The impacts of colonialism on Indigenous peoples have been deeply felt globally. For Indigenous peoples of North America, including Canada’s First Nations, Métis and Inuit, the on-going experiences of colonization carries wide-reaching social, political, cultural, and economic implications, impacting Indigenous expressions of identity, sovereignty, and equity issues. Building on queer theories, decolonization and visual methodologies, we examine how heteronormativity in music has contributed to the erasure of Indigenous queer identities, which has reinforced and perpetuated stereotypical expressions of gender and sexuality (e.g., rigid gender binaries imposed on Indigenous peoples and cultures). Further, we examine Indianist sheet music and related materials produced during the late 19th to early 20th centuries by focusing on images (i.e., design, illustrations) featured on the covers of Indianist music, lyrics, and the music itself, including instrumentation, rhythmic and melodic motives, and harmonic structures that have come to represent racial, gender and sexuality stereotypes of Indigenous peoples in the white Canadian and US imaginaries.

Comparing and contrasting these representations with heteronormative expressions of gender and sexuality, we analyze the politics of racial identity, colonialism, and systemic oppression as expressed through Indianist music. Our examination of several pieces of Indianist music produced between the late 1880s to 1940s engages discursive approaches to music, text, and illustrations that subvert and deconstruct notions of heteronormativity and the colonial gaze in music.

Spy Dénommé-Welch is an artist, writer, and composer of Anishnaabe descent. He is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education at Brock University. His academic teaching and research focuses on Indigenous topics in education and arts-based practice.

Elizabeth Gould serves as Associate Professor at the University of Toronto Faculty of Music where she teaches philosophically-based courses in music, music education, and sexual diversity studies. Her research in gender and sexuality in the context of feminisms and queer theory has been published widely.

Kevin Hobbs is a writer, educator and Master’s candidate at Brock University in Social Justice and Equity. He utilizes narrative and artistic methodologies in his work.

Dr. Elizabeth Gould, Associate Professor, Faculty of Music, University of Toronto (egould@utoronto.ca)

Kevin Hobbs (MA candidate), Social Justice and Equity Studies, Brock University (kh17du@brocku.ca)