(Submitted/Muskoday Arts)

By Derek Craddock

MUSIC ON MUSKODAY

Muskoday teacher hopes arts will connect communities as music festival approaches

Jun 13, 2023 | 2:26 PM

The organizer of an upcoming music festival at Muskoday First Nation is saying the event is more than just music, it’s about changing the narrative.

Kevin Joseph lived most of his life in Prince Albert and currently works at the Muskoday School, where he’s been for roughly three years.

In his life, he said he’s been the subject of racism and profiling, yet, despite all that, he’s not looking for revenge but rather an avenue to promote unity for Indigenous and non-Indigenous people alike.

“I was beaten up in the city of Prince Albert for being brown more times than I would like to say,” Joseph said in an interview with paNOW. “I’m still followed around stores as a 46-year-old man like I’m going to steal. I still have to answer, ‘How come you people are so drunk?’ I haven’t had a drink in 22 years, so yeah, I know that there’s racism all over the place, but at the same time, there’s all these horrible attitudes that exist towards Indigenous people, of which I am and all the people I work with here.”

Joseph said his ultimate goal is to create a world where his students won’t be afraid of their culture and won’t be judged just for being Indigenous. That’s where the love of music and arts comes into the picture.

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He said music has been an integral part of his life, but it almost didn’t happen.

“I was actually told at a young age that I was not a musician because I couldn’t follow the notes,” he said. “It’s not that I didn’t want to follow the notes, but the way music was taught in school. The gift should be learning how to do this new skill, be it playing piano, playing music, drama, acting, dancing, or whatever it might be, and we compare ourselves to the masters.

“This is the spirit we’re trying to instil in the young people here. It’s not just the arts, but everything we do in life.”

Looking ahead to Saturday when the music festival is scheduled to run, Joseph said there’s been a lot of hard work getting the bands in place and the acts ready to hit the stage.

Some of the names expected to perform include Jay Ross, the Canadian Aboriginal Music Award winner for Male Artist of the Year in 2004, as well as Constant Reminder, LJ Tyson, Dillon Gaz, and Black Rain.

Joseph said the event is drug and alcohol-free and that security will be on site. He wants all families to take in the experience.

“That’s one of the things with us as musicians, we don’t get to bring our kids to a lot of shows, we don’t get to invite our families. It’s really kind of a thank you to all the people who have been helping out this community in the past couple of years artistically and we will be having another event next year and hopefully this becomes an annual thing.”

When asked what this event meant to the community, Joseph said it’s not just the First Nation that will benefit from the event, but all Indigenous peoples. He wants to use the stage to promote a positive message from First Nations people and believes the arts is the key.

“What we’re trying to do is we’re trying to change the narrative, trying to change the headlines and we’re absolutely trying to build a bridge where a wall has existed in my whole life,” he said. “It is, in my opinion, the arts, which is going to break down those bridges and it’s going to connect people.

I’m seeing it in the city of Prince Albert and I’m seeing it coming up all over the province that artistic events are where people are meeting. It’s not going to be in business things, it’s not going to be in the boardrooms.

“We are going to create good headlines and we’re going to show the world that you might hear the one or two people who have done things, but we got 100 people here helping out and volunteering their time to put on an event for everybody to come out to.”

The Muskoday Arts Music Festival starts at 10:30 a.m. on the community’s powwow grounds. The day will wrap up at 10:30 p.m. with a fireworks display.

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derek.craddock@pattisonmedia.com

Twitter: @princealbertnow