Connie LeGrande

ᑳ ᑮ ᓯ ᒧ ᐤ

Cikwes is a nehiyaw ᓀᐦᐃᔭᐤ soul singer and songwriter from Bigstone Cree Nation. She currently resides in amiskwaciy waskahikan, also known as Edmonton, Alberta. In 2023, her album, kâkîsimo ᑳᑮᓯᒧᐤ, a full length Cree language album, was nominated for the Juno Awards for Traditional Indigenous Artist or Group of the Year, the Summer Solstice Indigenous Music Awards and was short listed for Edmonton’s Music Prize. Cikwes recently graduated from York University with her Masters in Music, Fall 2022. Her music explores her Cree language, nêhiyawêwin ᓀᐦᐃᔭᐁᐧᐃᐧᐣ and nehiyaw ᓀᐦᐃᔭᐤ musical methods that include chanting cahkasinahikanak ᒐᐦᑲᓯᓇᐦᐃᑲᐣ also known as spirit markers or syllabics. Her intimate performances are accompanied with stories and laughter. Using her breath and the Cree syllabics she invokes a feeling of comfort similar to that of a wepison, a traditional baby swing. She is a matriarch for the revitalization of the Cree language and Nehiyaw musical methods. Cikwes mesmerizes with her beautiful voice as she sings with her ancestors to Manito (the great mystery).