Explore the project Naskwa­hamâ­towin (Cree, mean­ing ‘let’s all share in the music), imple­ment­ed by Kehewin Native Dance The­atre in cen­tral Alber­ta, in part­ner­ship with the nation­al NGO Make Music Mat­ter, sup­port­ed with a grant from Bell Let’s Talk, and sup­port­ed by the Nation­al Music Cen­tre in Cal­gary. This music cre­ation project com­bined Make Music Matter’s Heal­ing in Har­mo­ny ther­a­py mod­el with Indige­nous music, lan­guages, and cul­ture to help address the men­tal health cri­sis in the com­mu­ni­ty and oth­er effects of inter­gen­er­a­tional trauma. 

Con­text for the Project

The project was led by Rosa John (Ciboney Taino Nation) and Melvin John (Plains Cree Nation), who describe the dev­as­tat­ing impacts of col­o­niza­tion, and the role of music in heal­ing. Melvin John describes how the con­nec­tion to song, lan­guage and land was bro­ken because of Canada’s res­i­den­tial schools. Par­tic­i­pat­ing artist Tony Dun­can (Apache-Arikara and Hidat­sa Nations) describes how the drum con­nects peo­ple to the heart­beat and to Moth­er Earth. Rosa John describes how chil­dren are the focus for Indige­nous nations, at the heart of every­thing they do. 

Design of Naskwa­hamâ­towin

The project used a mobile record­ing stu­dio that vis­it­ed four reser­va­tion schools each week for 12 weeks. Chil­dren at each school worked togeth­er to write and record songs with pro­duc­er Cindy Paul. Chil­dren also worked with guest artists, such as Tony Dun­can (flute play­er and hoop dancer) and Deb Houle (singer-song­writer). A ther­a­pist was always avail­able at every ses­sion for participants.

At the end of 12 weeks, chil­dren from all four schools trav­elled to the Kehewin Native Dance The­atre stu­dio for one week to cre­ate one final song: Mis­ta­tim, Cree for ‘horse teach­ings’. The chil­dren learned about hors­es and horse teach­ings from Equine Ther­a­pist Jody John (Plains Cree Nation), and got to ride a horse. Fol­low­ing those expe­ri­ences, the chil­dren col­lec­tive­ly com­posed the song Mis­ta­tim, writ­ing the lyrics, and singing or play­ing instru­ments, which was record­ed on site by Melvin John. A ther­a­pist was also on site for the week.

The song Mis­ta­tim is avail­able through all stream­ing plat­forms under the name Nikamo Col­lec­tive. The music video for Mis­ta­tim  is avail­able on YouTube.

Com­pe­ten­cies need­ed to do this work 

Lis­ten­ing: humans have two ears and one mouth to lis­ten twice as much. Lis­ten­ing and being present is key to con­nect­ing well. In the ses­sions, be atten­tive to each kid and how they can and want to con­tribute. Let the kids do what they do best in their own unique way.

Be authen­tic: Be your­self, and fol­low through on what you promise. Kids know if you are not gen­uine. You need to know your­self and be com­fort­able with your­self to engage authen­ti­cal­ly with participants.

Build rela­tion­ships that are cul­tur­al­ly sen­si­tive and spe­cif­ic: the project was suc­cess­ful in part because the team vis­it­ed each school per­son­al­ly, and the week­ly ses­sions hap­pened at each school. This helped demon­strate com­mit­ment and built trust over time. The project worked because it was spe­cif­ic to that geo­graph­ic areas and the spe­cif­ic Indige­nous nations there. Any project work­ing with­in Indige­nous com­mu­ni­ties must be cul­tur­al­ly sen­si­tive to that area.

What does suc­cess look like?

Suc­cess can be seen in smiles, when the par­tic­i­pants are clear­ly enjoy­ing them­selves. The project lead­ers saw kids offer­ing to con­tribute more over the project. 

View sec­tions of the documentary: 

00:00 Project introduction

01:22 Part­ner­ing with a non-Indige­nous organization

02:36 Project design

03:12 ‘Mis­ta­tim’ horse teach­ings and song creation

04:28 Artists involved in project

05:36 Tra­di­tion­al Indige­nous cul­ture and healing

07:18 Key Aspects to Suc­cess of Project

10:56 Com­pe­ten­cies and advice 

12:48 impor­tance of com­mu­ni­ty and chil­dren in Indige­nous worldviews