Learn how to sing 'Ode'min Giizis (Strawberry Moon)'
Tara Williamson teaches us her song for the Canadian Music Class Challenge
According to the 2016 census, roughly 70 Indigenous languages are spoken in Canada. Under UNESCO'S endangered language criteria, however, more than two-thirds of these languages are considered endangered.
CBC Music's Canadian Music Class Challenge is launching a new annual initiative to address this issue by getting music classes across the country to learn Indigenous languages through music.
This year, students will be encouraged to learn and record a video of themselves performing the song "Ode'min Giizis (Strawberry Moon)" by Tara Williamson, a singer-songwriter from the Opaskwayak Cree Nation and Gaabishkigamaag (Swan Lake, Man.) who works out of Victoria, B.C.
"The Anishinaabe keep track of the seasons by the moons," explains Williamson. "There are 13 moons every year and Ode'min Giizis moon usually arrives in June and marks the beginning of strawberries."
"Strawberries are in the shape of a heart," Williamson adds. "And they're the first berry that ripens where I'm from. And so strawberries (heartberries) and the strawberry moon represent kindness, friendship, sweetness and love. So when we sing the song we want to remember those things."
In a special instructional video, Williamson plays through the song, and coaches Anishinaabe pronunciation, assisted by phonetic captions. Watch the video below.
"Ode'min Giizis" is one of 25 songs in this year's Canadian Music Class Challenge. The annual event invites music classes in public schools and community programs to learn one of the Canadian songs on the list and record a performance of it. Entries are then submitted to CBC Music and posted publicly for everyone to enjoy. Presented in association with MusiCounts, the music education arm of the Juno Awards, the Canadian Music Class Challenge has given away hundreds of thousands of dollars in music instruments as prizes to classes across the country.
One of the prizes this year will be awarded to the best performance of "Ode'min Giizis." Read more about our full list of prizes here. Please email us at [email protected] for a copy of the lyrics.
If your music class or classes performs 'Strawberry Moon / Ode'min Giizis' by Tara Williamson, you should enter in the age-appropriate category 1-8. However, all submissions of this song will also qualify for the Indigenous Language Prize.
To find out how to participate in the year's Canadian Music Class Challenge, you can read more here or subscribe to our music teacher newsletter here.
