This organization is under development. The Indigenous Music Alliance community engagement report Buiding the Indigenous Music Industry and Developing an Indigenous Music Office (2021) outlines directions for this initative. The recent national Indigenous Music Impact Study, describes how Indigenous music is thriving even though the Indigenous music industry (Indigenous- owned, directed, and supported) is just beginning.
Promoting and Protecting the Arts and Expressions of Indigenous Peoples: A Compendium of Experiences and Actions. Department of Canadian Heritage, 2021
Indigenous traditional knowledge & intellectual property by Jane Anderson, 2010
Native Drums: First Nations culture and music in Canada includes glossaries, videos, image galleries, interviews, and articles.Teachers' tab includes kits for teachers of grades 4-12.
Rumble : The Indians who rocked the world. Kanopy Streaming. (2018).
Hungry listening: Resonant theory for Indigenous sound studies by Dylan Robinson: examines Indigenous and settler colonial practices of listening
Selected Composers/Musicians
Andrew Balfour (Cree). Composer/conductor/singer/sound designer of choral, instrumental, electro-acoustic, and orchestral works, including Take the Indian (a vocal reflection on missing children), Empire Étrange: The Death of Louis Riel, Bawajigaywin (Vision Quest), Manitou Sky, an orchestral tone poem, and the opera Mishaboozʼs Realm. Listen.
Barbara Croall (Odawa, Manitoulin Island, Kineu Dodem).Composer and musician connecting people through music and environmental outdoor education rooted in traditional Anishinaabeg teachings. She works with Indigenous youth and Elders in schools, including LGBTQ2. Playlist.
Ian Cusson (Métis, Georgian Bay Métis Community) Composer of art song, opera, and orchestral work which explores the Canadian Indigenous experience, including Métis history, mixed-racial identity, and the intersection of Western and Indigenous cultures. Playlist.
Jeremy Dutcher (Wolastoq, Tobique First Nation in New Brunswick). Performer, composer, activist, musicologist. Well known for his transcription of Wolastoq songs from 1907 wax cylinders from the archives at the Canadian Museum of History.
Alanis Obomsawin (Abenaki Nation,).First Nations documentary filmmaker, singer, artist, storyteller and activist who focuses her work on the struggles of Indigenous peoples and ensuring their voices are heard. Playlist.
Olivia Shortt (Anishinaabe, Nipissing First Nation). They are a multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, noisemaker, improviser, composer, sound designer, video artist, drag artist, curator, administrator, and producer. Playlist.
Tanya Tagaq (Inuk). Throat singer, songwriter, novelist, and visual artist from Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, Canada, on the south coast of Victoria Island. Discography.
Dataset of composers who identify as Black, Indigenous, or People of Colour (BIPOC) with a connection to Canada (e.g. are Canadian, working in Canada, or from an Indigenous nation in Canada). Created by Doi, Carolyn; Hilts, Janet, 2021, "BIPOC Canadian Composers". (2021-10-29).
List of Indigenous Musicians in Canada (Wikipedia)
Reclaimed: A weekly CBC Radio series that explores the many worlds of contemporary Indigenous music from traditional songs and acoustic sounds to Native hip-hop, R&B, and the dancefloor-filling beats of electric powwow.
Native Waves Radio: Indigenous arts, including Indigenous music scene in both traditional and contemporary forms with new sounds and new artists. Recent interviews.
Native North American Music and Oral Data: Catalogue of Sound Recordings, 1893-1976
A guide to Native North American music and oral data holdings at the Indiana University Archives of Traditional Music... field, commercial and broadcast recordings, including those of the Inuit.
imagineNATIVE: Film and Media Arts Festival in Toronto promotes Indigenous-made media by developing platforms for artists to assert their voices, express their perspectives, and share their cultures.
Initiative for Indigenous Futures: Partnership of universities and organizations bringing workshops, residencies, symposia, and archive, to enable artists, academics, youth, and elders to imagine our future communities. IIF is anchored by Aboriginal Territories in Cyberspace (AbTeC), a research-creation network based at Concordia University, and includes Partners from across Canada.
Native Drums: Devoted to the rich heritage of First Nations culture and music in Canada. With videos, and moving image galleries for Youth, in-depth interviews and articles for students, the image research database for scholars, and downloadable resource kits for teachers, Native Drums has something for everyone!