The group's music has been labelled as "powwow-step", a style of contemporary powwow music for urban First Nations in the dance club scene; popularized by the media as a description of the band's unique style, the term originated as the title of one of the band's own earliest singles.[2]
Origins
Inspired by parties for Korean and South Asian youth in Ottawa, DJ NDN (Ian Campeau), a nightclub bouncer turned DJ, became interested in a similar event for Aboriginal youth.[7] After discussing the idea with his friend, Bear Witness (Thomas Ehren Ramon), and fellow disc jockey Dee Jay Frame (Jon Limoges), they began the first night at Ottawa's Babylon nightclub in 2007, calling it Electric Pow Wow.[7] Encouraged by the overwhelmingly positive response, the DJs began holding the event on the second weekend of every month — a schedule that lasted until December 2017.[7] The parties featured a mixture of traditional powwow recordings, mixed with electronic music rhythms and genres such as dubstep, moombahton and dancehall.[7] Bear Witness explained that the group was formed because its members wanted to throw parties for their community,[8] and he also pointed out ATCR's political connotation: "To take over and Indigenize the club space is a really political act [...] As First Nations people everything we do is political".[8]
Music
After releasing a number of tracks online DJing at various dance and aboriginal events,[9] the band released their self-titled debut album as a free internet download in 2012.[10][11] The album was named as a long-listed nominee for the 2012 Polaris Music Prize on June 14, 2012.[12] In December 2012, ATCR released "The Road" on SoundCloud (P.27), a track that garnered "upward of 50,000 plays within five months"[4] and nearly 300,000 plays as of August 2018.[13] The song's structure revolves around a series of "drops", an important component in electronic dance music derived from Jamaican sound systems[4] as well as syncopated "trap beats" originating from dirty south hip-hop characterized with a booming bass drum and skittering hi-hats.[4] At the time, ATCR "was working on its second record—what would become 2013's Nation II Nation"[4] and has since, for years now, been perceived as one of the leaders of an artistic Indigenous resurgence, exemplifying the remixing of tradition,[14] bridging Indigenous history and futurity.
Their second album, Nation II Nation, was released in 2013 and was named a long-listed nominee for the 2013 Polaris Music Prize on June 13, 2013;[15] in July, it was named to the prize's final 10-album shortlist.[16] The band also won several awards at the 2013 Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Awards, including Best Group and Best Album for Nation II Nation.[17]
A Tribe Called Red have also collaborated on and produced one of the last known Das Racist songs, called "Indians From All Directions",[26] as well as the song "A Tribe Called Red" on Angel Haze's album Dirty Gold.[27]
In 2014, they released "Burn Your Village to the Ground", a non-album protest song about the complicated aboriginal relationship with the colonialist connotations of Thanksgiving.[28]
In 2015, they released pro-wrestling-themed EP Suplex, with appearances from Smalltown DJs, as well as a remix of Buffy Sainte-Marie's song "Working for the Government".[29] They also won for Best Music Video in 2015 by the Native American Music Awards.
In April 2018 the band performed at a TED talk during TED2018.[32]
Edmonton, Interstellar Rodeo 2018
Following the release of their 2016 album We Are the Halluci Nation, the group released a number of singles in 2019.
In April 2019 the group released a remix of Keith Secola's song "NDN Kars". The group put a "modern twist" on the '90s hit.[33] Following the release of the "NDN Kars" remix the group released "The OG', which was their first original song since the release of We Are the Halluci Nation.[34] A few months later the group released "Ba Na Na", which features Canadian rapper Haviah Mighty, singer Odario and Chippewa Travellers.[35] In September 2019, the band released "Tanokumbia", a single featuring Texan DJ El Dusty and Canadian Pow Wow drummers and singers, Black Bear.[36]
In 2020 A Tribe Called Red released "Land Back" during the 2020 Canadian pipeline and railway protests. "Land Back" features Boogey the Beat and Chippewa Travellers. The song was available for free and made in support of the WetʼsuwetʼenFirst Nations opposing the construction of a Coastal GasLink Pipeline. The song was intended for use by "anyone working to promote Indigenous land sovereignty and 'a true nation-to-nation discussion between the Indigenous nations of Turtle Island and our Canadian settlers'".[37]
On April 5, 2021, the group changed their name to The Halluci Nation.[38]
Powwow-step
Powwow-step or pow wow step[39] or sometimes electric powwow[40] are the terms the band used to describe their music. The sound described under this term is characterized by the mixture of First Nationspow wow and electronic music styles.[41][42] The name of the genre is derived from pow wow and dubstep.[43] Ian Campeau of the group has said, regarding the genre, "[a]ll we really did was match up dance music with dance music".[44]
Film and television
The song "Electric Pow-wow" was featured on the TV show "Chance", starring Hugh Laurie and Ethan Suplee. It appeared in S1 E:4,5 and 10.[45]
In 2017 the band’s song “Sila” was featured in the Thoroughbred’s trailer.[46]
The Halluci Nation co-composed music for the sitcom Rutherford Falls, which premiered on NBC's streaming service Peacock in April 2021. The show centers on relationships between members of a northeastern town and a fictional Native American tribe.[51]
Also in 2021, The Halluci Nation songs "R.E.D." and "Stadium Pow Wow (feat. Black Bear)" were featured on Hulu's streaming show Reservation Dogs, a show about four Indigenous teenagers living on a reservation in Oklahoma.
The band found its roots when Bear Witness and Ian Campeau realized their home city of Ottawa had dance nights that represented every culture there but their own, so deciding to, "throw a party," was more than just for fun—these Electric Pow Wows were to portray their Aboriginal culture within urban centres where historically, its involvement has been erased.[53] Thus, the band has been involved in activism from its very origin.
They have been vocal supporters of Idle No More,[9] a peaceful revolution launched in November 2012 to protest the Harper government's introduction of Bill C-45, which critics, including many First Nations people, claimed threatened both the environment and Aboriginal sovereignty.[54]
In 2013, they issued a public statement asking non-aboriginal fans to refrain from cultural appropriation by not wearing headdresses and war paint to their shows. Furthermore, Campeau filed a human rights complaint against an amateur football club in Ottawa that was using "Redskins" as its club name. Also, through its piece "The Road", the band provided "catalyzing soundtrack to the Idle No More movement sweeping across Turtle Island",[55] advocating in favor of "Indigenous peoples reclaiming the land, moving to reverse the ongoing dispossessions of the settler state".[4] The track has made some recall a series of walks along roads, like the "Longest Walk" from Alcatraz to Washington in 1978.[4]
In 2014, the band withdrew from a scheduled performance at the official opening ceremonies of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, citing concerns about the museum's depiction of indigenous human rights issues.
Further than distinct actions like the aforementioned, the group is also activist through the expression of their music itself. "I think in our own community," Bear Witness told The National in 2013, "it's not something that people would have been ready for us to have been doing 10 or 15 years ago, to be sampling powwow music and bring it into clubs. I mean, that's really pushing boundaries."[56] Using music as a platform to educate, they have broken away from homogenous genres and at once promoted appreciation and respect for First Nations cultures while combating stereotypes and appropriation.
"It's mind-blowing that this whole conversation that we've been having the past few decades about the portrayal of our people hasn't gone anywhere," said Bear Witness. "It hasn't changed."[57] However, the band is positive about making a change moving forward. "All those things that we're trying to talk about with Idle No More, with aboriginal rights, you're feeling it and you're getting it without a word having to be said. Because when you feel that, you're feeling what we all feel."[57]
In 2024, with Saul Williams and NARCY, they released "Voices Through Rubble" in solidarity with the people of Palestine - a song which Steven Ward of Grimy Goods described as "spotlight[ing] the shared oppression and violence endured by Indigenous populations, inflicted by colonizers, that’s ingrained in both our history and cultural mythology".[58]
Albums
A Tribe Called Red (2012)
This first album by ATCR was nominated for the 2012 Polaris Music Prize and it was in The Washington Post's Top 10 albums of the year.[59] After their debut, ATCR went on tour across North America and Europe, where they participated to the World Music Expo in Greece.[59]
ATCR's second album was nominated for a Polaris Prize and it also had a political inclination as it contributed to the conversation that revolves around Indigenous rights and cultural appropriation.[8] The name of the album has two layers of meaning. On one hand, the members of the group are originally from different communities, as Campeau explained: "I'm Ojibway, Anishinaabe. The other two guys, Dan and Bear, are both Cayuga [...] Historically, we're enemies. So together, in forming this group, that's a nation-to-nation relationship".[8] On the other hand, there is a "nation-to-nation relationship from the settler nations to the First Nations" (Ian "DJ NDN" Campeau).[8]
The third album of A Tribe Called Red was released in September 2016.[60] The first voice that is heard in this album is that of John Trudell, a Native American activist, poet and musician.[61] In fact, with this work ATCR wanted to celebrate contemporary Indigenous culture.[62]
The band, now called The Halluci Nation, released its fourth album in July 2021. They've collaborated with artists such as Black Bear, John Trudell, and Northern Voice whom they worked with on their 2016 album We Are the Halluci Nation.
Indigenous music of Canada encompasses a wide variety of musical genres created by Aboriginal Canadians. Before European settlers came to what is now Canada, the region was occupied by many First Nations, including the West Coast Salish and Haida, the centrally located Iroquois, Blackfoot and Huron, the Dene to the North, and the Innu and Mi'kmaq in the East and the Cree in the North. Each of the indigenous communities had their own unique musical traditions. Chanting – singing is widely popular and most use a variety of musical instruments.
The Wolastoqiyik, also Wəlastəkwewiyik, Malecite or Maliseet are an Algonquian-speaking First Nation of the Wabanaki Confederacy. They are the Indigenous people of the Wolastoq valley and its tributaries. Their territory extends across the current borders of New Brunswick and Quebec in Canada, and parts of Maine in the United States.
Tanya Tagaq, also credited as Tagaq, is a Canadian Inuk throat singer, songwriter, novelist, actor, and visual artist from Cambridge Bay (Iqaluktuuttiaq), Nunavut, Canada, on the south coast of Victoria Island.
The Juno Award for Indigenous Music Album of the Year is an annual award presented by the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences for the best album by an Indigenous Canadian artist or band. It was formerly known as Best Music of Aboriginal Canada Recording (1994–2002), Aboriginal Recording of the Year (2003–2009), and Aboriginal Album of the Year (2010–2016). Indigenous artists are not excluded from consideration in other genre or general interest categories; in fact, some indigenous musicians, most notably The Halluci Nation, have actively chosen not to submit their music in the indigenous category at all, instead pursuing nomination only in the more general categories.
Over the past 42 years, the Gathering of Nations has grown from a simple dream into one of North America's most celebrated annual festivals, known for its fair competitions, cultural significance, and impactful community outreach.
Shadrach Kabango, known professionally as Shad or Shad K, is a Canadian rapper and broadcaster. Beginning his career in 2005, has released seven studio albums and three extended plays. He won a Juno Award for Rap Recording of the Year in 2011 and five of his albums have been shortlisted for the Polaris Music Prize, the most short-list nominations of any artist in the prize's history. In 2013, CBC Music named Shad the second-greatest Canadian rapper of all time. Shad hosted Q on CBC Radio One from 2015 to 2016, and hosts the International Emmy and Peabody Award-winning documentary series Hip-Hop Evolution on HBO Canada and Netflix.
Digging Roots is a Canadian musical group consisting of husband and wife duo Raven Kanatakta and ShoShona Kish, whose musical style blends folk-rock, pop, blues, and hip hop. They won the Juno Award for Aboriginal Album of the Year in 2010 for their album We Are....
Cris Derksen is a two-spirit Juno Award–nominated Cree cellist from Northern Alberta, Canada. Derksen is known for her unique musical sound which blends classical music with traditional Indigenous music. Her music is often described as "electronic cello" or classical traditional fusion.
The Jerry Cans are a band from Iqaluit, Nunavut who combine traditional Inuit throat singing with folk music and country rock. Their music is largely written in Inuktitut, the indigenous language of the Inuit, with lyrics which "reflect the challenges and beauty of life in the Far North". Their 2016 album, Inuusiq/Life, was released on Aakuluk Music, Nunavut's first record label, which the band's members established in 2016 "to support Inuit and Indigenous musicians".
Northern Cree, also known as the Northern Cree Singers, is a powwow and Round Dance drum and singing group based in Maskwacis, Alberta, Canada. Formed in 1980 by Randy Wood, with brothers Charlie and Earl Wood of the Saddle Lake Cree Nation, members originate from the Treaty 6 area. These include Ferlin McGillvary, Steve Wood, Joel Wood, and Conan Yellowbird.
We Are the Halluci Nation is the third studio album by Canadian electronic music group The Halluci Nation, released on September 16, 2016 by Radicalized Records, an imprint of Pirates Blend Records.
Bryden Gwiss Kiwenzie is a Canadian musician whose debut album Round Dance & Beats (Powwow) was a shortlisted nominee for both the Juno Award for Indigenous Music Album of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2017 and Best Hand Drum Album of the year at the 2017 Indigenous Music Awards.
Lido Pimienta is a Colombian Canadian musician, singer, and songwriter. She rose to prominence after her 2016 album, La Papessa, won the 2017 Polaris Music Prize. Her music incorporates a variety of styles and influences, including traditional indigenous and Afro-Colombian musical styles such as Cumbia and Bullerengue, as well as contemporary synthpop and electronic music.
Black Bear, sometimes credited as Black Bear Singers, are a Canadian musical group from Manawan, Quebec, who perform traditional First Nations music. They are frequent collaborators with the group The Halluci Nation.
DJ Shub is a Mohawk DJ and music producer and member of the Six Nations of the Grand River. He has won numerous awards for his work as a former member of A Tribe Called Red, a DJ, and for solo pursuits.
Indian City is a Canadian folk-rock musical group best known for their 2017 Juno Award–nominated album Here & Now. Originally formed as a side project by Vince Fontaine of the band Eagle & Hawk, Indian City is a rotating musical collective sometimes described as "a sort of indigenous version of Broken Social Scene". Members and contributors have included Don Amero, William Prince, Jim Cuddy, Chantal Kreviazuk, Pamela Davis, Gabrielle Fontaine, Neewa Mason, Marty Chapman, Atik Mason, Gerry Atwell, Jamie Carrasco, Jay Bodner, Jeremy Koz, Rena Semenko, Steve Broadhurst, Rich Reid, and Shannon McKenney.
Land Back, also referred to with hashtag #LandBack, is a decentralised campaign that emerged in the late 2010s among Indigenous Australians, Indigenous peoples in Canada, Native Americans in the United States, other indigenous peoples and allies who seek to reestablish Indigenous sovereignty, with political and economic control of their ancestral lands. Activists have also used the Land Back framework in Mexico, and scholars have applied it in New Zealand and Fiji. Land Back is part of a broader Indigenous movement for decolonization.
nipiy is the debut album by Edmonton-based band nêhiyawak, released on October 24, 2019, on Arts & Crafts Productions. It was nominated for Indigenous Music Album of the Year at the 2020 Juno Awards, and shortlisted for the 2020 Polaris Music Prize.
Nation II Nation is the second studio album by Canadian electronic music group The Halluci Nation, released on May 7, 2013, by Radicalized Records, an imprint of Pirates Blend Records.
One More Saturday Night is the fourth studio album by Canadian electronic music group The Halluci Nation, released on July 30, 2021, by Radicalized Records, an imprint of Pirates Blend Records.
↑ "A look at A Tribe Called Red, a successful group of aboriginal DJs". The National - CBC Toronto. July 21, 2013. ProQuest1406212424.
↑ "Idle No More". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved August 31, 2019.
↑ Levine, Gabriel (2016). "Remixing Return: A Tribe Called Red's Decolonial Bounce". Canadian Journal of Cultural Studies. 35: 27–46. doi:10.3138/topia.35.27.
↑ "A look at A Tribe Called Red, a successful group of aboriginal DJs". The National - CBC Television Toronto. ProQuest1406212424.
1 2 "A Tribe Called Red reclaim their culture: Polaris-prize nominee using popularity to educate audiences about First Nations". The Globe and Mail, Toronto. ProQuest1811383044.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
