Deluxe 3×LP set includes
60 page book with
comprehensive liner notes,
artist interviews, unseen
archival photos, and lyrics
(with translations), housed
in a “Tip-On” slip case with
Largely unheard, criminally undocumented, but at their core, utterly
revolutionary, the recordings of the diverse North American Aboriginal
community will finally take their rightful place in our collective history in
the form
of Native North America (Vol. 1): Aboriginal Folk, Rock, and Country 1966–
1985. An anthology of music that was once near-extinct and off-the-grid is
now available for all to hear, in what is, without a doubt, Light In The
Attic’s
most ambitious and historically significant project in the label’s 12-year
journey.
Native North America (Vol. 1) features music from the Indigenous
peoples of Canada and the northern United States, recorded in the turbulent
decades between 1966 to 1985. It represents the fusion of shifting global
popular culture and a reawakening of Aboriginal spirituality and expression.
The majority of this material has been widely unavailable for decades,
hindered by lack of distribution or industry support and by limited mass
media
coverage, until now. You’ll hear Arctic garage rock from the Nunavik region of
northern Quebec, melancholy Yup’ik folk
from Alaska, and hushed country blues from the Wagmatcook First Nation reserve
in Nova Scotia. You’ll hear echoes
of Neil Young, Velvet Underground, Leonard Cohen, Creedence Clearwater Revival,
Johnny Cash, and more among the
songs, but injected with Native consciousness, storytelling, poetry, history,
and ceremony.
The stories behind the music presented on Native North America (Vol. 1) range
from standard rock-and-roll dreams to
transcendental epiphanies. They have been collected with love and respect by
Vancouver-based record archaeologist and
curator Kevin “Sipreano” Howes in a 15-year quest to unearth the history
that falls between the notes of this unique music.
Tirelessly, Howes scoured obscure, remote areas for the original vinyl
recordings and the artists who made them, going so
far as to send messages in Inuktitut over community radio airwaves in hopes that
these lost cultural heroes would resurface.
With cooperation and guidance from the artists, producers, family members, and
behind the scenes players, Native
North America (Vol. 1) sheds real light on the painful struggles and deep
traditions of the greater Indigenous community
and the significance of its music. The songs speak of joy and spirituality, but
also tell of real tragedy and strife, like
that of Algonquin/Mohawk artist Willy Mitchell, whose music career was sparked
by a bullet to the head from the gun
of a trigger-happy police officer, or those of Inuk singer-songwriter Willie
Thrasher, who was robbed of his family and
traditional Inuit culture by the residential school system.
Considering the financially motivated destruction of our environment, the
conservative political landscape, and
corporate bottom-line dominance, it’s bittersweet to report that the
revolutionary songs featured on Native North America
hold as much meaning today as when they were originally recorded. Dedicated to
legendary Métis singer-songwriter and
poet Willie Dunn, featured on the anthology but who sadly passed away during its
making, Native North America (Vol.
- is only the beginning. A companion set featuring a crucial selection of folk, rock, and country from the United States’
Lower 48 and Mexico is currently in production.