[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.21″][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.21″][et_pb_column type=”3_5″ _builder_version=”3.21″][et_pb_post_title author=”off” date=”off” _builder_version=”3.21″][\/et_pb_post_title][et_pb_video src=”https:\/\/youtu.be\/1O44WDYB4lI” _builder_version=”3.21″][\/et_pb_video][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.21″]<\/p>\n
From pow-wow performances on the University of Ottawa and Carleton University campuses, to Yukon First Nations arts festivals, to meeting his wife through the performing arts, the sounds of Brock Lewis\u2019s pow-wow performances have carried him far.<\/p>\n
During the summer of 2018, he was a prominent performer in Yukon, armed with his animal-hide drum and resonant voice. Key engagements included the National Indigenous Peoples Day celebration in Burwash Landing, where his wife Marissa Mills is a member of the local Kluane First Nation, as well as at back-to-back performances at Moosehide Gathering, near Dawson City on Tr\u2019ond\u00ebk Hw\u00ebch\u2019in land.<\/p>\n
He says that the oldest pow-wow activities in his home province of Ontario come from his Wiikwemkoong First Nation community, on Manitoulin Island.<\/p>\n
It was Lewis\u2019s father who introduced him to singing, and he\u2019s been around pow-wow for as long as he can remember. Now in his mid-twenties, Lewis has been singing full-time since 2010.<\/p>\n
Lewis spent his young adult years in Ottawa. He notes that there is much activity in the way of Indigenous arts and culture in the National Capital Region.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe definitely have a tight-knit community and everybody respects each other, and we usually have a good time,\u201d he says of the area\u2019s pow-wow groups.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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For Lewis, pow-wow has been his gateway to the world.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you pow-wow, when you go to a new place, you meet people from all over,\u201d he says. And in today\u2019s digitized age, he enjoys connections that extend beyond the initial encounter. \u201cYou meet people, you add them on Facebook, you make that connection. And then who knows, maybe they want me to come sing at another pow-wow somewhere.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
In his experience criss-crossing North America to perform, audiences are appreciative of Indigenous cultural performances and he is regularly well-taken care of.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt really shows the hospitality that people have for groups that come from all over the place. They\u2019re like, \u2018Oh this group is from Ontario, we really need to pay them some respect for coming all the way out here to come sing.\u2019 \u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Lewis\u2019s performances follow a pre-planned structure based on the song. He normally sings with at least one other person \u2013 the more singers, the more concrete the structure. The style is called pow-wow singing, which originated in the North American plains but is sung across the continent by many different First Nations groups.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.21″]<\/p>\n Before the spectacle, preparation is crucial to a performance. Aside from the technical obstacles of vocal control and training, another key barrier is getting over personal insecurities.<\/p>\n \u201cOnce you get past that threshold of fear, you got the whole world ahead of you and you can go sing at any pow-wow you want to,\u201d Lewis says.<\/p>\n Lewis says his musical identity has become inseparable from his personal identity. \u201cWhen you learn how to sing, it really develops who you are as a person,\u201d he says. \u201cIt really boosts your confidence, if you\u2019re not a really smart guy!\u201d he laughs. \u201cIt really changes your life, so to say. Like, maybe you thought you couldn\u2019t do something before, but you\u2019re like, \u2018Hey I\u2019m a singer, I can do anything.\u2019 So that\u2019s sort of how it empowers me \u2013 \u2019cause I\u2019m not afraid to speak up or to say something, just because I can sing. I have that confidence now to do other things.\u201d<\/p>\n For a time, Lewis studied political science at the University of Ottawa. But he doesn\u2019t find commonalities between the worlds of his studies and his art. \u201cFrom a political science perspective the strength of our connection to the land is still there, but it is faded,\u201d Lewis says. \u201cFrom an arts perspective, I just sing for the people and the really strong connection to sound and the voice really carries people to come talk to me.\u201d<\/p>\n For him, the university setting is a part of the colonial settler legacy. It is difficult to isolate those elements from society today: from purchases, to the possessive concepts of citizenship and territoriality, to keeping time, Lewis says these are all foreign concepts to Indigenous Peoples.<\/p>\n He throws out a challenge to non-Indigenous people:<\/p>\n \u201cYou really have to really think about all those things that are assumed in everyday life, in order to get away from it,\u201d he reflects. \u201cThat might lead to a conversation where we\u2019re talking about politics, and what it means to be an Indigenous person in Canada.\u201d<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_video src=”https:\/\/youtu.be\/zGIo8FuXquk” _builder_version=”3.21″][\/et_pb_video][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.21″]<\/p>\n The irony is, pow-wow didn\u2019t gain traction in society until the 1880s, when William Cody developed a Wild West representation of the traditional dance. Lewis explains that Cody, better known today as Buffalo Bill, also popularized the \u201cFancy Dance,\u201d which introduced an element of showmanship, presentation and style. This proved popular with crowds and remains a popular form for competition pow-wows. In the competition pow-wows Lewis has been a part of, the dancers from competing groups face off against each other, followed by the drummers.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_video src=”https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/user-583677638-671847306\/buffalo-bill-and-the-evolution-of-pow-wow-dance-1″ _builder_version=”3.21″][\/et_pb_video][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.21″]<\/p>\n But Lewis still considers pow-wow performance to be a part of new age Indigenous culture: today\u2019s First Nations pow-wow performers have adapted what already came before and turned it into their own unique voice.<\/p>\n \u201cWe never had so many colours before, and fabric,\u201d Lewis says. \u201cAll those things help us create a sense of who we are. We adapted so we could create a sense of who we are as Indigenous People, as an inter-nation gathering.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s something that people embrace and unfortunately it\u2019s not originating from Indigenous culture, but it\u2019s definitely something we do on a regular basis that makes us feel proud of who we are.\u201d<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”2_5″ _builder_version=”3.21″][et_pb_code _builder_version=”3.21″] Brock Lewis performed at Moosehide Gathering last summer. He was joined by his partner, pow-wow dancer Marissa Mills on stage. They have a daughter together. [Photo\u00a0\u00a9\u00a0Jennifer Liu]<\/strong><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_code _builder_version=”3.21″] This performance gives a clear demonstration of a pow-wow\u2019s structure. Brock Lewis explains: \u201cNote how one person starts the song (it\u2019s called a lead), then everyone follows the melody of that lead. Then in the body, the melody is sung twice but on the second go around, the person who controls the pace of the song will do beats, which are called honour beats, then the song repeats with another person leading. And that\u2019s done 4 times, 4 leads.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.21″][\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.21″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.21″][et_pb_divider _builder_version=”3.21″][\/et_pb_divider][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.21″][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”3.21″][et_pb_button button_url=”https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mrp\/artsyfn\/anthropologist-julie-cruikshank\/” button_text=”Previous: An anthropological view” button_alignment=”left” _builder_version=”3.21″][\/et_pb_button][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”3.21″][et_pb_button button_url=”https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mrp\/artsyfn\/curating-living-cultures\/” button_text=”Next: Curating living cultures” button_alignment=”right” _builder_version=”3.21″][\/et_pb_button][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" From pow-wow performances on the University of Ottawa and Carleton University campuses, to Yukon First Nations arts festivals, to meeting his wife through the performing arts, the sounds of Brock Lewis\u2019s pow-wow performances have carried him far. During the summer of 2018, he was a prominent performer in Yukon, armed with his animal-hide drum and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-49","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\n