Sandra Hale Schulman
Special to ICT
The latest: Musician makes moccasins, jingle dancer wins, big band jazz performance
FASHION: Rock the mocs
Robert Mirabal of Taos pueblo had a high-profile booth and show at the Southwestern Association for Indian Arts Native Fashion Week in early May. His supple leather moccasins and boots, in colors both earthy and bright, were seen on the models in Patricia Michaels’ finale show. The bold designs and quality handmade feel elevated her hand-painted silk dresses. At his booth next to Michaels, he held court as shoppers came by to try on and marvel at the Mirabal Mocs after the show.
Beyond traditional footwear, Mirabal is a longtime, award-winning musician, whose “Music From A Painted Cave” is a PBS television special based on his 2001 album and broadcast nationwide; Mirabal has twice been named the Native American Music Award’s Artist of the Year, and received the Songwriter of the Year award three times.
He is a two-time Grammy Award winner, including a 2006 Grammy Award for “Sacred Ground”, Best Native American Album of the Year, and his 2007 Grammy for Best Native American Album, “Johnny Whitehorse Totemic Flute Chants.”
He contributed otherworldly flute and vocals to the soundtrack of “Prey” last year and is also a published author, actor, screenwriter and a master craftsman flute maker who has flutes in the collection of the Smithsonian. He has a wine company called Mirabal Reserve and practices traditional crafts and farming in Taos.
“Huge part of my musical/artistic inspiration is from traditional agricultural practices since I was knee high to a jackrabbit … blessings to those that still practice life with a shovel and a digging stick,” he writes in poetic words on his Instagram account.
“Still farming the old plots like the old times, an early riser channeling water from shoots of corn to more corn. Blessings to the old ways as long as we show up the grandpa ole ways become the bold new ways. Shut up and be brave. It’s springtime and it’s time to trade non-ordinary reality for reality. Farmer dreams, farm dreams, the earth calls me, the seeds awake me, Pueblo farmer knows what it means to be patient each day, each year it’s time I go into the field to plow, harrow, disc, dig, pull, burn, water, pray till my body aches, hands raw from the only labor that is justifiable and honest. Play, plant, pray, rewind.”
AWARDS: Jingle dancer wins big
Acosia Red Elk, a citizen of the Umatilla Tribe and a world champion jingle dancer from Pendleton, Oregon, is one of this year’s six recipients of the largest national prize given to individual performing artists – the Doris Duke Artist Awards. The annual award honors trailblazing artists, and each of the recipients receives an unrestricted cash prize of $525,000.
On her social media, she said, “A lot of questions about the award I received from the Doris Duke Foundation. The award is not a Grant. It is an award of unrestricted artistic support.
I did not apply for the award and had no idea about it. I was nominated by my peers in the arts communities.”
“The award money is not for projects or works, it is 100% encouraged for personal growth to help us continue doing our work as artists and to take care of ourselves and our needs. I am now a part of the Doris Duke Family which means I will have access to resources and support in future works, projects, and events. I won’t receive the $525,000 all at once, I will receive over 7 years.
“Thank you, I love and appreciate you all.”
Now in its 11th year, the annual awards are part of the foundation’s longtime support of the performing arts. Other awardees this year are Nataki Garrett (theater), Shamel Pitts (dance), Esperanza Spalding (jazz), Chay Yew (theater), and Miguel Zenón (jazz).
MUSIC: Indigenous Big Band to headline Kennedy Center
The Julia Keefe Indigenous Big Band – one of the few jazz big bands in the world comprised exclusively of Native people – will headline a performance May 11 at Washington D.C.’s Kennedy Center.
The show will cap the 2024 Mary Lou Williams Jazz Festival, a two-night event highlighting women leaders.
“This is a huge opportunity to not only bring Indigenous jazz to a major performing arts venue, but to educate jazz audiences on the immense contributions of Indigenous peoples to the artform,” said Keefe, Nez Perce, in a statement.
“The Indigenous Big Band is composed of American Indian, Alaska Native, First Nation, Indigenous Caribbean and Indigenous Central American musicians. We each bring with us the cultural practices of our ancestors and many of our compositions are derived from traditional melodies and stories. This show allows us the space to dive deeper into this improvisatory music from the Indigenous perspective.”
Keefe has been featured by the New York Times and NPR and dedicated her creative life to spotlighting Indigenous jazz performers such as Mildred Bailey, Coeur d’Alene; Jim Pepper, Kaw/Mvskoke; Russell “Big Chief” Moore, Pima; and Oscar Pettiford, Choctaw and Cherokee.
“The American Indian, Alaska Native and First Nations peoples who were fortunate enough to survive the brutal boarding school education were sent home with a knowledge of Western music and instruments,” Keefe said. “With the music of the time being the newly popular jazz genre, jazz ensembles began to form with exclusively Indigenous musicians. Many of these groups toured their communities and beyond, but never received their due at major performing arts venues or by the larger jazz community.”
Keefe, founder and director, was raised in Kamiah, Idaho, on the Nez Perce Reservation. As a jazz vocalist, she’s opened for Tony Bennett and Esperanza Spalding. She was featured in the 2020 documentary “Love and Fury” by Sterlin Harjo (“Reservation Dogs”).
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