Photo courtesy of the Quinte Arts Council.
The Quinte Arts Council has announced today that a member of the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte will be apart of the Juno Awards in a few weeks.
David R. Maracle is a musician and sculptor who has been living on the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory for over 35 years.
He recorded two songs for the virtual ceremony that will be broadcasted on June 6th at 8 pm.
Here’s some more from him about the meaning behind each song.
“For the opening I chose my words to convey an inspirational message and the musical compilation that I performed was entitled ‘Lifeblood of Mother Earth.’ The reason being is the importance of our water as our first medicines given to us as humans. I also wanted to ensure that I acknowledged the traditional Indigenous peoples of Turtle Island, which encompasses all of our great land of North America. For the closing ceremony I wanted to convey a message of perseverance and to stay strong, and send prayers to everyone on Mother Earth in peace and love. The title track I chose was from my Spirit World: Universal Meditations album, entitled ‘Spirit Dreams,’ because it encompassed several world fusion instruments that represented the four directions of our planet: the Medicine wheel.”
Maracle chose to record his performance at The Empire Theatre in Belleville.
The stage also featured two red dresses to honor and remember the missing and murdered indigenous women and girls. There was also a buffalo skull sculpture entitled “Brothers Forever.”
“It signifies how our Indigenous peoples of the past relied on the Buffalo for survival. The sculpture conveys the message of unity between the two…It also conveys as we are enduring a global pandemic, we are all in this together as a whole,” said Maracle.
You can watch the Juno Awards on CBC and CBC Gem.
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