The Idaho State-Civic Symphony ushered in Native American Heritage Month with “Songs of the Land,” a stunning collaborative evening of Shoshone-Bannock drummers, dancers, internationally acclaimed flutist and composer Hovia Edwards and the music of Béla Bartók. Symphony Conductor and Artistic Director Dr. Nell Flanders designed the evening to include, meld and celebrate tribal and western cultures.
In fact, the evening began with a welcome from both nations. The event was held on Nov. 2 at Idaho State University's Stephens Performing Arts Center.
After Idaho State-Civic Symphony Executive Director Logan Anderson formally began the evening, Flanders read an official Idaho State University Land Acknowledgment statement which declared, “We acknowledge the Fort Hall Shoshone and Bannock peoples, their elders past and present, their future generations, and all Indigenous peoples, including those upon whose land the University is located. We offer gratitude for the land itself and the original caretakers of it.” She was followed by Shoshone-Bannock Tribal Chairman Lee Juan Tendoy who welcomed the audience with an on-the-spot improvised song, sung in both languages and accompanied with a hand drum.
The native portion of the evening was explained by Dustina Abrahamson of the Lemhi Shoshone Tribe. She began by introducing the Ghost Canyon Drum Group who sat in a drum circle on stage and provided the music to bring the dancers down the aisles to the stage. All dancers were .
