Philippe McKenzie, pioneer of popular Innu music, dies at 70

Singer-songwriter Philippe McKenzie, a pioneer of contemporary Innu music and recognized as one of the first Indigenous folk singers in Canada, died on Friday. He was 70 years old.

Born in 1953 in Mani-utenam, an Innu community near Sept-Îles, Que., McKenzie broke barriers by singing songs in his native tongue, Innu-aimun, and was an active leader for the Innu folk movement during the 1970s.

He "had the courage and intelligence to sing and address colonization and dispossession head on," the Innu Takuaikan Uashat Mak Mani-Utenam band council wrote on social media Friday.

"Philippe McKenzie is the foundation on which the works and careers of the hundreds of Innu artists who followed him were built."

McKenzie began playing music at the age of 13, developing his love of it to the sounds of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, when two guitars were shared and passed between members of his community.

In the 1970s, he joined the group Tamtam Boys, which performed covers of popular French and English songs.

But it was his partnership with Radio-Canada's Service du Québec nordique program that marked the first turning point in his career.

It allowed him to record his first albums in Innu-aimun, making him the first artist to record an album in the language.

In a statement sent to Radio-Canada's Espaces autochtones, Ghislain Picard, chief of the Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador and Innu from Pessamit, expressed his condolences to McKenzie's family, loved ones and the community of Uashat mak Mani-Utenam.

"The world of Innu-aimun song has lost the man who gave it life," he wrote. "[McKenzie] left his mark on his generation and those that followed."

40th edition of Innu music festival

McKenzie recorded three albums in the 1970s: Indians Songs in Folk Rock Tradition, Innu and Groupe folklorique montagnais, the latter with musicians Bernard Fontaine and Florent Vollant.

"It was thanks to Philippe that we discovered we could sing and compose in Innu. He was a real mentor for us," Vollant said in an interview with Voir magazine in 2019.

In 1984, McKenzie and Vollant founded the annual Innu Nikamu Native music and arts festival in Mani-utenam, which became one of the largest in North America and is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year.

The event's co-ordinator, Normand Junior Thirnish-Pilot, says the festival will take on a special significance this year.

An album cover featuring McKenzie with his son, Mishta-Shipu, in the 1980s. (Radio-Canada)

"We're already thinking about what Philippe meant to each of us and how we can pay tribute to him, thank him, celebrate his life and say thank you for everything he gave us," he said in an interview.

Thirnish-Pilot said McKenzie's music has a unifying effect, particularly his song Ekuan pua, which he believes has become the national anthem of the Innu.

"Yesterday, we danced the Makusham (a traditional dance marking feasts) to this song. We wanted to commemorate the unifying power of his music and lyrics. He's a legend, a giant of Innu music," he said.

'Thank you for paving the way,' says son

McKenzie also inspired Indigenous people from other nations, including Charles J. Hester, director of culture, sports and recreation for the Cree First Nation of Waskaganish.

In a Facebook post, he recounts the emotion he felt as a child listening to his songs on CBC North Radio.

"It's partly thanks to him that I started writing and performing songs in the Eeyou language. Thank you for being a precursor and a source of inspiration for many Indigenous artists, including myself," he said.

McKenzie inspired many young Indigenous artists, from Kahshtin to Maten, to young singers like Scott-Pien Picard and Matiu, to his own son, Mishta-Shipu Mckenzie, who has also become a folk and country musician performing in the language of his ancestors.

On Saturday, Mishta-Shipu posted a photo on Facebook of his father's hospital bed, saying the pair of them had been listening to his music together before he passed.

"It's my only way of communicating with him. The more I listen, the more the lyrics make sense," he wrote.

"I feel even more Innu when I sing … thank you for paving the way for me."