LESSON PLAN: JEREMY DUTCHER
This lesson plan is intended as an educational resource to introduce secondary and post- secondary students to the Next Wave Indigenous artist Jeremy Dutcher, a classically trained opera singer and multi-instrumentalist from the Wolostoq Nation. TABLE OF 01. Artist Biography: Jeremy Dutcher 2 CONTENTS 02. Highlighted Work 3
LESSON PLAN: 03. Artist Interview 6 JEREMY DUTCHER
04. Writing Exercises 9
05. NCTR‘s Imagine a Canada 10
New Constellations
www.newconstellations.ca
New Constellations Lesson Plan: Jeremy Dutcher 1 1. ARTIST BIOGRAPHY: JEREMY DUTCHER
Jeremy Dutcher is a Toronto-based composer and vocal
artist. An operatic tenor, Dutcher blends his Wolastoq First
Nation roots into the music he creates. His style combines
musical aesthetics into something entirely new, shapeshifting
between classical, contemporary, traditional, and jazz. His
debut release Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa (Our Maliseets
Songs), is part composition, part musical ethnography, part
linguistic reclamation. The melodies come from the oldest
known field recordings of the Indigenous peoples along
the St. John (Wolastoq) River basin. Jeremy prioritizes the
Wolastoqey language in his music in hopes of inspiring other
young Maliseets to learn this endangered language. Dutcher
won Opera New Brunswick’s Young Artist Award in 2012
New Constellations Lesson Plan: Jeremy Dutcher 2 and most recently received the Canada Council for the Arts 1. ARTIST Aboriginal Music Award. He studied classical music at Dalhousie University and spent time learning from Passamaqouddy BIOGRAPHY: song carrier Maggie Paul. Besides music, Jeremy has been an active community organizer both in Indigenous and JEREMY DUTCHER LGBT communities. In collaboration with the Truth and
CONTINUED Reconciliation Commission, he organized the first national
gathering on Two Spirit reconciliation. Earlier this year, he
released the single “Honor Song” via RPM Records, featuring a
soaring arrangement of vocals, strings, piano, hand drum, and
electronics.
Jeremy was a core artist on the entire New Constellations tour,
performing at each of the thirteen shows, often to standing
ovations.
New Constellations Lesson Plan: Jeremy Dutcher 3 Listen to Jeremy Dutcher’s first single, “Honor Song,” and 2. HIGHLIGHTED watch the powerful video for this song at Revolutions Per Minute: WORK http://rpm.fm/news/premiere-jeremy-dutcher-debuts-
powerful-new-video-honor-song/
Jeremy explains the footage featured in this video: “It was
October 2013 — A month earlier, I had packed my things and
left Wolastokuk (Maliseet territory) for the first time to live at
Kjipuktuk (Halifax) in unceeded Mi’kmaq territory. The difficulty
of being detached from language, culture and familial practice
for the first time in my short 17 years, was only compounded by
the images in the media coming out of Wolastokuk; that of our
Grand Chief being arrested while in ceremony and others held
at gunpoint for daring to stand up to corporate interests and
seismic testing. Mi’kmaq & Wolastoq women stood up and led,
as they always have, for the land and the water in protest and
song. Swat teams and military were called in. The incident at
Elsipogtog was impactful in understanding my responsibility
as an indigenous person to protect Kci-kikuwosson (Mother
Earth).
New Constellations Lesson Plan: Jeremy Dutcher 4 George Paul’s Honor Song was lifted up during these protests 2. HIGHLIGHTED as an anthem for the people. It has been and will continue to be an invocation for the nations to gather and support each other WORK in our mutual goal of protecting the land we have sprung from. This track is all about lateral love — respecting our Indigeneity CONTINUED and helping each other; so let’s get to it.
Tan qiniw iyuwok wasis npomawsuwinuwok, tankeyu ’tmine-hc
kihtahkmikumon.
As long as there is a child among my people, we will protect the
land.”
New Constellations Lesson Plan: Jeremy Dutcher 5 How was “Honor Song” born? 3. ARTIST “Honor Song” was, as all songs are, gifts. A Mi’kmaq singer named George Paul was given this song during a fast many INTERVIEW years ago. The words speak to a message of unity and collective responsibility to protect our mother earth. He
gave the song to the Waponahkiyik, the people of the dawn.
This song was often sung in my community as I grew up. I
released this as my first piece because it is where it all starts
for me.
On “Honor Song” — and on all the songs on your record,
Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa (Our Maliseet Songs) — you
sing in Maliseet, which is classified as an endangered
language. Why is it so important to reclaim endangered
languages?
Our language tells us who we are and how we related to
the world around us. If we’re not speaking our Indigenous
languages, we lose a connection to the land; that’s where
our language come from.
Since there are so few speakers of this language left, it is so
crucial that there are as many resources for those who want
to learn and opportunities for older and younger speakers to
gather and help each other.
The loss of language played out in my own family;
My mother went into the church-run schools when she
was 6. She was forbidden to speak the only language she
knew and punished if she did. When my mom was growing
New Constellations Lesson Plan: Jeremy Dutcher 6 up, almost everyone spoke the language and now there are 3. ARTIST less than 100 fluent speakers. My music has been written exclusively in my language in the INTERVIEW hopes of inspiring other young Wolastoqiyik to speak our language and learn about our culture. CONTINUED
Why is music such a great tool for reclaiming language?
There is a rhythm to words. All words have a cadence and
a melody. Try it — go write down a phrase and keep saying
it until a melody comes out. I think there is an intrinsic
connection between word and song. Everyone knows the
words to their favourite songs like the back of their hand.
Singing is just speaking with a lot more air.
Who is the artist who did the graphics for your first “Honor
Song” video? [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQMrl-
hPnUg ] What made you choose this collaboration?
Jordan Bennett designed the song’s artwork. He is a visual
artist of the Mi’kmaq nation, whose work I had admired for a
long time. The Mi’kmaq and Wolastoqiyik are neighbours on
the east coast and have had good relations for many years;
our artists have always collaborated. Since this melody
is from Mi’kmaq territory, I thought it was the perfect
opportunity to collaborate.
New Constellations Lesson Plan: Jeremy Dutcher 7 What do you hope audiences will take away from 3. ARTIST experiencing your work? Firstly, I hope audiences enjoy what they witness; music is INTERVIEW always about releasing beauty into the world and I hope I can do that. Past that, I hope people come to understand CONTINUED the diversity of experiences among Indigenous peoples
as well as the vastness of artistic expression among our
people. Indigenous music does not sound one way; it is vast,
expansive, and inclusive.
I hope that musicians who listen start to investigate their
own musical practice and that it encourages them to think
about the lineage in which their music is situated in.
What does resurgence mean to you?
Resurgence is different for everyone, but for me;
Resurgence is taking back what has been lost and not asking
permission.
Resurgence is song and language.
Resurgence is gatherings and potlucks.
Resurgence is a movement that swells from earth to sky
reaching through waterways & forests.
Resurgence is futurism.
New Constellations Lesson Plan: Jeremy Dutcher 8 Jeremy says “There is a rhythm to words. All words have a 4. WRITING cadence and a melody. Try it — go write down a phrase and keep saying it until a melody comes out.” The British Romantic EXERCISES poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge was quoted as saying that poetry was “the best words in the best order.” Make a list of some of
your favourite phrases and repeat them over and feel for the
rhythm. Write a ten-line poem made of phrases that follow
this same rhythm. How does the rhythm affect the words
you choose and the feel and tone of the poem? Experiment
with reordering some of the words and compare the different
rhythms different orders create. Can you sing it?
In interviews, Jeremy has described his unique style as
“classical Indigenous jazz fusion.” Consider how the blending of
different traditions creates a new sound. What are the sounds
that surround you? Do you have a sense of what your own
creative lineage might be? Make a list of all the sounds that you
grew up hearing: city traffic? Wind shaking the house? People
laughing, or arguing, or both? What birds live near you? Was
music played in your house? What did you hear in cars or at the
mall? And what are the sounds you think of as your own, ones
that you have chosen to seek out. Write a poem, story, or essay
that incorporates all of the different sounds that make up the
soundtrack of your life.
New Constellations Lesson Plan: Jeremy Dutcher 9 The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR) is 5. NCTR’S calling on all young people to Imagine a Canada through the lens of Reconciliation! What is your vision of Reconciliation? IMAGINE A What does it look like? CANADA: Imagine a Canada is an invitation for all young people, from across the country to share their own vision of what
AN INVITATION TO Reconciliation can be. It can be a poem, a song, a painting, a
sculpture, a rap, a drawing, an essay, anything! This invitation SHARE YOUR VISION is extended every year to ensure that young people remain a
FOR THE FUTURE part of visioning Reconciliation in Canada. Imagine a Canada
is perfect for students, from kindergarten to post-secondary,
to explore both the past and our shared journey into the
future. Collectively, we want to be looking into the future of
Reconciliation and youth deserve to be a part of this visionary
exercise. Imagine a Canada is a great way for young people
to see themselves not just as concerned citizens, but as
transformative citizens; to empower them to be the change
they want to see in the world.
When studying work by contemporary Indigenous artists,
it‘s important to consider Canada’s troubled relationship
with First Nations and the truths about Residential School
history, a context that the NCTR is dedicated to supporting in
the classroom. As students learn more about this history, it is
important to provide them with opportunities to contribute
to change. Of course, learning truths about Residential School
history can be very upsetting, and we want to continue that
New Constellations Lesson Plan: Jeremy Dutcher 10 learning with opportunities to work towards a better future. 5. NCTR’S Imagine a Canada is one such opportunity. Friends and partners of the NCTR from across the country will IMAGINE A help recognize and honour submissions in each region of the CANADA: country and one entry from each province and territory will be selected each year to attend a national celebration of Imagine
AN INVITATION TO a Canada! SHARE YOUR VISION Education.nctr.ca FOR THE FUTURE CONTINUED
New Constellations Lesson Plan: Jeremy Dutcher 11