At the ugly center of human civilization, a process that has taken some six thousand years to evolve into the roaring behemoth it is today, is the violent subjugation of Indigenous people. Our modern world is built atop the bones of those crushed under the steel-toed boots of colonialism and imperialism. The first ‘Thanksgiving’ was in 1621, when settlers from Europe purportedly held an autumn feast with the native Wampanoag. This, of course, was only after hundreds of Wampanoag were kidnapped and sold to Spain as slaves, and before European settlers slaughtered them for their land. It’s the audacity of Western existence that seems to be the most flabbergasting thing of all: imagine feeling justified in murdering a people so you can grab a few acres of land. And then imagine doing it at such a scale it becomes almost demystifying to comprehend. Today, however, is not four hundred years ago, and while imperialism still very much shows its ugly head, news travels much faster than it did and humans are, thankfully, becoming more aware of the injustices transversed on these subjugated people.
Canadian act OMBIIGIZI consist of artists and multi-instrumentalists Daniel Monkman and Adam Sturgeon, both of whom are of Anishinaabe origin. Like the Wampanoag of what is now New England, the Anishinaabe were the Indigenous people of southern Canada and the Great Lakes region. Born from the breath of a god that breathed life into all living things, the Anishinaabe are the ‘Beings Made Out of Nothing’, a people who understood that the gift of life was something precious and worthy of protection. While many clans make up the group (the Ojibwe clan are the largest Indigenous population left in the United States), there are only about 35,000 remaining in Canada. Luckily, OMBIIGIZI exists to give this small population a voice where most of their language has been dissipated through colonialist practices.
OMBIIGIZI (pronounce Om-BAY-ga-ZAY) means ‘she/he is noisy’ and seems an apt descriptor for Monkman and Sturgeon’s work. At a simple level, the music the band crafts in the studio traces its sonic lineage to the Toronto collective Broken Social Scene, a hodgepodge of sounds and melodies that are simultaneously bizarre and comforting. There’s enough pop-sensibility to keep one coming back to the songs for the infectious nature of the compositions, but also enough weirdness to keep them interesting on repeated listens. This, coupled with the subtle nods to their Indigenous roots, make OMBIIGIZI one of the most interesting bands coming out of Canada today.
‘OMBIIGIZI started as a way to strengthen Indigenous relationships within the narrow Indie spectrum. Daniel and I met through a shared love of this genre but in that both of us were on our healing journey’s and felt a bit isolated in the community as it is predominantly white. Since forming we have been able to collaborate and draw in other like minded Indigenous artists to join us, such as Derek Durant our synth and keys player. Our music distinctly shares ideas and concepts of our culture without beckoning any preconceived stereotypes and our traditions are implemented in subtle and sometimes unheard ways.’
It’s this last statement from Sturgeon that really reflects the connection between the music the band makes and the messages it seeks to convey. Their song and video for “Cherry Coke,” the lead track from 2022’s debut album Sewn Back Together is a brilliant juxtaposition of Western life at its saccharine best and the pain and suffering that came with paving over a once wild, pristine land. Featuring Sturgeon and Monkman standing on a literal road to nowhere, interspersed with images of the Canadian countryside and family snapshots from years gone by, the song is about the displaced and the replaced. ‘Cherry Coke,’ the two repeat three times, before ending on a sad note of despair: ‘Ontario‘.
So how does a band wrestle with the treatment of Indigenous cultures within the realms of a modern imperialist system? Clearly music is inspired by the space we inhabit. And there’s no bigger space in the world than the wild, sprawling frozen tundra of Canada. One of the most sparsely inhabited Western countries on the planet, Canada has struggled with its legacy, a country clearly trying to make up for genocidal intentions that occurred hundreds of years in the past, but still linger today in many insidious ways.
‘Both of these regions (Winnipeg and London, Ontario) have been ravaged by poverty, addiction and trauma. In London, over 30% of the over represented houseless population is Indigenous. We know, have witnessed and even experienced our fair share of trauma in our communities; loss, fragmented relationships and disconnections that there is no way for us to work without being informed by how much the system has been stacked against us. My Dad told me I needed to learn the game of the oppressor and then beat him at it. While this is true in my work, I also believe there is a way to imbue equity and connection within the system – but only because there is not always a choice but to survive within the path that has been forced upon society.’
The band’s new album SHAME struggles with this dichotomy of voices. It’s a shame, for instance, to think that the only way to generate true change is to ‘learn the game of the oppressor and then beat him at it,’ but dads often speak the truth. And it’s not so much that OMBIIGIZI has learned the rules (or lack thereof) that dictate the often irrational, if not straight up racist, politics that define the ‘free’ world, but that they’ve imbued their work with a sense of recognition. The songs on the album are not a call to arms, but a aural photo album of voices that are simply not heard. OMBIIGZI sees you and wants you to know that you are seen. All they ask in return is that you see them as well.
The songs on both Sewn Back Together and SHAME were largely constructed in the studio. Monkman and Sturgeon both have side projects with Zoon and Status/Non-Status respectively, but it was their shared generational trauma that brought them both together. And trauma it is: to deny the right of those who are the descendants of genocide to still grieve for their ancestors generations removed is supremacy at its most blatant. OMBIIGIZI gives both artists a chance to celebrate their heritage, and share these messages with the world. Kevin Drew from Broken Social Scene helped produce the band’s records, and while his sound is quite evident in the production, it is still uniquely OMBIIGIZI.
‘We make up a lot of stuff on the spot in the studio. Certainly this was the case for Sewn Back Together. SHAME is similar, though there is a bit more of our individual influences on some of the songs. “Street Names and Land Claims” is a good example of a song that I had kicking around that clearly highlights more of the Status/Non-Status vibes. We also did a lot of writing in the evenings, preparing for the following day in a loose sort of way that allowed folks creativity to come quickly and efficiently without too much preparation or preconceived notions of how something should turn out. Even when one person knows a song well, we still throw most of ourselves into the fire to allow for that spontaneity and spirit of truth to reveal itself in real time.’
If anything, the music of OMBIIGIZI is truly infused with that spirit of truth. But the spirit of truth isn’t always comfortable to sit with, nor is it easy to determine what to do with that knowledge once you get it. The genocide of the native peoples of North America was so thorough and definitive, that even armed with the knowledge that all of our Targets and Wal-Marts and Tim Hortonses are built atop the blood of the Anishinaabe (and the Algonquin, Nipissing, Iroquois, Munsee, Neutral, Petun, and Wyandot, to name a few), we are still ignorant as to how to remedy these horrible injustices. OMBIIGIZI is a small, powerful voice: a sonic echo from the ancient broadleaf forests of southern Ontario that whispers one simple word: BIZANDAN.
LISTEN.
You can do just that by checking out OMBIIGIZI‘s great Indigineous spin on modern indie music at their Bandcamp. You can also give the band some much deserved likes on their Instagram page.
OMBIIGIZI is:
Daniel Monkman: all instruments, vocals
Adam Sturgeon: all instruments, vocals
