Aborginal, Artsy, Awesome! Canadian Aboriginal Festival

If it was Aboriginal, artsy, or awesome, you could find it at the 13th annual Canadian Aboriginal Festival held last month in Toronto.

You could get a tattoo at the trade show, learn about the ancient game of lacross, or be blown away by the by the floor-stomping, tongue-protruding dances of the people from the Land of the Clouds-the Maori-at the Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards

"Performances at the awards by M'Girl, Intellifunk, and Art Napoleon were enjoyable, but leave it to the Maori to get your heart thumping," said Sweetgrass's own Laura Stevens, who was in the middle of the whirlwind that was the festival. "They sauntered onto the stage, barefoot, wearing grass skirts and then proceeded to give an eye-bulging, tongue-out dance!"

The music awards, now in their eighth year, are a much-anticipated event across the country.
Alberta artists held their own this time around, with Jared Sowan doing the province proud with his two wins for best male artist and best blues album. Northern Cree and Friends seemed to be a crowd favourite with two wins, also, for best hand drum album and best pow wow album - contemporary. Alberta's Mike Gouchie picked up best country album and REDDNATION won best rap or hip-hop album for Now or Never. For more on the festival powwow and education showcase see January's issue of Windspeaker.