I’d forgotten that they were going to announce the nominations that day … it had fallen off my radar. And I didn’t understand, I thought she was telling me that she was nominated, and then I was like, ‘My album, too?’ That was a really nice way to receive the news.
I’ve always been really proud of her and really happy to stand with her and call her a colleague. A couple of years ago, in November 2013, we were both asked to share a showcase at Mundial Montréal with two other women. I went on second-last and Tanya closed the show. And people were just blown away at what kind of talent comes out of the North. That night, I won one of the music prizes for that festival and she won the other one, and I was like, ‘Northern women are taking over the world!’"
Yellowknife-based Dene artist Leela Gilday on finding out about her Juno nomination for her 2014 album, Heart of the People. She won a Juno for her second album, Sedzé, in 2006. On Sunday, Tanya Tagaq nabbed the Juno award for Aboriginal Album of the Year forAnimism, which also won the Polaris Prize last year.
