Last summer, I had the chance to attend my very first pow wow. It was a terrific experience and I was really glad I was able to go, even if–and, at the same time, especially because–it made me acutely aware of how ignorant I am of First Nations cultures. As a very small step towards alleviating that ignorance, while I was at the pow wow, I purchased the CD Healing Wind, by Ohwihsha.
Ohwihsha is the duo of Jonathan Maracle and Kris Delorenzi of Broken Walls, a group that also includes Bill Pagaran. Jonathan Maracle is of the Mohawk nation and plays wind flutes, rattles, whistles, drums, and percussion on Healing Wind and also provides the vocals, while Kris Delorenzi, who’s Italian, plays bass guitar and provides background music and editing.
I’m looking forward in the coming months to increasing my knowledge of First Nations musics through both listening and research, and I invite my students to join me and do the same! If you’re a current student and would like to check out the CD from my lending library, by all means let me know! Everyone else, if you’d like to know more about Healing Winds and Ohwihsha, please visit their website.
Happy Monday!
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