Iskwē


Waseskwan Iskwew,, known mononomously as iskwē is an Indigenous singer-songwriter and activist of Cree, Dené and Irish heritage. She received a Juno Award nomination for Indigenous Music Album of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2018 and was longlisted for the Polaris Music Prize for her second album The Fight Within.
Originally from Winnipeg, Manitoba, iskwē has lived in Los Angeles, New York City, and Toronto, and lives now in Hamilton, Ontario.
She released her debut album Iskwé in 2013.
Bridging cross-cultural aesthetics while exploring her own struggle to both fit into and break away from modern Western archetypes has been an important part of iskwē's artistic vision since the release of her WCMA nominated self-titled debut album. Her debut single "Nobody Knows," produced by Juno Award nominees The Darcys and featured in the Netflix series Between, turned a spotlight on the more than 1200 missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada.
iskwē garnered a win at the 2017 Western Canadian Music Awards for Electronic/Dance Artist of the Year and her 2017 album The Fight Within recently received a JUNO nomination for Indigenous Music Album of the Year. She followed up with a number of singles before releasing The Fight Within in 2017. In 2018, she received a SOCAN Songwriting Prize nomination for the song "Healers".
iskwē's third album, acākosīk, was released on 8 November 2019. The album was a Juno Award nominee for Adult Alternative Album of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2020, and her song "Breaking Down" was shortlisted for the 2020 SOCAN Songwriting Prize.

Discography

Iskwé Album Tracks
The Fight Within Album Tracks
acākosīk Album Tracks