Plug In ICA is pleased to present Native North America, a special event that brings forward an underrepresented but key and complex aspect of Canadian cultural heritage. This evening of performance, discussion and film will feature legendary musician Shingoose (Curtis Jones), David McLeod from NCI FM, – The Spirit of Manitoba, and Vancouver-based music historian and producer Kevin “Sipreano” Howes.

NNA V1 is a music compilation of Aboriginal folk, rock and country from 1966-1985 produced by Kevin “Sipreano” Howes and released in late 2014 by Light in The Attic Records. This event expands on the historical context outlined in this important compilation through conversation, audio, and films from this decisive era. Local musician Shingoose will perform as well as participate in a public discussion with David McLeod. Two National Film Board documentaries will be screened: The Paradox of Norval Morrisseau, on the artwork and life of Norval Morrisseau, and The Other Side of the Ledger, a critical examination of the Hudson Bay’s treatment of Aboriginal peoples. Kevin “Sipreano” Howes will be present to introduce the evening as well as to play music from the compilation.

Please join us on Wednesday, August 5^th, 2015 at Plug In ICA for an event that raises awareness about an important musical movement.

This talk is available in our online video archive.

Shingoose (born Curtis Jonnie) is a singer-songwriter, guitarist, writer, actor, and activist raised on the Roseau River Reserve and later, by a Mennonite missionary family at Steinbach, Manitoba, where he sang in church choirs. Moving to the United States when he was fifteen, he toured as a member of the Nebraska-based Boystown Concert Choir and performed with a variety of rock bands (including Puzzle) in Washington, DC, and New York into the early 1970s. Jonnie returned to Winnipeg in 1973. Moved by the confrontation at Wounded Knee, he became an activist on behalf of native peoples. Taking the name of his great grandfather, Shingoose, and singing in a country-folk style, he has appeared at all major Canadian folk festival, universities, and coffeehouses. He wrote and performed songs in the Native musical In Deo, which toured Canada in 1983. In 1985 he became the host for a native current affairs TV program syndicated in western Canada from CKND, Winnipeg. His own company, Native Multimedia Productions, Inc, established in 1986, produced Indian Time, a groundbreaking TV special with Tom Jackson, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Laura Vinson, and other native performers, telecast in 1989 by CTV. Shingoose’s recordings include the EP Native Country (1975), the LP Ballad of Norval (1979), and the cassette Natural Tan (1989). “Silver River,” his collaboration with poet and friend Duke Redbird from 1975 is featured on Native North America (Vol. 1).

David McLeod (member of the Pine Creek First Nation) works as a senior manager at Native Communications Incorporated (NCI-FM), which operates a provincial radio network. NCI also owns and operates Winnipeg’s Rythum 104.7 FM. David studied broadcasting at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) in Calgary and at the Ryerson Polytechnical Institute in Toronto. He has a passion for Indigenous music; he is the Executive Producer of the National Aboriginal Music Countdown which is heard on seven provincial radio networks including SiriusXM. NAMC is the recipient of two Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Awards. David is a vinyl record collector, with a special interest in Indigenous music. He currently sits on two boards; Manitoba Film and Music and the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN).

Kevin “Sipreano” Howes is a Canadian music historian, reissue producer, artist, DJ, writer, and record collector based out of Vancouver, British Columbia. For the last 12 years, Howes has worked in collaboration with Seattle/Los Angeles-based Light in the Attic Records. Known for his efforts in documenting the Caribbean-Canadian musical migration in the six-album Jamaica-Toronto series and working with Sixto Rodriguez on the re-releases of his Cold Fact and Coming From Reality LPs, his latest curatorial project is Native North America (Vol. 1): Aboriginal Folk, Rock, and Country 1966-1985, a look into the regional Indigenous music scene that has received global acclaim from CBC, BBC, NPR, APTN, Rolling Stone, and The Guardian. He also runs a blog/cultural umbrella called Voluntary in Nature.

Films include:

The Paradox of Norval Morrisseau (1974) (NFB)

Directed by Duke Redbird and Henning Jacobsen

The Other Side of the Ledger: An Indian View of the Hudson’s Bay Company (1972) (NFB)

Directed by Martin Defalco and Willie Dunn

Plug In ICA gratefully acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, the Manitoba Arts Council, Winnipeg Arts Council and the RBC Foundation as well as our generous donors, valued members and dedicated volunteers.

Event sponsor:  Video Pool Media Arts Centre

Videographer: Ryan Simmons

For general information please contact: info@plugin.org.

For media inquiries please contact: Janique Vigier at janique@plugin.org or by telephone at (204) 942-1043 ext 27.