Background of Artists and Historical Context
Iskwe is an Indigenous child born to a Cree mother and an Irish Father. She came at a time when intelligent thinking allowed the light-skinned Indigenous people to approve of themselves as white – if they could. It was much safer to take this path to avoid ill-treatment from the non-indigenous type. In her late teenage years, she craved to know about her Cree origin, which endangered her grandfather’s teachings. She proposes to attend a naming ceremony and pays a costly price to an elder of the Cree heritage who names her Iskwe, also referred to as the blue sky woman. He also gave her a clan and colors, which would give her a sense of belonging. She embraces the Cree heritage with an aura and prefers it during a performance for identification. She is one songwriter who, from experience, calls it out as it is and seeks to have justice for the non-indigenous people.
During this time, Indigenous people were not considered a valid race, nor was it safe to identify themselves as such. Non-indigenous people forced the Indigenous to disown their cultural and linguistic heritage to fit in and have rights to specific justice systems, services, or livelihoods. The murder of the two Indigenous kids exposed the media coverage from a racist angle, leading her to call for justice against the discriminative treatment of Indigenous groups.
Lyrics Analysis
Have you seen the news today
Did you hear what they had to say
About our lost star
They take in ways I can’t understand
Place the blame on her like she was nobody’s child
Now all I see today is how they wash away
Our little star
You see the way they play
Say they’ll be a part of change
But I think they lie
Happens time and time and time again
Place the blame on him like he was nobody’s child
And all I see today is how they wash away
Our little star
Fire down, fire down, fire
Fire down, fire down, down, down
Fire down
Now all I see today is how they wash away
Our little star
Iskwe asks if anyone had seen the news that day of the dead little ones whose bright future was cut off untimely. She insists that the blame was placed on them as if they were nobody’s children and justice was unserved. The non-indigenous claim to amend and implement change, but she feels they lie as she remarks that it does not end there but continuously happens one day and another. Her emphasis on this case proves how Indigenous people are treated indifferently and blamed for their misfortunes, justice gets unserved, and the same continues daily.
The overall message of this song is Indigenous people ought to be treated as equivalent to non-indigenous. Discrimination in open places, legal justice, culture, and heritage of the Indigenous should be ended. This change can only be implemented by the Indigenous embracing their cultural and linguistic heritage without fear; only then can the rest bow to the arising of a people confident in their skin color, origin, and language. Iskwe was trying to bring an awakening to the Indigenous group that they deserve equal rights to any other person. They should not be blamed for any injustices against them because they are rightly entitled to human rights of protection and expression.
Bibliography
Bliss, K. (2019). Iskwe takes on callous coverage of indigenous youth murders in ‘little star’: Video premiere. Billboard. Web.
Mak, A., Giesbrecht, G., Ancheta, M., & Meisters, M. (2022). Paroles musique : Paroles de chansons et traductions. Paroles. Web.
Rockingham, G. (2019). Hamilton-based singer-songwriter shares her journey of indigenous self-discovery with new album. thespec.com. Web.