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This year, the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts celebrates the diversity of stories across Canada with its new series, Made in Canada.
To kick this series off, and to conclude the 2025 ʔəm̓i ce:p xʷiwəl (Come Toward the Fire) festival, the Chan Centre invites listeners to an intergenerational evening of Indigenous excellence from Treaty 6 territory in Alberta, happening on Sept. 21. The night will feature legendary powwow and round dance drum group Northern Cree, who will make their Chan Centre debut in a powerful double bill with rising star Tia Wood.
Northern Cree are renowned as one of the best, most prolific and beloved acts in modern powwow music. They have won two Juno Awards, have been nominated for nine Grammys and appeared on the Grammy-winning album Gathering of Nations Pow Wow 1999.
Founded by brothers Steve, Randy, Charlie and Earl Wood in Maskwacis, Alberta, Northern Cree have been singing together for more than four decades. They have recorded 50 albums, appeared on NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts and made history in 2017 when they became the first powwow group to perform at the Grammys.
Hailing from Saddle Lake Cree Nation — with dual Plains Cree and Coast Salish heritage — Tia Wood is a born entertainer from a musical family. Her father, Earl Wood, is a founding member of Northern Cree. Her mother was also a singer in an all-women’s drum group called Fraser Valley, and her sister, Fawn Wood, is a Juno-winning singer of traditional and contemporary songs. For this special double bill, attendees will get to see both Tia Wood and her father perform onstage together.
Wood’s music first gained traction on social media, where she became known for her unique sound. In 2025, she was nominated for her first Juno for her debut EP Pretty Red Bird, released only months before. Her very first single, “Dirt Roads,” has become a community anthem that has climbed the charts with over three million combined streams in less than a year. She is excited and honoured to return to ʔəm̓i ce:p xʷiwəl at the Chan Centre with her band and horn section to sing new songs from her latest EP.
In anticipation of this event, the Chan Centre is giving away four tickets to one winner to see Northern Cree and Tia Wood on Sept. 21 at 7 p.m. Enter below.
About the Chan Centre
Since 1997, the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts has served as the home of possibility. A conduit for artists and communities to connect and engage, it is a vital space to explore, question and dream, offering a place where minds are provoked, tears are shed and the spirit is nourished.
Situated on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territory of the Musqueam people, the Chan Centre honours their enduring role as caretakers of this land, while embracing the diverse voices who share it. Artists who have performed at the Chan Centre in the past include Anoushka Shankar, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Rhiannon Giddens, Jeremy Dutcher, Ali Sethi and others.
For more information, visit the Chan Centre’s website. ![[Tyee]](/design-article.thetyee.ca/ui/img/yellowblob.png){kind=small}
Read more: Indigenous
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