Music Review: Joanne Shenandoah, Orenda: Native American Songs of Life

 This can be found on Your Tube

Joanne Shenandoah, Orenda: Native American Songs of Life, with Lawrence Laughing, AllMusic, 1998.

This is some beautiful music.  They sing in their native language, Mohawk.  However there is included a type of written narration which gives some idea of what is being said.  These are songs for the long house.  The music and harmony are very nice. They sing alone, and then sing together and it makes for a nice blend.  There are a couple times when they have narration under the vocal or instrumental and this I didn’t care for.  It was usually too soft to actually hear. 

My favorite song is “In Love.”  It has a lively celebratory tone.  You can feel the happiness of being in love.  This is the Mohawk rabbit Song, a traditional dance in which the women select their partner and they dance around the singers.  An elder said the Rabbit Dance was like a marriage ‘two steps forward, one back.”

Native American Biographies: Joseph and Mary Brant: Mohawk, Iroquois Confederacy

Mary and Joseph had close ties with the British during the revolutionary War.  Mary was Joseph's older sister.  Mary had married Sir William Johnson, British superintendent of Indian Affairs.  He took Joseph under his wing.  Consequently, Joseph fought for the British in both the french and Indian War as well as the Revolutionary War.  He was a leader, and influential in convincing most of the Mohawks to fight with the British.  His mentor died shortly before the war.  Molly was also influential and convinced many to fight with the British.
When the treaty ended the conflict, the Iroquois were left out.  John Brant was influential in rectifying this with the British.  The Iroquois were granted land in Canada, and it was this move that lead to many who fought against America in the Revolutionary War, relocating to Canada.  This of course included Joseph and Mary Brant.