Ta’Kaiya Blaney
Singer,
Songwriter, Actor, Speaker
Native Children’s Survival Youth Ambassador
CONNECT
“Activism doesn’t have to just look like one thing. It can be art, it can be creative resistance, it can be social-media-based. Do what you love to protect what you love.”
At the young age of 6, Ta'Kaiya starred in several award-winning short films depicting the role of a First Nations child taken from her traditional home and put into governmental, residential schools run by the church. With her work in these films, Ta'Kaiya received two Leo Award nominations for BEST PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE SHORT DRAMA from the British Columbia film and television industry. By the age of 10, Ta'Kaiya's first music release and music video, SHALLOW WATERS, brought her national acclaim and earned her multiple awards and cultural honors.
Ta'Kaiya's film, MONKEY BEACH, hit the screen in 2020. The film is an adaptation of the celebrated novel of the same title by renowned Haisla-Heiltsuk author Eden Robinson. Ta'Kaiya won BEST LEAD PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE MOTION PICTURE at the 2018 Leo Awards for her role as 14-Year-old Ella in the 2018 film KAYAK TO KLEMTU. Ta'Kaiya's latest music picture EARTH REVOLUTION won the BEST MUSIC VIDEO award at the 2016 American Indian Film Festival in San Francisco, California.
“I believe our generation does not see activism just as a necessity or obligation, but a beautiful opportunity to invent the unexpected and to spread our optimism that we can make a better world.”
From Idle No More to the United Nations, and Standing Rock to the Indigenous Climate Action’s Youth Delegation, Ta’Kaiya has performed and spoken at grassroots Indigenous gatherings, rallies, and International conferences and forums across the globe.
UNITED NATIONS CLIMATE CHANGE COFERENCE COP26
Glasgow, Scotland
Ta’Kaiya’s United Nations Engagements Include
2022: UN Conference of the Parties (COP15), United Nations Biodiversity Conference (CBD) - Montreal, Canada.
2021: UN Conference of the Parties (COP26) to the United Nations Framework Convention (UNFCCC) on Climate Change - Glasgow, Scotland
2019: UN Conference of the Parties (COP25) to the United Nations Framework Convention (UNFCCC) on Climate Change - Madrid, Spain
2019: UN Climate Action Summit, New York City, New York
2016: UN DPI NGO Conference Education for Global Citizenship – Gyeongju, Republic of Korea
2015: UN Conference of the Parties (COP21) to the United Nations Framework Convention (UNFCCC) on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the 11th Session of the Conference of the Parties (CMP11) to the Kyoto Protocol, Paris France
2014: United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) Thirteenth Session, UN Headquarters, New York
2013: United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) Twelfth Session, UN Headquarters, New York
2012: United Nations Rio+20 Conference on the Environment, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
2011: UNEP in collaboration with the Government of Indonesia, TUNZA International Children & Youth Conference on the Environment, Bandung, Indonesia
In 2014, Ta'Kaiya was the youngest keynote speaker for Powershift (an annual global youth summit focusing on climate change policy) at Pittsburg, P.A., and Victoria, B.C. In 2015, Ta'Kaiya was the youngest Indigenous youth to present an intervention at the United Nations Permanent Forum On Indigenous Issues in New York City. Her intervention introduced the Native Children's Survival (NCS) Indigenous Children's Fund (ICF) and the need for such a fund.
Ta'Kaiya delivered a keynote address and performed live with Robby Romero at The Parliament Of World Religions on 19 October 2015. The conference included such notable spiritual Leaders as Chief Arvol Looking Horse and His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama. On 5 November 2015, at the Jack Poole Plaza in Vancouver in Coast Salish Territories, Ta'Kaiya performed and spoke at a public rally with Canadian author and social activist Naomi Klein calling for fundamental change in caring for each other and the planet in the wake of Canada's federal election.
As part of the Native Children's Survival (NCS) Project Protect Campaign, Ta'Kaiya's inspirational music picture EARTH REVOLUTION premiered at the Conference of Youth in Paris, France. Prefaced by H.E. Laurent Fabius, French Foreign Minister and President of COP21, the screening took place on the eve of the historic 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21). EARTH REVOLUTION features children from around the world in a call to action to protect Mother Earth and all our relations for future generations. The music picture is performed by Ta'Kaiya and produced and directed by Robby Romero. The song Earth Revolution was written by Ta'Kaiya Blaney and Aileen De La Cruz, mixed and produced by (recent first): Robby Romero, Steve Addabbo, Warne Livesey, and Joe Cruz.
During COP21, EARTH REVOLUTION was also screened at the Rights of Nature Tribunal on 5 December 2015. Ta'Kaiya closed the event with a new song, TURN THE WORLD AROUND. The TV news program Democracy Now filmed her performance and has received more than 300,000 views on the Democracy Now, Facebook, and YouTube pages.
Ta'Kaiya and Robby performed at Mother Earth Day 2016 events from Chief Leschi Schools to the Makah, Hoh, Quileute, and Quinault Youth Programs. Later in the year, Ta'Kaiya joined Robby at Standing Rock during the #NoDAPL and #WaterIsLife movement. Ta'Kaya and Robby performed live at the 44th American Indian Film Festival in San Francisco with a call to action to #StandWithStandingRock.
In support of Standing Rock and the #NoDAPL #WaterIsLife movement, Ta'Kaiya joined Robby, Water Protectors, and fellow artists, including Dakhóta Romero, Raye Zaragoza, and the legendary Dennis Banks and Kris Kristofferson, on the single and music picture BORN ON THE REZ, at Capital Records Studios in Hollywood.
For more information visit: www.takaiyablaney.com
