Junos rebrand indigenous award

By Makayla Peacock

The Juno awards are the latest to reject the word “aboriginal,” as part of a nationwide trend to undo a linguistic legacy of colonization, but some indigenous recording artists have reacted with a shrug.

An “Indigenous Music Album of the Year” will be handed out this year at a ceremony in April, instead of an “Aboriginal Album of Year” like in the past, the non-profit Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS), which organizes the awards, said on Jan. 11.

Armond Duck Chief, one of last year’s nominees, said that he doesn’t think a difference in the title changes the honour of being nominated.

“For me they’re interchangeable. I spend all year in a rodeo circuit called Indian National Finals Rodeo, so in our rodeo community we are OK with the name ‘Indian,’” he said. “So with that being said, the names ‘indigenous’ or ‘aboriginal’ are not a great concern to me. I’m OK with each name. For me it is more the merit of the award itself being recognized for your work as a musician.”

The rename is a gesture meant to help repair the damage done to indigenous people.

“Our committee asked CARAS to consider the change because we felt that the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People provided a stronger foundation for our collective movement than what had been established around the term ‘Aboriginal,’” said Alan Greyeyes, chair of a Juno advisory committee that recommended the change. Supporters say it promotes the use of a more modern label widely favoured among Canada’s First Nations, Inuit and Métis.

The federal government took a first step in November 2015 by updating the name of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development – previously the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development — to Indigenous and Northern Affairs.

“Indigenous is a term that actual native people, indigenous peoples, originated themselves.It comes from us as a people, so I think that’s one reason that people prefer it,” Ryerson University professor Hayden King told CBC at the time.

It comes from us as a people, so I think that’s one reason that people prefer it,” Hayden King, professor of Indigenous governance at Ryerson University, told the CBC at the time.

“Aboriginal is kind of a status, legal, domestication of indigenous concerns, whereas indigenous or indigeneity is kind of sovereigntist, more authentic term used by indigenous people themselves,” he said.

Last fall, the CBC itself renamed its branch covering indigenous communities from CBC Aboriginal to CBC Indigenous. The federal Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs also adopted “Indigenous” in April 2016.

Armond Duck Chief isn’t the only indigenous recording artist to greet the Juno awards’ gesture with a bit of ambivalence. Rapper Thomas Lambe says the new wording doesn’t make up for the struggles the indigenous community is facing in Canada’s northern territories.

“Changing it to ‘Indigenous’ isn’t that much of an impact on what’s going on in our communities,” he said. “I think more Inuit need to start diving into becoming entrepreneurs. A lot of the businesses here are run by the government. More money made by locals means better living.”

Despite the reservations, Armond Duck Chief said he just wants another opportunity to be nominated.

“I am good with the name change and I’d be good if they kept it the same,” he said. “I was honoured to be nominated for ‘Aboriginal Album of the Year’ and good Lord [willing], I will receive another nomination when my next album is released. If the name is ‘Indigenous Music Album of the Year’ I would be just as happy and proud.”

The award will be presented at the Juno Gala Dinner & Awards on April 1 at the Shaw Centre. JUNO Week 2017 runs March 27 to April 2, with the main awards being handed out during a nationally televised ceremony at Canadian Tire Centre on April 2.