Kickin' it old school with Leonard Sumner

Armed with a smooth country sound that blends folk with hip-hop and blues, Leonard Sumner is bringing an original flavour to the Canadian music scene. Strapped with his guitar, the Anishinaabek musician has been travelling across the country with the goal of telling stories, his way.

Sumner is from Little Saskatchewan First Nation, and has an uncanny ability to tell stories and is able to connect with a diverse group of listeners.

• Leonard Sumner's fusion of country and hip-hop rooted in family and community

• Musician Leonard Sumner shares stories of young indigenous life through his music

Having grown up with a Christian grandfather, Sumner never really had a chance to experience ceremonial aspects of the culture. It wasn't til he was an older adult that he was able to reconnect with his roots.

"When I went to the sweat, I feel like that's when I first had an idea of who I was as a person. I connected to what it meant to be as an Anishinaabek person" said Sumner.

"I was in turmoil going to my first ceremony as a young Anishinaabek" he recalls. "I had a little battle within myself cause my grandfather that I (grew up with) was a Christian, but my grandfathers before him practiced Midwewin or Anishinaabe culture."

The Midewiwin were a society that have kept the customs, medicines and traditional knowledge for the Anishinaabek community alive for 1000's of years.

A passion for storytelling

He finds his inspiration for writing by observing the things that he sees around him. He started writing hip-hop when he was 14-years-old and has transformed into a respected writer.

"Everything that I write about is based on a true story."

"A lot of artists have tried to tell the story of Indigenous people. And they may not have understood what it actually meant. They didn't live the stories. I feel like it's important to have a young Anishinaabek person come and tell our stories and do them justice."

Through music, Sumner is able to reach various generations and sees it as a new way of telling stories similar to the way Indigenous people might have done it before technology kicked in.

He sees music and other media as a way of reclaiming the power of story for Indigenous people.

"The way that I do it now is not sitting around the fire. Typically, just sitting around with a guitar or going on stage with a guitar is empowering for me. And empowering for young people to be able to see that."

"I think it's about time that native people, Indigenous people across the world... take ownership of our stories and our experiences. We're capable of telling it from our perspective. We've been storytellers for thousands of years, it's in our blood to be able to tell stories."

Paying it forward

When Sumner is not sharing his gift of music with crowds, he is out there giving back to communities.

He is a part of many different projects that work with youth in northern First Nations communities and often volunteers his time to work on projects that promote community building.

His ancestral background is a big part of who he is today. "I come from a long line of great people that wanted the best for everybody."

He loves performing and says that being on stage "is the only place where it makes sense."

You can catch Sumner performing Saturday, August 13th, at Interstellar Rodeo at the forks.