Singer Stephanie Harpe gave a vivacious performance earlier this summer in Bonnyville, and though she might be remembered for her powerful vocals, she is also a passionate Indigenous advocate with work including a Ted Talk entitled Indigenous Suffering and Survival to Success. She has also been a keynote speaker for the United Nations.
Harpe hails from Fort Mckay First Nation, a 40-minute drive north of Fort McMurray. She reminisced about growing up with the negative impact of residential schools in her life - and the positive impact of music.
“I started music very, very young. It was my escape in a home where my grandmother was in a residential school, my mother was in residential school, and then we got taken away to residential school. So, it was a nice escape. It was my friend, my confidante. It was something that was always there for me.”
Although Harpe grew up around a lot of country music and Elvis Presley, her mother loved rock and roll, and Harpe found herself drawn to the soulful voices of artists like Janis Joplin and Heart.
Harpe began teaching herself how to sing and soon enough she was in a school choir and singing competitions. She was involved with a travelling choir by the time she got out of residential school at around 12 years old.
“Music saved me, I knew from a really, really young age that that’s what I would do for the rest of my life.”
After the birth of her son, Harpe, with the help of her husband, started a band. She began writing songs and her brother started making music with her.
“The music stood on its own. I was healing through writing - expressing myself and unloading all this stuff. It helped me a lot and I’m thankful I had a husband and family that supported me.”
She added, “Success kind of came pretty early... our fourth show was opening for Trooper, then our fifth show was opening for Charlie Major, and then we were opening up for Crystal Shawanda. We were opening up for all these big names – Blue Rodeo, Prairie Oyster, Tom Cochrane – it just wouldn’t stop,”
Harpe’s experience as an Indigenous person influences her music, and she speaks to the importance of the drum beat in her culture.
“Any time I hear the drum it just speaks to me. It's part of who we are - we're an extension of the drum, an extension of ceremony - we're an extension of the music.”
Harpe began her advocacy work about 14 years ago and is as passionate as ever about spreading truth, creating harmony, and uplifting the movement with music.
“I've been all over Canada. I've done keynotes for The United Nations, I have a Tedx Talk, I've been to 82 First Nations, 12 Métis settlements – I trained for many Canadian businesses, a lot of them just want the truth, and to know how we can work together so they can navigate it.”
Harpe believes that with all the challenges of the modern world, people must come together, work together, and keep each other safe.
She says that since the situation in Kamloops where the suspected unmarked graves of 215 children were found at a former residential school, she has noticed a positive change in her advocacy work.
“Now that they have the truth, they truly care, so I’m seeing a lot more love and connection out there.”
Strong River Flows
Harpe and Maria Dunn, a Canadian Juno award winning artist, wrote a song called Strong River Flows.
“[The song is about] how settlers and Indigenous people can come together in an understanding... we need each other more than ever right now with how the world is going. We have a music video, and it’s an example of what we can do together.”
Harpe says there is a synergetic relationship between her music and her advocacy work.
“When I go and do my Murdered or Missing and Exploited Indigenous People's truth training, it's really heavy stuff. So, I get to use music at the end of the training to leave them light.”
She adds, “There's a lot of real things going on out there that we do need to be uncomfortable at first to talk about. But once we have that information, we can keep each other safer.”
Harpe never anticipated her advocacy work to grow at such a rate, and she now finds herself doing cultural competency training for the RCMP, the Nurses Union of Alberta, and the Oilers Foundation. Though she still finds that some governance misses the mark, Harpe has noticed a cultural shift in Indigenous acceptance in her personal life.
“Sometimes when I walk around the city, I get smiles from our beautiful brothers and sisters. I get looks that are not harsh. I get people saying, ‘I love your beaded earrings’ or ‘I love your skirt.’ Kindness that I had never experienced before.”
Harpe revels in the increase of understanding and kindness, but still acknowledges the barriers that have yet to be broken, including racism, the mental health crisis, and the prevalence of missing people.
“We as Indigenous people, we are the highest rate, but I'm talking about all peoples. We have a lot of people missing. We have a lot of people hurting. So, we still have a lot more work to do. If we gain more understanding and get rid of this racism, it's going to make a safer and healthier environment, which we all want.”
Harpe sees immense value in giving those with lived experience the platform and support to do outreach.
“Survivor to survivor, there’s an understanding and more of an impact... A lot of us who are on the ground with the people, we just need more opportunity, support, time, and space to speak and to be heard.”
Harpe calls attention to gatherings that promote healing and unity.
“Having people listen, open hearted enough to take in truths... to reach them can be a real gift, and if they’re still in their pain, they’re still in their pain. Hurt people hurt people and I can sympathize with that.”
Harpe says she wants more harmony among people, in order to tackle the challenging political landscape and social issues that exist.
In 2017 Harpe was asked to be a keynote speaker for the United Nations. She recalls speaking to world leaders from across the globe.
“It was surprising that many of the Canadians attending didn’t even know the historical truths of their country. Other people from different parts of the world said this happened to their first people and their land as well. Its colonial... it's all about power and profit, and as human beings it can’t be about that anymore.”
