The

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 ...

for Indigenous Music Album of the Year is an annual award presented by the

Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) is a non-profit organization responsible for promoting Canadian music and artists. It administers the Juno Awards, the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and the MusiCounts music education cha ...

for the best album by an

Indigenous Canadian In Canada, Indigenous groups comprise the First Nations in Canada, First Nations, Inuit and Métis people in Canada, Métis. Although ''Indian'' is a term still commonly used in legal documents, the descriptors ''Indian'' and ''Eskimo'' have fal ...

artist or band. It was formerly known as Best Music of Aboriginal Canada Recording (1994–2002), Aboriginal Recording of the Year (2003–2009), and Aboriginal Album of the Year (2010–2016). Indigenous artists are not excluded from consideration in other genre or general interest categories; in fact, some indigenous musicians, most notably

The Halluci Nation 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 chan ...

, have actively chosen not to submit their music in the indigenous category at all, instead pursuing nomination only in the more general categories. The award faced controversy in its inaugural year, after nominee Sazacha Red Sky was accused of

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 ...

."Controversy surrounds aboriginal category". ''

Montreal Gazette The ''Montreal Gazette'', formerly titled ''The Gazette'', is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Three other daily English-language newspapers shuttered at various times during the second half of th ...

'', March 20, 1994. According to the surviving children of Chief Dan George, the writer of the song she had been nominated for, she was not personally a member of the

Tsleil-Waututh First Nation The Tsleil-Waututh Nation ( hur, səlilwətaɬ ), formerly known as the Burrard Indian Band or Burrard Inlet Indian Band, is a First Nations band government in the Canadian province of British Columbia. The Tsleil-Waututh Nation ("TWN") are Co ...

and according to the George family did not have the right to record it under their cultural traditions. George's son Leonard sought a legal injunction to prevent the award from being presented at the Juno Awards ceremony at all,"Dispute threatens aboriginal Juno award". ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

'', March 19, 1994. and a final compromise revising Red Sky's nomination to reflect the album instead of the song was announced on the morning of the ceremony."Juno compromise reached in native song controversy". ''

'', March 20, 1994. More recently, some indigenous artists have called for the category to be discontinued, on the grounds that a dedicated indigenous category " ghettoizes" their music as a niche interest not relevant to non-indigenous music fans, while others have defended it as a platform for increasing the visibility of indigenous music, arguing that even though indigenous artists are eligible in all Juno award categories, relatively few indigenous artists actually receive such nominations due to their lack of mainstream prominence and the much wider range of competition for nomination slots. In late 2019, the Junos announced plans to rename the category as Indigenous Artist or Group of the Year for the 2020 ceremony. While the category would still honour particular albums, the organization said the decision was made to address questions they received from Indigenous artists "who believe they're submitting to a category meant to shine a spotlight on the accomplishments of Indigenous people." The Junos suggested the change would likely "eliminate a lot of the confusion and put us in a better position to explain the need for the category, when challenged." At the

Juno Awards of 2021 The Juno Awards of 2021, honouring Canadian music achievements, were presented on 6 June 2021, observing the 50th anniversary of these awards. The main ceremonies were televised on CBC. The ceremony was originally scheduled to take place in Ma ...

, it was announced further changes were being made for the

Juno Awards of 2022 The Juno Awards of 2022 were held on May 15, 2022 in Toronto, Ontario. The awards were presented at the Budweiser Stage, an outdoor venue, and was hosted by actor Simu Liu.David Friend"Actor Simu Liu to host first outdoor Juno Awards at Toronto� ...

, splitting the category into two new categories for Contemporary Indigenous Artist of the Year and Traditional Indigenous Artist of the Year.

Winners

Best Music of Aboriginal Canada Recording (1994–2002)

Aboriginal Recording of the Year (2003–2009)

Aboriginal Album of the Year (2010–2016)

Indigenous Music Album of the Year (2017–2021)

References

{{Authority control

Indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...