Ronnie Dean Harris
Sound
Biography
Ostwelve aka Ronnie Dean Harris is a Stō:lo/St’át'imc/Nlaka'pamux multimedia artist based in New Westminster, BC. Starting in his teens, Ostwelve has toured the globe showcasing his original music. As well, he has composed music for various TV, film and media projects. With a major focus on hiphop since the beginning, Ostwelve’s style can shift and shape into various rhythms + time signatures from spoken word fury to dance floor deadly. Over the years, he has worked on number of media projects, as an actor and composer for APTN/Showcase dramatic series "Moccasin Flats" for two seasons as a performer and a lead character, and in the subsequent film project "Moccasin Flats: Redemption" in 2007.
Known For
The Road Forward is an electrifying musical documentary that connects a pivotal moment in Canada’s civil rights history—the beginnings of Indian Nationalism in the 1930s—with the powerful momentum of First Nations activism today. Interviews and musical sequences describe how a tiny movement, the Native Brotherhood and Sisterhood, grew to become a successful voice for change across the country. Visually stunning, The Road Forward seamlessly connects past and present through superbly produced story-songs with soaring vocals, blues, rock, and traditional beats.
The Road Forward
"No Reservations" is social commentary inspired by true-life events, giving a hypothetical look at what life would be like if the roles in Standing Rock were reversed. Protests erupt as an upper-middle class Caucasian neighborhood attempts to thwart the construction of a pipeline from an Indigenous Corporation.
No Reservations
Artists such as Drezus, Ostwelve, Hellnback, Kinnie Starr and Snotty Nose Rez Kids explore the meaning of Indigenous Hip Hop and the connections between the music and their cultures.
The Foundation: Indigenous Hip Hop in Canada
A piece about Redwire Magazine (now Redwire Media) made for CTV's youth zine First Story, highlighting Indigenous hip hop artists in Vancouver.
Redwire Magazine and Native Hip Hop in Vancouver
Cedar and Bamboo is a thought-provoking documentary about the unique relationships shared by early Chinese immigrants and Aboriginal peoples on Canada’s west coast. The documentary recounts the life experiences of four descendants of mixed heritage. Set in BC, their stories reveal the difficult circumstances of Aboriginal peoples and early Chinese immigrants.