Mary Lou Smoke, named 1 of 3 recipients of Lifetime Achievement Award recipient in London
By Shirley Honyust
LONDON—A gala was held on the evening of April 28, at Aeolian Hall and hosted by the Forest City London Music Awards, where Mary Lou Smoke of Batchewana Bay First Nation, was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award for her contributions to the local music community.
Mary Lou is well known in the London area as a singer, guitarist and radio host (along with her husband Dan Smoke) of Smoke Signals Radio Program at Western University’s radio station, CHRW, 94.9 FM.
Each year, the nominating committee searches for people who have made valuable contributions to the music scene from outside of the industry. The other persons honoured at the gala were John B. Young for his 34 years of support to the community, in particular to the music students at Fanshawe College in London; and the Bellone family, well known for their contributions to loan, rent and make musical equipment and instruments available to struggling musicians and the N`Amerind Friendship Centre when needed.
A brief video gave some of the history of Mary Lou’s early years in the world of music, highlighting the era of devotion to the music of Buffy Sainte-Marie, learning to sing all of her songs of protest in the 1970’s, and following her music career throughout the years, up to and including the present.
Mary Lou gave greetings and introduced herself in Ojibway, after which she gave land acknowledgement to the various Indigenous peoples who were originally settled in this area including Ojibwe, Oneida, Lenape, Potawatomi, Migmaw and Adirondack. She spoke about her childhood, remembering a time when she would come home from school heartbroken and wanting to never go back because of the way other children had made fun of her; she felt harassed and humiliated because of their treatment of her. Her mother would tell her that she should go back and stand up to them because she needed to be proud of who and what she was “because we were here first,” and she never forgot these words. During the delivery of her acceptance speech, a telegram was sent by Buffy Sainte Marie congratulating her on her success and wishing she could be there with her.
She then gave a brief overview of the Dish with One Spoon Covenant which was entered into historically when the Iroquois came to the territory from New York in order to plant corn where the land was most fertile, and then shared with others who lived in the area before heading back home.
“My heart is soaring like an eagle right now,” described Smoke. “This evening has been an amazing experience…I never in my life thought anything like this would happen to me! I always sang; I think I was born singing and I hope to sing till the day I die!”
Speaking about her lifetime, she said that her greatest gift, she believes, is helping women who have lived through family and domestic violence to find their strength and voice through learning and singing traditional music. It has transformed their lives and given them a new perspective.
She also took the opportunity to announce that it was her husband Dan’s 65th birthday and lead the listeners in a traditional Canadian version of the Happy Birthday song to him.
One of the presenters was Denise Pelley, a London-born singer, who joined Chad Louwerse for a jazz duet, Birth of the Blues. An award for World Music was presented to Vibe God, received by a trio of Zapata children: Isabella, Sofia and Mateo. With the help of Aeolian Hall, the Zapata family make music lessons available to children who would not otherwise receive them in both elementary and secondary schools.
The 2019 Ken Palmer Bursary Award, which is $1,000, was awarded to Nicole Pitter in her final year at Glendale High School, and Emily Inch, currently grade 12 at Medway Secondary School in London.
Other awards given out that evening went to: Jane Hysen for Jazz Instrumental Solo; Rick Kish for Jazz Vocal Group; Hugo Russell for Classical Instrumental Group; and Chad Louwerse for Classical Vocal Solo.