sakihiwe news
introducing the sākihiwē festival
aboriginal music manitoba (amm) is excited to introduce the sākihiwē festival (formerly aboriginal music week)- a three day music festival set for the third weekend in june that will take 20 indigenous artists to five stages in three winnipeg neighbourhoods so that indigenous families can walk to the concerts.
sākihiwē festival
June 15 - 17, 2018
treaty one territory
winnipeg, manitoba, canada
sakihiwe.ca | #indigenousexcellence
the new festival name comes with new dates and a condensed format, which gives amm the ability to increase its impact on indigenous audiences and artists. the original name was a function of fundraising and represented a vision for something similar to canadian music week. since launching the festival in 2009, amm has reconsidered it's priorities and developed its own business model and this maturity informed the need and process for relaunching everything under a new name.
"we decided to move from august to june so that we could connect with more families," explains amm chairperson alan greyeyes. "most kids are still in school in june and a lot of the larger pow wows don't draw indigenous families out of the city until july or august. we also think that being closer to aptn's indigenous day live creates additional excitement for the city and strengthens winnipeg's reputation as the indigenous music hub of turtle island."
amm received the name "sākihiwē" from sundance chief david blacksmith during a ceremony on february 21, 2018. it means "to love" in cree and the organization has been instructed to use standard roman orthography (sro) to write the name. sro has no capital letters and amm has also adopted this format for its website and social media posts.
the festival will begin with a sweat lodge ceremony on june 14 to welcome the visiting artists and start everything in a good way. a ticketed concert is set for june 15 at the good will social club, followed by concerts at central park and turtle island neighbourhood centre from 12:00 pm to 8:00 pm on saturday and a co-presentation with jazz winnipeg at old market square later that evening. everything wraps up on sunday with concerts at magnus eliason recreation centre and turtle island neighbourhood centre from 12:00 pm to 6:00 pm and a second co-presentation with jazz winnipeg at old market square shortly after.
wolastoqiyik composer and classically trained operatic tenor jeremy dutcher; juno award winning throat singing/roots duo quantum tangle; thought provoking electronic act iskwé; unceded coastal hip hop group mob bounce; award winning country maven desiree dorion; and, newcomer sebastian gaskin are the first wave of performers that amm is excited to announce for the sākihiwē festival this year. the full festival lineup will be announced on may 9, 2018.
follow these performers on spotify
- jeremy dutcher on spotify (follow/listen)
- iskwé on spotify (follow/listen)
- mob bounce on spotify (follow/listen)
- quantum tangle on spotify (follow/listen)
- desiree dorion on spotify (follow/listen)
- sebastian gaskin on spotify (follow/listen)
listen to the sākihiwē festival playlist on soundcloud
about the sākihiwē festival
the sākihiwē festival was launched in 2009 as aboriginal music week to develop indigenous youth as an audience for live music. the festival presents between 20 and 30 first nation, metis, inuit, native american, and indigenous music acts each year. it is held in treaty one territory and is produced by amm.
amm would like to acknowledge the Government of Canada through the Department of Canadian Heritage, the Canada Council for the Arts, FACTOR and Canada’s private radio broadcasters, and amiskusees: semaganis worme family foundation for their financial support of the 2018 edition of the sākihiwē festival.
amm would also like to acknowledge the in-kind support of nci fm and ogichidaa arts.
the sākihiwē festival is made possible by partnerships with the spence neighbourhood association, central neighbourhoods, ma mawi wi chi itata centre, and jazz winnipeg.
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about aboriginal music manitoba
amm is a non-profit organization that presents, promotes and nurtures indigenous music and culture in order to build audiences at the community level and beyond. we do this by producing an annual music festival; producing capacity development projects; shining a spotlight on the accomplishments of indigenous music makers and industry professionals year-round; and, by building bridges between the indigenous music community and our counterparts around the world.
amm is governed by a nine-person volunteer board, which includes alan greyeyes, brett huson, jarita greyeyes, jacques st. goddard, sandra seidel, and kyra wilson.
amm has replaced all references to “aboriginal” peoples and music with “indigenous” in its communications this year. the organization’s name will also be change after the 2018 festival.
