It is a unique marriage between the Innu and traditional Québécois worlds offered by singer Shauit, who has just released the first extract from his next album. Nakutundue out early next year.
The song Ka Utapanashkutshet was recorded with none other than Yves Lambert, a monument to the Quebec trad scene. Best known for his songs fusing traditional Innu music with folk and reggae, Shauit has made his own a piece originally played on the teueikan (traditional Innu drum) by the late Cyrille Fontaine, musician and well-known artist from the community of Maliotenam, on the Côte -North. “The air of this one having a trad Queb influence, I decided to enhance this flavor by adding violin and accordion, says Shauit in a text published on his YouTube channel. I thought of my friend Yves to do the part in French, he, one of the proud representatives of Quebec culture! »
The Innu singer-songwriter thus composed the French part of the song, which was performed by Yves Lambert. Ka Utapanashkutshet, which means “the one who makes the toboggan”, is thus “an echo to the immemorial practice of hunting, to the rituals that link us to our ancestral cultures, and is intended to be a contemporary metaphor for the resilience of the indigenous peoples of today “, can we read in the press release published by the artist. It is also a very festive piece, with a powerful rhythm that fits perfectly into the holiday atmosphere.
Originally from Maliotenam, Shauit received the prestigious award for Best Indigenous Language Album of the Year in North America in 2018 at the Indigenous Music Awards for his disc Apu Peikussiak. He was also nominated in the Indigenous Artist of the Year category at the 2019 and 2020 ADISQ galas, in addition to having co-written the song Les Nomades with Samian, which appears on the album Facing yourselfthe Anishnabe rapper’s first record released in 2007.