Native America’s Musical Matriarch And Peace Maker Dies at Age 63

It is with deep sorrow and profound sadness that the Native American Music Awards & Association (NAMA) share in the outpouring of grief of our beloved friend, Lifetime Achievement honoree, and 14 time Award winner, Joanne Shenandoah, following the announcement of her passing.

On Monday, November 22nd approaching midnight EST,  Joanne Shenandaoh died at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona following complications of abdominal bleeding and suffering a cardiac arrest. She was surrounded by her husband, Doug George-Kanentiio and daughter Leah.  

A member of the Wolf Clan of the Oneida Nation, of the Haudenosaunee Six Nations Iroquois Confederacy, Joanne Shenandoah was the most critically acclaimed and honored Native American singer since her debut recording in 1989 with, Joanne Shenandoah. She went on to record a total of 15 albums with numerous more collaborations. She has won a multitude of awards, including 14 Native American Music Awards, the most ever awarded to a singular artist, and a GRAMMY for her contribution on Sacred Ground: A Tribute to Mother Earth. She has earned two Grammy nominations for her albums, “Covenant” and “Peacemaker’s Journey”,  an Emmy nomination for the PBS special “Native America,” was inducted into the Syracuse Area Hall of Fame, and received an Honorary Doctorate of Music from Syracuse University in 2002. She was also an original board member of the Hiawatha Institute for Indigenous Knowledge, which operates in partnership with Syracuse University.

Just this year, Joanne released her last full length recording entitled, Oh Shenandoah available on Amazon.com. The 12 track recording features a collection of country infused songs along with a  poignant dedication to Missing Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW), “Missing You.”   Joanne, with her daughter Leah and sister Diane, delivered an emotive and moving live performance with “Missing You”, at her final appearance at the 19th Annual Native American Music Awards. As the Awards most decorated and honored artist with 14 Native American Music Awards, Joanne’s accolades include: Best Children’s Recording, Best Traditional Recording, Best Music Video, Best Producer, as well as multiple awards for;  Best Female Artist, New Age Recording, Best Compilation, Artist of the Year, Best Compilation.  She also sang backing vocals on a new song by singer/songwriter Jimmy Lee Young  called, “Precious Light.”

Over her five decade plus career, whether performing solo or with her musical trio featuring her daughter Leah and sister Diane, Joanne has graced the stages at; The White House, Carnegie Hall, Presidential Inaugurations, Madison Square Garden, The Smithsonian, Woodstock ’94 and participated in the celebration of the canonization of Kateri Tekakwitha, the first Roman Catholic Native American saint in Rome, Italy. As a humanitarian and peace advocate, Joanne met and performed for such noted leaders such as his Holiness the Dali Lama, and Nelson Mandela.

Joanne’s beautiful embellishing voice, strong Iroquois traditions, unequivocal elegance and courteous grace made her a prominent role model and highly respected musical Matriarch among Native American communities as well as the mainstream music community at large. She sang with deep roots from her ancestors and flawlessly incorporated her oral traditions into contemporary Folk, Country and Americana formats. She captured the hearts of audiences all over the world and always took time to encourage and inspire younger musicians in her travels. She made an incredible impact on this earth and has paved paths for so many.  The Native American Music Awards will continue to best ensure and preserve her legacy.  She will be greatly missed.

She leaves behind her husband Doug, daughter Leah, grandson Kieren Ryder, sisters Diane and Vicky and numerous nieces and nephews. Our sincerest condolences to her family.

We invite artists to please share your photos and comments to [email protected] for a future memorial posting.

Visit our photo gallery of Joanne’s life in pictures at: https://nativeamericanmusicawards.com/galleries/896190/in-loving-memory-of-joanne-shenandoah-1958-2021

Treaty One Territory – The sākihiwē festival is working with NCI FM to take pre-recorded concerts by Indigenous artists to radio audiences across Manitoba and beyond. The series, entitled sākihiwē music Thursdays, began on October 14 and will conclude on December 16.

“We believe that art or cultural deserts have the same negative affects on our mental health that food deserts have on our physical well-being,” explains Festival Director Alan Greyeyes. “And when music festivals were forced to move their programs online we tried to figure how to reach Indigenous families in rural and remote communities who don’t have the same access to high speed Internet or technology as families in suburban Winnipeg.”

Each of the six episodes includes an hour-long radio performance on NCI FM, which reaches 80% of Manitoba or an estimated 140,000 daily listeners (and an estimated 46,666 listeners per episode), and a four-song video premiere on Facebook and YouTube (follow the sākihiwē festival on Facebook and subscribe to the sākihiwē festival’s YouTube channel for scheduling details). 

Tataskweyak Cree Nation’s Sebastian Gaskin kicked everything off last week with an incredible performance that included several unreleased songs and Fontine, a nehiyaw iskwew singer/songwriter with family ties in Cowessess First Nation, is set to hit the airwaves and Internet on October 21.

Pangnirtung’s Joey Nowyuk (folk music) and Misipawistik Cree Nation’s Jade Turner (country music) will perform in November and JUNO Award winners Murray Porter (blues music) and Celeigh Cardinal (roots music) are confirmed for episodes in December.

sākihiwē music Thursdays schedule:

• October 14: Sebastian Gaskin (website / watch now)
• October 21: Fontine (set reminder)
• November 4: Joey Nowyuk (website)
• November 18: Jade Turner (website)
• December 2: Murray Porter (website)
• December 16: Celeigh Cardinal (website)

Download photos of the artists here.

Aboriginal Music Manitoba Inc. (AMM) and NCI FM launched the sākihiwē music Thursdays project in February with financial support from the Province of Manitoba’s Safe at Home Manitoba program. The original season included performances by the legendary C-Weed Band, Inuit throat singer Nikki Komaksiutiksak, Mezzo Soprano singer Rhonda Head, singer/songwriter Billy Simard, country artist Desiree Dorion, and fiddle master Patti Kusturok.

NCI FM is available on the FM dial in Manitoba and online at ncifm.com/listen-live.

AMM acknowledges the Government of Canada’s financial support sākihiwē music Thursdays season two.

About the sākihiwē festival

The sākihiwē festival was launched in 2009 as Aboriginal Music Week to develop Indigenous youth as an audience for live music. The festival presents between 20 and 30 First Nation, Metis, Inuit, Native American, and Indigenous music acts each year. It is held in Treaty One Territory and is produced by AMM.

AMM received the name “sākihiwē” from Sundance Chief David Blacksmith during a ceremony on February 21, 2018. It means “to love” in Cree and the organization has been instructed to use Standard Roman Orthography (SRO) to write the name. SRO has no capital letters.

AMM would like to acknowledge the Government of Canada through the Department of Canadian Heritage, the Canada Council for the Arts, the Manitoba Arts Council, and the Winnipeg Arts Council for their financial support of the sākihiwē festival’s outreach programming.

AMM would like to acknowledge the High Commission of Canada in the United Kingdom, the Origins Festival, NCI FM, Manitoba Music, the West End Cultural Centre, Assiniboine Credit Union, Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization of Manitoba, the Winnipeg Folk Festival, the Wall-to-Wall Mural & Culture Festival, and Pegcity Car Co-Op for their support of the sākihiwē festival’s outreach programming.

The sākihiwē festival is made possible by partnerships with Ka Ni Kanichihk, Central Neighbourhoods, the Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre, and the Spence Neighbourhood Association.

Visit sakihiwe.ca for more information about the festival.

Facebook: facebook.com/sakihiwe
Twitter: twitter.com/sakihiwe
Instagram: instagram.com/sakihiwe
YouTube: youtube.com/c/sākihiwēfestival

About Aboriginal Music Manitoba Inc.

AMM is a non-profit organization that presents, promotes and nurtures Indigenous music and culture in order to build audiences at the community level and beyond. We do this by producing an annual music festival; delivering professional development training for artists; shining a spotlight on the accomplishments of Indigenous music makers and industry professionals year-round; and, by building bridges between the Indigenous music community and our counterparts around the world.

AMM is governed by a nine-person volunteer board, which includes chairperson Brett Huson, vice-chairperson Sandra Seidel, secretary Kimberly Cleave, and directors Rhonda Head, Jennifer Duka, Brendan Dong, Rheanna Merasty, and Ivana Yellowback.

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For more information about the sākihiwē festival, please contact:

Alan Greyeyes, Festival Director
Aboriginal Music Manitoba
P: (204) 296-9790
E: [email protected]
sakihiwe.ca

Montreal, October 6, 2021– The Musique Nomade team will be in Carleton-sur-Mer in the Gaspé Peninsula to do studio sessions with Indigenous singer-songwriters and musicians who want to work on song or video production. It’s free and open to all types of projects. Thanks to the support of Maximum 90, our production team will set up a studio for two weeks at Quai-des-Arts with all the necessary equipment (technical and instrumental) to work on the musical production:

– Recording and realization of songs
– Shooting of live sessions and video interviews
– Participation in collaborations
– Help with writing and composing
– Help with production and direction
– Management of musical rights

Interested artists should contact our team now to make an appointment or to get information about our activities: [email protected].