Episode 187 with Raven Kanatakta and Amanda Rheaume from IIMS

This week, we welcome Raven Kanatakta and Amanda Rheaume from The International Indigenous Music Summit (IIMS).

Raven Kanatakta is a musician, songwriter, producer, engineer, film scorer, music entrepreneur and a Rez kid at heart. Raven’s lineage is Anishinabe Algonquin from Winneway and Onkwehón:we Mohawk from Kahnawà:ke. Raised up in a tiny isolated reserve in northern Quebec, in his teenage years Raven moved to the city to pursue his musical aspirations. He received a BMus in Performance and Jazz Composition from Berklee in Boston and later partnered in a recording studio cutting his producing chops.

Raven’s main musical sights are primarily focused with his wife and musician ShoShona Kish with whom they created the musical group Digging Roots. "It’s an amazing collaboration that constantly pushes us forward with a momentum that continually expands our growth as artists.”

Since Digging Roots' inception, they have won numerous awards, toured in Europe, the US, Mexico, Australia, Scandinavia, and to many secluded corners of Canada for almost two decades. They also have four albums under their belt and are two time JUNO alumni. The latest Digging Roots album titled Zhawenim (To Love Unconditionally) is released on the Indigenous and female operated Ishkōdé Records. Presently Raven is collaborating and creating with ShoShona on Digging Roots’ new album Migwewin.

Amanda Rheaume
At the start of every show, whether on stage in Chile, Nashville or Brisbane, Australia, Rheaume introduces herself as a Citizen of the Métis Nation of Ontario whose Red River roots run deep, interwoven with Anishinaabe relatives from Lac Seul and mixed settler relations. Unfamiliar as some of these places may be to her audience, her introduction is both a greeting and a foundation, situating Rheaume and her songs in multifold lineages of family and community.

In Rheaume’s music, songs of resistance and resilience travel centuries. With a gentle yet unflinching touch, Rheaume has grown to be a chronicler of stories and people whose acts – out of necessity and opportunity alike – cascade through time and space, from the 18th century Red River Settlement to her own doorstep. With curiosity and empathy, Rheaume has become a bearer of history, unearthing and preserving Métis stories in song. In her gutsy guitar-driven style, punctuated with lively Métis fiddle, Rheaume’s heartland rock is built to last, resolute in rhythm and unswerving in purpose.

For her newest album, The Truth We Hold, Rheaume traveled across the homelands, visiting communities and individuals whose collective experiences make up a living history of Métis joy, strength and struggle. From Northwest Ontario to rural Saskatchewan, Rheaume’s new collection explores moments that have shaped Métis history, from landmark court battles to silenced injustices, transmitting a message of interconnectedness that dissolves geographical and historical distances.

The recipient of the 2024 Spirit of Folk Award, 2023 Canadian Fold Music Award for Indigenous Songwriter of the Year and the 2023 Capital Music Awards’ Album of the Year, Rheaume has released six full-length albums to date. Beyond recording and touring, Rheaume continues her ever-expanding role as an essential advocate of Indigenous music infrastructure and community. As a co-founder of Ishkode Records and International Indigenous Music Summit and founding board member of the Indigenous Music Office, a commitment to raising Indigenous sovereignty through the medicine of music motivates all of Rheaume’s work.

 

https://indigenousmusicsummit.com/
The International Indigenous Music Summit (IIMS) is the largest global event dedicated to celebrating, creating awareness, sharing resources, and building opportunities for the Indigenous music community.

IIMS provides a unique space for Indigenous artists to discuss, exchange, and share and connect with one another, in a culturally sensitive and appropriate space directed at building long-term, mutually beneficial relationships between artists and industry professionals.

Participants and collaborators include creators, event organizers, presenters, key knowledge holders from the arts sector, and cultural connectors from many parts of the world. An elder advisory committee has foundational input on thematic material, organization, and execution.