Teenagers across Canada are learning that a single line of code can remix a beat, amplify a story, and spark conversations their classrooms have never held before. Your Voice is Power, an education program and creative music competition, teaches students how to separate, edit, and remix tracks using coding basics. In 2024, it introduced a new focus on Indigenous music, reshaping how teens approach both technology and culture.
“I think it’s really a unique experience,” said Marika Schalla, an Indigenous educator who helps lead the program, in an interview with CTV News Calgary.
The lessons go far beyond computer science. The program creates space to talk about the socioeconomic and environmental challenges facing First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities. For Indigenous students, it is a chance to bring lived experiences into their art. For their classmates, it becomes a way to learn by listening.
“You wouldn’t think that coding music and social justice would go so beautifully together, but they create a meaningful message,” Schalla said. “They’re going to be going out into the community prepared and know that it is possible to have a job in computer science or STEM, even if you’re an Indigenous kid from the reserve.”
Students use EarSketch, a free online coding editor available in English, French, Ojibwe, and Inuktitut. Through the platform, teens remix tracks from Indigenous artists such as Dakota Bear, Jayli Wolf, Samian, Twin Flames, and Aysanabee.
The program ends with a competition, awarding two 5,000 dollar scholarships, one to an Indigenous student and one to a non-Indigenous ally. The idea is to celebrate creativity and make space for new voices in fields where Indigenous representation is still limited.
Artists say music is a powerful medium for their work. “Music is a universal language,” Dakota Bear said. “It’s a vibrational frequency. It’s that feeling it evokes, that emotion. So music, being that universal language, also connects us on a different level as human beings. When you have music and use that with the message, it just becomes so much more impactful.”
Your Voice is Power blends technical learning with cultural expression, giving students a way to build skills while exploring identity, storytelling, and solidarity. It asks teens to code, but also to listen, reflect, and create with intention.
