I’m pleased to offer yet another great new (to me) discovery this week: the choral music of Sherryl Sewepagaham. Sherryl is a Cree/Dene musician and composer from Little Red River Cree Nation in Alberta, and we’re sharing here with her permission.
As Sherryl writes on FaceBook,
The album, Where Waters Meet, in collaboration with the Canadian Chamber Choir, is officially released today! I’m so proud to share this achievement with the talented members of the choir and directors, and sharing album space with fellow composers, Hussein Janmohamed and Carmen Braden. Your compositions continue to inspire me.
Thank you to everyone involved in making this album happen, and Andy Rice who took care of so many details and beautiful layout.
I’m especially proud this album has a strong Cree language presence contributing to the recognition and amplification of Indigenous composers in the choral arts. This album features, Nipîy (Water Song), a commissioned piece invited by the choir. We end Nipîy singing all together.
Finally, thank you to my parents, Emily and William Sewepagaham for your guidance on language, teachings and love.”
Congratulations to Sherryl and to the Canadian Chamber Choir for this exquisitely prepared recording, a gift of music, and of decolonization, that we can all treasure.
The audio track shared here via YouTube is the final track on her newly released album Where Waters Meet, featuring the Canadian Chamber Choir. It’s titled nipiy (Water Song), and it’s simply stunning. Listen to the complete album on YouTube, or simply search Sherryl by name to find a wonderfully rich assortment of recordings featuring fine choirs from across Canada. (As a life-long choral singer, it’s tough for me not to fan-girl about how gorgeous this stuff is!)
Lyrics (SRO, Northern y-dialect):
ôta nitayân.
nitayapin cîki nipîhk.
kisâmin[i]tin.
kipîhtâtin.
kiwâpam[i]tin.
ôtah nîyayân.
pah-pîyahtak nitapin.
I am here.
I sit beside the water.
I touch you.
I hear you.
I see you.
I am here.
I sit quietly.
5 Responses
Hello. I want to share some corrections to the lyrics in my Cree text for nipîy (Water Song). These are the lyrics in the choral score written out by my mom Emily Sewepagaham who is a fluent Cree speaker and retired Cree and elementary teacher.
ôtah niyayân.
nitayapin cîkih nipîhk.
kisâmin[i]tin.
kipîhtâtin.
kiwâpam[i]tin.
ôtah nîyayân.
pah-pîyahtak nitapin.
Thank you.
Good Morning,
I have been having trouble finding an email address for you. Please forgive me for using this comment chain to reach out to you. I hope I haven’t offended you.
I am a member of a Social Justice Choir in Surrey, BC. Called Aequitas Singers. We are in the process of selecting songs for our choir to sing this year. Our theme this year is focused on Canadian songs. One of our members suggested your song, Nitohtamok Askiy. It is such a beautiful song and has a good lesson about caring for our wonderful home.
I want to be respectful about singing a Cree song by asking permission to learn how to sing the song in the Cree language and to perform it at our concert at the end of the season in May. We will buy the sheet music and the song will be introduced as written by you.
If we receive your permission to sing your song in your language, is there anything that you would like us to do or say to honour the song and the Cree Nation?
Thank you for considering this request.
Terri aequitassingers.ca
Hi Terri –
I’ll forward your message to Sherryl so she can get in touch directly. It will also give me a chance to congratulate her on the Juno nomination.
Thank you!
Beautiful! I am here. I sit beside the water.
I love your lyrics and the drums. Thank you