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Hip-hop music helping Snuneymuxw First Nation youth express themselves

Jul 7, 2017 | 12:39 AM

NANAIMO — Young Snuneymuxw First Nations kids and teens have spent the week learning how to combine urban hip-hop dancing with traditional pow wow dancing.

In a workshop with SFN and the Crimson Coast Dance Society, they learned dance moves, how to write raps and spin records on turntables.

Angela Miracle Gladue, who dances with the Indigenous DJ group A Tribe Called Red, said though hip-hop and pow wow dancing are very separate styles, there are numerous cultural and stylistic similarities.

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“Hip-hop was created by African-American and Latino people, the youth who were being oppressed in the late 60’s, early 70’s and that’s been happening for centuries,” she said. “And (it’s) the same thing with First Nations people in Canada with what’s happened to us in regards to being displaced and put on reservations, being taken away from our homes and put in residential schools, all that oppression that we still face, the racism we’re still going through.”

There’s deep roots between the two when it comes to style as well.

“We have our own traditional arts, we have our language, storytelling like MC-ing and our drum, just like DJ-ing, the turntables. So I think that’s why naturally Indigenous youth from all over the world gravitate towards hip-hop culture, especially most Indigenous cultures being displaced,” Gladue said.

She’s been part of dance and outreach workshops and programs for years and said she’s seen the effects of hip-hop in other programs. She spoke about one called Blueprint For Life, a social work through hip-hop program which started by talking to Indigenous youth in the far North and expanded nationally.

“It’s given youth a lot of hope. It’s pretty incredible to see the transformation within five days of the youth being there. I’ve met a lot of youth who’ve been through (the program), come out of jail and end up going to university after.”

Over the short days of practicing and learning at the workshop, facilitator Jamie Black said she’s already seen many of the kids come out of their shell or take to the lessons incredibly well.

She said one 10-year-old in particular, after taking a spin at the turntables for the first time, was a real natural.

“He ended up just making these sweet sounds and sounding like a DJ,” she said. “It was so rich, he got right into it and then he got into MC-ing and laying out all these words in confidence. All of us got goosebumps.”

The workshop fluctuates greatly day-to-day, but Black said it’s less about putting together a complex dance at the end of the week and more about learning the basics and having a good time.

“If all they get is something that lifts them up a little bit more, to see what else is possible in life and something that might inspire them, that’s the expectation we have here.”

The workshop ends on a high note Saturday night when SFN youth will perform in a dance festival inside the Vancouver Island Conference Centre, starting at 7 p.m.
 

spencer@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @spencer_sterrit