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January, 2022
Hi all. Jamie Lee here. My husband, Milt Lee and I produced the Oyate series together many years ago. It was the adventure of a lifetime. Sadly, in Nov. of 2019, Milt passed away. I lost my best friend and co-producer, but I decided to leave this site up to keep his legacy alive and to continue to offer others access to these amazing stories. As for me, life goes on. I am doing Pebble Art, drilling stones and glass for jewelry and and teaching art classes in Northern Minnesota and in Texas in the winter. Please visit me at www.manykites.com to catch up with my recent activities. Thanks to all of you for continuing to visit this site. Oyate Ta Olowan-The Songs of the People
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Jamie and Milt Lee. Producers of Oyate Ta Olowan
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http://www.oyate.com/index.html#alaskan
Alaskan Tribes
Evelyn Alexander - Athabascan / Minto Alaska
Evelyn Alexander grew up when dog sleds were the only mode of transportation and there were no televisions, radios, or white people. Her people still went to hunting and fishing camps on a seasonal basis to gather food for the coming year.
Social dances and the potlatch were the framework of life in this remote Athabascan village. Like many of the elder women, she wears dresses and prefers to sit on the floor rather than a chair Read full story . . . |
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John Pingayak - Chu'pik from Chevak, Alaska
The Chu’pik drums are wide, shallow rims of wood stretched with ripcord, the shiny parachute fabric. They beat them with a slim stick, and when four of the men drum together, it fills the room. Read full story . . .
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Sylvester Ayek - Inupiaq from Anchorage, Alaska
Sylvester Ayek is an Inupiaq native. He grew up on King Island, a tiny island far, far north of Anchorage in the Bering Sea. His family lived there until he was twelve years old but abandoned their island village when the school was permanently closed. Read full story . . .
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The Atka Dancers - Unungax (Aleut) from Atka, Alaska
About 100 Unangax people live on Atka. The outside world calls them "Aleuts," but we were informed that is not their name. The village is spread across the small island and the people have made sure the school has every convenience. One night many of the villagers gathered and we were invited to watch the young dancers. They got into full regalia, beaded headresses and all, and dance for us. Led by Ethan Pettigrew, these young people are becoming masters of their traditions. Read the full story . . .
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Shxat’kwaan Dancers - Tlingit from Wrangell, Alaska
We gathered first at St. Philips Episcopal Church--there was a cookie party going on and a group of women were preparing packages of cookies for distribution. The Shxat Kwaan Dancers (the ones who were not off for sports events and such) gathered to perform for us. It was amazing to see these young people so focused on learning their traditions. Read full story . . .
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Canadian Tribes
Maggie Paul - Passamaquoddy from New Brunswick, Canada
After traveling two days from New York up through Maine, we crossed the border into Canada and parked our weary bodies into one more hotel. Maggie met us wearing a pair of comfortable sweat pants and a red T-shirt and looking like somebody's favored auntie—until she opened her mouth to sing. There is something about Maggie that is so light and spirited you think she might just float away, pulled up by the fine strands of the creator’s web. Read the full story . . .
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K'odi Nelson - Kwakwaka’wakw from Cormorant Island, British Columbia, Canada
K’odi teaches culture and music at the lovely elementary school on the island. We met him there and watched him play for the children. He was good with them and the children gave serious attention to performing every move precisely and accurately.
One small girl danced so beautifully we thought she surely must be hosting the spirit of a wise old woman. One of the teachers asked us if we had “noticed” her. The teacher said she has danced like that since she could walk. It was stunning. Read the full story . . . |
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Gilbert and Gitchee Cheechoo - Cree from Moosonee, Ontario, Canada
The town is small but Gilbert explains that it was once a major outpost for the Hudson Bay Company. Moose Factory, which is across the bay, is a small island village. We visit it in by taking a water taxi across the bay. Moosonee was also the birthplace of The Revlon Cosmetic Company and the town boasts a small museum. We stay several days in Moosonee and record Gilbert and his son on the night before we leave. He uses a plain hand drum but the beat of the drum varies from traditional plains music. Read the full story . . .
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Timmongiak Petaulassie & Qaunnaq Mikkigak - Inuit from Cape Dorset, Nunuvut, Canada
Cape Dorset is at the top of Hudson Bay in Canada. Twice a day it is part of Baffin Island and it is the home of the Inuit People and home to Quanaq and Timmunquak. They explain through an interpreter that throat singing, in the old days, was treated like a child's game. The two women get inches from each other's mouth and begin singing at each other. The rhythm and sounds are incredible. Read the full story . . .
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Rocky Paul Wiseman - Maliseet from Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada
Rocky Paul Wiseman is a man clearly in love with his people and his nation. A young Maliseet man, Rocky is friendly and more than anxious to drive us around St. Mary's reserve to show us the many ancient sites. The Maliseet people are one of the oldest known tribes along the eastern coast. Read the full story . . .
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Lee Cremo - Micmac from Eskasone, Nova Scotia, Canada
For Oyate part two, we decided to include transitional or contemporary-not just traditional native music. Lee Cremo was a fiddler. When we met him he was recovering from a broken arm without full use of his arm but he was a magnificent fiddler and composer. In fact, to Milt's delight, we discovered that Lee composed the famous fiddle tune called "Constitutional Breakdown." Lee Cremo passed away in 1998. Read the full story . . .
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Central Plains Tribes
Stephan Small Salmon - Flathead from Ronan, Montana
The Flathead people consider themselves descended from “Coyote,” the one responsible for the creation of human beings. The Flathead and Kootenai tribes once roamed over a huge area that went as far north as British Columbia and almost to the sea on the west. Read full story . . .
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Wilmer Mesteth- Lakota from Pine Ridge, South Dakota
Wilmer Mesteth is from our own home state of South Dakota and is well known on the Pine Ridge Reservation. He is a full-time instructor for Oglala Lakota College in the Lakota Studies Department and is deeply involved in the music and culture of Lakota people.
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Nellie Two Bulls - Oglala Lakota from Pine Ridge, South Dakota
Nellie generously shared her voice and her music with thousands, opening many ceremonies, singing at pow wows with the Eagle Nest Singers, and singing with her husband, Matt Two Bulls, who passed on earlier. She was involved with the return of artifacts, sacred and funereal items taken during the long years of fighting and the Wounded Knee Massacre. Read the full story . . .
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Buddy Red Bow - Lakota from Pine Ridge, South Dakota
Buddy Red Bow was one of the first and greatest of native contemporary musicians. He was a personal friend of Milt's--in fact, Milt was the first person to record Buddy and put "Indian Love Song" on a little 45" record.
This special Oyate "deal" is an hour-long documentary produced on Buddy's life and music produced for KILI FM Radio on the one-hour anniversary of Buddy's death. Read the full story . . . |
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Eastern & Northeastern Tribes
Walker Calhoun - Eastern Band Cherokee from Cherokee, North Caroline
Walker is a member of the Eastern Band of Cherokees. He was born in these mountains and heard only Cherokee spoken until he was 12 years old. His family had little in the way of material wealth, but he was drawn to the music and dances of his people. Walker started the Raven Rock Singers from the members of his own family in order to keep alive the ancient songs and dances. Read the full story. . .
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Michelle Stock - Seneca from Salamanca, New York
Michele Stock is a Seneca woman who was raised on the old Allegheny Reservation in New York. She is a pretty, vibrant young woman and lives with her husband and daughter, Charlotte, in a house built from the timbers of an old Amish barn. With a Masters in Education, Michele has played many roles in the education of her people. Read the full story . . .
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Darrel Wixon - Wampanoag from Mashpee, Massachusetts
Darrel Wixon is a Wampanoag man from Mashpee, Massachusetts. We fought the traffic on Cape Cod to reach him in the small village of Mashpee. It was dark and the roads go this way and that and we nearly got lost. I never knew how wooded the land around Cape Cod was. Finally we called Darrel and had him rescue us. Read the full story . . .
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Island Nations
Charles Ka'Upu - Hawaiian from Maui, Hawaii
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Pulefano - Samoan from Oahu, Hawaii
Pulefano is originally from Samoa. His full name is Pulefano Galeai, but he answers to simply “Pulefano.” We met him at the upper tip of the island of Oahu, one of the Hawaiian Islands. Pulefano is the cultural director at the Polynesian Cultural Center, an elaborate but nicely done tourist complex run by the Mormon Church. Read the full story . . .
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Mexico
5-Day Ceremony in Trebol, Mexico, Part One
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5-Day Ceremony in Trebol, Mexico, Part Two
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North Central Tribes
Eddie Benton Benai - Ojibwe from Hayward, Wisconsin
Eddie Benton Banai is a fullblood Ojibwe and a member of the Midewiwin Lodge. He grew up in what was once an Ojibwe village along the shores of Round Lake just outside of Hayward, Wisconsin. Eddie says, “I was never without the sound of the drum, without the sound of music, since before my birth I began to hear the drum, even as I was in my mother’s womb.” Read the full story . . .
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Ken Funmaker - Ho'chak from Friendship, Wisconsin
Ken is lean, brusque, earthy and funny all at the same time and strongly committed to the traditions of his people. He is a Hoc'ak (pronounced Hochunk) native, a tribe of people that occupied the woodlands of Wisconsin and continue to occupy that land.
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Myron Pyawasit- Menominee from Zoar, Wisconsin
Myron is very involved in the traditional lifestyle of the Menominee people. His drum group, The Smokeytown Singers, is well known on the pow wow circuit. During the pow wow season, Myron and his drum group travel nationally to perform at some of the nation's greatest events.
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Brent Michael Davids - Mohican from Minneapolis, MN
Brent is both musician and composer. He tells this amazing story of how he created a flute from crystal, and has since created several others. They are clear and beautiful and we were stunned by this unusual instrument. Later, we had the opportunity to travel to the edge of the Grand Canyon and watch Brent perform with the native people who are considered the "guardians of the canyon". Read the full story . . .
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Keith Secola - Ojibwe from Phoenix, Arizona
Keith is a folk singer, rather a native version of Bob Dylan and, in fact, he comes from the same territory in Northern Minnesota as Bob. His music is well known in Indian country. Although he is a native of Minnesota and an Ojibwe, he now lives in Phoenix, Arizona. Read the full story . . .
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Northwest Tribes
Patrick & Wade Greene - Makah from Neah Bay, Washington
The tiny Makah reservation is located up on one of the prettiest, most remote corners of the continental U.S. It sits out on the tip of land in Washington State that reaches further west and north than any other point in the lower 48. The coasts are rocky, the sea a shining expanse, and the land rough and beautiful. Mary Greene’s house, where we met Patrick and Wade, is literally a stone's throw from the Pacific Ocean. Read the full story . . .
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Ron Pond - Umatilla frpm Pullman, Washington
Ron Pond was born in 1939 and began dancing when he was five years old. He says, “You’re a dancer first and then you kind of move up. And then the time will come when you will eventually start singing, but I never really thought about it. I just, you kind of play a role and your place, you seem to know your place and then you have to gain the experience and then you move on and take the responsibility—which I found wasn’t very easy.” Read the full story . . .
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Grant Pilgrim - Yurok from Grants Pass Oregon
Grant was a logger, peeler, roofer, traditional fisherman, ran a smokehouse, worked with abalone shells and was, in Aggie’s words, an “all round traditional man.” He had no children but was stepfather to Aggie’s six children. Aggie is a Rogue River Indian of the Takelma Band and is also a psychologist and does traditional crafts.
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Black Lodge Singers - Blackfoot from White Swan, Washington
Black Lodge—Take it Away!
That’s the call at many pow wows across the United States as the Master of Ceremonies calls the drum group to begin. And Black Lodge does just that—takes it away. The Black Lodge Singers are a group of vibrant and exciting drummers and singers that perform for pow wows everywhere. The group is led by Kenny Scabby Robe, a Blackfoot Indian,who is also the father of most of the drummers. Read the full story . . . |
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Southern & Southeastern Tribes
John Kionut - Caddo from Fort Cobb, Oklahoma
John was born in 1924 and is in his seventies. He is an active, intelligent member of his Caddo community. In his home, sitting on the head of a large drum, is a picture of his father who is reported to have lived into his 120th year. Read the full story . . .
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Anita Anquo - Kiowa from Salpulpa, Oklahoma
Anita Anquo lives just outside of Oklahoma City in the smalltown of Salpulpa. Anita is an older woman with a very youthful presence. Her mannerisms are quick and sharp; she laughs a lot, and when she “lulus” it can be heard from far away. Her house is filled with craft supplies and finished items, and I wanted to move in and have her teach me. Read the full story . . .
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Woodlin Lois - Choctaw from Philadelphia, Mississippi
Woodlin Lois is a Choctaw man from Louisiana. Woodlin and his wife, Thalis, are very involved in the cultural preservation of the Choctaw traditions and music. When we arrived, everyone was getting ready for the opening of the Bogue Chitty School. Later that week, I came back from New Orleans, just in time for the open house and was able to film the children and young people dressed in their colorful regalia. Seeing the children so involved in the culture is always a treat. Read the full story . . .
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Leland Thompson - Coushatta from Elton, Louisiana
Leland Thompson is a young Coushatta man. When we met him he was preparing to be married. Leland works for the tribe. His job is to visit the elders and to gain whatever knowledge and memories that they might have before they are lost. It is clear in talking to him that he is passionate about his work. In fact, he almost feels guilty for being paid to sit for hours with the elders of his tribe and learn from them. Read the full story . . .
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Betty Mae Jumper - Seminole from Hollywood, Florida
Betty Mae Jumper, a Seminole woman, remembers living in a “chickee,” an open-aired, thatched structure common to her people. Her mother was a Seminole medicine woman and her father was white, a trapper and sugar cane worker that she only remembers seeing once when she was 12. She says “I ran and hid. I didn’t want to see him.” Read full story . . .
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Southwestern Tribes
Barnaby Lewis - Akimel O'odham from Coolidge, Arizona
Barnaby Lewis lives in a block-style house that overlooks huge fields of cotton. Our recording session took place outside under his carport with him sitting and pounding on a cardboard box. Yes—a box. He says the box is now the common drum of his people. They used to use willow baskets but now they are so rare and the materials so difficult to find that “The women don’t want us beating on their basket” says Barnaby. Read the full story . . .
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Harris Burnette - White Mountain Apache from Pine Top, Arizona
Harris Burnette, a White Mountain Apache, began singing when he was seven-years-old. He was helping his father at a ceremony in Cibecue when he had a dream. The next day, during the ceremonies, he knew the songs and what they were about. He realized then that he was not just a “boy” anymore and he set aside all else to help his father with the ceremonies. He has been doing this ever since. Read the full story . . .
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Danny Lopez - Tohono O'odham from Sells, Arizona
Danny has a quiet voice and manner. He is an elementary teacher in Sells and considers the teaching degree he earned late in life a major accomplishment. He loves teaching culture and music to the children. Many of the songs he sings are specifically for children. One favorite song of the children is about a small carpenter ant that wants to be a cowboy but doesn’t ride very well and keeps getting dumped. Danny has three children of his own and seven grandchildren. Read full story here . . .
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Forrest Chimerica - Hopi from Pheonix, Arizona
Forrest drums and sings for a youth dance group that was started by a single performance and has now grown to many members. He carves Kachinas, earrings, and other items and travels the well-known Indian fairs to sell his wares. The Kachinas are sacred objects. Forrest feels strongly that people need to be educated in order to regard these items for what they are, items of spirit. Read the full story here . . .
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Fernando Cellicion - Zuni from Zuni, New Mexico
Fernando Cellicion is an accomplished traditional flute player and singer. From Zuni, New Mexico, he was born in 1962 and is a member of the Zuni Pueblo. Fernando loves music! By the time he finished high school he played twelve different instruments, and he has not slowed down since. Read the full story . . .
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Roland & Jeff Manakaja - Havasupai from Supai, Arizona
Supai, Arizona is a small village set down in the bottom of a canyon that is connected to the Grand Canyon System. There is now way to reach the village except by helicoptor, horse or mule--or walking. It is the home of the Havasupia people, apeople who have occupied these lands for thousands of years. Roland Manakaja met us as we landed down in the canyon. Read the full story . . .
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Felipe Molina - Yeome (Yaqui) from Marana, Arizona
Coming soon
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The Sweethearts of Navajoland - Navajo from Chinle, Arizona
The Sweethearts of Navajo Land are just that, sweethearts. This group of women changes from year to year, a nice combination of young women and older women. The common thread between them is a love of Navajo culture and music. Read the full story . . .
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Tewa Indian Woman's Choir - Tewa from San Juan Pueblo, New Mexico
We arrived in San Juan, a quiet Pueblo belonging to the Tewa people. Libby Marcus, the woman we had contacted, had gathered together as many of the choir together as could make it so that we could record them in the Pueblo's chapel. Many of the women are in their 70's and 80's and have been singing together for many years. Read the full story . . .
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West Coast & Western Tribes
Loren Bommelyn - Tolowa from Crescent City, California
Loren Bommelyn is a Tolowa Indian who lives with his family in a nice house down a quiet cul-de-sac in the town. He is originally from the small fishing village of Nelechundun on the Smith River. He walks in two worlds and is both an eloquent, educated man and a traditional Tolowa. Read the full story . . .
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Linda Yamane - Rumsian Ohlone from Monteray, California
Linda has spent many years painstakingly tracing the history of her people and resurrecting the music from old wax cylinders that were recorded as early as 1902 and other archival material. Reconstructing this ancient music has become a life challenge for Linda, and she has begun to bring the songs back out into the public and teach them to others. Read the full story . . .
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Sonny Pratt & Ralph Migliano - Hupa from Hoopa, California
We meet Sonny Pratt and Ralph Migelano in the home of our friend, Joe Orosco, another Hupa man. The men gather together because the music is sung in rounds with one voice following the other. The exchange of music is casual and the men tell a lot of jokes and have some fun. The session almost becomes like a song fest with one man triggering additional song ideas in the others. Even Joe is challenged to sing a song. Like many other tribes, the music is carefully protected and only certain songs can be recorded. Read the full story . . .
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Frank Lapena - Maidu/Wintu from Sacramento, California
Frank Lapena is a Nomtipom Wintu native from Sacramento, CA. His home is filled with beautiful works of art, sculptures, photographs and lots and lots of books. He is recently retired from his career as Profesor of Art and Ethnic Studies and Director of Native American Studies at California State University. Read the full story . . .
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Curtis Burrows - Grindstone from Grindstone, California
Curtis Burrows lives on the Grindstone Reservation in northern California above Sacramento. Their music is very similiar to the Wintu/ Midu. It is amazing how much complexity that can be achived with just 2 singers and their slap sticks. Brian Bibby accompanies Curtis during the Session. Brian is a non-native but has spent a lot of time with Curtis learning the songs and traditions. They sing in Nomlaki, which is a dialect of the Wintu Language. Read the full story . . .
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