Remote First Nation welcomes Blue Rodeo musicians for festival

The remote community of Moose Factory in northern Ontario will host a performance byBlue Rodeo's Jim Cuddy and Greg Keeloron Thursday night for the annual Gathering of our People festival.

On Wednesday, the duo performed in Kashechewan First Nation, which is also located along the James Bay coast.

Cuddy said it's important to them to visit remote First Nations.

"That's the way you really come back with stories and let people know what it's like up there," he told CBC News.

"I know there's been a lot of water warnings up here and it puts a fire under your advocacy to actually see what people are having to deal with."

Blue Rodeo has long advocated for Indigenous rights. The song Fools Like You, for example, is about treaty rights and returning land to Indigenous people.

Cuddy said he doesn't believe his songs have changed anything, but he hopes they at least make people more aware about certain issues.

"I think the most we could possibly hope for is awareness," he said.

"I think for a lot of people, these problems are not on their minds. They're much more caught up in the details of their own lives, whether they be urban or rural. And so I think it's just awareness, just just making people aware."

For the Moose Factory concert, he said they will play a lot of their hits.

"These are the gigs where you don't fool around to try to do lesser known songs because these are people that don't get a chance to see you very much," Cuddy said.

Rachel Corston, the Gathering of our People festival's assistant co-ordinator, said they had some money saved up over the last two years of the COVID-19 pandemic that allowed them to book larger acts like the Blue Rodeo musicians and country artist Johnny Reid.

Corston said the longstanding festival is a modern version of the gatherings that Cree communities have always had during the summer.

"So our people used to live in the bush in the winter, and then they would come to the islands and the towns and congregate together," she said.

Corston said the community is excited to see Cuddy and Keelor perform.