Biigtigong Nishnaabeg hand drummer and singer launches CD
By Rick Garrick
THUNDER BAY—Biigtigong Nishnaabeg’s Beatrice Twance-Hynes honoured her father during the May 12 launch of her CD entitled Indian Chief’s Daughter, which features a song she wrote about him 46 years ago.
“This is in special honour of my dad because he was my greatest teacher,” Twance-Hynes says, noting that she created the title song Indian Chief’s Daughter as part of a history project on Aboriginal people when she was in Grade 10. “I had a hard time finding information, so I decided to write a song, Indian Chief’s Daughter, to honour my dad. He wasn’t a chief, but he was on council and he did a lot of things for our community. He got a lot of men jobs in Marathon.”
Twance-Hynes says her parents were very involved in the church back then and she didn’t know much about the traditional ceremonies.
“So when I wrote that song, in a sense I was grieving for what I thought our people had lost because I never saw that,” Twance-Hynes says. “I did see our people making some moccasins and maybe some leather outfits, but we never had Pow Wows at the time.”
Twance-Hynes decided to produce the CD after winning a bingo jackpot last fall.
“It was a dream I always had,” Twance-Hynes says, noting that she had previously helped produce a CD with the Medicine Wheel Spirit Singers. “I could finally do my CD because I had money now, so I better do it.”
Twance-Hynes worked with recording engineer Robert Nickerson, from Thunder Bay, to record the 13 songs on the CD.
“It went very well,” Twance-Hynes says. “Initially I was nervous about it, but I got more comfortable with it as time went. He’s really good to work with.”
Twance-Hynes says the recording process included multiple takes of the different songs.
“I had to sing the song with my drum just like I did now, then I had to sing it again without the drum, and then I had to sing it just with the drum,” Twance-Hynes says.
Nickerson says the project was a “lot of fun”.
“It’s a little bit different experience from what I’m used to — I usually record folk bands and rock bands and country bands,” Nickerson says. “But I had worked with some of the ladies from Nipigon on their [hand drumming CD] project, so I had a little bit of experience with it. We spent two or three sessions of recording it and then I probably spent a couple of weeks of the editing and mixing it and mastering it at the end.”
In addition to the song Indian Chief’s Daughter, the CD also features songs such as: Creation Song, Ziigwanens – Little Spring (April’s Song), Nibiwaadoo – Water Song, Medicine Wheel Journey, The Light of God (Protection Song), Owe Giidaakiimnaan – This is Our Land, Noosinaan Giizhigong – Our Father, Kii Kitchi-zaagii’in – I Have Great Love For You, In Flander’s Fields, Native Grieving Prayer, Ancestor’s Song and O Canada (Ojibwe Version).
“I chose 13 [songs] because it is significant,” Twance-Hynes says. “There’s 13 moons, 13 grandmothers, 13 markings on the turtle’s back surrounded by the 28.”
Twance-Hynes says about 500 copies of her CD are available for sale. She can be contacted through her email at: bea-hynes@outlook.com or her Facebook page at: White Horse Spirit Woman.
“When I go to Pow Wows, I will be taking my CDs to sell as well,” Twance-Hynes says.