Anishinabeg rapper says Quebec festival cut him because his show wasn't French enough

Samuel Tremblay, better known by his stage name Samian, says he was shocked when a discussion with an organizer from a prominent Quebec song festival turned to how much of his proposed August show would be in French.

The Anishinabeg rapper and actor from Pikogan, Que. performs in French and Anishinaabemowin — one of many Algonquin dialects spoken in First Nations in Quebec, Ontario and other parts of Canada and the U.S.

He says the Festival international de la chanson de Granby (FICG)  wanted assurances that no more than 20 per cent of the show would be performed in his Indigenous tongue.

"I find it very insulting," Samian told Radio-Canada.

"For me the show comes as it is. My last album is entirely in Algonquin … you can take it or leave it — and they left it."

Samian shared his frustration on social media over the weekend, saying booking agents need to "do their homework."

He said it's hard to reconcile his recent experience with some of the progress that's been made over the course of his 15-year career — including Quebec's move to officially recognize and help protect Indigenous languages last June and a similar move by the United Nations.

"I understand we want to have francophone festivals and I understand the fight of the French language against English," he said, "but Indigenous languages aren't threatening. Indigenous languages are threatened."

The Granby festival declined an interview request from CBC but issued a statement saying it had invited Samian to perform knowing he had songs in French as well as in his first language and its team is "sincerely sorry about the turn of events" 

"We told his representative we were open to him performing songs in his two languages, accounting for the fact the primary mission of the festival is to promote francophone songwriting," reads the statement.

The festival said it hopes talks with Samian and his agent can continue so he can still put on a show.

WATCH | 'Anishinabe,' the first track off of Samian's latest album, Nikamo: 

Ghislain Picard, chief of the Assembly of First Nations of Quebec and Labrador (AFNQL), condemned Samian's exclusion from the Granby festival and issued a news release that was shared online by Innu Senator Michèle Audette.

"The performance of Samian … was refused because he could not provide an adequate quota of songs in French in the eyes of the organizers," the release said.