Eekwol
{{Short description|Canadian rapper and activist}}
{{More footnotes needed|date=March 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2016}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| image = File:Eekwol Amigos Performance.jpg
| caption =
| birth_name = Lindsay Knight
| birth_place = Winnipeg, Canada
| genre = {{hlist|hip hop|Rap|First Nations}}
| occupation = {{hlist|Singer|rapper}}
| instrument = Vocals
| years_active = 2000-present
| label = Independent
| website = {{URL|facebook/eekwol}}
{{URL|instagram/therealeekwol}}
}}
Lindsay Knight, known by her stage name Eekwol, is a Canadian rapper and activist from the Muskoday First Nation in Saskatchewan.
{{Cite news
| last = Shannon Lacroix
| title = Saskatchewan artists set to take national stage
| work = The Prince Albert Daily Herald
| accessdate = 2013-02-09
| date = 25 April 2011
| url = http://www.paherald.sk.ca/Local/News/2011-04-25/article-2453309/Saskatchewan-artists-set-to-take-national-stage/1
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160304023717/http://www.paherald.sk.ca/Local/News/2011-04-25/article-2453309/Saskatchewan-artists-set-to-take-national-stage/1
| archive-date = 4 March 2016
| url-status = dead
}}
She is a graduate of the University of Regina{{Cite news
|last=David Sealy
|title=Eekwol Opportunity
|work=Degrees Magazine
|accessdate=2012-09-19
|date=2007
|url=https://www.uregina.ca/news/degrees.php?issue=3&article=6
|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130116200949/http://www.uregina.ca/news/degrees.php?issue=3&article=6
|url-status=dead
|archive-date=2013-01-16
}} and the University of Saskatchewan (M.A.). Her master's thesis, completed through the Department of Native Studies, examines past and present Indigenous music and how both are interconnected.{{cite thesis |last= Knight|first= Lindsay|date= 2013|title= Resistance in Indigenous Music: A Continuum of Sound|url= http://hdl.handle.net/10388/ETD-2013-08-1155|degree= Master's|chapter= |publisher= University of Saskatchewan|docket= |oclc= |access-date=2024-01-15}} She later worked as a lecturer in the Native Studies department for University of Saskatchewan Native Studies department.{{Cite web|url=http://www.eaglefeathernews.com/news/index.php?detail=1845|title=Sask Arts Board welcomes Lindsay Knight|website=Eaglefeathernews.com|access-date=2017-12-05}} She is currently a Ph.D. student in the Indigenous Studies Department at the University of Saskatchewan and was the university's first Indigenous storyteller-in-residence.{{cite web|title= Rapper and PhD student becomes first Indigenous Storyteller-in-Residence at U of S|work= The Star-Phoenix|
url=https://thestarphoenix.com/news/local-news/rapper-and-phd-student-becomes-first-indigenous-storyteller-in-residence-at-u-of-s|first=Nick|last=Pearce|date=17 December 2020|publisher=|accessdate= 22 March 2021}}
Personal life
Eekwol was born as Lindsay Knight and has two children.{{cite web|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/eekwol-is-canadas-first-female-aboriginal-emcee/|title=Eekwol Fights for Aboriginal Women's Rights Through Hip-Hop|first=Devin|last=Pacholik|date=13 January 2016|publisher=|access-date=17 March 2019}} She is a musician as well as an academic.{{cite web|url=https://www.cbc.ca/radio/unreserved/unreserved-radio-indigenous-on-cbc-radio-one-august-30-1.3207144/eekwol-says-beats-and-rhymes-the-new-way-to-tell-indigenous-story-1.3207382|title=Eekwol says beats and rhymes the new way to tell indigenous story|website=Cbc.ca|accessdate=17 March 2019}}
She is the niece of musician Chester Knight."Artist no longer low key: Local rapper mixes prairie roots into her music". Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, 28 June 2005.
Music career
Eekwol started studying hip-hop at age 16 and launched her first album in 1998.{{Cite news
|last=Tom Eremondi
|title=Hip hop artist takes on other life roles
|work=Canada.com
|accessdate=2012-09-19
|date=15 August 2012
|url=http://www.canada.com/entertainment/artist+takes+other+life+roles/7091786/story.html
}}{{dead link|date=December 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} She won Best Hip Hop/Rap Album at the 2005 Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards for the Apprentice to the Mystery album, along with Mils (her brother and producer, with whom she co-owns the indie label Mils Production).{{Cite web|url=https://indiancountrymedianetwork.com/culture/arts-entertainment/8-great-native-hip-hop-artists/|title=8 Great Native Hip-Hop Artists - Indian Country Media Network|website=Indiancountrymedianetwork.com|language=en-US|access-date=2017-12-05}} The same album was nominated at the Indian Summer Music Awards in 2005, and the Aboriginal Peoples’ Choice Music Awards in 2006.{{Cite web|title = CBC Music|url = http://music.cbc.ca/#!/artists/Eekwol|website = music.cbc.ca|accessdate = 2015-12-13}} Her video for "Too Sick" has been featured on the Aboriginal Peoples' Television Network, MTV Canada and Muchmusic. She served on the panel of adjudicators for the Saskatchewan Lieutenant Governor's Arts Awards in 2008.{{Cite web
|last = Leader-Post
|title = Lieutenant Governor's Arts Awards handed out in Regina
|work = canada.com
|accessdate = 2013-02-09
|date = 25 September 2008
|url = http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/news/story.html?id=8ee39f91-4f35-44cd-bcf4-5a61c791f79a
|url-status = dead
|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20110315050528/http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/news/story.html?id=8ee39f91-4f35-44cd-bcf4-5a61c791f79a
|archivedate = 15 March 2011
|df = dmy
}}
Eekwol works as a youth mentor and has participated in songwriting workshops focused on Cree youth education in arts.{{Cite book|jstor=j.ctt19jcghr.16|title=Indigenous Pop|last=Mackay|first=Gail A.|date=2016|publisher=University of Arizona Press|isbn=9780816509447|series=Native American Music from Jazz to Hip Hop|pages=201–223|chapter=A Reading of Eekwol's Apprentice to the Mystery as an Expression of Cree Youth's Cultural Role and Responsibility}}{{Cite news|title=Eekwol stays true to her roots:: [Final Edition]|last=Matheson|first=Emmet|date=21 July 2005|work=Leader Post|id={{ProQuest|349818903}}}}{{Dead link|date=August 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} She has also been an instructor for LIVE Arts Saskatchewan.{{Citation|last=LIVEartSaskatchewan|title=LIVE Arts Saskatchewan- Eekwol|date=2017-08-14|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNdR8cg6Dbc|accessdate=2017-12-05}}
Political activism
She is known for "a passionate stance on indigenous culture and struggle" in her lyrics,{{Cite web
| last = Tara-Michelle Ziniuk
| title = Eekwol – Niso
| work = !earshot : reviews
| accessdate = 2012-09-19
| date = 14 February 2010
| url = http://www.earshot-online.com/reviews/DisplayReview.cfm?DiscID=92965
}} and for political and social activities.{{Cite news
|volume = 11
|issue = 12
|last = Greg Silliphant
|title = We be Jammin' – and More
|work = Planet S Magazine
|accessdate = 2013-02-09
|date = 7 February 2010
|url = http://www.planetsmag.com/story.php?id=141
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130117061644/http://planetsmag.com/story.php?id=141
|archive-date = 17 January 2013
|url-status = dead
|df = dmy-all
}} These activities include sitting on an Indigenous Advisory Council, and as of 7 December 2015, becoming the Program Consultant for Aboriginal Arts and Community Engagement for the Saskatchewan Arts Board.
After attending one of the events in Saskatoon regarding Truth and Reconciliation [Canada's mandated organization that acknowledges and documents residential schools where she performed, she was deeply affected after hearing the stories of residential school survivors. Her reaction was to write about it, which is reflected in her song, "Ghosts".
Discography
- 1998 – Eekwol
- 1999 – Frequent Flyers of a Higher Science
- 2001 – Best Kept Secret
- 2002 – Soundsick
- 2004 – Apprentice to the Mystery
- 2007 – The List (with Mils)
- 2009 – Niso
- 2015 – Good Kill{{Cite web|title = Rapper with First Nation heritage inspires young people to succeed|url = http://globalnews.ca/news/2009907/rapper-with-first-nation-heritage-inspires-young-people-to-succeed/|website = Global News|accessdate = 2015-12-13}}
- 2019 - F.W.B.W (with T-Rhyme)
- 2024 - TMRWS
References
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Category:20th-century Canadian rappers
Category:20th-century Canadian women musicians
Category:20th-century First Nations musicians
Category:20th-century First Nations women
Category:20th-century First Nations people
Category:20th-century women rappers
Category:21st-century Canadian rappers
Category:21st-century Canadian women musicians
Category:21st-century First Nations musicians
Category:21st-century First Nations women
Category:21st-century women rappers
Category:Canadian women rappers
Category:Musicians from Winnipeg