Event Details

Aboriginal Experiences creates, presents and promotes Aboriginal arts and culture to a large and diverse audience. We create a greater understanding of and appreciation for the rich diversity of Aboriginal arts, culture and traditional teachings among all Canadians.

This funding is for the marketing of the “Summer Solstice Indigenous Music Awards”, taking place June 1 to 18, 2020 in various venues in the National Capital Region. The awards ceremony will take place on June 18 at the National Art Centre and will be preceded by two and a half weeks of live Indigenous music programming in and around Ottawa.

The two-hour SSIMA show will take place at the National Art Centre theatre. The ticketed event will include presentation of awards to recipients from across Canada and the United States, as well live performances throughout the evening. The pre-reception will include an Indigenous culinary event at a venue close to the NAC. A post-show reception for winners will be hosted at the National Art Centre. The award categories and the musical line up has yet to be confirmed.

The Live Music Series will consist of five nights of programming between June 1 and 17 in both ticketed and free venues including the NAC, Babylon Nightclub (where A Tribe Called Red launched Electric Pow Wow), Byward Market BIA and the new Hardrock Casino. Musical acts will include: Digging Roots (Juno award winning folk artists); Twin Flames (a Metis and Inuit duo); Silla and Rise (Inuit throat singing duo collaboration with electronic artist Juno-nominated Rise Ashen); Amanda Rheamue (Metis artist); Caveman Techno (a collaboration of Indigenous artists mixing futuristic sounds); DJondeck (founding member of a Tribe Called Red); Cody Coyote (hip hop artist); and Bear Nation Singers (Algonquin drumming group).

Musical programming at the three-day Summer Solstice Indigenous Festival(SSIF) at Vincent Massey Park will also be expanded to feature an additional 8 to 10 artists including: Snotty Nose Rez Kids (hip hop artists from Vancouver); Amanda Rheamue (Metis artist); Singinip Qilauta Sunsdrum (throat singing duo from Ottawa); Silla and Rise (Inuit throat singing duo collaboration with electronic artist Juno-nominated Rise Ashen); Cris Derksen (cellist from Toronto); and Iskwé (Juno-award nominated artist from Toronto).