Thunder Bay area singer-songwriter Shy-Anne Hovorka is bringing home a lot of hardware after winning six awards at the Aboriginal People's Choice Music Awards in Winnipeg on Thursday and Friday nights.

Thunder Bay singer-songwriter Shy-Anne Hovorka honoured her mother, Mary (pictured on the right), during the recent Aboriginal People's Choice Music Awards in Winnipeg. (Facebook)

Hovorka said she's proud of her achievements, but is happiest about the standing ovation the audience gave her mother — applauding her battle against breast cancer.

Mary Hovorka, who lives in Ear Falls, had surgery for breast cancer in Winnipeg two days before the awards event.

"Even though she was in ... severe pain, she still ... got herself out of the hospital and came to the awards,” Hovorka said, adding she wasn't surprised by her mother’s grit.

"She's just one of those people that just ... always give, give, give, give, give and she never takes time ... for herself."

So she took the opportunity to get her mother some public recognition.

"I ... did a dedication to her and her fight with breast cancer,” she said.

“And you know, like there's 5,000 people in the crowd ... we got her a standing ovation and everybody was cheering for her."

Hovorka said she's proud of her awards, but what's most important is sharing the spotlight with people like her mother and raising awareness for causes like cancer.

"Yes, it's a music award and yes, it's a great accomplishment,” she said.

“But when you're able to bring awareness to other things and honour other people ... that, to me, was more important than another award on the mantle."

Hovorka said she's also glad her music video about the dangers of texting and driving won for Best Music Video.

A friend came up with the idea, but died of a heart attack before the video was finished.