SINGLE “One of These Days” out now via Ishkōdé Records / Civilians.
January 30, 2025: Amanda Rheaume announces The Truth We Hold, a new album set for release on April 11, 2025 via Ishkōdé Records. In title and spirit, The Truth We Holdis a collection of songs of Métis people, places and stories, across centuries. A Métis songbook for future generations, the new album maps events, place names and family history with a careful, loving hand, drawing untold and unacknowledged experiences into the light.
Out today, with roadhouse twang and fiddle, “One of These Days” explores the fiery (explosive) truth about Agawa Bay. Inspired by a visit and the generosity of Métis historian Mitch Case, “One of These Days” examines the 1968 government-led burning of Métis homes from multiple perspectives. The accompanying video, filmed on the shore of Agawa Bay, puts faces to the decade-spanning saga of the Métis homes on what is now Lake Superior Provincial Park, with historical photos of families that lived there lovingly restored and included in the retelling. The photos were donated to the Sault Ste. Marie Métis Heritage Centre by local Métis elder, Dolores Pinder, whose voice opens the video.
“This is one of many stories of Métis people being displaced, and this story in particular is almost impossible to find on the internet or in the history books,” says Rheaume. “Métis communities have existed on these lands for over two and a half centuries, yet many people aren’t familiar with our histories. I am honoured and privileged to be able to tell this and other true stories on my album, in song. ‘One of These Days’ is dedicated to the cherished Métis elder and knowledge holder Mrs. Mary Dolores Pinder née Bussineau”
With the seasoned and savvy production of Colin Linden, Rheaume’s new album is a satisfying blend of classic rootsy twang with folkier traditional elements, primarily the lively Métis fiddle of Alyssa Delbaere-Sawchuk and accordion, that suffuse the collection with a magical energy and ground the sound in Métis musical history. Like a wooden floor scuffed with the heelmarks of kitchen parties long before, the instrumentation brings a welcoming homeyness and comfort to the stories, harrowing and joyful alike. A safe place for troubled memories, painful truths and resilience alike, Rheaume’s songs are a hearth for the past, pained and precious.
The Truth We Hold is first and foremost a living archive, preserving story and the true details of events in song. The people, places and stories of this new album criss-cross the country, building a new type of map where many rivers meet. Under Rheaume’s careful, delicate gathering of stories, a guidebook to The Truth We Hold reveals the breadth and depth of this collection’s sources, inspiration and scope.
The People, Places and Stories of The Truth We Hold:
I Won’t Hide – Released September 19, 2024 to mark Powley Day, named for Steve and Roddy Powley of Sault Ste. Marie and the Métis Nation of Ontario
One of These Days – Features the words of Dolores Pinder, granddaughter of Dave Bussineau, set in Agawa Bay, Ontario.
Unforgettable – Based on a conversation with Michif Manitoban author Chantal Fiola (“Rekindling the Sacred Fire: Métis Ancestry and Anishinaabe Spirituality”) about what the next generation of Michif/Métis children need from us now.
#44 – Set in Île-à-la-Crosse, SK (“where the rivers meet” in its Cree name), the location of Île-à-la-Crosse Residential School for over 150 years. This song and “Dream If You Want To” tell Robert Merasty’s story, shared with his permission, who attended the Ile-a-la-Crosse Residential school and is still alive today.
Distant Drum – A traditional composition by John Arcand, ‘Master of the Métis fiddle,’ and Member of the Order of Canada, whose compositions and playing have carried the spirit of the Métis fiddle tradition.
Big John McNeil – A popular reel across the Métis Nation, known as the ‘Métis National Anthem’ in Manitoba, attributed to Peter Milne.
Flossie’s – The story of Aunt Flossie of Lac Ste. Anne, Alberta, originally called Manito Sahkahigan (Cree for “Lake of the Spirit”). Every Sunday after mass, the community would head over to Flossie’s for a Métis kitchen party with fiddles, dancing, and the popular Métis dish “bullets and bang”.
Annie’s Whip – Anne Bannatyne was a 19th century Métis woman and Rheaume’s ancestor from the Red River. This is one of many stories on The Truth We Hold centering Métis women.
Can’t Make Us Gone – Another little-known story in Métis history about the many Métis families who lived near what is now called ‘Rivière aux Îlets de Bois,’ near Carman, Manitoba.
Steps Of The Old Ones – Original composition by Alyssa Delbaere Sawchuk, about Métis homeland and ancestors.
ABOUT AMANDA RHEAUME
At the start of every show, whether on stage in Chile, Nashville or Brisbane, Australia, Rheaume introduces herself as a Citizen of the Métis Nation of Ontario whose Red River roots run deep, interwoven with Anishinaabe relatives from Lac Seul and mixed settler relations. Unfamiliar as some of these places may be to her audience, her introduction is both a greeting and a foundation, situating Rheaume and her songs in multifold lineages of family and community.
In Rheaume’s music, songs of resistance and resilience travel centuries. With a gentle yet unflinching touch, Rheaume has grown to be a chronicler of stories and people whose acts – out of necessity and opportunity alike – cascade through time and space, from the 18th century Red River Settlement to her own doorstep. With curiosity and empathy, Rheaume has become a bearer of history, unearthing and preserving Métis stories in song. In her gutsy guitar-driven style, punctuated with lively Métis fiddle, Rheaume’s heartland rock is built to last, resolute in rhythm and unswerving in purpose.
For her newest album, The Truth We Hold, Rheaume traveled across the homelands, visiting communities and individuals whose collective experiences make up a living history of Métis joy, strength and struggle. From Northwest Ontario to rural Saskatchewan, Rheaume’s new collection explores moments that have shaped Métis history, from landmark court battles to silenced injustices, transmitting a message of interconnectedness that dissolves geographical and historical distances.
The recipient of the 2024 Spirit of Folk Award, 2023 Canadian Fold Music Award for Indigenous Songwriter of the Year and the 2023 Capital Music Awards’ Album of the Year, Rheaume has released six full-length albums to date. Beyond recording and touring, Rheaume continues her ever-expanding role as an essential advocate of Indigenous music infrastructure and community. As a co-founder of Ishkode Records and International Indigenous Music Summit and founding board member of the Indigenous Music Office, a commitment to raising Indigenous sovereignty through the medicine of music motivates all of Rheaume’s work.
