Jeremy Dutcher - Motewolonuwok

Five years after winning the Polaris Music Prize with his ground-breaking debut, Jeremy Dutcher has returned with a radiant exploration of contemporary Indigeneity and his place within it. Motewolonuwok extends beyond anything the musician has made before, encompassing traditional song, starlit ballads and staggering orchestrations. It is inspired by his growing understanding of the "middle space" of being Two Spirit - Indigenous and queer.

In the Wolasotqey language, Two Spirit people are called "motewolonuwok" - "the people of great spiritual power" - an identity filled with strength and knowledge, which is not dogged by shame. Motewolonuwok features Wolastoqey traditionals, poetry from by the Cherokee poet Qwo-li Driskill, but also Dutcher's first songs written in English. This is an acknowledgment of his father's tongue, and also a way of singing "directly to the newcomer [settler]" in their own language, to tell his community's stories of grief, resilience and emergence.

Heavyweight vinyl produced by Secret City Records in 2023.

TRACKLISTING:

1. Skicinuwihkuk ᔅᑭᒋᓄᐧᐃᐦᑯᒃ
2. Pomawsuwinuwok Wonakiyawolotuwok ᐯᒪᐧᓱᐧᐃᓄᐧᐁᒃ ᐧᐊᓇᑭᔭᐧᐁᓓᑐᐧᐁᒃ
3. Take My Hand
4. Wolasweltomultine ᐧᐁᓚᐧᓭᓪᑌᒧᓪᑎᓀ
5. ‘tahcuwi Anelsultipon ‘ᑕᐦᒍᐧᐃ ᐊᓀᓪᓱᓪᑎᐦᐯᓐ
6. Sakom ᓴᑫᒻ
7. Ancestors Too Young
8. The Land That Held Them
9. There I Wander
10. Together We Emerge
11. Rise in Beauty
12. Nipuwoltin