On the biggest stage for music in the world, drummers with Northern Cree gave a performance that blew the audience away, with thousands of people hearing and feeling the heartbeat the traditional hand drum song reflected.
“Our drum, the drum, has gifted us with everything. The drum has taken me places where I never, ever imagined being,” said Saddle Lake’s Kyle Pasquayak, adding he has been everywhere from the United Kingdom to Greenland, to the Junos to the Native American Music Awards in his 14 years with Northern Cree.
“But it doesn’t get any bigger than the Grammys,” he said. And while he definitely “rubbed a lot of shoulders” with famous people at the Feb. 12 event - taking a photo with Bob Marley’s son, sitting a few rows away from the members of Korn, and watching superstars like Beyonce perform - the highlight, he says, was performing, and watching people respond.
“Just going there, I know we broke a lot of barriers for First Nations people all over the world,” said fellow Saddle Lake band member and the only female of the group, Penny McGilvery. The chance to expose First Nations culture and language to the world was huge. “A lot of people, the first thing they said, they felt it was more than just us there. It was our ancestors that were there with us."
Following the performance, Northern Cree was awash in fan appreciation via social media, and their video was trending last week as one of the most watched performances of the night.
“Northern Cree made the whole entire world cry in tears of happiness!” wrote one viewer, while another wrote, “It was great seeing some of our people on a stage, and a night where minorities are so very often overlooked! Chi-miigwetch!”
Northern Cree has been together since 1982, founded by Steve Wood and his brothers Randy and Earl. While the group started in Saddle Lake Cree Nation, it is made of members from across Treaty 6, including Joel Wood, Shane Dion, Leroy Whitstone, Ferlin McGilvery, Penny McGilvery, Jonas Tootoosis, Marlon Deschamps, Conan Yellowbird, Dezi Chocan, Ben Cardinal, JohnBoy Moosomin, Randall Paskemin and Mickso Deschamps.
The group has put out 40 albums and been nominated for a Grammy seven times, with the latest Grammy nomination in the best regional roots music album category for It's a Cree Thing.
One of the stage managers for the Grammys had seen the group perform at an International Canada Day event in London, U.K., which led to him getting in touch with manager Steve Wood and asking the group to perform for this year’s 59th annual Grammys.
It was a little nerve-wracking to sing at the Grammys, said McGilvery, despite the fact the group has performed at huge venues before. “But to me, this was different, because the world was watching.”
But even during the sound check, the group showed its powerful presence. All of the staff was busy setting up lights and cords, but once the drummers started their song, “Everyone stopped what they were doing and started recording. The whole palace stopped,” said fellow band member Ben Cardinal. When the group finished its powerful, spine-tingling rendition of Cree Cuttin’ from its latest album, the staff all began cheering and applauding.
“It was awesome. They didn’t expect the feelings, the energy we brought,” said Cardinal.
“Performing kind of gave us the extra boost thinking we were going to win,” said Pasquayak, adding however, when ther category came up, and Hawaiian artist Kalanai Pe’a was announced as the winneir, “it didn’t let us down, because we still made a piece of history. No Native American artist or group has ever performed at the Grammys.”
That kind of experience is one he still can’t believe, saying, “It feels like a dream. It’s reality - but it feels like a dream.”
While the band members regularly tour, criss-crossing North America as part of the powwow circuit as well as hitting international stages, they came back from the five-day trip to Los Angeles and were back at work in their regular jobs last week.
But there were signs that something had shifted – on the plane ride home, someone recognized the group from their performance and while on arriving back, everyone has been full of emotional praise, pride and congratulations for the group.
“Everyone’s stopping me and shaking my hand, saying, ‘That was so awesome – you made me cry,” said Cardinal.
Pasquayak says even those who had never heard traditional First Nations music say they felt like they had heard the songs before, which is why he thinks the impact of the music is so powerful.
“The beat of the drum signifies the heartbeat of Mother Earth – everyone has that,” he said. “They kind of get in touch with that, and that’s what makes it so amazing for them.”
Echoing that sentiment, McGilvery says, “I feel that we’re all very fortunate to be part of this group – and it’s the drum that takes us to all these places.”
