Spirit Trail pay tribute to the Standing Rock protests and their Sioux legacy with the soaring new single and video Water Protectors — showcasing today on Tinnitist.
Water Protectors begins with a rhythmic, full-bodied acoustic guitar that soon surrenders the spotlight to the seamless interplay of Destiny Fiddler and Chas Piper’s voices. Their harmonies are like an elegant, deftly choreographed dance — with Fiddler’s vibrato soprano blending and dissolving into Piper’s earnest alto so seamlessly at many points it’s impossible to determine where one ends and the other begins.
Punctuated by tambourine as well as wailing electric guitar, the message of Water Protectors is one of continuing the fight, the mission, that began at Standing Rock. That’s because water is a precious resource that Spirit Trail refuses to take for granted. “Water is our lifeblood and it is our responsibility to care for and protect it before it is too late,” Destiny says. “There’s no time to take lightly the degradation and poisoning of our sacred waters. Where will we be when there’s nothing clean to drink and the medicine won’t grow?”
It’s a message the duo hope will be heard around the globe. “The song was written to inspire the kind of revolutionary response at Standing Rock here in Canada and all over the world,” Chas says, adding that right now the Wet’suwet’en are defending their sacred headwaters from another pipeline. “People need to wake up and realize this fight is theirs, whether they are in a city, on the res, or wherever.”
Spirit Trail began in 2019 when Fiddler and Piper met at a tree-planting camp outside of Thunder Bay. Destiny is Cree from Mathias Colomb First Nation from Pukatawagan, and she grew up in Thompson and Flin Flona. Chas was born in Windsor, Ont., was raised by a single mom, and also spent some time in foster care; Chas left home at 14 and survived the streets by busking until he made his way to Alberta at 17.
Although they have different backgrounds, their shared experiences of social injustice created an instant connection — as well as their love for poetry and music. They fell in love and decided to head west, embarking on a road trip across Canada and writing songs along the way. The mountains and the forests provided inspiration, fuelling artistic creativity and writing.
Watch Water Protectors above, listen to the song below, and follow Spirit Trail on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.
