JERRY ALFRED

Jerry Alfred  is a Northern Tutchone Aboriginal musician that received a 1996 Juno Award for his recording ETSI Shon (Grandfather Song) in the category Aboriginal Recording of the Year.  Mr. Alfred was born in the community of Mayo, Yukon in September 1955 into a traditional life, surrounded by musical family members, and inherited the title of "Keeper of the Songs" from his father. This position gave him the responsibility of collecting traditional songs and performing at ceremonial events of his people, the Selkirk First Nation.  Since he was a child he has spoken his native Northern Tutchone language, a skill which he kept alive in spite of having been sent to English speaking residential schools at the age of five.  Today, Mr. Alfred continues to write and record songs of the legends of his people, in his native language and performs at festivals and events in North America and Europe

 

 

Who was your inspiration when you were growing up?

 

My father John Alfred was my inspiration. When I was growing up he was singing to me all the time. When I was three or four years old he would take me to gatherings and he would prop me up on his knee—he did that all the time. I sang his songs and he would take me to other elders to hear their songs, and then when we would come home he would tell me the stories of the songs. Then Rod Stewart, then Bob Dylan, and of course the Rolling Stones.

 

 

What issues did you deal with as a young person that you see youth dealing with today?

 

Well I always see prejudice. I’ve been through residential schools, and this is where they can penetrate on you with their prejudice. And today I still see prejudice to our young people in elementary school and high school. I face that at work. I worked at a lumberyard and I was the only Native. I had to ignore comments towards me. There was hardship; there were times when I was without work, one thing after another. There were interviews in which my mouth would go dead . . . I would just keep concentrating on what I’m going to do and keep on walking it through.

 

What advice would you give to young musicians and potential leaders in the communities?

 

One is not to give up. Whatever you’re singing or whatever instrument you’re playing, keep picking at it ‘til you feel comfortable. Seek out other musicians, like get a DVD of your favourite musician or go on the Internet to learn about musicians or music. Don’t give up doing those things.

 

If you had one message to send to the Aboriginal Community, what would it be?

 

The main message I want to pass along is to know your Indian Rights and know about Indian movements, and work to keep everything the way it should be. Don’t let things be misinterpreted, but take care of the things to make it better for all of us.

 

Why is education important for our young people and their communities?

 

We don’t have enough doctors, lawyers, construction companies, and so on in our communities and I think it’s important for young people to do these things. Once they learn in school, they can benefit our people.

We don’t have enough of those people that take care of our community members who struggle to deal with alcohol and drugs. We need to be able to provide counselling from fellow Native community members. And if we take care of ourselves, then we feel stronger. We need to have other options than just the white treatment that we are used to receiving; it would be more meaningful to have counsellors and therapists that are Native too.