Musician Joanne Shenandoah, a powerful voice for Native culture, dies at 64
Legendary Native American musician Joanne Shenandoah, a trailblazer popular with both mainstream and Native audiences, has died. A multi-instrumentalist, singer and composer who collaborated with such musical icons as Robbie Robertson and Neil Young (as well as with this writer), Shenandoah won a Grammy award and was among the most lauded musicians in the history of the Native American Music Awards. According to her sister Vicky Schenandoah, who confirmed with NPR by phone, she died late Monday night at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Ariz. following a long illness. She was 64.
Joanne Shenandoah was a citizen of the Oneida Nation, Wolf Clan, of the Haudenosaunee (Six Nations Iroquois) Confederacy in upstate New York. Her sister says the Schenandoahs are direct descendents of Chief Skenandoa (there are various spellings of the name — some family members now spell it with a "c" and some have chosen to drop it), an ally to George Washington during the American Revolution.
Her story is an introduction into the richness is about the legend of Skennanrahowi and how he brought peace to the warring tribes that became their confederacy sometime between the 15th and 16th centuries. It won five awards from the Native American Music Awards (NAMMYs) and other Native music groups.
