After Anger Comes Sihasin

Sihasin will perform at Steel Bridge Songfest, June 13 – 16, in Sturgeon Bay and at Chief Oshkosh Native American Arts in Egg Harbor on June 17.

What comes after anger?

Bass player Jeneda Bennally needed an answer to that question after first a regional court of appeals and then the United States Supreme Court sided with a ski resort called the Arizona Snowbowl, which set up shop on the San Francisco Peaks, the Sacred Mountain of the West to the Navajo people.

Efforts to stop the development failed, and in January, Arizona Snowbowl became the first ski resort in the world to create snow with 100 percent sewage, piped in directly from Flagstaff’s sewage treatment plant. The snow came out yellow.

It seems funny to us, so far from sewage-filled ski slopes, but it is deadly serious to the Bennally family and the Navajo. When the courts turned their backs on the tribe’s legal argument, that this is a sacred mountain and this commercial development is an abomination, no less than if a KFC opened in the Vatican, Jeneda Benally was angry.

“What comes after anger?” she asked herself.

“I realized, after anger, there can be hope,” she said, and, so, Sihasin, which means ‘hope’ in Navajo, was born, a bass and drum duo with her brother Clayson.

She and her brothers Klee and Clayson had spent two decades together as the punk rock alter-Native band Blackfire, but Blackfire is its own thing.

When asked why a bass-drum duo, Jeneda takes the opportunity to praise her brother’s drumming on both indigenous and western instruments.

“I love to play music with my brother,” she said.

When Clayson is asked the same question, he sings his sister’s praises.

“She has such a great sound,” he said.

Sihasin has been touring in support of the recently released Never Surrender, a record produced by Ed Stasium (The Ramones, Talking Heads).

“He’s a mentor,” Jeneda said of Stasium.

The Ramones connection goes back to Blackfire’s early days when the Ramones took a shine to their music. In 1994 bassist C.J. Ramone produced Blackfire’s debut release, a five-song EP. Vocalist Joey Ramone contributed vocals to Blackfire’s 2002 album One Nation Under. It was the last project he worked on before dying of lymphoma.

In 2003 Blackfire’s political activism came to the attention of Woody Guthrie’s daughter, Nora, who allowed the band to set some of her father’s unpublished lyrics to music, as she had done in the past for British activist/songwriter Billy Bragg, who enlisted the aid of Wilco. Blackfire’s meeting with Guthrie lyrics resulted in the two-song EP The Woody Guthrie Singles, with the songs “Mean Things Happenin’ in This World” and “Corn Song.”

This week brings the Benally family to Door County for the first time. The brother-sister duo are traveling with their mother, Berta Benally, a singer/songwriter herself. All three are looking forward to participating in Steel Bridge SongFest put on by their friend pat mAcdonald.

“He’s invited us in the past, but this is the first time we’ve been able to make it,” Clayson said.

“We are very excited to be there and meet new people,” Berta said.

All three Benallys said they are looking forward to the spin-the-bottle songwriter pairings that take place during Steel Bridge, sort of a songwriting boot camp where two songwriters are randomly thrown together to create music.

“I hope I get someone kooky,” Jeneda said, laughing.

On Monday, June 17, Sihasin will perform from 7 – 9 pm in the mini-bowl behind Chief Oshkosh Native American Arts in Egg Harbor. Earlier in the day, from 1 – 3 pm, the Benallys will present a workshop called “Positive Change Through Creative Expression” at Chief Oshkosh Native American Arts. It’s an all-ages workshop, but Clayson and Jeneda said it is primarily focused on youth. Both said youth empowerment workshops they conduct are a way to focus on the future. A suggested donation of $15 is asked for each event. Reservations can be made by calling 920.868.3240.

To learn more about Sihasin, visit sihasin.com.