Niawenkowa
Thursday, July 9 @ 7:00 pm
(Photo credit: Tahila Mintz)
KONTIWENNENHA:WI-AHKWESAHSNE WOMEN SINGERS
Bear Fox, Iawentas Nanticoke, Tekonwakwenni Nanticoke, Elizabeth Nanticoke
Sisters, aunties, daughters, mothers and grandmothers from the Wolf Clan family of the Kanienkehaka Nation. Women holding a great responsibility of sharing traditional teachings and the protection and preservation of the language and the stories of past generations through their songs.
Kontiwennenha:wi; (pronounced: goon dee wa na ha wee), are from Ahkwesahsne which is located where present-day Ontario, Quebec and New York State intersect, settling in their territory on the St. Lawrence River. They are Kanienkehaka, People of the Flint but are more commonly known as Mohawk.
Kontiwennenha:wi formed as a singing group in 1997, at a time when their children were learning the songs and dances of the Kanienkehaka at the Ahkwesahsne Freedom School. The school played an important part in holding on to the language and traditions that would have otherwise been lost if the children continued to learn in government run public schools. Two of the women in the group, Iawentas and Tekonwakwenni, were students at the Ahkwesahsne Freedom School and are now teachers of the language. The women share social songs of the Six Nations and have created some verses of the Women’s Dance.
A water drum and horn rattles are used by the women when they perform.
Bear Fox is a singer/song writer of folk songs that are shared with the accompaniment of the women’s voices. Many of the songs incorporate the Mohawk language and some of Bear’s songs were written and performed in English. The women have been recipients of the Native American Music Awards, as a group and Bear Fox, as a solo artist too. The women are proud to share their songs and their lives as traditional women, at this moment in time.
Artist Biographies
VENUE
Collingwood Amphitheatre
2 N Maple St,
Collingwood, ON
L9Y 0J7
This event has been made possible thanks to the gracious support of Scenic Caves.