The Kirkland Project for the Study of Gender, Society and Culture at Hamilton College will welcome Eddie Bushyhead as the next featured guest in the Southern Accents series. He will present a musical performance titled, "Thru Native Eyes: A Musical Journey," on Thursday, Feb. 1, at 8 p.m. in the Fillius Events Barn. The event is free and open to the public.
The American South is a diverse region with a rich and complex history. However, for much of Hamilton's student population of mostly Northerners, this region represents a largely unknown and mysterious territory. This Kirkland Project programming seeks to explore the ways that the South is, and always has been, a site of remarkable political diversity, resistance and struggle for progressive ideals. The focus on the arts will explore a variety of creative genres produced by a broad range of Southern artists.
Bushyhead is a full blood Cherokee musician from the Cherokee Indian Reservation (Qualla Boundary) in the mountains of western North Carolina. Descending from a family long prominent in Cherokee history, his paternal ancestors include the Rev. Jesse Bushyhead who led the third detachment of Cherokee along the infamous "Trail of Tears." His father is the renowned historian and linguist Rev. Robert Bushyhead.
While attending the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, NM, Eddie Bushyhead began the study of his people by studying their music. This led to the reintroduction of a lost flute made of rivercane to the Cherokee. Upon his return to Cherokee, NC, he began to compile the traditional music of his ancestors in a study called "The Ani Sha Ho Ni Project." It soon became apparent that the musical heritage of the Cherokee not only encompassed Pre-Columbian music but extended into the present as well.
Over the years, the Qualla Boundary has been a magnet drawing professionals of diverse cultures to study the Cherokee people. The ability to absorb these foreign influences into the Cherokee lifestyle, without sacrificing their own identity, has enabled the Cherokee to endure the hardships and persecutions of living side by side with an intolerant dominant society. Missionaries of many faiths introduced new forms of music to an already diverse musical heritage, creating among the Cherokee a blend of traditional, spiritual and secular influences. Through a series of recordings collectively called "Rez Music," Bushyhead brings these influences to life. A talented musician, he is able to bridge the traditional past to the present.
Bushyhead's work can be found in the Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D.C. He has been a showcased artist in the Georgia Music Hall of Fame, Macon, GA; the Center of Cherokee Heritage, Cherokee, NC; the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching, Cullowhee, NC; and Young Audiences of Atlanta, Inc., Atlanta, GA. In addition, he has produced soundtracks for Parabola, New York City, and PBS.
For more information, interested individuals may call the Kirkland Project at 859-4288.
