TheJuno Award for Indigenous Music Album of the Year is an annual award presented by theCanadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences for the best album by anIndigenous Canadian artist or band. It was formerly known asBest Music of Aboriginal Canada Recording (1994–2002),Aboriginal Recording of the Year (2003–2009), andAboriginal Album of the Year (2010–2016).^[1] Indigenous artists are not excluded from consideration in other genre or general interest categories; in fact, some indigenous musicians, most notablyThe Halluci Nation, have actively chosen not to submit their music in the indigenous category at all, instead pursuing nomination only in the more general categories.

The award faced controversy in its inaugural year, after nomineeSazacha Red Sky was accused ofcultural appropriation.^[2] According to the surviving children ofChief Dan George, the writer of the song she had been nominated for, she was not personally a member of theTsleil-Waututh First Nation and according to the George family did not have the right to record it under their cultural traditions.^[2] George's son Leonard sought a legal injunction to prevent the award from being presented at the Juno Awards ceremony at all,^[3] and a final compromise revising Red Sky's nomination to reflect the album instead of the song was announced on the morning of the ceremony.^[4]

More recently, some indigenous artists have called for the category to be discontinued, on the grounds that a dedicated indigenous category "ghettoizes" their music as a niche interest not relevant to non-indigenous music fans, while others have defended it as a platform for increasing the visibility of indigenous music, arguing that even though indigenous artists are eligible in all Juno award categories, relatively few indigenous artists actually receive such nominations due to their lack of mainstream prominence and the much wider range of competition for nomination slots.^[5]

In late 2019, the Junos announced plans to rename the category as Indigenous Artist or Group of the Year for the 2020 ceremony. While the category would still honour particular albums, the organization said the decision was made to address questions they received from Indigenous artists "who believe they're submitting to a category meant to shine a spotlight on the accomplishments of Indigenous people." The Junos suggested the change would likely "eliminate a lot of the confusion and put us in a better position to explain the need for the category, when challenged."^[6]

At theJuno Awards of 2021, it was announced further changes were being made for theJuno Awards of 2022, splitting the category into two new categories forContemporary Indigenous Artist of the Year andTraditional Indigenous Artist of the Year.^[7]

In its lifetime, the award was won four times by singer-songwriterBuffy Sainte-Marie, all of which were revoked in March 2025.^[8] As the award was presented based on the indigenous character of the music rather than the ethnic heritage of the performer per se, the original questions around her indigeneity from 2023 did not impact her eligibility on their own; however, the 2025 revocation of herOrder of Canada, on the grounds that she could no longer provide satisfactory proof of Canadian citizenship, led the Juno committee to revoke the awards.

• Aboriginal music of Canada
• Aboriginal Canadian personalities

• Juno Awards
• Indigenous Canadian music awards
• Album awards

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata