In her autobiography, Rita Joe challenges Indigenous youth to find their voices, share their stories, and celebrate their talents. Inspired by this idea, the National Arts Centre asked teachers and students from five Indigenous groups across Canada to create a song based on Rita Joe's poem I Lost My Talk.
"I found her a very strong person." says Kitigan Zibi high school student Dolcy Meness. "How she made that poem. Because she went through all that and she did not give up hope."
Music plays an important role for all the students who participated in the project, and through their song they hope to empower others. "Music, it's my outlet... of letting my emotions go" explains guitar player Robert Meness. "This song that we've just wrote is, really, I don't know how to explain it - empowering. I think it will inspire a lot of people to speak out against racism."