In 2014 Iceis Rain became the first openly two-spirit person to perform at the Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Awards.
[2] In 2019, several Inuit artists, including Tanya Tagaq and Kelly Fraser, boycotted the awards over accusations of cultural appropriation.
[3] One of the award nominations in the Best Folk Album category that year was given to Connie LeGrande, a Cree artist from Saskatchewan whose album incorporated throat singing; however, as LeGrande had performed the throat singing herself rather than hiring an Inuit collaborator, she was accused of appropriating Inuit culture.
[4] LeGrande, for her part, stated that throat singing is not unique to Inuit culture, and that she had not tried to perform in the Inuit style.
[5] Lisa Meeches, the director of the awards, faced further criticism when she stated that she considered it impossible for Indigenous cultures to appropriate each other.