Cikwes, Connie LeGrande is a nehiyaw ᓀᐦᐃᔭᐤ soul singer and songwriter from Bigstone Cree Nation. She currently resides in Amiskwaciy Waskahikan, also known as Edmonton, Alberta. In 2019, her album ISKO was nominated for the Indigenous Music Awards for the Best Folk Album of the Year. Cikwes graduated from York University with her Masters in Music in 2022. Her music explores her language, nêhiyawêwin ᓀᐦᐃᔭᐁᐧᐃᐧᐣ and nehiyaw ᓀᐦᐃᔭᐤ music methods that include chanting cahkasinahikanak ᒐᐦᑲᓯᓇᐦᐃᑲᐣ also known as spirit markers or syllabics. Her most recent work, kâkîsimow ᑳᑮᓯᒧᐤ is a full length Cree album, written for the Elders from her home community. The nehiyaw ᓀᐦᐃᔭᐤ spirituals were composed by chanting the Cree syllabary giving the listener a feeling of being held in a wepisowin, a traditional baby swing that was denied of many children that were forced to attend residential schools in Canada. Her voice is tender and her nehiyaw ᓀᐦᐃᔭᐤ song writing is an emblem of hope and beauty for the continuation of nêhiyawêwin ᓀᐦᐃᔭᐁᐧᐃᐧᐣ.