Press release –
Ishkōdé Records is thrilled to celebrate a major milestone with five nominations for the 2026 JUNO Awards, the highest number of nominations the label has received in its five-year history. The nominations highlight the continued impact of Ishkōdé’s artist-first, Indigenous-led vision, and include a debut JUNO nomination for Siibii.
“As we near the end of our fifth year, seeing Ishkōdé Records receive five JUNO nominations is both humbling and deeply affirming,” shares Ishkōdé Records co-founder Amanda Rheaume. “I am endlessly proud of our artists and the family we have built together, not only for this recognition, but for the truth, integrity, and beauty of the fearless work they continue to release into the world. At a time when Indigenous voices are needed more than ever, our artists are offering stories that reconnect us to the land, to each other, and to what truly matters.”
The 2026 JUNO Awards nominations for Ishkōdé Records artists are as follows:
TRADITIONAL ROOTS ALBUM OF THE YEAR | ALBUM ROOTS TRADITIONNEL DE L’ANNÉE
Heal The Divide – Morgan Toney (Ishkōdé*Universal)
ALTERNATIVE ALBUM OF THE YEAR | ALBUM ALTERNATIF DE L’ANNÉE
Edge Of The Earth – Aysanabee (Ishkōdé*Universal)
CONTEMPORARY INDIGENOUS ARTIST OR GROUP OF THE YEAR PRESENTED BY DESTINATION INDIGENOUS | ARTISTE OU GROUPE AUTOCHTONE CONTEMPORAIN DE L’ANNÉE PRÉSENTÉ PAR DESTINATION INDIGENOUS
Edge Of The Earth – Aysanabee (Ishkōdé*Universal)
LOVECHILD – Sebastian Gaskin (Ishkōdé*Universal)
Siibii – Siibii (Ishkōdé*Universal)
Founded in 2021, Ishkōdé Records has quickly become a vital force in the Canadian music landscape, championing Indigenous voices and stories on a global stage. These 2026 JUNO nominations underscore the label’s commitment to artistic excellence, cultural sovereignty, and long-term community impact.
Two-time JUNO winner Aysanabee says of his new nominations, “We have been living in troubled times, but I am realizing that what we do matters, even if it’s writing one song that uplifts, one song that alters perspective, one song that makes a person smile for a moment. Miigwech to the community that feels what I am doing is worthy of these awards.”
What’s The Story about Aysanabee?
(pronouncer: Ace-in-abbey)
Aysanabee is an award–winning indie artist, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and singer-songwriter. He is Oji-Cree from the Sucker Clan of Sandy Lake First Nation, a remote fly-in community in Northwestern Ontario, now based in Toronto. Creating music under his family name, Aysanabee blends rock, soul, and electronic textures with pulse-quickening fingerpicking to deliver songs that are anthemic and cathartic. His work has drawn comparisons to Bon Iver, Hozier, and Kings of Leon.
In March 2024, Aysanabee made history as the first Indigenous artist to win the JUNO Awards for Alternative Album of the Year and Songwriter of the Year for his EP Here and Now. His debut album, Watin (2022), named after his grandfather, was shortlisted for the Polaris Music Prize and established him as a singular voice in Canadian music.
Released in June 2025, Aysanabee’s sophomore album Edge Of The Earth has charted across rock and alternative radio and earned multiple year-end honours, and award nominations. Aysanabee has inspired audiences with his songs and stories worldwide, touring extensively across Canada, Europe, Australia, and beyond.
“To even be nominated for a JUNO means the world.” Morgan Toney shares. “This is a reminder that, as musicians, we are doing something right, but it is also a reminder to our Indigenous youth that they can make their dreams a reality.”
What’s The Story about Morgan Toney?
(pronouncer: more-gun toe-knee)
Morgan Toney is a Mi’kmaw fiddler and singer from Waqmitku’k, Unama’ki, commonly known as Cape Breton. Blending Mi’kmaq songs and stories with Celtic traditions, he’s created a new genre he calls Mi’kmaltic—a bridge between cultures and generations. His nominated album, Heal the Divide (March 2025), reflects on the challenges and resilience of the L’nuk (Mi’kmaq people), while celebrating language, culture, and community.
Toney pays tribute to legendary Mi’kmaw musician Lee Cremo and collaborates with the Stoney Bear Singers, blending traditional drum with Celtic fiddle. Recorded live with longtime collaborator Keith Mullins, the album captures the energy of his performances. Toney’s music is both a celebration and a call to action: to bring people together, protect language and culture, and inspire pride among the next generation of Mi’kmaw people.
JUNO-winning artist Sebastian Gaskin reflects on this new nomination, “Having back-to-back JUNO nominations after releasing my very first album feels like a pretty good indicator that something is going right! If this shows even one Indigenous kid that their dreams are possible, no matter how grandiose they might seem, it’s worth everything. Grateful to Ishkōdé, Universal, and Red Music Rising for helping put this work into the world.”
What’s The Story about Sebastian Gaskin?
(pronouncer: Seh-bass-chin Gaa-skin)
How does an emotional aftermath evolve into a creative epiphany? For award-winning Toronto-based, Tataskweyak Cree Nation multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter and producer Sebastian Gaskin, first, he gets comfortable with the outcome, then gets to work sculpting their experience into a song. Gaskin’s music, intentionally genre-fluid, embraces brokenness while advocating love and vulnerability as resistance. Grounded in intuition, their sound evokes Bill Withers’ timelessness, John Mayer’s virtuosity, and Post Malone’s wordplay.
As a dynamic producer and arranger, Gaskin collaborates with Evan Miles (dvsn, renforshort) and Milano (Icona Pop) to push genre boundaries. They’ve graced stages worldwide, supporting artists like Common and T-Pain. They have performed at venues and festival stages around the world, supporting artists such as Common, T-Pain, and others. Gaskin’s debut album LOVECHILD came out on February 21, 2025.
“To be a lil eenou nominated for a JUNO is surreal. I’m stepping into this moment carrying Eenou/Eeyou Istchee with me – our stories, our resilience, and our creativity. Showing up in Hamilton with that behind me means everything,” Siibii shares.
What’s The Story About Siiibii?
(pronouns: they, them, theirs / pronouncer: See Bee)
An act of reclamation, a fulfillment of identity and a statement of purpose: Siibii is so much more than a name. The Montreal-based songwriter, a mythic pop power in the making, manifests their name’s Cree meaning, river, as a source of creative and personal empowerment. Ever-rushing, ever-flowing, the river is a force of intention, imagination and emotional cleansing that guides Siibii’s musical journey. Siibii released their debut self-titled EP on November 14, 2025.
Originally from Mistissini, QC, Siibii writes music to quiet the inner voices that can drown out the good. A self-trained artist of both natural and nurtured gifts, Siibii draws from deep sources of familial and instinctive talent. “Mama put a paintbrush in my hand, and Gookum put a song in my heart,” they say. With electronic grooves and their distinctive aura-light vocals, Siibii’s music evokes influences and outliers from Billie Eilish to Kimmortal, Lady Gaga to Remi Wolf, pop music masters of shapeshifting nonconformity.
With over three million streams to date, Siibii has captivated audiences on major stages, including Festival d’été, Ottawa’s TD Arena, and an opening slot for Elisapie.
What’s The Story about Ishkōdé Records?
Ishkōdé Records is an Indigenous women-owned music company founded to ignite and amplify Indigenous voices, songs, and stories. Founded by artists, organizers, and activists Anishinaabekwe ShoShona Kish (Digging Roots) and solo artist Amanda Rheaume (Citizen of the Métis Nation of Ontario), Ishkōdé approaches the music industry through a lens of artist- and women-led entrepreneurship, rooted in cultural strength and long-standing industry experience.
Launched in 2021 and based in Tkaronto (Toronto), Ishkōdé Records—meaning “fire” in Anishinaabemowin—has quickly become home to a powerful roster of emerging and established Indigenous artists. Founders of the International Indigenous Music Summit, Kish and Rheaume, lead the label in its animating principle to raise resistance to colonial industry structures while building a new, values-driven space for Indigenous creativity to thrive.
In 2025, Kish and Rheaume were featured on The Hollywood Reporter’s second annual Power List, highlighting trailblazers who are fighting back, breaking through and building the future of film, TV and music north of the border. In 2023, Ishkōdé was named Organization of the Year by Women in Music Canada and received CIMA’s “Make It Stronger” Award, affirming its impact across the industry. Ishkōdé Records’ distribution partner is Universal Music Canada.
