Falynn Baptiste always loved Christmas concerts as a young girl growing up on Red Pheasant Cree Nation, 150 kilometres northwest of Saskatoon.

The Cree-Métis child, who was known for her powerful pipes, was only six years old when she donned a purple dress and sang her first solo – a Christmas carol in Cree – at her school concert.

“People would say, ‘Oh Falynn, can you sing?’ and I was always raring and ready to get up on stage and, not so much be seen but share music and be heard,” she said.

Thirty-two years later, the recording artist stood centre