Storytelling changes the world. New voices are springing out all over the continent from creators who never got a chance to tell their story. They’re breaking the restrictive barriers that barred them, and smashing them into pieces for the next generation to see and use in their art.
Métis Songs, an album composed and arranged by UBC School of Music director Dr. Patrick Carrabré, is a new piece of this cultural storytelling movement.
After being separated from his birth family as a child and recently reconnecting with them, Carrabré has been vocal about the importance of recognizing the histories and narratives of Métis people in this album.
“In the last decade, I've been able to really dig down into my connection to my Métis family, the history of our family in Canada. And try to turn the light on Métis identity because [it’s] something that's not well understood in Canada … a lot of people don't even really know who the Métis are,” said Carrabré.
The album's title seems simple and self explanatory but the music is anything but. Commissioned by the Harbourfront Centre and released digitally this September, Carrabré’s latest album aims to depict Métis people’s struggle and persistence within Canadian history.
The album begins from the point of view of the Métis in the 1800s with the track “Chanson de la Gornouillèr.” It’s a retelling of a piece by Pierre Falcon, who was one of the first known Métis composers.
“My People Will Sleep…” then tells a story about the Métis’ era of hiding, containing a reading of a story chosen by singer Rebecca Cuddy.
The narrative then ends with the third piece — a poem by Gregory Scofield highlighting the role of the Métis in current society and the discrimination they still face today, and looking forward to a future where they can fully come out of hiding.
Carrabré tells this story not just because it’s an important one of discovering identity and culture, but because it’s a story that has rarely ever been told in Canadian history.
“I wanted to draw attention to the reality of being Métis,” said Carrabré. “I think it's incumbent on those of us who can to take the opportunity when we can, to be a little bit political to draw people's attention to it.”
Carrabré questions how we can engage with truth and reconciliation if we were not taught the truth in the first place.
“I always say truth before reconciliation,” said Carrabré. “You need to accept the truth.”
That’s what this album serves to spotlight: The truth. Not a history written and printed by the waves of colonization, but the true story of what happened to the people who never got the justice they deserve.
The music itself is remarkable. Each song is made up of strings and vocals, nothing else, giving it a similar timbre throughout its runtime — this works to its advantage, as the similar sound and texture creates a body for the main characters of its narrative. The strings create the body of the Métis, and Rebecca Cuddy gives them their voice.
The second track, “My People Will Sleep…,” stood out to me. It contrasts the quick movements of the other two tracks with its drawn-out notes, long paint strokes that illustrate the years upon years of hiding forced upon the Métis, who could not tell anyone anything about themselves. It is a story of people who could not be who they are, even around those that are just like them.
“[My birth mother] would get smacked and told to not tell anyone in public that she was Métis, even though the whole town was Métis. They were that afraid even within the community.”
Métis Songs is a beautiful piece of art not only because the music tells an untold story of fear and pain, telling the truth of an experience wiped away by colonization, but also because the music creates an identity. It creates a voice for the Métis, a distinct character, in direct opposition to those who want Indigenous people to stay quiet and assimilate.
“I think that we need to rewrite our history. And we need to own our history … We live in a society that has favored certain people, and not [others],” said Carrabré. “I think this is one of the problems particularly as an Indigenous person. Someone said to me the other day [that] they just want one person to represent us all. They want to talk to one person, they want us to be one, they want us to be all the same. And we're not all the same.”
Métis Songs reminds us that sometimes the most powerful act of rebellion is to simply be proud of who you are.
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