The Henry Armstrong Award aims to support Indigenous musicians. (Photo: Henry Armstrong Award)

By Joel Mendelson

Henry Armstrong Award back for third year to support Indigenous artists

Apr 17, 2024 | 11:16 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – The Henry Armstrong Award, which aims to support Canadian Indigenous musicians, is returning for its third iteration.

The award is in the form of a $10,000 bursary and a 12-month mentorship program, which helps develop, elevate and support the diverse talents in the Canadian Indigenous music community.

Mike Denney, president and owner of MDM Recordings, created the program.

He explains that the mentorship aspect of the award could allow a recipient to gain insight into how music streaming services operate, how to set up live performances and the inner workings of the music industry.

Denney says he was motivated to create the bursary after the 2021 discovery of 215 child graves at the site of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School.

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READ MORE: “Unthinkable” – 215 child graves found at former Kamloops Indian Residential School

“I have an Indigenous background, and I just felt this need to try and give back somehow to my Indigenous community and my Indigenous roots, and that’s where the idea stemmed from.”

“Since that time well over 10,000 children have been discovered at these burial sites and I just wanted to give back some way that I could,” he adds.

According to Denney, the first year received roughly 70 applications while the second saw about 75. He also provided some insight to the selection process.

“I have a committee of people around me who will do an initial jury of the submissions that are in and we will create a top 30, which is then presented to a list of jurors that we have that are outside the committee, from all across Canada, and I have one from the UK,” Denney says.

“They will listen to all the submissions, take a look at the bio and all the rest of that stuff. We’ll assign a point-system to each artist, and the artist out of the top 30 who gets the most points is the one who will be announced as the winner on National Indigenous Peoples Day on June 21.”

Kyle McKearney of Airdrie, Alberta won the first year, while fellow Albertan Kaeley Jade of Edmonton won the second.

Applications are open until April 26, 2024.

READ MORE: Henry Armstrong Award to support Indigenous musical artists in Canada

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