On Friday, May 19th, 15 First Nations / Native American artists heard their names called as one of the 2017 Indigenous Music Award winners at the award show formerly known as the Aboriginal People Choice Awards.
In addition to Indigenous Music Award winners, four Drum Groups were given awards and a New Miss Manito Ahbee was named at the International pow wow.
The Indigenous Music Award Winners
The Indigenous Music Award winners were recognized on May 19th as part of the Manito Ahbee Festival. The festival is a five-day event that celebrates Indigenous arts, culture and music in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
In between announcing the Indigenous Music Award winners, the attendees at the show enjoyed performances by industry heavy-hitters such as country singer Crystal Shawanda, Grammy nominee Northern Cree, Fred Penner, Mariame, Felipe Gomez, Christa Couture and Chante Assiniboine and the Spirit Horse Singers.
The award show, formerly the Aboriginal People Choice Awards, took a year off and re-branded itself as the Indigenous Music Awards.
According to release: “The awards now work on an industry voting system to further legitimize the selection process and give nominees the chance to get their music in front of industry professionals who might not have heard it otherwise.”
Facebook video of the red carpet walk and interviews via the Indigenous Music Awards Facebook page.
The list of Indigenous Music Award winners is as follows:
Best Blues Album
Cary Morin
Cradle to the Grave
Best Country Album
presented by Casinos of Winnipeg
Jade Turner
North Country
Best Folk Album
presented by Winnipeg Folk Festival
Logan Staats
Goodbye Goldia
Best Indigenous Language, or Francophone
Album presented by APTN
Rhonda Head
Kisakihitan
Best Instrumental Album
DJ Shub
PowWowStep
Best Pop Album
presented by CBC Manitoba
Mariame
Bloom
Best Rap Hip Hop
Joey Stylez
#GREYMAGIC
Best Rock Album
Kristi Lane Sinclair
Dark Matter
Lifetime Achievement Award
Northern Cree
Best New Artist
presented by SiriusXM
Carsen Gray
CARSEN GRAY
Best Radio Single
presented by Indigenous Music Countdown
Black & Grey
Pretty Little Nightmare
Best Music Video
presented by Exclaim!
District Avenue
Revival
Best Producer/Engineer
Derek Miller
Thru The Red Door – Logan Staats/Goodbye Goldia
Best International Indigenous Release
The Imbayakunas
Imbaya Full Flavour
Best Radio Station
Unreserved: Radio Indigenous
CBC Radio One
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Miss Manito Ahbee and International Pow Wow Winners
2017 marked the 12th annual Manito Ahbee Festival and International Pow Wow. At Saturday’s International Pow Wow, In the midst of hundreds of Native dancers in regalia at the RBC Convention Centre, Chante Mikwan Caroline Speidel from Saptoweyak Cree Nation, Standing Rock Sioux Tribe was crowned Miss Manito Ahbee Youth Ambassador. She is the third of four sisters to win the title of Miss Manito Ahbee.
Facebook post via Manito Ahbee Festival.
On Saturday’s Pow Wow, the final four Indigenous Music Awards were presented. The winners included:
Best Hand Drum Album
Northern Cree
It’s a Cree Thing
Best Peyote Album
Wanita Bird & Joe PoorThunder
Water is Life
Best Pow Wow Contemporary Album
Blackstone
Celebration of Life
Best Pow Wow Traditional Album
Young Bear
Belongs to the People
The 12th annual festival this year was held May 17-21, 2017 and featured the Indigenous Music Awards, the Indigenous Music Conference, the International Pow Wow, the Casinos of Winnipeg Indigenous Marketplace and Trade Show, and other events called Getting Jiggy With It, Art Expo, Art Challenge, and MTS Youth Education Day.
Follow Vincent Schilling (Akwesasne Mohawk) – ICMN’s Arts and Entertainment, Pow Wows and Sports Editor – Follow @VinceSchilling