As the Native American Music Awards (NAMMYs) take centre stage on Nov. 2, Leroy Joe can count himself and his bandmates — twice — among the nominees.
Joe leads two bands based in Mount Currie, that both have new recordings out.
The Spiritual Warriors is made up of father-daughter duo, Leroy and Daisy Joe, as well as Russell Wallace and Rich Doucet, who is from Pemberton. The Stl'atl'imx Friends also features Leroy and Daisy, and Calvina Smith, Julia Schneider and Brit Peters. They came together for The Kindness Project, connecting five of the 11 Stl'atl'imx Nation communities they have associations with, including Lílw̓ at, N̓ Quatqua, Samahquam, Skatin and Xa'xtsa.
Joe produced both projects, composed in Ucwalmícwts, and wrote most of the songs that are up for accolades in four categories: Best Song, Best New Group, Best Historical, Linguistic or Spoken Word Recording.
Ancestors by the Spiritual Warriors was also nominated for Best World Music Recording. The Kindness Project was also nominated for Best Folk Recording.
"I was beyond ecstatic when I got the news," Joe said in a press release. "I was hoping for one nomination for each of them."
The Kindness Project executive producer and Southern Stl'atl'imx Health Society (SSHS) health director, Rosemary Stager Wallace, said it is exciting to see the recording internationally recognized.
"Sharing the CD's message of addressing lateral violence through caring, love, and understanding is wonderful," Wallace said in a press release.
Public voting for the NAMMYs is currently open at www.nativeamericanmusicawards.com.
The awards ceremony takes place in Niagra Falls, New York on Nov. 2.
