She criss-crossed the country by car and plane, often playing charities even as demand for her performances grew internationally. Her music fulfills a tribal prophecy that she would carry the Haudenosaunee message of peace to the four directions. She preferred to go into a studio and let the creativity flow serendipitously rather than plan every musical detail, and often performed shows without following a setlist. As always with Joanne, there were other projects in the works and more being conceptualized. She dug out old country songs she had written and recorded them for what would become her last album, Shenandoah Country. Through the pandemic we FaceTimed often as she hiked and enjoyed caring for her grandson. She also lived by Haudenosaunee principles of thanksgiving: honoring all of creation every day. Everything we did was an adventure, often spontaneous. We wrote and recorded a song together for a health campaign aimed at Native women. We had photo sessions and even spent a cold day in the snow taking action shots for a major film audition. We pitched projects and I interviewed her for others. I watched her star rise while we gigged at events, Earth Day concerts and the 1997 Native presidential inaugural ball. Jo and I bonded over music and creative pursuits. In fact, her sister Vicky and I had married brothers, and our kids are cousins. I met Jo when we were both young and spirited artists. She also received an Emmy nomination in 2019. She was previously nominated in 2002 for her album Peacemaker's Journey and in 2004 for Covenant. In 2006 she won a Grammy for Best Native American Music Album for her participation on the album Sacred Ground: A Tribute To Mother Earth on the solo track "Seeking Light" and "Mother Earth," a collaboration with fellow Native musician Rita Coolidge's trio Walela. Her 15 albums, numerous singles, collaborations and film scores earned her more than 40 music awards, including 14 NAMMYs and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Native American Music Association in 2007.
After recording a track for Robbie Robertson's Contact From the Underworld of Redboy, he said, "She weaves you into a trance with her beautiful Iroquois chants and wraps her voice around you like a warm blanket on a cool winter's night." She was often accompanied on vocals by her daughter Leah Shenadoah and sister Diane Schenandoah.
Shenandoah embodied the full meaning of the traditional name she received as a child, "Tekaliwhakwah," which translates to "she sings, and lifts the spirit." Her voice was often described as angelic and enchanting. Every breath she took, every song she sang was her way of saying, "HERE WE ARE." When she began her musical career, her songs and stories were efforts to help transform the hundreds of years of marginalization of First Nations peoples. It won five awards from the Native American Music Awards (NAMMYs) and other Native music groups. Her 2004 album Peacemaker's Journey is about the legend of Skennanrahowi and how he brought peace to the warring tribes that became their confederacy sometime between the 15th and 16th centuries. Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) history and culture was present throughout her music. Shenandoah's music covered an array of traditional, folk, Americana, pop, country and even New Age, performed in both English and her native language. Her story is an introduction into the richness of Native cultures. Her sister says the Schenandoahs are direct descendents of Chief Skenandoa (there are various spellings of the name - some family members now spell it with a "c" and some have chosen to drop it), an ally to George Washington during the American Revolution. Joanne Shenandoah was a citizen of the Oneida Nation, Wolf Clan, of the Haudenosaunee (Six Nations Iroquois) Confederacy in upstate New York. According to her sister Vicky Schenandoah, who confirmed with NPR by phone, she died late Monday night at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Ariz. A multi-instrumentalist, singer and composer who collaborated with such musical icons as Robbie Robertson and Neil Young (as well as with this writer), Shenandoah won a Grammy award and was among the most lauded musicians in the history of the Native American Music Awards. Legendary Native American musician Joanne Shenandoah, a trailblazer popular with both mainstream and Native audiences, has died.