Motewolonuwok

Motewolonuwok
Studio album by Jeremy Dutcher
Released	October 6, 2023
Genre	Classical, First Nations music
Length	41:20
Label	Secret City Records
Producer	Owen Pallett, Devon Bate
Jeremy Dutcher chronology
Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa (2018) Motewolonuwok (2023)

Motewolonuwok is the second full-length studio album by Jeremy Dutcher, released on Secret City Records in 2023.^[1]

Unlike his debut album Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa, which was sung entirely in the Maliseet-Passamaquoddy language, Motewolonuwok features songs in both Maliseet-Passamaquoddy and English.^[2] It additionally represents Dutcher's first time recording new original songs he had written himself, rather than interpreting traditional Wolastoqey songs.^[3] Dutcher described the album's creative process as a tension between wanting to continue contributing to the visibility and revival of his ancestral indigenous language, while at the same time not wanting to become pigeonholed exclusively as an archivist, and described the creative challenge of trying to blend the two languages into one recording as a rewarding one.^[2]

The album was a Juno Award nominee for Adult Alternative Album of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2024,^[4] and was the winner of the 2024 Polaris Music Prize.^[5] Its Polaris victory, following Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa winning that award in 2018, made Dutcher the first artist ever to win the prize twice.^[5]

The album won the Félix Award for Bilingual or Other Language Album of the Year at the 46th Félix Awards.^[6]

Track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Skicinuwihkuk"	4:56
2.	"Pomawsuwinuwok Wonakiyawolotuwok"	3:42
3.	"Take My Hand"	5:40
4.	"Wolasweltomultine"	5:46
5.	"tahcuwi Anelsultipon"	5:00
6.	"Sakom"	2:01
7.	"Ancestors Too Young"	5:27
8.	"The Land That Held Them"	3:31
9.	"There I Wander"	3:35
10.	"Together We Emerge"	4:18
11.	"Rise in Beauty"	4:01

References

1. "Jeremy Dutcher on Motewolonuwok, the sound of grief, and the intersection between queerness and Indigeneity". CBC Arts, October 16, 2023.
2. David Friend, "Jeremy Dutcher worried about getting 'stuck' in his archival past before second album". Toronto Star, October 12, 2023.
3. Melody Lau, "Jeremy Dutcher's debut album blew up. His next one is even more ambitious". CBC Music, October 6, 2023.
4. "Junos 2024: full list of winners". CBC Music, March 23, 2024.
5. Brad Wheeler, "Jeremy Dutcher won his historic second Polaris Music Prize through bold reinvention". The Globe and Mail, September 18, 2024.
6. Louis-Philippe Labrèche, "Les résultats du Premier gala de l’ADISQ 2024". Le Canal Auditif, October 30, 2024.