Shannon Thunderbird

Shannon Thunderbird is a Coast Tsimshian First Nations singer-songwriter, speaker, educator, recording artist, playwright, and author.[1][2]

Shannon Thunderbird
OriginCanada
Occupation(s)Singer-songwriter, speaker, educator, playwright, author
Websitewww.shannonthunderbird.com

Biography

She is an Elder of the Giluts'aaw tribe, Royal House of Niis'gumiik, Gispwudwada (Orca) Clan.[3] She is a medicine wheel teacher and artist/educator who communicates time-honoured indigenous knowledge in a variety of ways, workshops/seminars, drumming circles, stage shows, written word.[4] Thunderbird has worked with thousands of people all over North America, Europe and Asia. In particular, she and her performance partner, Sandy Horne of the Canadian synthpop band the Spoons, have presented to over three hundred and fifty thousand students in elementary, secondary schools, universities and colleges across Canada and the United States.[5] She is President of Teya Peya Productions, a First Nations arts/education company she founded in 1991 that includes the Thunderbird Native Theatre and Red Cedar Sisters Vocal Trio to which she is the Artistic Director.[6]

Her touring shows include "Wolf Thunder: Big Drums Are Calling!", "Turtle Thunder Sings", "Sweet Thunder Medicine Wheel", "Daughter of the Copper Shield", "Thunder Rolling in the Mountains", Thunder Wolf Songwriting, Vocals and Drumming, Spirit Thunder Drumming and vocal workshops celebrating cultural diversity and North American indigenous cultures.[6]

Thunderbird is a strong voice for Missing and Murdered Women and Girls. She is also a speaker on the culture, history and spirituality of Indigenous people. Her Fireside Chats, include: Seven Steps to the Colonization of Indigenous People; Power of the Matriarchy: Women Take Back the Drum; Indigenous Restorative Justice: Truth and Reconciliation; Truth and Timelessness of the Medicine Wheel. [7] She is a strong advocate for the right of Indigenous women to practice their culture wherever, whenever and however they choose. This includes the playing of the big drums. She is currently the keeper of two big drums, Gyemk Loop and K'ool Gyet Nah Hool and speaks widely about the CORRECT history of Indigenous women and their powerful places within tribal structures including the creation of stories, songs, ceremonies and the playing of the big drums.[8]

Written works
  • Truth and Timelessness: Indigenous Medicine Wheel Knowledge. 2020
  • Featured Contributor: We Do It This Way, ED. Dr. April Go Forth, Thoz Womenz Inc., Alturas, California, 2014
  • Featured Contributor: The Art of Living, A Practical Guide to Being Alive. ED. Claire Elizabeth Terry, Kairos, Spain, 2008.

Discography
  • Wind Centre (released, March 2011 with Performance Partner, Sandy Horne.
  • May Your Spirit Be Strong[9]
  • New CD, "Red Cedar Sisters" due out 2020.

References
  1. "Shanon Thunderbird CBC Radio 3 Bio". CBC Radio 3. Retrieved January 17, 2017.
  2. "Home | Waterloo News". Newsrelease.uwaterloo.ca. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
  3. Thunderbird, Shannon (2009). "Wisdom of the Ages: From Houses to Monsters, the Naming Practices of the Coast Tsimshian Nation". Proceedings of the 23rd International Congress of Onomastic Sciences – via YorkSpace Institutional Repository.
  4. Hakikur, Rahman (August 3, 2008). Selected Readings on Global Information Technology: Contemporary Applications: Contemporary Applications. IGI Global. ISBN 9781605661179.
  5. eMinor. "Shannon Thunderbird and Sandy Horne – Singer Songwriter from Toronto, ON, CA". ReverbNation. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  6. "First National Congress Presents Unique Learning Opportunity for Canadian Artists and Organizations – culture365". culture365. May 6, 2013. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  7. "Shannon Thunderbird – richardhughes.ca". richardhughes.ca. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  8. Morgan, C. W. C. (March 1, 2010). Our Past, Our Present, Our Future. America Star Books. ISBN 9781683944188.
  9. Conference Program, University of Windsor at the Wayback Machine (archived February 17, 2008)
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