Music students learning through Indigenous musician mentorship at Mohawk College

They were six music students, gathering in their usual practice room at their usual Mohawk College campus. But the lessons they learned were altogether new.

The half dozen applied music students were mentored by Indigenous musicians for the semester, and it was a space for cultural exchange, engagement and learning. That partnership will culminate in a performance Friday at the Ohsweken Skills and Trades Training Centre Theatre, and will be streamed live through the Mohawk Music YouTube channel.

The mentorship sessions allowed students to sit together with Six Nations Women Singers and Rick McLean, Indigenous artist and Mohawk College professor, to learn and collaborate in a way that was personal and authentic.

"If we're given permission, a safe space to be able to express and we don't have limitations, then I think it just naturally gets teased out," McLean said.

"They're such a nice group of students and they're so respectful. I think it was kind of my job to just go, 'Hey, you can relax around me. I'm just crazy Uncle Rick, don't worry about it.'"

"Everybody's equal in our circle when we sit there. You're part of the circle. You add and contribute and everybody is needed. Those are the ways we walk in our communities."

Through the mentorship program, the student ensemble has been learning in "an unconditioned creative space with no prescribed learning outcomes," Mohawk College music professor Bob Shields says.

The ensemble spent six hours with McLean and the Six Nations Women Singers, exchanging ideas and sharing the teachings of Indigenous music and culture while collaborating on music for the performance.

Formed in Ohsweken, the Six Nations Women Singers focus on music and dance of the Longhouse tradition. McLean is Anishinaabe with roots in Wikwemikong on Manitoulin Island.

"In this initiative, everyone's a leader and everyone will be showcased, and that's been different but in a great way," said Jadon Haughton, a third-year applied music student.

"It's something where you start to quickly figure out who you are, what you're made of."

On performance day, the students will showcase the results of their collaborative learning experience through individual and group numbers with the Indigenous artists.

The cultural engagement and exchange initiative focused on the creative process, allowing the learning outcomes to be emergent over the semester, Shields said.

"It's awesome, because I feel like there are real relationships being built between all of the musicians involved," he said.