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Discover: Mali Obomsawin, the Wabanaki Composer Behind Sugarcane

October 27 2025

Sugarcane

Fri, Nov 7, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Event Info

I'm ready to fight against anything that is trying to diminish our communities and the health of our communities. And, you know, the other lyrics of that chant are we honor our matriarchs, we honor our grandmothers. And so I'm fighting for them. You know, I'm fighting for the women in the community and our role in leading our communities. 

Mali Obomsawin, NPR

Discover: Mali Obomsawin, the Wabanaki Composer Behind Sugarcane

Mali Obomsawin is a genre-defying bassist, composer, vocalist, and proud citizen of the Odanak First Nation. She scored the 2024 National Geographic documentary Sugarcane, which helped bring light to the injustice and abuses of the Canadian Indian residential school system.

In anticipation of Stanford Live's special screening of the film, in which Mali Obomsawin and her ensemble play the score live to picture, we've sat down with her to ask, "What is there to Discover about Mali Obomsawin?"

The Official Playlist Discover: Mali Obomsawin

Mali Obomsawin is a bassist, vocalist, songwriter and composer. She is Abenaki from Odanak First Nation. Her touring projects include her eponymous experimental ensemble, the rock band Deerlady, and her new collaboration with Raven Chacon, LazyHorse.

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Breaking the Status Quo of Americana Folk

Mali Obomsawin grew up in Northeastern Maine, deeply entrenched in the area's fiddle & dance community, as the granddaughter of a Bay Area (Maine) country mandolinist and daughter to an old-jazz loving father. While unassuming at it's surface, Obomsawin explains that the musical environment of her home is an incredibly complex result of European colonization: Irish and Scottish music met Applachian tunes, ragtimes and sea shanties traded with French-Quebecois dances. 

It's no surprise, then, that Mali Obomsawin found early success during her time with folk-rock band Lula Wiles. However, in an industry that expected a 'white folk aesthetic' -- Obomsawin sought out to represent a different kind of folk music.

A Conversation Between Ancestral Tradition & Contemporary Motifs

Mali Obomsawin's 2022 solo debut, 'Sweet Tooth', was met with international acclaim and recognition on multiple 'Best Of' lists (Grammy.com, JazzTimes, and NPR). At it's core, 'Sweet Tooth' is a free-jazz collation of Abenaki traditional songs and original compositions. Obomsawin describes the six-track album as a conversation between her and her ancestors, providing the space for their spiritual story to speak through.

Throughout the entirety of this conversation, Obomsawin draws a bridge between folk and jazz by holding close a primary guiding principle: community.

Everyone’s individual voice in those communities is valued, and that’s what keeps the music moving forward.

Mali Obomsawin, VPM

FX Reservation Dogs

Reservation Dogs

The National Geographic documentary is not Obomsawin's first foray into award-winning television & film spaces. Fans of the FX series 'Reservation Dogs' may already be familiar with her work-- the Rez Dogs have featured her work throughout the show's history!

Jati Lindsay

Shining A Light on the Contributions of Indigenous Jazz Musicians

Mali Obomsawin continues her mission as part of The Julia Keefe Indigenous Big Band: a group that reflects a wide range of Indigenous cultures, from South America to Canada, Northeast to Southwest. Together, they represent a long silenced, a long-forgotten chapter with jazz history books: the participation, contribution, and legacy of Indigenous jazz musicians. 

The band aims to celebrate & honor the contributions of early Twentieth Century Indigenous jazz musicians & create new music inspired by their combined traditional backgrounds.

Presented by Stanford Live Sugarcane Featuring composer and bassist Mali Obomsawin

In this special screening of the film, Mali Obomsawin and her ensemble play the score live to picture. Obomsawin’s music models 21st-century Indigeneity, challenging listeners’ complacency while comforting with lush and haunting harmonies.

Fri, Nov 7, 2025 at 7:30 PM
The Studio
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Sources

Sources

  1. Crane, J., Florido, A., & Vermont Public. (2022, November 5). Odanak First Nation’s Mali Obomsawin tells Indigenous stories through music [Review of Odanak First Nation’s Mali Obomsawin tells Indigenous stories through music]. NPR; NPR. https://www.npr.org/2022/11/05/1134294116/odanak-first-nations-mali-obomsawin-tells-indigenous-stories-through-music

  2. Easton, S. (2024, October 18). Jake Blount & Mali Obomsawin’s “symbiont” is a Radical Act of Reclamation - The Bluegrass Situation. The Bluegrass Situation. https://thebluegrasssituation.com/read/jake-blount-mali-obomsawins-symbiont-is-a-radical-act-of-reclamation/

  3. Parnell, A. (2022, October 31). Bassist Mali Obomsawin’s “Sweet Tooth” puts jazz in conversation with Indigenous history. VPM; NPR. https://www.vpm.org/listen/2022-10-31/bassist-mali-obomsawins-sweet-tooth-puts-jazz-in-conversation-with-indigenous

  4. Penn Live Arts: 5 Questions with Mali Obomsawin. (2025). Pennlivearts.org. https://pennlivearts.org/blog/5-questions-with-mali-obomsawin