Our Very Own Songs showcases creativity

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The words, thoughts and voices of over 800 children from northern Saskatchewan have been captured on CD, and are now available to be shared with the world.

Our Very Own Songs is a double CD recording, featuring songs written by the children and Metis singer/songwriter Don Freed as part of an 18-month long project designed to record and preserve songs written by today's Aboriginal youth for the enjoyment and benefit of future generations.

The CD features 39 songs written and sung by over 800 children from 28 northern communities, and four songs created by children in Saskatoon, Prince Albert and St. Louis.

The idea behind the Our Very Own Songs project came to Freed nearly a decade ago, while he was watching a documentary on television depicting kids from the north as being unhappy, with nothing to do in their spare time.

"That was back in the spring of 1993, and just around that time, there was a whole media storm about kids up at Davis Inlet," said Freed.

"Every day, for weeks and weeks, it was talking about the youth and all the tragedy. After a while, it just started gnawing on me, because I know there's an awful lot more positive energy in the north, and the media have to look at these tragic stories, but there weren't any positive stories about youth to counterbalance the negative stuff," he said. "I wanted to do something to allow the public to see the positive energy of youth."

It was this need to bring out positive stories about youth in the north that led Freed to begin visiting schools and teaching students how to write songs.

"In the spring of '93, I went up north for a month, and created 25 songs with the kids, and made up a tape, called Young Northern Voices. Then it just expanded from that. I started getting calls (from the schools) to go back. I spent two years in Prince Albert as writer in residence, and it has kept growing and growing," Freed said.

After eight years of helping students to write songs, Freed said he ended up with a drawer full of tapes filled with those songs. His desire to preserve them is what led to recording of the CD.

The CD project also led to another project being started - http://www.ourveryownsongs.ca is a Web site that shows the end result of much of the work that has gone into the project. According to its Web master Randy Johns, the site has been a success so far.

"We've got a bulletin board on the site where people can put their comments, and we're getting comments from various places in Canada with the project. It kind of makes us feel good, to see that this kind of thing is happening, and to see the kids having an opportunity to speak out on what's important to them," Johns said.

Visitors to the Web site can listen to the songs from the CD and read the words to all the songs as well.

The site also features an art gallery showcasing artwork by students in the participating communities. Kids visiting the site are encouraged to add to the gallery by posting their own artwork on the Web site.

"I guess the whole part of the intention of the Web site is that people from all over Canada, and all over the world, would get to know more about Northern Saskatchewan, by listening to the songs and also by looking at the artwork," Johns said.

The site also includes a map showing where each participating community is located, as well as information on how students can create their very own songs and post them on the site.

Funding for Our Very Own Songs came from a number of sponsors, including Saskatchewan Education, Saskatchewan Health, Saskatchewan Children's Action Plan, Associated Entities Fund, The Canadian Council for the Arts, The Muttart Foundation, F.K. Morrow Foundation, and The National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation.