Irene Eastman

Irene Taluta Eastman (February 24, 1894 – October 23, 1918) was an American singer.

Irene Eastman
A young woman with tan skin and dark hair in two long braids, wearing a beaded headband and a leather tunic with beading around the neckline
Irene Eastman, from a 1917 magazine
BornFebruary 24, 1894
St. Paul, Minnesota
DiedOctober 23, 1918
Keene, New Hampshire
Other namesTaluta
OccupationSinger
Parent(s)Charles Eastman, Elaine Goodale Eastman

Early life and education

Irene Eastman was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, one of the six children of Charles Eastman and Elaine Goodale Eastman.[1][2] Her father was a noted physician and a Santee Sioux born in Minnesota;[3] her mother was a white writer and educator from Massachusetts.[4] Her parents met at Wounded Knee.[5]

Career

Eastman, a soprano, sang, danced, and told stories in various venues,[6] including the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences[7] Hampton Institute,[8] historical societies, community groups, and opera houses.[9] She dressed in a leather beaded costume for her performances.[10][11][12]

The music Eastman performed was not from any one specific Native tradition, but a pastiche that evoked an idea of Native cultures for non-Native audiences. "The stories were put to classical notes, and especially harmoniously arranged with all admirable Indian atmosphere saved", explained a 1915 report.[10] Hamlin Garland wrote to Eastman's mother that her "charming presence and sweet and sympathetic voice gave even the dullest of her hearers a realizing sense of the wild beauty which had its place in a world that is almost gone."[1]

Personal life

Eastman died in 1918 from influenza, during the worldwide flu pandemic, at the age of 24.[11] Her parents separated soon after her death.[13] There is an oil portrait of Eastman by Wallace Bryant, in the collection of the Hood Museum of Art at Dartmouth College.[14]

References
  1. "Men and Women Whose Lives Count for the Red Man's Cause". The American Indian Magazine. 5 (4): 263. October–December 1917.
  2. "Daughter of Poet Sings Tribal Songs". The Pittsburgh Press. 1914-03-25. p. 13. Retrieved 2023-08-21 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. Eastman, Charles A. (2007). The Essential Charles Eastman (Ohiyesa): Light on the Indian World. World Wisdom, Inc. ISBN 978-1-933316-33-8.
  4. Sargent, Theodore D. (2005-01-01). The Life of Elaine Goodale Eastman. U of Nebraska Press. ISBN 978-0-8032-4317-0.
  5. Eick, Gretchen Cassel (2020-10-14). They Met at Wounded Knee: The Eastmans' Story. University of Nevada Press. ISBN 978-1-948908-73-3.
  6. Vigil, Kiara M. (2015-07-15). Indigenous Intellectuals: Sovereignty, Citizenship, and the American Imagination, 1880–1930. Cambridge University Press. p. 57. ISBN 978-1-316-35217-5.
  7. "Natural Science Society". The Buffalo Commercial. 1916-02-08. p. 9. Retrieved 2023-08-21 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. Ludlow, Helen W. (January 1919). "Irene Eastman". The Southern Workman. 48 (1): 3–4.
  9. "Taluta Coming". The Buffalo Times. 1918-01-12. p. 7. Retrieved 2023-08-21 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. "Camp Fire Girls Entertain; Indian Song Recital by Miss Irene Eastman (Taluta)". The Chatham Press. 1915-05-22. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-08-21 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. "Girl Well Known Here Dies in New Hampshire". The Tribune. 1918-10-26. p. 15. Retrieved 2023-08-21 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. "Miss Irene Easton Addresses Rotarians". Wilkes-Barre Times Leader. 1918-05-01. p. 18. Retrieved 2023-08-21 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. Dobrow, Julie; Wilson, Raymond (March 2022). "'Good Night, Irene': The 1918 Influenza Pandemic and Irene Taluta Eastman". South Dakota History. 52 (1).
  14. "Irene Taluta Eastman (1894-1918)". Hood Museum. Retrieved 2023-08-21.
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