Reclaiming the 'Contemporary' in Indigeneity: The Musical Practices of Cris Derksen and Jeremy Dutcher

Indigenous musical modernities have thrived across centuries of innovation and mobilisation through both exchange and resistance. Settler colonialism seeks to deny Indigenous Peoples a 'contemporary' by asserting both a temporal and spatial boundary. The temporal and spatial boundaries intended for Indigenous Peoples foster expectations from the dominant white culture regarding Indigeneity. Cree Mennonite cellist Cris Derksen and Wolastoqi singer Jeremy Dutcher mobilise settler expectations and institutional opportunities in their distinctive musical practices. These musical practices are the results of exchange and dialogue between Euro-American classical music and Indigenous musics, resulting in what Dawn Avery calls 'Native Classical Music'. Such dialogues are negotiated through these musicians' resistance to Euro-American classical music hierarchies, settler logics about authenticity and their resourcefulness in navigating settler institutions. By analysing Derksen's combination of powwow music and newly composed classical pieces withOrchestral Powwowand Dutcher's integration of archival research with composition and performance withWolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa, I argue that heterogeneous musical practices of contemporary Indigeneity thrive within and against the temporal and spatial constraints of settler colonialism. Throughout this analysis, I reflect on my own position as a white settler musicologist and listener in reinforcing these constraints.