Indigenous artists and the Polaris Prize

Every year one Canadian artist or music group wins the Polaris Music Prize. Last year, the amazing Tanya Tagaq won the prestigious award for her album Animism.

The Polaris Prize isn’t about sales or number of plays on Spotify or on the radio, but based on artistic merit. The list of potential winners is always whittled down to 10 nominees from a long list.

A Tribe Called Red made it onto the longlist with their 2012 self-titled album and then the shortlist in 2014 with Nation II Nation.

This year's long list list was announced in June and includes a few incredible albums by Indigenous artists.

Buffy Sainte-Marie made it onto the longlist with her 18th studio album, Power in the Blood. Sainte-Marie’s career spans decades and she continues to surprise and delight fans with music that is passionate and holds many important meanings.

Another great album on the longlist isn’t by one Indigenous artist, but many. Native America (Vol. 1): Aboriginal Folk, Rock, And Country 1966-1985 is a compilation of 34 songs by musicians many people haven’t heard of.

A lot of the songs on the album were lost to the public and it took Kevin Howes, aka DJ Sipreano, years to dig them up. Many of the tunes were part of a youth movement years ago, when young musicians were singing anti-war and pro-peace folk songs.

The songs also explore things like environmental destruction and celebrating Indigenous heritage, which is all still relevant today.

View the trailer for the album here.

This year’s shortlist will be announced Friday. Who do you think will make the cut?

Photo sources: http://tanyatagaq.com/

http://lightintheattic.net

http://buffysainte-marie.com/