Review: Eagle Cries by Joanne Shenandoah

Joanne Shenandoah's album "Eagle Cries" uses a mix of traditional Haudenosaunenee music and contemporary sound to tell stories relating to her personal narrative and her pride in her culture.

"Eagle Cries" is the 2001 album written by artist Joanne Shenandoah and features her vocals, inlaid with the sounds of traditional Haudenosaunee music and New Age/indie/folk sound. While it was not her first album, this is one of her more renowned ones. With the sensational song, "Heartbeat"... Shenandoah sets the stage for what is to follow. Each song is a tribute to the artist's own reflections on the world around her and the pressing issues for her and people of her time. The sound features lyrics in various Haudenosaunee languages including Mohawk, as well as English. The album is a celebration of the traditions that Joanne Shenandoah found solace in and which connect her to the land and her people.

Shenandoah's works are about highlighting her own understanding the sacred and how she has used her traditions and practices to keep herself anchored in a world that vilifies and shames people such as herself who keep to their traditional life-ways. Her voice switches seamlessly between the languages and speaks about the connection between nature and humanity with the sacred. Stories and traditions from the Haudenosaunee permeate through the world she builds for the audience. Her work also references the issues that plague not only her people but all. In the song, "Treaty", she writes about the perils that are impacting all the children and how they will continue while leadership fails to understand its relationship to the Earth. She warns "Mr. President" and those who support him that they will be doomed to explain to their children why the world they live in is uninhabitable if they do not make a change.

One of my favorite songs from this album was "Once Again." In this piece, Shenandoah asks the listener about who they are, where they come from. But as the song comes from, she asks deep questions.

I want to be where the wind grows

I want to be where the tide flows

Is there freedom at all?

Did your soul hear the call?

The song is a thoughtful reflection on whether the listener is taking the time to listen. It is an invitation for those who are looking to build a better world to stop and hear the song that is inside them. To reconnect with purpose and to understand that everything they do must align with something greater than ego. It is also a thoughtful reflection on what world awaits us when life is over. It is a reminder that we are in this world to make way for a better one for those who come after.

The sound of this album is unique and profound. It is a thoughtful connection on how humans-- past, present, and future-- are connected to each other and the world that shaped them. The sounds help captivate the audience and serve as a greater musical tool to keep the ear tuned in. While her album is a thoughtful album-- its message is clear. Our dreams and prayers for the future are connected to the life that we sew and the celebrations we hold for life itself. Only by realizing that this life is impermanent, and that everything we do is a reflection of the inner-self, can we hope to create the world that we want to see come forward. It is also essential to honor the journey of your ancestors...for without them you would not be able to experience life. While we have to reconcile with flaws and imperfections...the world around us is a reflection of the one that we have created in ourselves.

Although Joanne Shenandoah passed away in 2021, she left behind a repertoire of work that has garnered critical acclaim and praise. Today, her works are celebrated as thoughtful reflections on spirituality, tradition, culture, and the natural world. "Eagle Cries" serves as one of Shenandoah's musical anthologies. It is an experience.

You can listen to the full album here.