financial support sākihiwē music Thursdays season two.
About the sākihiwē festival
The sākihiwē festival was launched in 2009 as Aboriginal Music Week to develop Indigenous youth as an audience for live music. The festival presents between 20 and 30 First Nation, Metis, Inuit, Native American, and Indigenous music acts each year. It is held in Treaty One Territory and is produced by AMM.
AMM received the name “sākihiwē” from Sundance Chief David Blacksmith during a ceremony on February 21, 2018. It means “to love” in Cree and the organization has been instructed to use Standard Roman Orthography (SRO) to write the name. SRO has no capital letters.
AMM would like to acknowledge the Government of Canada through the Department of Canadian Heritage, the Canada Council for the Arts, the Manitoba Arts Council, and the Winnipeg Arts Council for their financial support of the sākihiwē festival’s outreach programming.
AMM would like to acknowledge the High Commission of Canada in the United Kingdom, the Origins Festival, NCI FM, Manitoba Music, the West End Cultural Centre, Assiniboine Credit Union, Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization of Manitoba, the Winnipeg Folk Festival, the Wall-to-Wall Mural & Culture Festival, and Pegcity Car Co-Op for their support of the sākihiwē festival’s outreach programming.
The sākihiwē festival is made possible by partnerships with Ka Ni Kanichihk, Central Neighbourhoods, the Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre, and the Spence Neighbourhood Association.
Visit sakihiwe.ca for more information about the festival.
Facebook: facebook.com/sakihiwe
Twitter: twitter.com/sakihiwe
Instagram: instagram.com/sakihiwe
YouTube: youtube.com/c/
About Aboriginal Music Manitoba Inc.
AMM is a non-profit organization that presents, promotes and nurtures Indigenous music and culture in order to build audiences at the community level and beyond. We do this by producing an annual music festival; delivering professional development training for artists; shining a spotlight on the accomplishments of Indigenous music makers and industry professionals year-round; and, by building bridges between the Indigenous music community and our counterparts around the world.
AMM is governed by a nine-person volunteer board, which includes chairperson Brett Huson, vice-chairperson Sandra Seidel, secretary Kimberly Cleave, and directors Rhonda Head, Jennifer Duka, Brendan Dong, Rheanna Merasty, and Ivana Yellowback.
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For more information about the sākihiwē festival, please contact:
Alan Greyeyes, Festival Director
Aboriginal Music Manitoba
P: (204) 296-9790
E: [email protected]
sakihiwe.ca