Aysanabee, Shawnee Kish and more on the Indigenous artists who inspire them

Indigenous musicians have always banded together to make their voices heard, whether the wider music industry was paying attention or not. From founding Indigenous-owned labels to launching international music summits to facilitating music-making workshops for Indigenous youth, leaning on community is a way of navigating through obstacles or closed doors. 

That kinship has been a galvanizing force, and ahead of Indigenous Peoples Day, we at CBC Music want to give the floor to Indigenous artists to highlight and celebrate the special bonds they've cultivated with their peers. 

"You hear this from a lot of artists, that they never grew up seeing people that look like them. It's very nice being in these spaces and to have that bit of kinship, you know, like someone who gets you for you," said Oji-Cree singer-songwriter Aysanabee in an interview. 

"It's nice to kind of have some shared perspectives and that bond and that built-in therapy session whenever you need it."

Below, in their own words, Amanda Rheaume, Aysanabee, Sebastian Gaskin and Shawnee Kish share thoughts on their fellow Indigenous artists, who inspire and motivate them to push boundaries.

Aysanabee on Sebastian Gaskin

Aysanabee is an Oji-Cree singer with powerhouse vocal chops that elevate his spellbinding roots, rock and folk songs. His 2022 debut album, Watin, centred around his grandfather's memories of residential school and the subsequent aftermath and generational trauma that impacted his family. It was shortlisted for the Polaris Music Prize and nabbed him a Juno nomination for contemporary Indigenous artist of the year. His EP, Here and Now, won the Juno for alternative album of the year in 2024. His second full-length album, Edge of the Earth, is out now. 

"The first time I heard Sebastian [Gaskin]'s music I just thought it was wild because he was this Indigenous artist who was doing R&B music at such a high, high level. I just remember seeing [him] and hearing his voice and being really blown away, because at that point, the only other Indigenous artist who had really hit me that way, from that style of music, was Teeks (a Maori soul singer). I just love the way [Sebastian] can genre hop and jump around, like he's very versatile and prolific, and that's pretty inspiring. He's also unafraid to look inwards and ask those tough questions, even of himself. I think I'm a bit biased, obviously, because I know him pretty personally, but I can see the fearlessness he has and the amount of work and growth he puts into everything he does. He always looks to one-up himself and evolve and keep expanding, so that's what I'm really excited about for his music too. He just put out the pop/R&B record, but hey, he might put out a country record next." — Aysanabee

Why Sebastian Gaskin's Medicine is a song people need to hear: "I feel like Medicine is a really good intro into what he does and who he is. It's a really fresh, pop song, but then there are elements of his Indigeneity in there, which, I don't think he was really comfortable with for a long time putting that [part of himself] forward, but he did it in such a contemporary way. It's traditional but still pop and the way that chorus comes in is just one of those beautiful moments where it's like this emotional, nostalgic, happy release. It's always stuck in my head, too." 

Bonus shout out: "Siibii is an artist whose music is just really beautiful and honest. You can tell they're just having fun, and that's an amazing thing. Their song YOY is just so groovy and reminds me a bit of Lake Street Dive. We've written together in the past, and I'm actually going over to Montreal soon, where they're based, to work on some more stuff. We'll get to harder topics here and there, but I love how much fun they have just making songs for their enjoyment."

Shawnee Kish on Jeremy Dutcher 

Shawnee Kish is a two-spirit Mohawk singer whose rock-leaning pop sound and larger-than-life vocals helped her win the CBC Searchlight competition in 2020. Her new single, Tequila Knows Me, marks the debut of her country era, and it's a return to her roots for the one-time Shania Twain impersonator. The three-time Juno nominee has released a number of singles and EPs over the years and her first full-length album, Chapter 1, will be released July 25. 

"When I first came out as two-spirit and I was trying to figure out 'who's like me?' and 'where do I fit in?', discovering Jeremy [Dutcher]'s music was a part of that, and knowing there are other two-spirit, Indigenous artists who are out there doing their thing, that's what music is all about — you lean on it when you need it. Jeremy's voice is incredible and the music is so beautifully authentic and I'm into orchestral, classical music, I have been since I was a little girl. The reason why I gravitate toward Jeremy's music is that it's just so cool how someone's experiences, someone's brain, someone's hardship, someone's love, their language, their ancestry, their blood, can just translate into sound. It's incredibly emotional to just drive and listen to that storytelling without the English language." — Shawnee Kish

Writer's note: Dutcher's first album, Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa, is performed entirely in Wolastoq, a language that Dutcher is actively trying to revitalize after centuries of forced English and French assimilation. At the time the album was released in 2018, there were less than 100 people who could speak it fluently. 

Why Jeremy Ducher's Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa is an album people need to hear: "The album is so real, and that's like, the ultimate goal of an artist to get to. Yeah, we can sing and we can dance and we can record music, and that's all fun. But like, what does it mean when it looks really real to you, and it's like, the depths of who you are, and you're putting that into this wave form, mp3 form, and you're letting people into that part of you. You can tell when it's coming from all those pieces of who you are." 

Bonus shout out: "I love to see how bold Thea May is in what she's doing, especially so early on in her career because, gosh, it took me a long time to feel like I can walk in a room and say, like, 'Hello, I am Shawnee.' So it's really, really cool to see her just blossom and be what looks like her authentic self. I always tend to gravitate toward artists that use music to tell their stories of pain, their stories of struggle, their stories of hardship, because I know how difficult that is to show up and do, it's a very vulnerable place to be."

Sebastian Gaskin on Leela Gilday

Sebastian Gaskin is a Cree singer whose music straddles the worlds of R&B, pop, rock and more. He won the Juno for contemporary Indigenous artist of the year in 2025 for his single Brown Man, which he wrote in the weeks following the murder of George Floyd, as he considered how to navigate "a world that's been built to work against you." The single appears on his debut album, Love Child, which was released in February. 

"I was eight or nine-years-old when I first heard Leela [Gilday]. My mom had picked up her CD [2006's Sedzé]. I used to jam to One Drum, that was my first exposure to Leela's music: there's like a sense of joy in that music, a sense of wonder. Years later, in 2018, I was part of the Indigenous Music Residency held at Falcon Lake Resort in Manitoba and Leela was one of the mentors. I remember getting to meet her for the first time, like, 'Gosh, I used to play your music all the time when I was a kid,' that was a really cool experience to make that personal connection. We have a lot in common, being from similar backgrounds. And it was just this incredible week of creating art. She's part of the generation of artists that came before me, and Aysanabee and Snotty Nose Rez Kids, and she really opened a lot of these doors that we've been able to walk through, and that has allowed us to open even more doors for younger generations. In 2019, I got an email from Leela saying that she was going on tour, she's going to Europe, and she asked me to be her guitarist for this tour. I agreed to it and she sent me a link to 25 songs with two weeks to learn them. Things were a bit rocky at first, but by the third show we locked in. I really owe a lot to her for giving me my start in the music industry and for seeing that sort of light in me so early on. And now we're here, years later, and I have a Juno." — Sebastian Gaskin

Why Leela Gilday's One Drum is a song people need to hear: "I think I drew direct inspiration from that song for my song Medicine because I think, like halfway through the song, they start singing 'Wey heya-a hey' and it really connects with your spirit, you know, you kind of feel that power underneath that." 

Amanda Rheaume on Andrina Turenne 

Amanda Rheaume is a Métis folk singer-songwriter and the co-founder of Ishkōdé Records, alongside ShoShona Kish. Through the label they have a mission to "amplify Indigenous voices for a time of healing, freedom and wholeness. Across six albums, released over the past 14 years, Rheaume unearths and preserves Métis history through her music. Her latest album, The Truth We Hold, was released in April. 

"My very first, and brief, intro to Andrina [Turenne] was at Folk Alliance, probably in Kansas City, when she was still singing in the band Chic Gamine. I remember sitting on the floor of this little hotel room, because that's how the showcases are, and being blown away and being like, 'Who is that?' I met her properly at another Folk Alliance in New Orleans, where we were hosting the second International Indigenous Music Summit. I took some time to sit down with her music after meeting her and played her song When The Smoke Clears. The feeling that I got was like being out in the woods in the winter, in a little cabin, sitting in front of a fire, with slippers and a blanket and tea, and having all these beautiful memories kind of flood into my mind. Her voice is so effortless and nostalgic. It's like the land where she comes from is embodied in her voice and in her music, it just feels very earthly. In 2020, I was writing a new record [The Spaces in Between] and I thought, 'Oh, my God, maybe Andrina will want to co-write a song.' And so we wrote This Love over Zoom, and she also sang on the album. From there, I just feel like I've fallen in love with her artistry and her voice and who she is as a person. I just think she's such an important Métis artist that people should know about."

Why Andrina Turenne's Better All the Time is a song people need to hear: "I get this sense of nostalgia [from it] and I just like relaxing into the sound of her voice. Better All the Time is a very positive and hopeful song. And, you know, during these times, I also think that's pretty important too." 

Bonus shout outs: "Natasha Fisher is a young Anishinaabe artist and she's a superstar in the making. She's writing and recording and putting up music and content at such a remarkable rate, and doing it all on her own. She's bold, and she's honest, and she's not afraid to talk about hard stuff and I just think that this willingness to be vulnerable with her own journey is really refreshing and also inspiring. She has such a bright future ahead of her. She also works with a lot of youth in the community and I think when young Indigenous youth see someone that's from the community killing it, it just really lights that spark [in them]." 

"Logan Staats is one of the greatest artists of our time. I'm really lucky to know him. I've played shows with Logan for many, many years, and he is just this force of nature. He's a really important storyteller and singer. His voice will knock you off your feet right away. But you know, the songs that he's writing and the stories that he's telling as a Mohawk man, as a land defender, he's a really, really important artist to keep watch of, and his music is really medicine for our communities, but it's really medicine for the society at large."

These interview responses have been edited for clarity.