Cikwes is the stage name of Connie LeGrande, a

Cree The Cree ( cr, néhinaw, script=Latn, , etc.; french: link=no, Cri) are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people. They live primarily in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada ...

musician from Canada.Adrienne Lamb and Rick Bremness
"Downtown Spark bringing life back to the core"
CBC News Edmonton, April 17, 2021. She is most noted as a

Juno Award The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of ...

nominee for Traditional Indigenous Artist of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2023 for her 2022 album ''Kâkîsimo ᑳᑮᓯᒧᐤ''. A member of the Bigstone Cree Nation, she is based in Edmonton, Alberta. LeGrande released ''Isko'', her debut album as Cikwes, in 2018. The album was nominated for Best Folk Album at the 2019

Indigenous Music Awards The Indigenous Music Awards, formerly called the Aboriginal Peoples' Choice Music Awards, is an annual Canadian music award, given out to Indigenous people who are in the music industry. The APCMA receives financial support of the Department of ...

; however, it faced controversy when several musicians, including Tanya Tagaq, Kelly Fraser and

A Tribe Called Red The Halluci Nation, formerly known as A Tribe Called Red, is a Canadian electronic music group who blend instrumental hip hop, reggae, moombahton and dubstep-influenced dance music with elements of First Nations music, particularly vocal chant ...

, pulled out of the awards over allegations that Legrande had committed

cultural appropriation Cultural appropriation is the inappropriate or unacknowledged adoption of an element or elements of one culture or identity by members of another culture or identity. This can be controversial when members of a dominant culture appropriate from ...

by performing Inuit throat singing on the album. LeGrande, for her part, noted that throat singing is not unique to Inuit culture, but in fact has numerous forms and styles in different cultures around the world, and asserted that she had not tried to perform in the Inuit style. Lisa Meeches, the director of the awards, faced further criticism when she stated that she considered it impossible for Indigenous cultures to appropriate each other. Despite calls for her nomination to be rescinded, the awards did not do so.Sarah Rogers
"Two Inuit songwriters pick up Indigenous Music Awards"
''

Nunatsiaq News ''Nunatsiaq News'' ( iu, ᓄᓇᑦᓯᐊᕐᒥ ᐱᕙᓪᓕᐊᔪᑦ, italic=no) is a Canadian weekly newspaper in operation since 1973 based in Iqaluit, serving Nunavut and Nunavik, in Kativik, Quebec, Kativik, Nord-du-Québec. The paper is publ ...

'', May 21, 2019.

References

External links

* 21st-century Canadian women singers Musicians from Edmonton Living people Cree women singers Year of birth missing (living people) {{Canada-musician-stub