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SHAWNEE DROPPED NEWEST TRACK FOR PRIDE MONTH
New Music
Shawnee Dropped Newest Track for Pride Month
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Mohawk two-spirit singer Shawnee just dropped a brand new single & we’re completely obsessed.
With her music, First Nations two-spirit pop singer Shawnee (Mohawk from Six Nations of the Grand River) advocates for LGBTQ2S+ issues as well as the youth. Known throughout Canada as a rebellious, passionate, powerhouse female and award-winning vocalist, Shawnee surely created a buzz when she announced dropping a brand new track from her upcom- ing album. Shawnee’s newest release, titled “Don’t Go,” is a fun and upbeat 80’s style song. “The song is a fun dance track that is different than anything I have done previously. It’s got an 80’s vibe,” she explained excitedly. Shawnee had planned to release it during the Pride month of June. This is just a taste of her next album, which is set to be released later this year. Her newest single reflects her signature style of music: emotional and personable. When asked where she finds inspiration for new music, Shawnee answers, “I find inspira- tion from what I have overcome, from my journey and path, and from what is going on around me in the world.” Shawnee also finds inspiration in knowing that music is medicine and a powerful tool that can be used to change someone’s life by inspiring them, the same way it has done, and continues to for her. Shawnee’s music, including music videos, frequently fea- tures and focuses on youth. This is because the youth are the future, and it’s important for youth to feel honored and valued. “Any opportunity I have to give to youth to feel empowered and inspired, I will.” Shawnee’s had a musical upbringing. She grew up playing instruments, singing, and writing music. When asked what music she listened to, she answers mostly classical music and Melissa Etheridge. Her first singing performance was when she portrayed a Shania Twain impersonator at the age of 12. It wasn’t until graduating high school she began performing original music.
PHOTO COURTESY
PLUS:
Listen to Shawnee’s newest single “Don’t Go” on Spotify.
The month of June is both Pride and Indigenous History Month (Canada), and this is a reminder to take the time (tomorrow and every day after) to learn from and listen to two-spirit and queer Indigenous voices. Here are 5 books, poems, and stories selected by Lea of Gwaandak Theatre you can read today by two-spirit and queer Indigenous authors.
2. Passage by Gwen Benaway
In her second collection of poetry, Passage, Gwen Benaway examines what it means to experience violence and speaks to the burden of survival. Traveling to Northern Ontario and across the Great Lakes, Passage is a poetic voyage through divorce, family violence, a legacy of colonization, and the affirmation of a new sexuality and gender. Striking and raw in sparse lines, the collection showcases a vital Two Spirited identity that transects borders of race, gender, and experience. In Passage, the poet seeks to reconcile herself to the land, the history of her ancestors, and her separation from her partner and family by invoking the beauty and power of her ancestral waterways. Passage is a book burning with a beautiful intensity and reveals Benaway as one of the most powerful emerging poets writing in Indigenous poetics today.
About the author: A Two-Spirited Trans poet, Gwen Benaway is of Anishinaabe and Metis descent.
Photo: Kegedonce Press
1. Disintegrate/Dissociate by Arielle Twist
In her powerful debut collection of poetry, Arielle Twist unravels the complexities of human relationships after death and metamorphosis. In these spare yet powerful poems, she explores, with both rage and tenderness, the parameters of grief, trauma, displacement, and identity. Weaving together a past made murky by uncertainty and a present which exists in multitudes, Arielle Twist poetically navigates through what it means to be an Indigenous trans woman, discovering the possibilities of a hopeful future and a transcendent, beautiful path to regaining softness.
About the author: Arielle Twist is a writer and sex educator originally from George Gordon First Nation, Saskatchewan, Canada. Arielle is a Cree, TwoSpirit, trans femme supernova writing to reclaim and harness ancestral magic and memories.
Photo: Arsenal Pulp Press
