Read this story in Inuktitut. / ᐅᖃᓕᒫᕈᒃ ᐃᓄᒃᑎᑐᓐ
Mohawk artist Shawnee Kish says she’s thrilled when people tell her they love her song No Evil, which is featured on North of North, the hit show on APTN, CBC and Netflix.
The high-energy pop rock anthem appears in the third episode of the show, which follows a modern young Inuk woman, Siaja (Anna Lambe), as she navigates motherhood and a new job after a spontaneous and extremely public exit from her marriage.
“That song has reached Indigenous communities, non-Indigenous people — it just has that reach,” Kish said. “Just being able to be part of that feels really, really cool.”
Kish, a Juno nominee this year for contemporary Indigenous artist or group, says she loves that people are discovering her music on a show about female empowerment and strength.
The show’s soundtrack also features two other Juno nominees: Inuit throat singing sisters PIQSIQ and Haisla hip-hop duo Snotty Nose Rez Kids.
As North of North brings their music global attention, Indigenous artists and others in the industry say the exposure to new audiences — whether through industry accolades like the Junos or non-traditional formats like TV soundtracks — allows them to share authentic stories that resonate and educate people about Indigenous history, contribute to their own cultural revitalization and open doors for those that follow.
Kish acknowledges shared histories of displacement and struggle, and celebrates the resilience and long-awaited recognition of Indigenous artists.
Show gives artists global reach
North of North co-creator and executive producer Stacey Aglok MacDonald says she’s “blown away“ by the reaction to the show, and says she consistently hears compliments on its soundtrack.
“It’s unreal. It takes some time to sink in, and then we lavish in it.”
MacDonald, who is Inuk, like co-creator Alethea Arnaquq-Baril, says the series is Indigenous‑led and many featured artists are friends and colleagues whose music they’ve used in previous projects.
Netflix’s involvement showed the series could reach a mainstream, global audience, she said, which made them “eager and hungry and excited” to include Indigenous artists on the soundtrack.
Stacey Aglok MacDonald celebrates the actors, musicians and designers whose work on the show inspires young people.
“These are people who are just making music because they love making music,” she told CBC News. “They’re making music for our people, for our communities and for Inuit and for Indigenous people.”
The eclectic soundtrack blends pop, rock and throat singing with covers of popular songs in Inuktitut, such as Time After Time by Cindy Lauper, Levitating by Dua Lipa and Ave Maria.
Music supervisor Michael Perlmutter says every song is chosen with intent.
“Music is a universal language,” he said, and even if viewers don’t understand the words, “they can feel the emotion and they can feel the energy and they can feel the passion.”
Michael Perlmutter says collaboration was key to curating season one’s eclectic soundtrack.
Blending traditional, contemporary music
This kind of blending of traditional and contemporary music across genres is also being recognized at the Junos, where Indigenous artists are increasingly nominated outside of Indigenous categories.
At the 2025 awards, there were more than 19 nominations for Indigenous artists and five wins. Hip-hop duo Snotty Nose Rez Kids won rap album/EP of the year for Red Future. This year, they’re nominated again for rap single.
Other Indigenous artists nominated outside of Indigenous categories include the duo PIQSIQ, who scored a nod for global artist of the year, William Prince, who’s nominated for contemporary Roots album and Crystal Shawanda, who’s nominated for Blues album.
Kish says she’s thrilled seeing fellow Indigenous artists be “lifted and celebrated.” Now a three-time Juno nominee, she says it never gets old.
“Being nominated by a group of my peers and industry people, and being honoured and recognized for who I am and what I believe in and what I’ve contributed in the music industry as an Indigenous person, it truly does feel so special.”
Alan Greyeyes, the director of the sākihiwē festival, says recognition both inside and outside Indigenous categories matters.
“There’s a lot of value in receiving an award from the community that you participate in. I also think we don’t necessarily, as Indigenous people, have more value if it’s proven in competition with people outside of our community. I think both opportunities are great.”
He also suggests that the traditional Indigenous artist or group category should be split into more specific awards — for example, powwow, Inuit throat singing and Métis fiddle — to better reflect distinct cultural traditions.
Indigenous music will keep evolving
Greyeyes says organizations like the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, which presents the Junos, and the Indigenous Music Office, a national advocacy group for Indigenous music creators, families and communities, should keep offering Indigenous artists performance opportunities because it contributes to cultural revitalization and opens doors for those that follow.
“When they continue to create music, audiences grow and cultural practices are reintroduced and strengthened.”
Melody McKiver, an Anishinaabe musician, composer and assistant professor of Indigenous music at the University of Manitoba, says music can also provide opportunities to have deeper conversations about history, loss and resilience — from residential schools to land dispossession to reconciliation.
Indigenous music is woven into Canada’s cultural fabric and will keep evolving, McKiver said.
And just as there’s always been new music in Canada, they said, there have always been Indigenous people here. “So we’re always going to be creating new works as well.”
Kish also holds onto that sense of possibility and wants to use the visibility that comes with accolades like her Juno nominations to build safe spaces where Indigenous people can be their whole selves — something she hopes to pass on to the next generation of Indigenous artists.
“You are so worth fighting for, and you are so worth having a voice and a place in the world to use your gifts that the Creator gave you,” she said. “To use who you are, to use your pain, to use your struggle, to use your beauty to show up and to be exactly who you are.”
