Sutherland is a Juno-nominated Cree singer-songwriter from Attawapiskat who has built a national audience without leaving home<\/p>\n
\u201cTo know someone, you must meet them on their turf.\u201d<\/p>\n
It is an idiomatic expression \u2013 to truly understand a person, you must observe them in their own environment.<\/p>\n
Not stalking, but I am following someone. I think it is a back roads connection.<\/p>\n
On the James Bay coast, he is a celebrity; everyone knows of Adrian Sutherland.<\/p>\n
He is one of their own. In context, someone who is like them. And he is.<\/p>\n
He is a Juno-nominated Cree singer, songwriter and author from Attawapiskat, one with the land and very entuned with his culture.<\/p>\n
This third story was saved beyond the other two<\/a>\u00a0James Bay winter road stories<\/a>.<\/p>\n There was a profound interest generated in this Indigenous talent when listening on January 19, The Current with Matt Galloway<\/a>\u00a0on CBC Radio.<\/p>\n A winter road trek to the James Bay hinterland was not yet a thought.<\/p>\n So, I listened to the interview and then listened to his music<\/a>.<\/p>\n Hmmm\u2026there\u2019s more than something here, I was intrigued. Here\u2019s a sincere person who combines passion with his past and present. Someone who tells cultural stories about what matters through music and prose.<\/p>\n So why does he stay?<\/p>\n What we don\u2019t know<\/p>\n It was a long way to go for the answer. It is their environment.<\/p>\n It was a winter road round trip from Moosonee, about 600 km, a long day, it is the \u201cturf.\u201d<\/p>\n But along the way, you start to comprehend by observation.<\/p>\n Living in a remote James Bay community – such as Attawapiskat, Fort Albany, Kashechewan (Kash) – is defined by a cultural alliance to the land with an intense isolation that is not familiar to us.<\/p>\n But it is the home environment of these three coastal Mushkegowuk (western Cree) communities.<\/p>\n This place is a blend of traditional Cree culture with modern challenges created by colonialism. Life is dictated by the seasons, with extreme weather conditions and significant reliance on winter roads, air or water transportation in the other three months of the year.<\/p>\n Climate change is increasingly impacting travel, with shorter windows for winter roads.<\/p>\n What we don\u2019t know. Communities often feature similarly designed, close-together prefabricated housing. There are no malls, traffic lights or Tim Horton\u2019s (there is a small Tim\u2019s outlet in the Northern Store in Kash, but it has remained closed for months because of the water quality crisis.) While there are schools, band offices, and sportsplexes, many communities face challenges with housing quality and access to clean water or high-quality healthcare.<\/p>\n Their life involves balancing modern demands with traditional ways. Young people are conflicted between the desire to explore the ‘outside world’\u00a0and their home community. The local economy often lacks diverse opportunities, leading many to depart for education and work.<\/p>\n I need someone to explain this context.<\/p>\n Adrian\u2019s home<\/p>\n We met at The Moose restaurant, which his family owns.<\/p>\n I find him to be genteel and forthcoming.<\/p>\n Adrian describes the geography \u2013 the sense of his place, that\u2019s important to me \u2013 to him.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople often ask me where I come from and what it\u2019s like living in a remote community, \u201che elaborates. \u201cI live in the Far North of Ontario. That\u2019s 1,054km away from Toronto, and 501km away from Timmins. To travel out, I fly Air Creebec to Timmins, and then board connecting Air Canada flights to shows in other cities.<\/p>\n Adrian loves his geography.<\/p>\n He says the Cree people rely on James Bay for fishing and travelling, as well as the freshwater rivers that flow into the bay. I look at the map – Attawapiskat, La Grande, Eastmain, Rupert, Broadback, Nottaway, Harricana, Moose, Albany, and Ekwan.<\/p>\n I have written about projects<\/a>\u00a0undertaken without consultation. The Harricana was another. It was a grandiose water diversion scheme, commonly known as the Great Recycling and Northern Development (GRAND) Canal proposal. A massive engineering concept designed to capture fresh water flowing into James Bay and divert it southward into the Great Lakes and the United States. Believe it. Proposed in the 1950s, the project aimed to create a freshwater bay\u00a0or reservoir by damming the mouth of James Bay, reversing the flow of the Harricana River, and creating a 533-kilometre\u00a0southward canal system.)<\/p>\n He describes the largest island in James Bay, Akimiski Island, about 80 km away from Attawapiskat. It is a sanctuary for migratory birds like snow geese, as well as other wildlife, and plants used for herbal medicines. In the spring, snow geese live in the southern parts of James Bay until the northern part thaws. Seals, polar bears, and beluga whales also live in the same area.<\/p>\n \u201cHunting and fishing are a big part of life that help sustain local families. My family and I fish for trout, northern pike, and walleye. In the fall, we head up to the tundra, about 225 kilometres north of Attawapiskat. The tundra can be a harsh place year-round. It has frequent snowstorms, temperatures as low as -60\u00b0C, and fog patches from the Hudson Bay coast. It\u2019s also the birthing ground for barren-land caribou, and thousands of waterfowl migrate there each year to nest.\u201d<\/p>\n There are local politics, which I try and stay apart from.<\/p>\n \u201cAlthough it would be easier to move to the city and live the \u201ccity-life,\u201d I have chosen to stay in my ancestral lands to stay close to my roots. I believe it\u2019s important to pass on hunting, fishing, and outdoor knowledge to the younger generations. The knowledge I carry with me was passed down by my grandparents and their grandparents. I\u2019m committed to sharing it with future generations so they can keep our traditions alive.\u201d<\/p>\n And this is the segue to his book and music.<\/p>\n The music<\/p>\n He is one of the only professional recording artists in all of Canada who resides on a remote fly-in First Nation, fluent in his native language.<\/p>\n How to describe his singing voice as a unique texture.<\/p>\n From his website. \u201cHis melding of folk, rock, roots, and blues draws inspiration from his northern life, traditional lands, and Cree culture. His music touches hearts, with soul-stirring songs rippling far beyond stages and airwaves.\u201d<\/p>\n It is why I eventually journeyed to his concert.<\/p>\n He released four albums with his band Midnight Shine before turning to solo projects.<\/p>\n Since 2021, he has been nominated twice for the Juno Awards and won Best Americana Album\u00a0for the World Entertainment Awards.<\/p>\n Another example of staying home.<\/p>\n In 2025, he proudly released the music video for I’m Not Afraid,\u00a0an uplifting new song co-written with youth from Kashechewan First Nation as part of the community\u2019s Choose Life Program. This Nishnawbe Aski Nation (representing 49 First Nations) program advocates for and promotes the mental, emotional, and behavioural well-being of youth.<\/p>\n Sutherland travelled to Kash on three separate occasions to work closely with a group of local youth, writing a song rooted in resilience and connection. He says the result is a heartfelt anthem paired with a music video that captures the spirit of hope and collaboration behind the project.<\/p>\n The Work of Our Hands<\/p>\n The Work of Our Hands – A Cree Meditation on the Real was released in 2025.<\/p>\n If you order the book, you will appreciate this assessment: \u201cIt is an easy read, but it isn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n It is a memoir that explains a once-troubled life and a way of life that we can\u2019t relate to.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was challenging to confront the past and express my thoughts.\u201d<\/p>\n It starts and ends with a relationship with a \u201cnatural to supernatural\u201d polar bear experience and his relationship with the Creator.<\/p>\n There are stories of the land \u2013 from the wisdom of the Elders. He recounts the real and unreal environmental factors of lifestyle, of addiction, despair, and suicide. There are familiar dysfunctional relationships, siblings being taken away by CAS. He became a schoolyard bully and fighter.<\/p>\n On page 63, \u201cOn the sidewalk near my house was a large plastic box where the municipality (Ottawa then) stored the sand and salt used to keep the sidewalks clear of ice. That was where I slept. I could keep watch there for my mom to come home\u2026I managed to stave off freezing to death in that box by burning cardboard boxes\u2026so I ran again.\u201d<\/p>\n Reading the book brings the reader closer to the distant reality.<\/p>\n The reasons behind the book.<\/p>\n \u201cIn a world yearning for meaning, the path to spiritual renewal may lie through the discipline and freedom that only hard work can show us.\u201d<\/p>\n He explains, \u201cLife is hard in Attawapiskat. Outsiders see poverty and despair, the sagging, mould-filled houses with generations packed into each one. The substance abuse and the suicides. The decaying water system, that has come to symbolize the everyday injustice faced by First Nations\u2019 communities.\u201d<\/p>\n For him, everyday life in the community means choosing a difficult path.<\/p>\n \u201cWe learn from the contours and hard edges of the world and striving to do what is right. That is freedom. How many of us can say we are free?\u201d<\/p>\n He explores his James Bay world through the experiential use of his hands. He says, \u201cStories come from holding a guitar, a hammer, a rifle, or a canister used to carry water to his family home, and the materials from which the traditional Cree sweat lodge is constructed.\u201d These are the symbols of his stories and songs.<\/p>\n He paints a portrait of a world that we are not familiar with. He said there\u2019s a way the world itself can teach us right and wrong, \u201cAs clearly as we can detect a musical note that is off-key.\u201d<\/p>\n He knows the answer to the question in a stoic way that is part of knowing the intimate sense of place.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy do I choose to live here? is misleading. I don\u2019t choose to live here any more than I chose to be born here. This is where the meaning is, whether I liked it or not. We are all shaped by our encounters with the world around us. I was shaped by this world. It\u2019s not a question of comfort. Many parts of the world are more comfortable than Attawapiskat. But being part of a place and merely living somewhere are two different things. I am part of this place.\u201c<\/p>\n He is married to Judy, a father of four, grandfather of seven. His book is dedicated to her. He is a fluent speaker.<\/p>\n He is a master corporal with the Canadian Rangers. The Canadian Rangers are a specialized sub-component of the Canadian Army Reserve providing a military presence in remote, coastal, and northern regions. Comprised of about 5,000 part-time reservists, often from Indigenous communities, they act as the “eyes and ears” on the land.<\/p>\n He gives back by leading young people on wilderness initiatives.<\/p>\n