Laura Niquay is an Atikamekw artist from Wemotaci in the Mauricie region. She won the Félix Awards for Indigenous Artist of the Year and Indigenous Language Album of the Year at the 2022 ADISQ Gala, as well as the Teweikan Award in the Folk category, the Best Performance Award, and the Jury’s Favourite Award at the 2022 Teweikan Gala. In 2021, she received the TD Indigenous Songwriter Award from the SOCAN Foundation. She stands out with her unique voice and her bold decision to sing in her Indigenous language: Atikamekw.

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Her 2021 album Waska Matisiwin, included on the Polaris Prize Long List and ranked among the year’s best albums by CBC Music, Exclaim!, Journal Métro, and La Presse, is a powerful and sensitive work that fully reveals her folk-grunge universe. Carefully crafted over several years with producer and collaborator Simon Walls and the team at Musique Nomade, the album is layered, luminous, and complex. With guest appearances by Shauit, Anachnid, RedTails Spirit Singers, Gotta Lago, Eadsé, Kanen, and Soleil Launière, it showcases the richness and diversity of Indigenous voices.

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In fall 2024, Laura released Comptines Atikamekw - E Aistahiak (Les six saisons), an Atikamekw-language nursery rhyme album. Initiated by the Six Seasons Early Childhood Center in Wemotaci, this lively project aims to transmit the Atikamekw language through music. Since the release of Waska Matisiwin, Laura has made numerous media appearances in interviews and live performances, including on Belle et Bum, La semaine des 4 Julie, La Belle Tournée, Les 100 Génies, Le Grand Solstice, Sucré Salé, and more.

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She continues to shine on stage, performing alongside major Quebec artists such as Richard Séguin, Louis-Jean Cormier, and Marjo. Her performances have graced major festivals across Quebec, and as far as France, Chile, and Ontario: Festival en chanson de Petite-Vallée, La Noce, Montreal International Jazz Festival, FME, Festivoix, Kwe! Festival, Festival de musique du bout du monde, FIMU, Fluvial, Tronador Festival, Sunfest, Kultrun Fest, and more.

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On stage, accompanied by Jérémie Essiambre, Catherine Pereira-Lemay, Gotta Lago, and Jeanne Corpataux-Blache, Laura delivers an authentic and emotionally rich show — sometimes festive, sometimes tender, always guided by the stories of her Atikamekw heritage.

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While working on a new album set for release in 2026, Laura is now presenting her new show Nir Wactenama ("Moi, Lumière" translated as “I, the light”). This concert unveils an even more intimate and daring side of her artistry. She dives into the deep textures of blues and rich, enveloping vocal harmonies, backed by an all-female band: guitarist Raphaëlle Chouinard from the punk-rock trio Les Shirley; drummer and close collaborator Sarah Dion, also from the band; and bassist Marie-Philippe Thibault-Desbiens from the rock group Princesses.