39th Annual Neyaashiinigmiing Traditional Pow Wow

Founded in the Frog Lake Cree First Nation, Alberta, Canada, Young Spirit (oskiyak kīsik in Plains Cree) has quickly become one of the most in-demand and respected groups on the Pow-Wow trail and the Round Dance circuit. The group was founded in 2001 and first sang at the Samson Cree First Nation Pow-Wow that same year. Since then the group has never looked back and has traveled ceaselessly throughout Canada and the United States.

From its inception the group was created with the goal of empowering Indigenous/Native American/First Nations youth with music and language. Noted for extensive use of the Plains Cree language in their Round Dance and Pow-Wow songs, Young Spirit view its music as a dynamic catalyst for sustaining Indigenous culture and sharing its importance with the world.

Amongst the many singing championships Young Spirit has won over the years, the drum group earned the 2013 and 2018 Worldwide Championship title at the Gathering of Nations Pow-Wow in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Their album Mewsinsational – Cree Round Dance Songs earned them an Indigenous Music Award for Best Hand Drum Album in 2018. The same album received a nomination in the Best Regional Roots category at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards.  Young Spirit created a viral media sensation when they performed one of their acclaimed Round Dance songs live on the Grammy red carpet, taking Indigenous music to a place that it had never been shared before.

According to Young Spirit’s drum keeper Jacob Faithful, the group is most happy when they have their families and kids singing and traveling with the group. The group can sum up much of its outlook with this statement – “Life is precious and we all have a choice about how we use our time here on Mother Earth.”

"Mohawk rocker turned folk and soul musician Logan Staats began as a diamond in the rough on the streets of Brantford, Ontario. He had no formal musical training, no connections, just a good ear and raw lyrical talent- and always a guitar in hand. He played the local circuit for years before his 2015 debut release ‘Goodbye Goldia’, an unvarnished yet hard hitting solo acoustic album. He went on to win CTV’s ‘The Launch’ in 2018, gaining commercial success and touring across North America and Europe.

But traveling the world can really open your eyes to what's going on right at home, and the fight for indigenous sovereignty has become a focal point for Staats in recent years. It all intermingles with the music; the passion, the rage, the love, and most of all the healing. He's making roadtrippin' music for those traveling 'the red road'; a path towards reconnecting and relearning indigenous ways. “I wanted to bring my songwriting back to the medicine inside of music, to the medicine inside of reclamation,” he says. 

This is the philosophy behind his sophomore album ‘A Light In The Attic’, released 2023. These songs are a healing salve, contemplatively composed and offered to listeners in need of comfort. His sound draws heavily from the rich blues and rock legacy of Six Nations. His music has garnered a Juno nomination, multiple Native American Music Awards, and the SOCAN Indigenous Songwriter of the year. Nowadays, he splits his time between his home community Six Nations, and Nashville, where he’s cooking up a southern country-flavored third album."

Pow Wow Photos from 2023!