Smallboy Singers
Smallboy Singers
(Indian House Records)
Smallboy Camp, AB
::web/sounds::
[Originally Released: 1997]

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From the complex vortex of Adam Bradley:

In 1967, Chief Robert Smallboy and a group of followers left the socially and politically deteriorating conditions of their allotted Reserve to avoid losing their traditions and language to encroaching outside influence. Upon the Kootenay Plains, in the wilderness of the Albertan Rockies, they established the Smallboy Camp (now known as the Mountain Cree Camp). This settlement of Ne Wi Yow (Cree) followed and still follows the direction of the Natural Law, in honour of their traditional practices and beliefs.

In 1996, Tony Isaacs of the Taos, New Mexico based label Indian House Records traveled to the remote location of the Smallboy Camp to make these recordings. Of the twelve songs on this cassette, sung by twelve singers, some are new and some, like “Chief Smallboy,1912”, are quite old. The recording is dedicated to the honour of their elders.

The experience of listening to Smallboy Singers is one characterized by the power of the sound, the burning expression found therein and the beauty of communal hearts coalescing to produce thundering beats and music meant for dancing. Impossibly skilled voices unite in … Read More »