It was National Indigenous People’s Day so what better way to celebrate/commemorate than go listen to an Indigenous artist perform in the music garden ; where the trees almost stand in the water.

We got an hour of music from Inuk soprano Deantha Edmunds; mostly from her CD Connections.  These songs are reflections; some in English, some in Inuktitut, on aspects of life as an Indigenous person in contemporary society and sit somewhere between art song and singer/songwriter territory.  Subject matter ranges from traditional Indigenous children’s games , to the Northern landscape, to the spirits of Rain and Thunder and, inevitably and very, very sadly to Residential Schools and Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Two Spirited People.  They are varied, skilful and heartfelt.

There was also some sacred music, in Inuktitut, from the canon brought to the Labrador shore by Moravian missionaries and adopted there and Labrador’s unofficial anthem Sons of Labrador (not sure what happened to the daughters though sadly I suppose do know all too often).

My reactions to an event of this kind are complex and difficult to explain.  It seems to me that it must, essentially, be part Ceremony at least as much as “entertainment”.  Sure, it’s music in a gorgeous setting on a beautiful evening but it’s also, as Rebecca Cuddy pointed out in her intro, a time to reflect.  Time to reflect on what has been and what needs to be.  And there’s a long, long way to go.

Photos pinched from Deantha…