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Dale Mac playing a guitar on stage
Page Summary
Experience new songs by fourteen artists from Toga da wôhnagabi (Stories for the Future), celebrating Indigenous stories, language, and connection to land.
About the Program

Hau, Midaguyabi.

Dale McArthur emagiyabi. Toga da Wohnagabi Wico Agé awayâgas. 
Hello my relatives. I am Dale McArthur. I am the faculty lead for Toga Da Wohnagabi (Stories for the future)
I am looking forward to welcoming you to the upcoming concerts in Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, Treaty 7 Territory.

“Toga da wôhnagabi” means Stories for the Future. This residency explored preservation of Indigenous cultures from around the world for the next generation through storytelling, Indigenous music, and hearing Unsi Maka, Grandmother Earth speak to us. 
For the month of February, Indigenous artists gathered to preserve their cultural identities through music, learn from each other, and share connection to Grandmother Earth through land-based creativity, recording, and performances.

For two nights, join us as we celebrate and acknowledge unique Indigenous Music from artists around the world.

Pinamaya, 
Dale McArthur
 

Submitted by Jason Hamilton… on
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Morikilr

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Morikilr is a Taiwanese singer-songwriter from the Indigenous Lijia Tribe in Taitung.
His work explores the space between loss and belonging, weaving personal memories and tribal stories into warm, reflective soundscapes.
His 2024 debut album, inspired by themes of home, nature, and resilience, was nominated for Album of the Year, Best Indigenous Language Album, and Best Indigenous Language Singer at the 36th Golden Melody Awards. He also received First Prize in the Indigenous
Language Category at the 21st Taiwan Original Music Awards, organized by Taiwan’s Ministry of Culture.
Through his music, Morikilr seeks to preserve fading voices and to
create new connections between the past and the present.

Submitted by Jason Hamilton… on
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Louis

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Louis Bouchier is a composer and performer from Edmonton, Alberta, and an active contributor to Canada’s evolving music landscape. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music with a Native Studies minor from the University of Alberta, where he studied composition, improvisation, sampling, sequencing, and a range of hardware and software production techniques. His academic training, combined with deep experience in live performance, has shaped a versatile and exploratory musical voice.
Louis has toured nationally and internationally, performing across Canada and in parts of Europe with the alt-country groups The Uncas and Marystown. As a multi-instrumentalist, he is skilled in electric guitar, lap steel guitar, electric bass, vocals, drum programming, and music composition. His dynamic career has included work as a freelancer and session player with a range of Edmonton-based acts, including Brother Octopus and The Devil’s Sons, spanning genres from Americana to punk to experimental music.
In recent years, Louis has expanded his practice into electronic music performance and education through Sampler Café, a sample-based collective focused on improvisational music and public engagement. Performing under the moniker Dichotomos, he uses live sampling, looping, and sequencing to create genre-defying sets while also educating audiences on the creative processes behind the music. His performances emphasize spontaneity, cultural dialogue, and a DIY ethos.
Louis was also a featured performer in the SubArctic Improv and Experimental Arts Series, where he contributed to multidisciplinary explorations that blend sound, movement, and improvisation. Throughout his career, he has demonstrated a commitment not only to musicianship but to creating spaces for experimentation, collaboration, and knowledge-sharing across musical and cultural boundaries.
This past June 2025, the concert Here-Hearing was held at Mile Zero Dance in Edmonton. As part of a two-night series celebrating local musicians and sound artists, the event combined classical composition, improvisation, electronics, and multimedia. Red River Resonance (Louis Bouchier and Jen Dunford) showcased their distinctive approach to improvised sound, dance, and visuals.
 

Submitted by Jason Hamilton… on
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Katie Wilson

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AUNTIE KD is a queer, Cree emerging music producer, composer, songwriter, and drag musician from Treaty 4 Territory (Regina) with lineages from Cowessess First Nation, and Peguis 1B First Nation. Their Alternative Rock style and performance aims to highlight the history of colonialism & intergenerational healing by uplifting underserved voices and exploring a reciprocity with Mother Earth. By storytelling in lyrics, composition and drag performance, “AUNTIE KD” is an homage to their duty to future generations—using fluidity and joy as methods for Indigenous resiliency.

Submitted by Jason Hamilton… on
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Koyot

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KOYOT is a psychedelic rock, folk and indie/alternative band from Regina, Saskatchewan, blending atmospheric soundscapes with emotionally charged songwriting. Rooted in the creative visions of two Indigenous members, Wade Lavallee (Calling Rivers) and Donavin Logan. KOYOT’s music carries honest storytelling while pushing into expansive, genre-bending territory.

Drawing inspiration from modern indie, classic psychedelia, and the diverse musical histories of the Prairies, KOYOT crafts a sound that is both immersive and familiar. Their energetic live performances and dynamic arrangements have helped the band gain a growing following, surpassing 160,000 streams across major platforms since beginning in February 2025.

KOYOT was nominated for Fan’s Choice and Rock Group of the Year at the Saskatchewan Indigenous Music Association Awards, marking them as an emerging force in the Western Canadian music scene.
 

Submitted by Jason Hamilton… on
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Niki

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Born and raised in Aotearoa New Zealand, Niki Kennedy is an award-winning Pasifi ka (Cook Islands Māori) singer-songwriter and musician based in Vancouver. Grounded in roots and soul, she blends warm grooves and emotional melodies into honest storytelling with heart.
Her forthcoming album, The Space In Between (2026), explores themes of home, identity, and belonging. It’s a journey of reconnection, grounded in culture, nature, and story, integrating Polynesian elements into contemporary roots music.
Through music, she shares openly, hoping listeners feel seen, heard, and held. Each note is a quiet invitation to meet ourselves and one another gently, in pursuit of a kinder world for all. 

Submitted by Jason Hamilton… on
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Norine Braun

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Norine Braun is an award-winning Métis and Two Spirit singer-songwriter and recording artist from East Vancouver, known for her soulful vocals, introspective lyrics, and genre-blending mix of roots rock, blues, and folk. With 15 commended albums, Braun continues to craft emotionally resonant music that explores identity, belonging, and transformation.
Her latest release in 2025 is A Hero In The Wind. The album's title track was written in honour of her birth father—anchors an album recorded in a remarkable way: the first five songs were captured live-off-the-floor in just one hour each during Steve Dawson’s Henhouse Pop-Up Sessions. The result is a raw, immediate, and deeply human collection that reflects love, reconnection, and reclamation.
Braun’s concept album Journey Toward Wholeness released in 2024 chronicled her reunion with her birth father and Métis family echoing Braun’s lived experience as an adoptee and was supported with an award by the First Peoples’ Cultural Council. Her environmentally themed Songs For Trees was named "one of The Vancouver Sun’s 5 Albums You Need to Hear." This album also was supported by First Peoples' Cultural Council, Canada Council For the Arts and FACTOR awards.
A captivating performer, Braun’s music continues to resonate across Canada and beyond.

Submitted by Jason Hamilton… on
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Anthony Big Tones

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Anthony Pasqua aka Big Tones is an award-winning Indigenous Recording Artist born in Surrey, BC. He grew up in Regina, SK and is now residing in Saskatoon, SK. He has heavy ancestral ties to Treaty 4 Territory coming from Pasqua First Nation #79. Breaking the cycle of intergenerational trauma, Big Tones uses music as an outlet, finding therapeutic release in storytelling through songwriting. Big Tones is a versatile artist, captivating performer and artist mentor. With a focus on old school hip hop sound, his powerful and soothing voice with intricate flows keeps listeners intrigued lyric after lyric. Big Tones is building on the momentum which has grown around his artistry and music over the last year. His single “Don’t Cry” reached #1 on the Indigenous Music Countdown and his track “Moccasin Flats” also broke the top 10. Big Tones won song of the year at the Saskatchewan Indigenous Music Association Awards for this new single "Shine".

Submitted by Jason Hamilton… on
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Sara

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Sara Kae is an Ojibwe and Cree artist, writer and performer with limitless range both in the stories she tells and where she tells them. A member of Lake Helen First Nation, Sara got her start touring northern Ontario with her father, speaking and singing in schools and community gatherings from the age of 12. Today, as an honours graduate and Founders Award recipient at Metalworks Institute in Mississauga and 2025 CBCxSOCAN Foundation Reverie resident, Sara’s early career accomplishments include a concert series with the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra, co-creating a musical theatre production (“Trading Places”), and opening for Juno award winning, Aysanabee. On the radio Sara’s been heard as a recording artist on her debut single “Rise”, headlining her own Toronto radio program with APTN, and hosting national Truth and Reconciliation Day programming on CBC. Her single “25" released last September opened a new and exciting musical chapter in the story of Sara Kae; told with the tone, nuance, and personality you would expect from a prodigy of Sara’scaliber and lived experience. The full-length EP, Maadaadizi, funded by the Ontario Arts Council is an intimate and organic tribute to Sara's growth.

Submitted by Jason Hamilton… on
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Nuskmata Jacinda Mack

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Nuskmata Jacinda Mack is a Nuxalk artist, singer, and songwriter whose music bridges the ancestral and the contemporary. Rooted in the powerful traditions of her Nuxalk homelands, Nuskmata’s voice carries the stories, language, and spirit of her people into new creative landscapes that blend traditional songs with modern sounds.
A versatile performer, Nuskmata has sung in live bands and explored a wide range of musical genres, from the heartbeat of traditional Nuxalk songs to the driving rhythms of rock and the storytelling of folk. Her songwriting reflects both cultural resurgence and personal experience—honoring the land, language, and community that shape her identity.
Nuskmata contributed three songs to Nusximta, the first-ever all-Nuxalk language album, a groundbreaking project dedicated to revitalizing and celebrating Nuxalkmc language through music. Her work on Nusximta highlights her deep commitment to cultural preservation and innovation, bringing ancestral knowledge into contemporary artistic expression.
Whether performing in intimate gatherings or on larger stages, Nuskmata’s music is an act of love and resistance—celebrating who she is as a Nuxalk woman and artist, and inviting listeners to witness the living strength of Indigenous voice and creativity.
 

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