Innu writer, composer and performer Florent Vollant, who was born in Labrador in 1959, grew up on the Maliotenam reserve to the east of Sept-Îles. He began his musical career in the mid-1980s and subsequently helped create the Innu Nikamu music festival. He also joined forces with Claude McKenzie, another young Innu, to form the duo Kashtin.

In fall 2018, he released a new 11-track album with a country-folk and Tex-Mex flavour – Mitsha Meshkenu, which means “the open road” in Innu.

Over the past few years he has garnered numerous awards and other honours. In May 2017, he received the title of Compagnon des arts et des lettres du Québec, an important distinction awarded by the Quebec arts council, the CALQ. He was also the winner of the SODEC-Bourse Rideau European Jury Prize in February 2018, and recognized again in June when he was awarded the Lieutenant Governor of Quebec’s prestigious Gold Medal.