This year’s Vancouver Folk Music Festival will present several compelling Indigenous musicians at ʔəy̓alməxʷ / Iy̓ál̓mexw Jericho Beach Park this weekend.
On Friday (July 18), Inuk singer-songwriter Elisapie will perform on the main stage at 8:30 p.m. She will also participate in the Diggin’ My Roots workshop at 11:10 on Saturday (July 19) on the West Stage.
This year, Elisapie’s Inuktitut, won Best Alternative Album at the Juno Awards. It is comprised of 10 pop and classic rock songs, which she covers in Inuktitut.
This marked the Quebec-born artist’s third Juno after winning Aboriginal Recording of the Year in 2005 and Contemporary Indigenous Artist of the Year in 2023.
Elisapie helps promote Inuktitut
Inuktitut is the first language of 33,790 Inuit people in Canada, according to the 2021 census. Her decision to sing in this language has generated a great deal of interest in the language.
“Beyond how Elisapie beautifully interprets the songs, creative choices like using throat singing on the first track, ‘Isumagijunnaitaungituq (The Unforgiven),’ and stunning music videos showcasing life in the North brings the language to a wider audience,” wrote Université du Québec researchers Richard Compton and Sarah Angiyou in an article on The Conversation website.
Another Indigenous artist to watch is Emily Wurramara, who comes to the Vancouver Folk Music Festival from Iutruwita (Tasmania), where she is now based. The Warnindhilyagwa songwriter is also an activist, and she writes and sings roots and blues in both English and Anindilyakwa. Her second album, NARA, won Best Adult Contemporary Album at the 2024 ARIA Awards.
Wurramara will also be at Diggin’ My Roots with Elisapie. In addition, Wurramara will perform at 11:10 a.m. on the West Stage on Sunday (July 20). That same day at 1 p.m., she’ll be part of the Song Catchers workshop on the South Stage, which is hosted by singer, songwriter, and composer Mimi O’Bonsawin.
O’Bonsawin, an Abenaki member of the Odanak First Nation, recently released a remix of “Elle Danse”—a collaboration with Boogát, who mixes hip-hop with Latin American music. In a news release, O’Bonsawin points out that the original version was “sparse and moody”, but the remix is a “high-energy showpiece”, thanks in part to her drummer husband, Ryan Schuman.
“It became a rhythmic anchor, with Ryan adding a driving and danceable groove on the drums,” O’Bonsawin says. “We invite audiences to howl and unleash. It’s always the one people film and come up to thank us for afterwards. We all need a good howl every now and then.”
O’Bonsawin will perform on the South Stage at 10 a.m. on Saturday.
Cris Derksen and Blue Moon Marquee will perform
They’re not the only Indigenous artists at the Vancouver Folk Music Festival. Two-spirit Cree cellist Cris Derksen will perform on the East Stage at 2:40 p.m. on Saturday.
Derksen is a Juno-nominated artist who incorporates traditional music into contemporary works. For example, the Orchestral Powwow project includes the Chippewa Travellers, an Aniishinaabeg family drum group. It leads the orchestra rather than having a conductor perform this function.
In addition, Derksen will host the Groove Will Keep Us Together workshop on the South Stage on Saturday at 12:25 p.m.
One of the workshop participants will be Blue Moon Marquee. Guitarist and singer A.W. Cardinal and bassist and drummer Jasmine Colette came together in Vancouver in 2012 to record Cardinal’s album Stainless Steel Heart. More recently, Blue Moon Marquee won Roots Album of the Year for Scream, Holler & Howl at the Summer Solstice Indigenous Music Awards.
At the Vancouver Folk Music Festival, they will perform with three other musicians—keyboardist Darcy Phillips, saxophonist Jerry Cook, and drummer Paul Townsend—at 3:10 p.m. on Sunday on the West Stage.
The Vancouver Folk Music Festival runs from July 18 to 20 at ʔəy̓alməxʷ / Iy̓ál̓mexw Jericho Beach Park. Tickets are available via the website. Follow Pancouver on X @PancouverMedia and Bluesky @pancouver.bsky.social. Pancouver is also on Instagram @PancouverMedia. In addition, follow Charlie Smith on Bluesky @charliesmithvcr.bsky.social.
