Aboriginal Youth Connect to Hip Hop

By Rhiannon Coppin
Special to The Globe and Mail
February 9, 2007

Nikky Ermineskin sits down in a sound-editing cubby at the Knowledgeable Aboriginal Youth Association centre in East Vancouver. Excitedly, she plays a track recorded by a group of 11-year-olds she is hoping to steer away from graffiti tagging and toward more constructive art forms. Ermineskin, 21, is the recording-studio co-ordinator for KAYA, an organization that advocates and runs programs for urban aboriginal youth. A repeated riff of “No one at home/ No one to hold” hooks into the tune, improvised around the theme of being left behind.

The song could be an anthem for aboriginal people in Greater Vancouver, determined not to be left behind in the lead-up to the 2010 Olympic Games. To that end, the aboriginal hip-hop scene is taking part in the city’s huge pre-Olympics ice-skating party on Feb. 17, called the Countdown at the Coliseum.

“If we actually think about it,” Jerilynn Webster, KAYA’s director of programs, says, “in the Pacific Coliseum or any other venue, no Indian kids would be allowed on the stage speaking truth, like, 70 or 80 years ago.” Ermineskin is quick to correct her: “How about 10 years ago? Five days ago? Yesterday?” Together, they laugh at the undeniable reality.

KAYA’s showcase and Time 2 Shine CD release - both at the Coliseum event - will cap a week of after-school hip-hop workshops held by KAYA, starting Monday.

Ermineskin has a simple explanation for why aboriginal youth are drawn to the inner-city cultural form: “Hip hop is the music for oppressed people.”

Though rap is sometimes frowned upon for its focus on “bling” and “bitches,” the root of hip-hop culture is community, activism, musical talent and pride. Webster, 22, explains that hip hop’s four forms - graffiti, breakdancing, MC-ing and DJ-ing - mimic the traditional art forms of many first nations. By embracing hip hop, the youth are able to update and reconnect with aspects of their heritage.

Dave Rudberg, the City of Vancouver’s general manager of Olympic Operations, says he and his colleagues are looking at ways “to drive aboriginal business and opportunities as a result of the Games.” Inclusive events like Countdown at the Coliseum are a first step.

Despite four hours of performances by KAYA artists and collaborators, however, it’s the ice rink that will take centre stage at the Coliseum event.

Free public skating sessions will sandwich a two-hour display of pomp, featuring guests such as Mayor Sam Sullivan, MLA Colin Hansen, MP David Emerson and Tewanee Joseph of the Four Host First Nations Society.

Olympic skater Mira Leung and 2006 Canadian Junior gold-winning ice dancers Allie Hann-McCurdy and Michael Coreno will perform, Kitsilano’s Velocity Speed Skaters will demonstrate their sport.

Meanwhile, the aboriginal hip-hop crews will be “keeping it real” on the lower concourse, away from the mainstream, which is right in line with the hip-hop ethos.

Ermineskin says KAYA and its collaborators are consciously choosing not to be “tokenized or exploited.” They see the event as an opportunity to reach out to an audience - up to 5,000 over the course of the afternoon - who might not otherwise attend an aboriginal event.

Although she will ask performers to limit their swearing, Ermineskin says the aboriginal artists at the Coliseum will not be toning down their criticisms of society, governments and popular culture.

“We don’t want to disrespect anybody,” she says, “but we have a right to use our voices.”

Source: globeandmail.com