Unity
AD’s Notes:
Local group Unity work together in the community to keep life flowing in traditions that once were outlawed; their songs express the courage and compassion which is at the heart of their tradition.
Unity is the collective talents of Barb Rivett, Brenda Maracle O’Toole, Heather Shpuniarsky, Paula Sherman and Joeann Argue. We are an Aboriginal a cappella women’s group who perform both traditional songs and contemporary songs within the traditional genre. The group has performed at numerous venues: from education conferences to music festivals – both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal. We work in local public schools, offering Aboriginal awareness workshops for elementary students and their teachers. In these workshops we teach the songs and their meaning, and we often bring Elders as storytellers and Indigenous knowledge holders. At Trent University, where we all work and/or study in the Indigenous Studies Department, we are known as the “Trent University House Band”.
It is important to us as Aboriginal educators to reach out into the communities and share with them the knowledge we have been given through song and story. Each of us, in addition to our public work, participates in traditional ceremonies and cultural life. We are working, albeit slowly, to regain our traditional languages as part of our own growth as Anishnaabe Kweg and to pass on to others what knowledge we have gained.
