Aboriginal Juno nominees honored

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Juno nominees in the Best Music of Aboriginal Canada Recording category were honored at a pre-awards show gathering on March 3 at Duke Redbird's the Coloured Stone in Toronto, a favorite nightspot for Aboriginal artists and actors.

The Honouring Our Own-8th Annual Best Music of Aboriginal Canada Juno Awards 2001 celebration paid tribute to Juno nominees Susan Aglukark for Unsung Heroes (EMI), C-Weed for Run As One (cweedband.com), Mishi Donovan for Journey Home (Arbor/Festival), John Gracie for Figure Love Out (Tidemark), and Florent Vollant for Nipaiamianan (Avanti Stella/Mucicor).

Only three of the five nominees were able to attend this fun-filled, pre-Juno event. Florent Vollant was represented by manager Ann Brascoupe, and Mishi Donovan was a no-show for both this event and the Juno Awards celebration the next evening in Hamilton, Ont.

Honouring Our Own was opened with a traditional prayer and song and concluded with a give-away. Veteran Canadian actor and honorary Best Music of Aboriginal Canada (BMAC) committee member, Don Francks, was master of ceremonies.

Nominees were presented with glass and silver awards in recognition of their Juno nominations. Winner of the first Best Music of Aboriginal Canada Recording Juno Award, Lawrence Martin (Wapistan), joined former Assembly of First Nations national chief Ovide Mercredi in the presentation ceremony. Also participating was past chair of the BMAC committee, Elaine Bomberry, who has devoted more than 15 years to bringing Aboriginal music, theatre, arts and entertainment to the forefront.

This was a free event and invitations were sent out to the local Toronto Aboriginal community, as well as to all Aboriginal press across Canada. Many people got the chance to come out and schmooze, as the saying goes, with the stars on the Aboriginal music, arts and entertainment scene.

John Gracie, who recently won the East Coast Music Awards Best Male Artist award for the third year running, was thrilled to have been invited to the gathering and to be given his award. The nomination of Gracie is precedent-setting in that he is the only non-Aboriginal to ever have been nominated in the Aboriginal category. He was nominated because his song "Figure Love Out" was written especially for the traditional Mi'kmaq drum group, Sons of Membertou, who performed the song on the CD.

"I am so honored to be here. I thought I was just coming to meet some people. I didn't know I would be given this wonderful award. I am so happy I could take my award and go home tonight. I don't need to go to the Junos now," he said.

The celebration was organized by the Best Music of Aboriginal Canada Committee (BMAC) for the Juno awards and sponsored by APTN in association with ANDPVA, the Association for Native Development in the Performing and Visual Arts.