Jeremy Dutcher is a Wolastoqiyi (Maliseet) member of the Tobique First Nation in New Brunswick, Canada. He became widely known within the Canadian and Indigenous music worlds with his debut album, “Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa,” an album of ancestral songs rearranged into a contemporary classical style. He has won several prestigious awards, including the 2018 Polaris Music Prize for best Canadian full-length album and the 2019 Juno Award for Indigenous Music Album of the Year. Dutcher identifies as Two-Spirit, and his art combines elements of both LGBTQ+ and Indigenous activism.
Incomindios UK was privileged to sit down with him and discuss his recent performances in the UK.
Jeremy Dutcher performing at Servant Jazz Quarters, London, Wednesday 24th of July 2024
Photo courtesy of Emily Robinson
There’s something beautifully anti-colonial about Jeremy Dutcher performing in England. For Dutcher, it’s a chance for the English to get better acquainted with his Wolastoqiyik culture. When asked about his feelings about performing in the UK, he reveals a clear sense of purpose. He reflects, “You know, song is about sharing our philosophies, right? So when we get to know each other through our songs, I think we can create a better world together.” Dutcher is quick to point out, however, that he is not the first in his community to share these songs in Europe:
“I’m not the first generation of music makers to go to Europe. Maggie Paul is a legend, and she sang in Paris and Europe. She was my teacher, so I’m very happy and proud to be part of that continuum. Our people have always gone and sung back to the newcomers, the ones that came over.”
Indeed, with his recent album, Motewolonuwok, Dutcher hopes to reach a wider audience of “newcomers” with his culture and language, noting, “The world has had a moment to sit with British song and with all that UK has to offer. So now it's an exciting opportunity for me to offer our side of the story.”
On his debut album, Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa, Dutcher sang exclusively in his Indigenous language. However, on his sophomore record, Motewolonuwok, Dutcher has included songs in English. The choice to sing in English was complicated. After all, as is the case throughout Canada, English was weaponized against Indigenous communities, particularly in the notorious boarding school system. Dutcher is extremely aware of these harms. As one of fewer than 500 people who speak Maliseet-Passamaquoddy, he has dedicated himself to revitalizing the language for future generations of Wolastoqiyik and Passamaquoddy people.
“We have those elders that are still speaking, even though our numbers are low. We’re considered a severely endangered language group. But I think really amazing progress is being made in terms of protecting our language,” he reflects optimistically.
When asked to describe his relationship to English, he sighs, “It's interesting. I view English as a useful thing, not so much a beautiful thing.”
Most recently, the usefulness of English was made evident in Dutcher’s travels to Norway, where he spent time in Sámi Indigenous communities. In preparation for his trip, Dutcher started learning Norwegian but realized that it had been a language of oppression for the Sámi. “Instead maybe I should learn Sámi, but for now, English will have to do during those trips,” Dutcher says wryly, acknowledging the irony of using one colonial language to avoid another.
At this point in our conversation, we move away from the topic of Indigenous languages and towards a matter perhaps more relevant to Dutcher’s UK audience—the repatriation of Indigenous artifacts stored in British museums, universities and other collections.
Dutcher has had to navigate these kinds of institutions as part of his work. For his first album, he and his mentor, Passamaquoddy elder Maggie Paul, turned to museum archives to explore wax cylinder recordings of Wolastoqey and Passamaquoddy traditional songs. Hearing the voices of his ancestors from over 100 years ago changed his life.
It is unsurprising to Dutcher that the British Museum has several artifacts that once belonged to his ancestors, such as a 19th-century hood on permanent display. He explains, “We view those objects or items as our relatives. So to see them in a kind of carceral space where they’re not able to be handled or cared for in our traditional way is upsetting. There is a fundamental sadness in those museum spaces.”
He hopes that coming to the UK will help the British public see the living people behind these artifacts. When people meet him and hear his songs, he sees himself as “an example of what happens when somebody from that [Indigenous] community gets ahold of an artifact and can turn it into another iteration of that culture,” as he does with his songs.
Dutcher also hopes to spark conversations around treaty obligations. Unknown to many, the Wolastoqiyik Nations signed treaties not with the Canadian government but with the British Crown. Regarding the United Kingdom’s relationship with Indigenous Nations, “there are real diplomatic conversations to be had,” Dutcher says.
Dutcher once again refers to his beloved mentor, Maggie Paul:
“She taught me both songs, but also ways of thinking. She says our songs are an offering to each other, and so when we come and we offer something, it hopefully will start a conversation. I think there's a lot in this moment that we can keep talking about and find common ground on because it's a really transformational time, and I think we all can feel that and know that. Song is a good way to energize that conversation.”
Referring to the activism of Incomindios UK, Dutcher reminds us that it takes all kinds of people to work to uplift Indigenous communities. “... we need each other because the musician is going to have something different to say than the politician, and the writer will have something different to say than the medicine person. That’s the core message I’d give to the Indigenous youth that you [Incomindios] work with—that we’re in deep kinship with each other.”
Dutcher was particularly excited to hear that Incomindios’ work includes Indigenous people from both North and South America. In discussing the 2024 UNPFII delegation, Dutcher remarks, “I'm so glad to hear that you sent some folks from the north and some folks from the south. That is linked to prophecy, for sure. This idea of the eagle and the condor that are going to fly together. That is going to be essential in difficult times ahead.”
To the Indigenous youth that Incomindios supports, Dutcher wishes to leave a message of hope:
“When we remember that even though we might speak different languages in terms of English or Spanish or French or whatever colonial language that's on top of our own, remember it’s through our own Indigenous languages that we are connected, and we are strong together. And for me, I'm encouraged by that all the time. Every time I get together with Indigenous peoples from around the world, hearing our languages, I am so blown away by just how connected we are. Even though geographically, we're quite far apart on Turtle Island, there is a deep connection. The threat of difficult times ahead of us may cause us to want to alienate ourselves from each other. But we, as Indigenous people, know that community and collectivity is what's going to help us through.”
You can find Jeremy Dutcher online at https://jeremydutcher.com/
Thank you to Aleda DeRoche for making this interview happen.
Thank you to Lynn Mitchell for sharing Jeremy's music.
Emily would like to say a special "woliwon" to the whole community at Sipayik for sustaining her connection to Wabanaki Nations. Learn more about the Wabanaki Nations (including the Wolastoqey Nations) at the following links:
Comments