Shingoose: A Visionary Ahead of His Time

 On January 12^th this year, Canada lost an Anishinaabe folk singer and songwriter who had worked his whole life at amplifying Indigenous music.  His name was Curtis Jonnie although he was better know by his stage name Shingoose which was the name of his great-grandfather.

Shingoose was born in 1946 in Winnipeg from parents who had survived the Indian Residential School system.  He was a member of the Roseau River Anishinaabe First Nation.  At the age of 4 he was adopted by a Mennonite family as part of the Sixties Scoop.  In his teenage years, he was sent to a boarding school in Nebraska where he sang in the choir and learned music.

Shingoose (photo credit: globalnews.ca)

Shingoose was called “a visionary ahead of his time” for starting his own Indigenous label called “Native Country” at a time when no one else would record Indigenous artists. He played in Roy Buchanan’s band and other rock and R&B bands and later toured extensively across Canada performing his own folk songs.  He cofounded Native Multimedia Productions, a TV production company which created First Nations current affairs programs for CKND-TV (Winnipeg) and CTV.  He hosted a documentary series for CBC Radio, programming for TVO and served as chair of the Juno Awards committee for the Aboriginal Album of the Year after campaigning with Buffy Ste. Marie and others for the award’s existence. Throughout his life he advocated for the recognition of Indigenous musicians.   He was inducted into the Manitoba Music Hall of Fame in 2012.

Shingoose had a stroke in 2012 and had to live in a care facility in Winnipeg where he recently caught COVID and died at the age of 74. He was still planning to come back to the stage.  His song “Silver River” was a collaboration with poet Duke Redbird and was recorded in 1975. A young Bruce Cockburn played guitar and produced the album.  Silver River featured on the 2014 compilation album Native North America Vol. 1 which was nominated for a Grammy Award.

So, to honour Curtis Jonnie, my partner and I wanted to cover Silver River on the Zoom coffee house that we attend each week.  But, we had trouble hearing the words on this recording which was the only one we could find.  Once we realized that the words were from a poem by Duke Redbird, we emailed him and asked for help.  The next day, his assistant replied with a pdf of the poem and permission from Elder Redbird to use it.  We will play the perform the song this week in honour of all the Indigenous artists who have fought so tirelessly to shine a spotlight on Indigenous voices in the face of indifference and for all of those who have died of COVID in our nursing homes.

Here is Silver River by Curtis Jonnie and Duke Redbird.