Go behind the scenes as Sheshatshiu youths rock a video shoot

Under the bridge joining the communities of Sheshatshiu and North West River, six teenagers from Sheshatshiu Innu School are busting out their best dance moves and lip-syncing to lyrics blasting out from a portable speaker. 

They're shooting a music video to go with a song they just made with a team from N'we Jinan Creative Studios. The team travels to Indigenous communities across Canada, collaborating with local youth to write and record a song and accompanying music video.  

Over a four-day period, the Sheshatshiu students and the team created an original song called To Be Free, then shot a music video for the song.

Deanna Jordan-Montague, a Grade 12 student at Sheshatshiu Innu School, says the project is helping the students express a lot of hidden feelings. 

WATCH | Go behind the scenes as a video gets made in an Innu community: 

Straight outta Sheshatshiu: N’we Jinan helps kids make their own music

1 year ago

Duration 2:23

Go behind the scenes in Sheshatshiu as local youth shoot their own music video with N’we Jinan, a crew that does music education with First Nations across Canada.

"I hope the community learns from this song, and sees that most of us teenagers do go through a lot in our lives," said Jordan-Montague. 

"I hope the community sees that we can be great, we can be greater."   

"It's a beautiful project," said Veronica Blackhawk, a singer songwriter and facilitator with N'we Jinan. 

"These kids are bright and creative, and have some really thoughtful things to share in their song." 

The N'we Jinan team will put final touches on the song and video from their home bases in Winnipeg and Montreal, then release the completed project online in a few weeks.

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