'Space for us to be who we are': Cree musician from Maskwacis, Alta., wins first Juno

Plains Cree musician Joel Wood cracks up his wife as he describes how he emerged from his mother’s womb.

“I kind of came out singing — Waahh Yaaahh Hoka hey,” Wood says.

Despite a lifetime of performing, Wood was caught off-guard as he danced his way to the stage in Halifax Saturday with his wife, album collaborator and comedian Tonia Jo Hall, to accept his first Juno award for traditional Indigenous artist of the year.

After joking that he only attended the Junos for the food and hadn’t prepared a speech, Wood offered an impromptu message to Indigenous youth:

“I want to give a shout