Bio
Rosary Spence (Piisimonapii Iskwew) is a Mushkego Cree traditional singer, recording artist, cultural worker, curator, producer, and multidisciplinary artist from Fort Albany First Nation, located along the western shores of James Bay in Northern Ontario. Deeply rooted in Cree teachings, ceremony, and land-based knowledge, her work bridges culture, healing, music, visual art, and community connection.
As a traditional vocalist and song composer, Rosary carries and creates songs that honour spirit, ceremony, ancestral knowledge, and Indigenous identity. Her music blends traditional teachings with contemporary expression, creating spaces for healing, reflection, and cultural continuity. Alongside her work as a recording artist, she collaborates with musicians, dancers, visual artists, and cultural practitioners across a wide range of artistic and community-based projects.
Rosary’s practice extends beyond performance into cultural leadership, arts facilitation, curation, and production. She has curated and produced Indigenous arts programming, concerts, cultural gatherings, workshops, and land-based experiences that center Indigenous voices, storytelling, and ceremony. Her collaborative work often focuses on creating meaningful spaces for community engagement, intergenerational learning, and cultural revitalization.
In addition to her artistic work, Rosary is deeply involved in community wellness and cultural advocacy through her role within the urban Indigenous community of Toronto, where she supports culturally grounded programming and ceremony for Indigenous children, youth, families, and community members in the city.
Whether through song, ceremony, visual design, collaborative arts projects, or community gatherings, Rosary’s work is guided by the belief that culture is medicine and that Indigenous art and ceremony are vital pathways for healing, connection, and resurgence.
As a traditional vocalist and song composer, Rosary carries and creates songs that honour spirit, ceremony, ancestral knowledge, and Indigenous identity. Her music blends traditional teachings with contemporary expression, creating spaces for healing, reflection, and cultural continuity. Alongside her work as a recording artist, she collaborates with musicians, dancers, visual artists, and cultural practitioners across a wide range of artistic and community-based projects.
Rosary’s practice extends beyond performance into cultural leadership, arts facilitation, curation, and production. She has curated and produced Indigenous arts programming, concerts, cultural gatherings, workshops, and land-based experiences that center Indigenous voices, storytelling, and ceremony. Her collaborative work often focuses on creating meaningful spaces for community engagement, intergenerational learning, and cultural revitalization.
In addition to her artistic work, Rosary is deeply involved in community wellness and cultural advocacy through her role within the urban Indigenous community of Toronto, where she supports culturally grounded programming and ceremony for Indigenous children, youth, families, and community members in the city.
Whether through song, ceremony, visual design, collaborative arts projects, or community gatherings, Rosary’s work is guided by the belief that culture is medicine and that Indigenous art and ceremony are vital pathways for healing, connection, and resurgence.
Musical Background
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"My work is rooted in storytelling, song sharing, community connection, and the teachings that shaped me from a very young age. I began singing as a child. I grew up surrounded by church hymns, choirs, and music in the home. Some of my earliest memories are of singing the hymns I heard my grandmother sing. She loved hearing me sing and would always encourage me by saying, “Kiminotakosin nosisim, nikamoh!” - “You sound beautiful granddaughter, sing.” Those moments stayed with me and planted the foundation for my relationship with music and performance.
As a child, I was always involved in school choirs and performances. I loved being on stage, singing solos, and expressing myself through music. But in high school, during the early 1990s, I had an experience that deeply impacted my confidence. A music teacher criticized the natural tone of my voice while I was singing Amazing Grace. She told me I sounded “nasally” and said that if I could not sing it properly, then I should not sing it at all. I was young, and those words silenced me for a long time. In the early 2000s, while attending college, I found my voice again through traditional music. I was invited to sing with a local women’s hand drum group called Waabehska Makwa (“White Bear Singers”). There were about eight of us, and we would gather weekly to practice songs, laugh, learn together, and eventually perform at community events. Through that group, I began developing my own style and reconnecting to the power of my voice in a different way. My musical influences have always been diverse, from church hymns and harmonized gospel music to soulful powerhouse vocalists like Etta James, Marvin Gaye, and Aretha Franklin. When I was about twelve years old, I discovered Ulali, and hearing Indigenous women singing traditional music in harmony changed something in me. I knew then that I wanted to sing traditional music. Over the years, I have been featured on many recordings and collaborative projects, but it was not until 2015 that I released my first solo album, Maskowisiwin. That album was dedicated to my family, friends, collaborators, and all of the artists who have supported and inspired me throughout my journey. Since then, I have released several single tracks and collaborated with many artists, though I have not yet released another full-length album. A 2nd album is currently in production. Today, my performances are a blend of storytelling, song sharing, layered harmonies, and contemporary sound exploration. I use a vocal looper to build harmonies with my own voice, creating full soundscapes that carry emotion, memory, and spirit. I love teaching songs, sharing traditional music, collaborating with other artists, and creating spaces where people can feel connection, healing, and community through sound. For me, singing has always been more than performance. It is medicine. It is memory. It is survival. It is a way of carrying teachings forward and honouring the voices that encouraged me to sing in the first place." |
Artistic Collaborations
"My work as a designer and arts collaborator has always been deeply connected to storytelling, family, culture, and lived experience. I do not separate my creative practice from who I am as a Cree woman, singer, community helper, and person who was raised with strong teachings around land, love, and survival. Much of my artistic work is rooted in honouring those teachings and carrying them forward through design, collaboration, and creative expression.
In 2013, I designed a collection called North Star for Manitobah Mukluks. The collection was created in honour of my late grandfather, who taught me many traditional land-based practices and survival skills throughout my childhood. More importantly, he taught me unconditional love, patience, and how to move through life with kindness and strength. The North Star became a symbol within the collection because, to me, it represents guidance, direction, and finding your way home. Creating that collection was both a personal and emotional journey, and it continues to be one of the company’s top-selling designs today.
Through that experience, I began to recognize the power of Indigenous design not only as fashion or visual art, but as storytelling and cultural continuity. I later became a featured designer for a One of a Kind collection on The Shopping Channel, which allowed me to share my work and artistic voice with a wider audience. Seeing Indigenous design represented in mainstream spaces was incredibly meaningful to me, especially knowing that the work remained grounded in authenticity and personal story.
Over the years, I have collaborated with many artists, musicians, cultural workers, festivals, and organizations on projects that bring together music, visual arts, performance, community engagement, and cultural teachings. I am especially passionate about collaborative work because I believe some of the most meaningful creations happen when people gather together to share ideas, stories, teachings, and vision.
My creative practice continues to evolve through performance, design, public programming, arts facilitation, cultural gatherings, and interdisciplinary collaborations. Whether I am creating beadwork, producing events, designing visual concepts, sharing songs, or helping curate community experiences, my intention is always the same: to create work that carries spirit, honours where I come from, and leaves people feeling connected — to themselves, to one another, and to something larger than us all."
In 2013, I designed a collection called North Star for Manitobah Mukluks. The collection was created in honour of my late grandfather, who taught me many traditional land-based practices and survival skills throughout my childhood. More importantly, he taught me unconditional love, patience, and how to move through life with kindness and strength. The North Star became a symbol within the collection because, to me, it represents guidance, direction, and finding your way home. Creating that collection was both a personal and emotional journey, and it continues to be one of the company’s top-selling designs today.
Through that experience, I began to recognize the power of Indigenous design not only as fashion or visual art, but as storytelling and cultural continuity. I later became a featured designer for a One of a Kind collection on The Shopping Channel, which allowed me to share my work and artistic voice with a wider audience. Seeing Indigenous design represented in mainstream spaces was incredibly meaningful to me, especially knowing that the work remained grounded in authenticity and personal story.
Over the years, I have collaborated with many artists, musicians, cultural workers, festivals, and organizations on projects that bring together music, visual arts, performance, community engagement, and cultural teachings. I am especially passionate about collaborative work because I believe some of the most meaningful creations happen when people gather together to share ideas, stories, teachings, and vision.
My creative practice continues to evolve through performance, design, public programming, arts facilitation, cultural gatherings, and interdisciplinary collaborations. Whether I am creating beadwork, producing events, designing visual concepts, sharing songs, or helping curate community experiences, my intention is always the same: to create work that carries spirit, honours where I come from, and leaves people feeling connected — to themselves, to one another, and to something larger than us all."