Off-grid life north of Elliot Lake, Ont., inspires Indigenous musician

Indigenous musician Isaac Murdoch takes inspiration from his land-based way of life, living off the grid north of Elliot Lake, Ont.

Murdoch's new album, You Were Chosen to Be Here, features songs about protecting the environment and returning to a more sustainable and traditional way of life.

His song Keep It in the Ground, for example, is about the effects of climate change.

"I was thinking about fossil fuel extraction and how we should have just kept everything in the ground, you know, because now we're in climate change and we're kind of in a little bit of a bind right now," he told CBC's Fresh Air.

But Murdoch doesn't just write songs about a more sustainable way of life. He's also a founding member of the small Nimkii Aazhibikoong Indigenous community, where he lives off the grid with between six and 12 other like-minded people (depending on the time of year).

The community is on his ancestral land, which was taken away by the Indian Act. He has reclaimed it and helped build a small community that relies on solar power, a garden, and self-sustenance through fishing and hunting on the land.

"As an Ojibway person, I am an ecological species in our environment," Murdoch said.

"And so it's really nice to return back home. You know, it's almost like when you get a bird, you put a bird in a cage, and then one day you just open the cage door and the bird flies home and makes a nest."

The community has two cabins for elders who teach younger generations traditional practices, including natural medicines, and help them learn the Ojibway language.

"Language is the centre of our community," Murdoch said.

"So we recognize that language has a beautiful spirit, and this language we feel comes from the Earth. And so the more and more that we're engaged in our language and that we're engaged in this ancient code, that we begin to look at the world differently through the lens of something that's very ancient and very spiritual."

Shannon Paul moved to the Nimkii Aazhibikoong community three years ago and said it was one of the best decisions she has ever made.

"I'm living out my dream," she said, "and just growing into who I am as an Indigenous person. It gives me a lot of self-confidence and it makes me feel really happy because my truth is I'm an Indigenous woman and I want to be able to live that oath ... and that's for me, that's my choice. And so it makes me really happy."

Paul grew up in Winnipeg but is originally from Northwest Angle #33 First Nation near the Ontario-Manitoba border.