National Day for Truth and Reconciliation
September 30th marks the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in Canada—a day to honour residential school survivors, acknowledge the lasting impact on Indigenous communities, and encourage reflection, learning, and healing.
More and more teachers are exploring ways to thoughtfully integrate Indigenous perspectives into their teaching. It’s natural to wonder how to do this respectfully, and while concerns about misrepresentation may arise, approaching these topics with care helps create a classroom where every student feels seen, valued, and supported.
Indigenous music across North America is wonderfully diverse, with each nation and community having its own traditions, instruments, and styles. One of the most meaningful ways to include Indigenous perspectives is to learn from the Indigenous peoples in your own region. This ensures the music and stories you share are accurate, culturally grounded, and connected to the communities who live them today.
At Musicplay Online, all Indigenous resources come directly from the artists themselves and are shared with their permission. This allows you to bring authentic stories and culture into your classroom while honouring the voices of those who share them.
Musicplay recognizes that our office is situated on Treaty 7 land, the traditional territory of the Blackfoot, Tsuut'ina and Stoney Nakoda peoples, and that the central Alberta region falls under Treaty 6, traditional Métis, Cree and Saulteaux territory. We honour the First Peoples who have lived here since time immemorial. This is where we will strive to honour and transform our relationships with one another.
About the Song: Leo McGilvray is a Cree songwriter who uses his music to help heal people who have experienced grief and loss. His song “Sakitohwin,” which means “love,” came to him in a dream while working with survivors of childhood abuse. In the First Nations tradition, songs are passed down orally and learned by rote. This song was performed by the Prince Charles School Choir in Edmonton, Alberta, directed by Sherryl Sewepagaham.
Teaching Suggestions: Sing the entire song as it is taught. Listen to the students’ drumming and try adding hand drums to your own performance.
N'we JianEmpowering Indigenous Youth Through Music and Cultural Expression N’we Jinan, meaning “we live here” in Eastern Cree, was founded in 2014 by Joshua Iserhoff. Initially a week-long program for youth, it focuses on sound recording, music production, songwriting, and performance. Using a Mobile Music and Production Studio, participants create original songs centered on cultural identity, language, and self-acceptance. Musicplay is proud to showcase these amazing songs created by Indigenous youth from across Canada. Today, we’d like to highlight “Echo My Soul,” written, recorded, and filmed by students from Lac Seul First Nation (Obijikokaang) in Northern Ontario.
All N'we Jian Resources on MusicplayOnline
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Discover More Indigenous Music for Your Classroom!
We’ve gathered a selection of Canadian resources for elementary music educators to explore Indigenous songs and culturally meaningful materials. These tools are designed to help you integrate Indigenous music and perspectives respectfully and engagingly, enriching your students’ learning experiences.
- Music Alive Program (National Arts Centre)
- Music Counts Resources:
On With the Show – Ideas for Assemblies, Concerts and Special Days
with Joyce Holoboff
Wednesday, October 15th, 2025 @ 4:30-5:30 MST (60 Minutes)
A recorded version will be available if you are unable to watch live.
About the Webinar:
Performances provide music students with many valuable learning experiences, yet they can be a huge source of stress for music teachers. Joyce will present a variety of ideas ranging from quick assembly ideas to full concert performances, as well as tips for planning. This session will offer a number of tried and true performance ideas for music teachers to use for big and small events throughout the school year. Effective concert planning and management strategies will also be included. Session will start with upcoming special days, ie) Hallowe’en, Remembrance Day, Christmas, and the continue with ideas for the remainder of the school year.
Musicplay Team Updates:
We wanted to take the opportunity to share some updates from the team:
Content Updates:
Our team has been hard at working creating new content! Here are some of our newest additions:
- Crossword and Word Search added to Exploring Genres of Music
- Cup Game demo videos added to Soda Pop from KPOP Demon Hunters
- Solfa Practice
- Echo Sing videos added to new Level 17 (so, la, do re mi)
- Echo Sing videos added to new Level 18 (so, la, do re mi so)
Development Updates:
- No updates this week
