A colourful, handmade ribbon skirt is a perfect cipher for the postcolonial condition of the urban Indigenous, as it’s an expression of strength, womanhood, resilience and remembrance. In the colonial era, European fabrics and designs began to be integrated, and now the ribbon skirt is a central cultural symbol of Indigenous and Metis people across Turtle Island, history and future.

You might remember their performance at Sled Island in 2022 as Love Language. Then a jangly indie garage outfit, the band formed as a quartet in Montreal during the pandemic. Now reformed as a duo of frontperson Tashiina Buswa and multi-instrumentalist Billy Riley, Ribbon Skirt has a more focused vision, and the music has become more solemn and intentional. Angling towards post-punk and progressive rock rhythmic and tonal choices, the shift in name echoes a narrowed seriousness in the music and the carried responsibility of signalling Indigenous cultural identity in the music and the responsibility that implies. Like the ribbon skirt itself, the music is a perfect expression of the balance between the past and present, between honouring and maintaining inherently valuable cultural tradition, and transgressing and evolving art and media.

Their 2025 Polaris Music Prize shortlisted album Bite Down was produced by Calgary’s Scott “Monty” Munro and Marlaena Moore and released on Vancouver’s tastemaker label Mint Records.

- Liam Prost