by Scott Roos
It’s now official. The Saskatchewan Indigenous Music Association will be holding their inaugural awards show on October 1st. S.I.M.A., initially the brainchild of Parenteau, was essentially formed due to the disparity in indigenous music awards being offered specifically in the province of Saskatchewan.
“Originally the idea was an award show. I thought ‘wouldn't it be cool to have an award show with powwow dancers, hoop dancers, fiddle players, everything - all indigenous music of Saskatchewan.’ I figured it would be neat to have an event like that and create an award show. That's how it all started in my head.” remarked S.I.M.A. founder Donny Parenteau in a brief interview with NSMZ.
“I've always been a firm believer of taking care of what's in your own province. I always call it 'take care of what's in your own backyard first',” Parenteau continued.
Parenteau is joined by fellow S.I.M.A board members Dale McArthur, Darwin Roy, Donny Parenteau, Grant Kimbley, Paul Lomheim, Roland Corrigal, Sheryl Kimbley, and Yvonne St. Germaine. On top of holding an annual awards show, the association intends on using the vast knowledge of their board to help aspiring indigenous musicians and songwriters.
“What we're trying to do is provide help and support to those little kids and people who are beginning in the four walls of their home or in their bedroom or their basement. We want to be able to take them and say 'You can go much further than this. Don't let those four walls stop your dream',” said Parenteau.
For the time being, S.I.M.A. is focusing on the awards show but the future indeed looks bright for indigenous music in the province with things off to a great start. The board intends on ironing out details for the awards show as soon as they can with a planned in person meeting coming up.
“We're gonna sit down and chat for an entire day basically. We're gonna go get a board room and talk,” concluded Parenteau.
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