Ed Peekeekoot - Artistic Statement
ED PEEKEEKOOT, Ahtahkakoop Cree First Nation
British Columbia Singer-songwriter/ Instrumentalist / Artist
Music, art, and a supportive and loving family have helped me travel on a good path throughout my life. I give deep thanks for the creative and generous people in my life who have shared their gifts with me.
My mother was my first guitar teacher when I was about four. Art was the one thing I excelled at and got positive recognition for in school. We moved to BC from Saskatchewan when I was 16.
For many years, I worked as a solo musician in the mainstream country music scene – mostly in BC but also across the Prairies. Even though my Cree heritage and growing up in a musical family shaped me, I avoided being labeled as a “Native musician”. I wanted to be known as a great musician who just happened to be “Native” as I paid my mainstream dues. This all changed a few years ago after a visit to my home community, Ahtahkakoop, in Saskatchewan.
On this trip, I saw signs that the people in my community were starting to practice their cultural ways once again. There were sweat lodges and the sun dance grounds had been reclaimed. This and other important experiences opened me to a deepening interest in exploring my First Nations heritage through music and, in 2006, I released “In the Key of Cree”, a CD of original pieces from my cultural perspective.
With guitar, Native flute, fiddle, drum and voice I create what I call “ear paintings”. These are the sounds and melodies heard in our dreams that take us on spirit journeys. In songs and instrumentals, I move from evoking nature, myth, and traditional ways of knowing to offering encouragement to First Nation people facing the sometimes stark realities of urban life. Raven and Coyote, tricksters and transformers, make their way into my music, stories, performances, and art.
