The Coalition for Music Education in Canada has announced that Adrian Sutherland is the featured artist for this year’s “Ancestors Voices: Music and Learning for National Day for Truth and Reconciliation” and that his all-Cree song Kiyash will be shared coast to coast to coast, inviting students to learn about truth, reconciliation, and the power of music as storytelling.
Launched in September of 2024, Ancestors Voices is a curriculum-based initiative that amplifies Indigenous voices in classrooms across Canada, bringing Indigenous artists and their songs into Canadian classrooms, along with lesson plans and activities about the history of residential schools – honouring the children who never returned home, the survivors, and all others whose lives were impacted.
Music serves as a vital tool for storytelling and healing in Indigenous cultures, and each year, the coalition partners with a different Indigenous artist so that music can be part of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (September 30), while the coalition continues to build a library of year-round resources for educators that blends education, music, and cultural storytelling.
“I’m proud to have been chosen to share my all-Cree song Kiyash with thousands of students and educators across the country, who are using music as a tool for learning. As a musician from Attawapiskat. I believe music carries our stories, our language, and our spirit. I hope this song inspires young people to learn and to walk together in love and respect.”
“Ancestors Voices uses music as a bridge to foster empathy, cultural understanding, and dialogue about truth and reconciliation,” says Stacey Sinclair, executive director of the coalition. “Our vision is to honour Indigenous voices and knowledge keepers through music and storytelling, while inspiring the next generation with messages of healing, hope, and unity.”
Adrian Sutherland is an award-winning, prolific professional musician who has made a number of recordings and is about to publish a book (December 2025) about his extraordinary life in the north: The Work of Our Hands: a Cree Meditation on the Real World. He lives in a remote fly-in First Nation – Attawapiskat on James Bay. Sutherland’s music is a rich mix of roots, rock, folk, and blues, drawing inspiration from his life, the land, and his Cree language and culture “Kiyash”, which means “before” in Cree, is featured on his 2024 recording Precious Diamonds. “Kiyash is about our ancestors who once walked this land, and how we see signs of them everywhere we go. It’s a reminder about how wonderful the earth is, and that we’re only here for a short time so why not spread the love.”
The Coalition for Music Education is a national organization dedicated to ensuring that all children in Canada have access to the powerful benefits of learning and making music. “Music Monday”, in May, is another of their initiatives.
ALSO...
Indigenous Legacy Gathering Toronto Council Fire Native Cultural Centre
A vibrant celebration of Indigenous culture, community, and intergenerational connection, held at Nathan Phillips Square. Experience a day filled with traditional drumming, dancing, and teachings, as well as live performances and ceremonies that honour our shared histories and futures. Explore artisan booths, community services, and cultural organizations showcasing their work and stories. Admission: Free for all attendees.
Mon Sep 29 & Tues Sep 30
Orange After Dark: An Orange Shirt Day Show NEECHI BY NATURE
A Truth & Reconciliation Day after-party featuring Indigenous music, fashion, and poetry. This all-ages event takes place at the Poetry Jazz Café (1078 Queen Street West) from 8:00 PM to 11:30 PM (doors open at 7:00 PM). Expect performances across hip-hop, R&B, soul, and jazz, as well as an Indigenous streetwear showcase and community photo ops.
Tues Sep 30
https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/orange-after-dark
Ontario Culture Days Returns!
September 19 – October 12, 2025
Ontario Culture Days is a yearly celebration of arts, culture and community spirit that takes place from September 19 to October 12, with sixteen festival hubs and eight exclusive artist programs. Individuals, groups, and organizations showcase their creativity and connect with their communities through a huge number of large and small events across the length and breadth of this great big province. Culture Days is, in fact, a national initiative, so if you’re planning a trip out of the province soon, you should look at the National Culture Days website and find out what’s happening where you’re going!
But here in Ontario, Culture Days brings together hundreds of event organizers across the province and offers an astounding number of diverse events. There’s a strong focus on encouraging public engagement by providing hands-on and behind-the-scenes opportunities to experience art and culture firsthand. From free family-friendly activities to professional performances across various artistic disciplines, Culture Days embraces Ontario’s rich creative diversity, vibrant artistic communities, neighbourhoods, all of the places where lively art happens, and the people who make art happen. There are outdoor performances, concerts in conventional and unconventional venues, films, and neighbourhood art crawls; music, dance, and visual art workshops and demonstrations; book launches, readings, and storytelling in many forms for all ages; and opportunities to learn how to create music, dance and art – all in your own backyard, someplace near where you live.
Eight multidisciplinary artists, “Creatives in Residence” from across Ontario, will debut new works during the festival. They will be exploring themes such as ritual, dreams, ecological interdependence, migration and cultural histories, under the banner The Shape of Memory.
Since 2022, ONCD has led the highly successful Provincial Festival Hub program. These hubs serve as local epicentres of cultural exchange and creativity. This year, Ontario has 16 provincial hubs: Brant, Caledon, Gananoque & 1000 Islands, Guelph, London, Manitoulin Island, Milton, Niagara, Oakville, Sault Ste. Marie, Scugog, Temiskaming, Thunder Bay, Toronto, Vaughan, and Windsor.
So choose your local hub, make a list of all the amazing things you could potentially take in and go!
onculturedays.ca/festival-hubs
Sept 30 An Afternoon of Reflections – free noon concert with Innu soprano Elisabeth St-Gelais, in recognition of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
Oct 8 Tarantelle d’Italia – Ballo Liscio Social Dancing. Discover the music and the dancing: just be entertained or even expertly instructed!
