Uploaded September 2019 | Updated September 2026, 12 hours ago

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"ôtênaw" appears on nêhiyawak's debut album 'nipiy' out October 24, 2019 on Arts & Crafts.
nehiyawak.lnk.to/nipiy || nehiyawak.com

nêhiyawak hails from amiskwaciy (Edmonton) on Treaty 6 territory. On the band’s debut album, nipiy – out October 24 on Arts & Crafts – the trio of Indigenous artists – Kris Harper (vocals, guitars), Marek Tyler (drums), and Matthew Cardinal (synths, bass) – transcends a new intersection of traditional storytelling and contemporary sound. A collection of songs strongly inspired by the Idle No More movement, says Harper, “nipiy is for those who don’t seem to fit in for myriads of reasons. To inspire others to use their voice and to send messages to future generations.”

nêhiyawak – whose name refers directly to their nêhiyaw ancestry – is a spirited expression of Indigeneity in the modern world. nipiy, which translates to water, is the title of nêhiyawak's first full length album. The flow and pace of the album, symbolic of the flow and pace of water, begins and ends with pieces dedicated to kisiskâciwanisîpiy (North Saskatchewan River), a river that flows through the center of amiskwaciy. In the band's words, “There are many important ideas and teachings that we were raised with in our lives, but few more important that water. It’s a modern conversation with complex meanings and understandings. Our record is dedicated to the life-giving force of water.”

To mark the album’s announcement, today the band shares nipiy’s first single – “ôtênaw” – which features the viscerally affective interplay of sonic exploration and cultural meaning that is core to nêhiyawak. The song – the apex of tension on nipiy – puts front and centre the affective and deeply considered lyrics of Harper, here in his most impassioned and strained voice.

“ôtênaw means city in nêhiyawēwin,” explains Harper. “There are things being spoken to that are directly about cities and how they dominate the social fabric across a plethora of cultures all over the world. Also trying to understand not only historical ways, but also the contemporary factors that lead to this apparatus as something that continues to work and also questioning what that work is. For instance, there is a major reference in the bridge about the creation of ‘they’: not only linguistically but also how that impacts the psychology of people who live in cities.”

Produced by Colin Stewart (The New Pornographers, Black Mountain, Destroyer), nêhiyawak’s sound combines terse post-rock soundscapes with surreal pop and sheer ambient aspects. Anchored by the hollowed pounding of Tyler’s traditional carved cedar log drums and Cardinal’s electronic inflections, nipiy combines the teachings of nêhiyawak’s elders with the band’s own interests in music, instrumentation and lyrics. nêhiyawak’s debut album tells their story of collective experience – a band empowered by history and progress, compelled to add to the great body of work. As Harper says, “Our goal is not to build up a group of individuals, but rather keep kicking at the door built in front of many.”

LYRICS:

See something clearly.
It’s always been that way

So now I surrender to what’s going to happen
Because no one will ever really know
Just how am I supposed to let this happen?
Please could you remind me what’s going on?

You found a lucky penny.
So now everything is changed
To live isn’t always an option
To give would kill your shame

So now I surrender to what’s going to happen
Because no one will ever really know
Just how am I supposed to let this happen?
Please could you remind me what’s going on?

We have among us some gentle hands
We also have some others harder to understand
That’s why ‘they’ was made, no you cannot pretend
While wasting one another in the name of new land.