2014 NAIG Day 3 Cultural Village: Inez and Constant Reminder Perform (Pics and Story)

PLEASE SEE FULL GALLERY BELOW OF 2014 NAIG CULTURAL VILLAGE – DAY 3

Regina, SK – Encouraging youth is the foundation of the North American Indigenous Games and culture is a strong a component of that ideal, including main stage entertainment through the week at the Cultural Village held at First Nations University of Canada (FNUniv).

Two favourites from Tuesday were the Saskatchewan band, Constant Reminder and British Columbia Pop Star, Inez (Jasper); both of whom believe strongly in using their music and their lives to encourage youth to live life to the fullest in positive and healthy ways.

Constant Reminder rocked the Cultural Village on Tuesday, impressing the crowd with their unique brand of rock and roll to create a firestorm of rock and roll favourites and original tunes with mastery and charm.

Constant Reminder, a band of for brothers ranging in ages from 13 to 20, says that their ultimate success as a band is a pleasant side effect of the work they do. It is a band formed several years ago by a father who was searching for a way to bond with his son’s, looking to music as a way to achieve this goal while providing his boys with something to learn and strive for as they grow into men.

What youth and visitors to the Cultural Village of all ages saw Tuesday evening was the culmination of that philosophy and years of learning, practicing and traveling to perform a variety of gigs in situations varying from large stadiums and small schools throughout the province. While the large stadium performances are an amazing way for the band to showcase their incredible skill, the band continues to travel to the schools, passing on their message of hard work and clean living to youth.

“Constant Reminder is about showing people, youth especially, that they can achieve their dreams too but they have to work hard at it,” says Cole Constant, lead singer for the band.

Headliner for Tuesday’s Cultural Village stage was Inez Jasper of British Columbia.

Her iconic blend of traditional First Nations music with contemporary hip hop creates a perfect musical blend that had sky rocketed her success particularly with young people.

The energy from the anticipating crowd vibrated through the cultural grounds as Jasper took over the stage, with youth running up for a closer look at this pop star who also represents what they, as young First Nations youth, can realistically achieve with talent and a tremendous amount off hard work.

Jasper is more of a real model to the young people at these games than just a Canadian pop talent – because only a few years ago, she was at North American Indigenous Games as a young athlete.

“I’m so excited to be here,” she says back stage just before her performance.

“This is a really exciting time for the young people who are here competing as athletes. I remember what it was like. I was here in 1997, I took some medals home and that experience changed my life. I learned a lot of life lessons so it is a thrill for me to be here performing on stage for the youth tonight.”

Youth from throughout North America, along with their coaches and chaperones found all the performances on Tuesday inspiring as well as entertaining.

Youth from Team Quebec particularly enjoyed the blending of musical styles and tradition on stage Tuesday, where the line up featured all styles from Jasper’s brand of pop, to the Inuvet Throat singers, to Rock and Roll entertainers to the young Dene hand drummers.

This was a consensus throughout the evening crowd that appreciated not only the talent on stage but the work and thought the organizers put into the show.