Are Junos doing enough for native artists?

These two prizes were awarded on Saturday night without being seen on television. DJ Shub, a Mohawk member of the Six Nations of the Grand River won the award for Contemporary Aboriginal Artist or Group of the Year.

For her part, artist of Cree and Salish descent, Fawn Wood, won a prize in the traditional Aboriginal music category on her album kakike.

For many, adding an additional price is good news. A new category means double the number of nominees (now 10, higher from 5) and double the number of winners.

The more awards and more spotlight on native artists, the better.said Jayli Wolf in the middle of the week, in an interview on the show There is no reserve on CBC radio. his album Wild Whisper was nominated in the Contemporary Aboriginal Artist or Group of the Year category.

Last tribute

However, Juno’s recognition of native musicians hasn’t been fast enough, some say. The first category dedicated to Indigenous artists was created more than 20 years after the awards ceremony launched in 1970. And the additional category added this year is still to come after another 28 years.

But native artists has been singing songs here on Turtle Island for probably thousands of years , added another named, Nimkii Osawamick. His drumming group Nimkii and the Niniis are running for the new Traditional Aboriginal Music Award.

While the creation of this second award has been applauded by those wishing to see more Native winners each year, it has once again raised questions about the validity of the categories themselves and the ability of the Canadian music industry to honor and support indigenous artists.

Not a niche

When Jeremy Dutcher won Indigenous Artist or Group of the Year in 2019, he recalled category limitations in his acceptance speech.

Addressing the Aboriginal nominees that year, he told them: your work deserves to be considered outside of this category. Because our music is not a niche.

Alan Greyeyes, who runs arts and project management firm Ogichidaa Arts, said it is a common but misconception that Indigenous artists cannot or cannot be considered outside the artist category. indigenous.

” The main point of contention I hear from most native artists is that they are corrupt or ghettoized, but that is not the case. “

In 1995, for example, Susan Aglukark won Best New Solo Album. In 2014, A Tribe Called Red won Breakthrough of the Year. In 2017, William Prince won the album Contemporary Roots. In 2018, Shane Yellowbird was nominated for Country Song of the Year. In 2021, Crystal Shawanda won Blues Album of the Year, and most of that year’s Contemporary Roots nominees were Indigenous artists.

The problem is that some categories can be overloaded with submissions. Mr Greyeyes sits on the rap album committee for the Juno Awards and says he receives up to 200 submissions each year, including those from artists with large budgets for recording and marketing campaigns. Only five of them will be selected as candidates.

Therefore, according to him, the indigenous category is an important guarantee that at least one indigenous artist will appear on stage.

Now the separate categories of Traditional and Contemporary make it easier for the jury to judge the albums against each otheraccording to Mr. Greyeyes. Previously, we had Inuit albums against country albums, and country albums against powwow albums. Now that’s pretty clear.

What is the value of a trophy?

Some think that the Junos are not doing enough to support the native artists.

Unlike the Polaris Awards, which provide $ 50,000 for Canadian Album of the Year (an award Dutcher won in 2019), the Junos do not offer a monetary award.

Winning a Juno can be an economic boost for an artist, who can book more shows and sell more albums after winning, summary Jarrett Martineau, radio show host Reclaimed in the CBC.

” But I think it would be better if there were direct cash benefits for the artists. “

The Juno Awards can also further support Indigenous artists by showcasing Indigenous awards at the main gala, rather than a smaller, unreleased ceremony the day before the main event, he said.

Meanwhile, he pointed out that indigenous musicians and music producers on Turtle Island have developed their own way of gaining recognition for the great diversity of their music.

One of the ones we have is the Indigenous Music Awards here in Winnipeg. We have the Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards in Toronto and the Indian Summer Music Awards in Milwaukeehe pointed out.

As the saying goes: You are never better served than by yourself.

Based on text by Kate Adach, CBC