Menu Close

Indigenous Summer Tour

Manitoba Arts Network & Manitoba Hydro’s

Indigenous
Summer Tour 2023

Strengthening relationships with
Indigenous peoples throughout Manitoba.

WITH SPECIAL GUEST DAWN MARIE CHARTRAND

home>Indigenous Summer Tour

The Manitoba Arts Network is thrilled to announce that we have received funding from Canada Council for the Arts over the next three years to bring diverse, inclusive, and accessible live events to 10 Indigenous communities and 5 MAN member communities each year. This tour is also supported by Manitoba Hydro, who will help us strengthen our relationships with Indigenous peoples throughout Manitoba.

Canada Council

ABOUT THE TOUR

Strengthening relationships with Indigenous peoples throughout Manitoba.

To continue our goal of providing diverse programming for rural Manitoba communities, Manitoba Arts Network (MAN) is excited to introduce Dawn Marie Chartrand as the touring artist scheduled for July/August 2023.

Dawn Marie Chartrand is an Indigenous singer/songwriter
based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and is from Rolling River First
Nation, Manitoba.

What to expect?

7 Dates for Northern Communities – July 20-31, 2023
8 Dates for Southern Communities – August 8-15, 2023

Southern Tour – Stun, Kwiat

Northern tour  Jesse Bandura, Greg Personius

Each tour will feature two Indigenous artists alumni from our RBC emerging artist mentorship program who will perform and be mentored by Dawn Marie Chartrand.

Each performance can range from 80-120 minutes, where each community will receive a participatory arts activity before the concert led by Dawn Marie Chartrand.




Indigenous Northern Tour

Community Outreach &
Audience Engagement


Dawn Marie Chartrand will offer each community a participatory arts activity (youth music class, masterclass, pre-concert talk to the audience, songwriting workshop, etc.) before each concert.

Marketing Support


MAN will provide posters and social media graphics and run radio ads on NCI radio to help communities spread the word.

Future Touring Artists

The 2024 featured artist will be Anishinaabe country singer Gator Beaulieu from Sandy Bay Ojibway First Nation and Ebb and Flow First Nation. We are so proud of Beaulieu’s success being a 2019 Indigenous emerging artist mentorship program alumni.

QUESTIONS?

What will it cost to
participate in the tour?
We have the answers!

Concerts for Indigenous communities will be free and we ask that the community provide accommodations for the artists.  While we ask for a $500 contribution plus provision of accommodations from MAN member communities. The concerts will offer a wide range of music styles, entertainment, and experiences.

Each concert is valued at $3,500 CDN.

We are so proud of Gator Beaulieu’s success being a 2019 Indigenous
emerging artist mentorship program alumni.

Meet The Artists

Rhonda Head

Rhonda Head

Touring Coordinator Rhonda Head has received 15 nominations and won nine international music awards since she began her music career in 2010. Rhonda has had the opportunity to perform in some of the most unique venues – Carnegie Hall, the Lincoln Centre, the Viper Room, the Opening and Closing Ceremonies for the 5 Lands Walk Festival in NSW, Australia, and numerous other venues. Rhonda also recently released an autobiography called Mezzo-Soprano – Memoirs of a Rez Girl. It wasn’t always an easy road for Rhonda; she was diagnosed with a brain tumour when she was 22. Rhonda took a year off to recuperate from the 11.5 hour surgery. When she thought her life was back on track she received devastating news when she was 30 that the tumour grew back. Once again, she took time off and took care of her health. Despite the setbacks and challenges, Rhonda continued to follow her passion for music.

Dawn Marie Chartrand

2023 touring artist

Dawn Marie Chartrand is an Indigenous singer/songwriter based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and is from Rolling River First Nation, Manitoba. A married mom of 5 and grandma of 9, she is the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of Winnipeg’s local rock/blues band, “Shades of Dawn”. Dawn has been singing and playing guitar since childhood and considers her musical influences to include the diverse rock and blues styles of music icons Etta James, Janis Joplin, Stevie Nicks, Johnny Cash, and Tina Turner. Dawn has performed with her band in various communities across Ontario, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan. Dawn considers herself an advocate and supporter of Indigenous women in music. She hopes that one day women will be equally represented in the Indigenous music scene and treated as such by their male counterparts.

Gator Beaulieu

Year 3, 2024 touring artist

Gator Beaulieu is an Anishinaabe Country Singer from Ebb and Flow First Nation in Treaty 2 Territory and Sandy Bay First Nation in Treaty 1 Territory, Manitoba, Canada.
Beaulieu’s official music video for his latest single, “Highway Number Six” is now available on YouTube and has received much press coverage, including CBC. “Hard Hearted Woman”, a single Gator had collaborated with blues great Billy Joe Green, recently hit #1 on the Indigenous Music Countdown that airs on NCI FM The Spirit of Manitoba and aired on Sirus XM every Saturday.

2023 Emerging Artists

“As an Artist this was my first time showcasing. The opportunity to showcase has given me access to an incredible network that I would have otherwise needed years of effort to reach. It was really and trly a game-changer for someone who has put in serious time developing a show, but just didn’t have the reach and relationships to turn that into a viable business.”

To Book a Concert Contact

For Indigenous communities:

Rhonda Head

For MAN member settler communities

Leah Borchert


Our Funders

Want to get regular updates?

Subscribe to our newsletter.