Eko-Bmijwang (As long in time as the river flows)

Of Anishinaabe descent, composer Barbara Assiginaak was born on Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron, where half the population is Indigenous. Captivated from an early age by Anishinaabe traditional music, she went on to receive classical training at the University of Toronto, the Hochschule für Musik in Munich, and the Centre Acanthes in France. The daughter and granddaughter of residential school survivors, Assiginaak—who took part in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission—draws deeply on First Nations history and culture in her work. She is equally inspired by nature, which lies at the heart of her concerns as an active environmentalist.  

Here is how she describes Eko-Bmijwang (“As Long as the River Flows”), premiered by Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the Orchestre Métropolitain in 2021: 

“I imagined this short work as a journey through a dream-memory experience of time, beginning with a canoe entering the calm waters in the midst of thick fog just under the light of Nokomis (Grandmother Moon). Soon with the coming dawn, the mists rise and the waters dance under the light of Giizis (Grandfather Sun) and enliven those many creatures that dwell within and around. As the waters of this great river change their flow, their speed and sometimes the direction of the current, the traveller is reminded that all humans—the last to arrive after all other beings—are not there to dominate and control the spirit and life of Nibi (water).”