Indigenous Powerhouse Donita Large Announces Visionary New Album, The Ancestors, a Celebration of Memory, Healing and Strength
Renowned singer-songwriter Donita Large is set to redefine the contemporary musical landscape with the release of her highly anticipated full-length album, The Ancestors, out now. A lifelong performer who has graced prestigious stages like Carnegie Hall, Donita’s solo journey has been nothing short of meteoric. As a Cree artist, her artistry is rooted in tradition and the stories of the land, and is ignited by a modern signature style, which she describes as “folk with Indigenous sizzle”.
The creation of The Ancestors is a masterclass in collaboration, bringing together industry legends to craft a sound that is both timeless and urgent. Donita partnered with Grammy winning producer Chris Birkett and the versatile musical artistry of Anthony King to produce a record that seamlessly blends a landscape of folk, blues, rock, country, and Cree traditional sounds. Recorded across studios in Toronto, Los Angeles, and ending at Riverdale Recorders in Edmonton, the album features a band of world-class musicians whose collective artistry creates an unforgettable auditory experience. This record represents a defining moment in Donita’s evolution, merging her powerful low range and spine-chilling high notes with compelling narratives that resonate in your body and soul.
Listeners are taken on an auditory journey throughout this evocative track list starting with “Sweetgrass”, a gentle acoustic invitation on balance, gratitude, and ancestral guidance. Layered with warm guitar, deep upright bass tones, hand drum heartbeats, Donita’s heartfelt vocals of “Mind, body, and spirit / All connected as one” are not just words; they are a bridge to her Cree traditions, communicating a path to healing and spirit.
The album’s depth is further showcased through technical and creative milestones: the production expertise of Chris Birkett (known for his work with Sinéad O’Connor), the masterful guitar work and co-production of Anthony King, and a powerful, rearranged cover of rock anthem “Run to the Hills” features L.A. based Derek Frank on bass and Matt Hankle on drums. Every note on this record is intentional, designed to celebrate the strength and memory of the Indigenous experience.
Thematically, The Ancestors is a profound exploration of truth, reconciliation, and guise of reconciliation and “After The Battle” is a song that questions all leaders who choose attack, as there are no real winners in the human cost of conflict. This song pulls you in with a haunting chant with the storytelling power of a post battle film scene. Donita’s lyrical writing calling for humility, unity, and a deeper understanding that we are all interconnected, is both poignant and embedded with ancestral wisdom. In the moving track “Kokom” (Grandmother), she explores the enduring love we feel when loved ones pass on and wish we had listened more, and if only we could “rewind our song”.
This album stands as a vital cultural statement and is the sonic manifestation of her commitment to her community and her craft. By honoring her ancestors and the stories of Treaty Six Territory, Donita creates a musical space where heritage is celebrated as a living, breathing force. The Ancestors is a powerful celebration of Indigenous strength that promises to leave a legacy in the Canadian musical canon.
To celebrate this milestone, Donita Large & The Small Band will embark on a series of live performances, beginning with a special one-night-only Album Release Concert on February 8, 2026, at the Backstage Theatre (Fringe Arts Barns) in Edmonton, AB. Fans can also look forward to a major summer performance at the RavenWood Music Festival in Sherwood Park, AB, on July 12, 2026. These shows will feature the full brilliance of the band, including Anthony King, Alan Tymofichuk, Mira Angela, Harry Gregg, and Jamie Cooper, as they bring the spirit of The Ancestors to life on stage.
The Ancestors feels both deeply personal and broadly communal. When did you realize this album was about more than songs, and instead about carrying memory forward?
It really began with the songs I started writing a couple of years ago. I released a single called Ancestors in my Bones, and it inspired me to start writing. I started with lyrics and concepts for songs, but I was still so new to songwriting. I travelled to Toronto to work with Producer Chris Birkett, and through his songwriting mentorship we worked together to compose the music, and I finished writing four songs in four days. We completed the demos for Sweetgrass, Iskotew Iskwew, Lip Service and Reconciliation Sky. The songs began as reflections of my own experiences and story, but something shifted when the music brought the songs to life. I knew I had a story to tell, and I knew it was bigger than me.
Although it would have fit perfectly in The Ancestors album, I completed and released Reconciliation Sky. It was created to honour residentials school survivors and the children who never made it home, a legacy that impacted my own family. I felt a deep responsibility to release it at that time as Canadians were processing the news of unmarked graves at residentials schools and Indigenous families were grieving their relatives and holding ceremonies to honor their memories. I released it as a single on September 30 for the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. The other three songs were the beginning of The Ancestors story I am now sharing. A story that has interconnections across all our nations.
You describe your sound as “folk with Indigenous sizzle.” How did you balance honoring Cree traditions while creating something that feels firmly contemporary?
Having sung with Indigenous women’s groups with drums and rattles I love our traditional sounds. The range of notes and rhythms you hear in pow-wow and hand drum songs resonate in your body, in a way that is hard to describe. If you have ever walked into a space where our drumming and singing are happening, you will know this feeling. In pow-wow songs the women will sing the octave, and I love those high notes when I sing. I also wanted to ensure I had some Cree in my songs in addition to chants. Everyone has their own teachings of what singing chants means for them, like when you learn a ceremonial song, all these songs have a purpose. For me chants are like prayer, or for calling on the ancestors for guidance or help. It doesn’t matter if it’s in a folk-rock song. In Iskotew Iskwew which means fire woman in Cree, the woman goes to ceremony (a sweatlodge) to heal and have her fire within reignited after feeling exhausted and broken. For those who attend ceremony, we sing in our lodges to call on the ancestors and ask for healing. The chant I added in this song is for all the women who sacrifice so much of themselves and need to reconnect with their strength and power as sacred beings. I hope one day to experience many Indigenous women singing it with me whether it be in gathering in circle or on a stage.
“Sweetgrass” opens the record as a kind of invitation. Why was it important to begin the album with a song focused on balance, gratitude, and connection?
Ah yes, a gentle invitation to the listener. Wouldn’t it be great if we began all things focused on balance, gratitude and connection? In my teachings, when we use sweetgrass in our smudge ceremony we ask Creator to cleanse all negativity and for our prayers to rise in the smoke of the medicines we burn. As humans we all can go off our path, think negatively or cause harm. But wellness is something we must act upon, to recognize imbalance, choose to adjust our behavior and to ground ourselves. To take time to be grateful for what we have and for what has been afforded to us by those who walked before us. The song Sweetgrass is like starting the auditory journey of this album with a blessing. I hope it allows the listener to slow down and breathe and feel uplifted.
In songs like “Kokom,” you explore love, loss, and the feeling of wishing we had listened more. What role does listening – to elders, to history, to each other – play in your creative life?
Before answering I just want to say, I love the depth of these questions. In many traditional teachings from Elders and knowledge keepers they share about teaching the principle of listening at a young age. Our circles, whether it be listening-sharing-healing or other circles embody these principles. Everyone in a circle is seen, heard and valued. When someone speaks you are to listen without interruption and you seek to understand. That is how truth is found, when you hear the collective perspectives to see a picture bigger than your own. Many Elders will say about themselves, “I know very little” or “no knowledge belongs to me” as it was passed down to them. I love listening to Elders with this kind of cultural humility. I also have listened to our Elders pain, especially when I did residential school claim interviews (Truth & Reconciliation Settlement Agreement files) and these stories I now carry with me. I also have worked in trauma support and education for 30 years which relies heavily on listening and guiding. As an Indigenous educator, I have many people I work to actively listen to, from the young people-to Indigenous scholars-to staff, all of which teach me. All my roles and responsibilities impact my songwriting. Music is also healing and gives me a space to emote the complex spaces I walk, including the grief of losing a loved one (Kokom is grandmother in Cree).
Covering “Run to the Hills” is a bold choice. What did reimagining that song allow you to say within the context of The Ancestors?
I remember the first day I really read and felt the lyrics to this song. I was at karaoke! Haha! Anytime I heard this Iron Maiden song previously I think I just always sang the chorus and was too busy jamming out to pay attention. Then at karaoke someone sang it and I read the screen. I was like wait… what? I looked around the room and questioned, is this the actual lyrics? I was stunned a UK heavy metal band was singing about colonizers and the Cree, my people (released in in 1982 no less). I knew at that moment I wanted to someday sing it not just for its vocal acrobatics. I didn’t know that would mean fastnforwarding about 20 years and adding it on my album to honor the history of my ancestors. As a Cree woman singing it, I guess we will see how the world will respond. See how far we have moved in truth and reconciliation. I hope Steve Harris and Iron Maiden would give their nod of approval of my cover of this epic song if they ever heard it.
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