On Wednesday, October 13, 2021, the Old Town School of Folk Music’s third annual Indigenous Peoples’ Day Concert shook the rafters of the auditorium with Opliam’s rock-tinged blues, Huguito Gutierrez’s Andean pan flute, and the NuFolk Rebel Alliance’s mishmash of folkloric music, acoustic Americana, and tropical punk. Artist and activist Opliam (aka Liam McDonald, who’s of Kanienʼkehá꞉ka descent—his family comes from the Kahnawake Mohawk Territory) founded the annual event in partnership with the Old Town School, via his production company Sky People Entertainment. Run by Native Americans and also connected to the Indigenous Peoples’ Day Coalition, the concert showcases Native American musicians to advance a good cause: replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples’ Day in Chicago, as more than a dozen states and 130 cities have already done. The 2021 edition extended the event’s vision and mission to connecting decolonization struggles across the globe, and also featured Eugene Hütz, front man of multicultural punk band Gogol Bordello, who’s of Ukrainian, Russian, and Roma heritage. Plans for October 2022 involve a multivenue weekend that will further expand this inclusiveness by bringing together speakers, multidisciplinary artists, and powwow dancers and musicians from Indigenous peoples across the Americas (including Mexico and Canada). It hopes to become a signature Chicago event in a state that’s home to 75,000 tribal members representing the cultures and traditions of 150 first nations.
Refer to the closed final ballot to see all the categories and finalists that were voted on.