TORONTO — Jeremy Dutcher has won the 2018 Polaris Music Prize for his album “Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa.”The project, which is performed in the Wolostoq language, was selected by an 11-member jury as the Canadian album of the year based on its artistic merit. Dutcher’s album was a culmination of five years of work that involved digging into an archive of recordings of his ancestors dating back nearly a century. The trained operatic singer, who was raised partly in the Tobique First Nation in New Brunswick, sings the album entirely in the endangered Wolastoq language in hopes of preserving its roots. Dutcher accepted the prize saying he hopes it marks a step in the “continuum of Indigenous excellence.”The Polaris prize is considered one of the country’s most prestigious music awards. Former winners include Arcade Fire, Buffy Sainte-Marie and Kaytranada.

Source: National Post September 18, 2018 03:45 UTC