EDMONTON -- The accolades keep coming for the Edmonton band nêhiyawak. The trio was just selected to be on the long list for the Polaris Music Prize. Other nominees for the $50,000 prize include well known Canadian singers the Weeknd and Jesse Reyez.
“It’s absolutely an honour and really among a lot of the Canadian awards, it’s one of the most diverse awards out there,” says Kris Harper, the band’s vocalist and guitar player.
nêhiyawak, which is Cree for people, blends their contemporary musical sound with traditional indigenous storytelling on their first full length album called nipiy.
“We spend a lot of time talking about what pain sometimes is and also what healing feels like and just try to put that stuff in there amidst some other little gems of historical value,” said Harper.
The members of the trio were all playing in other groups before coming together in 2016. Harper says they wanted to use their music to explore their own roots and educate and open the minds of others.
“It’s an opportune moment to speak to some of the general issues that are a daily life for a lot of Indigenous people.”
Their album nipiy, which is the Cree word for water is meant to represent flow and connectivity. The band opens and closes the record with two songs about the North Saskatchewan River. They are written at 90 beats per minute, which Harper says is in time with the river.
“So if you happened to be listening to the album and you happen to be walking by kisiskâciwanisîpiy you could go walk by it and try to find the beat,” says Harper
Besides being on the long list for the Polaris music prize, nêhiyawak is also up for Indigenous Group of the Year at the Junos which will be given out virtually on June 29th.
