Band Bio

Sihasin is a trio of multi award-winning musicians Jeneda and Clayson Benally from the (Dine) Navajo Nation in Northern Arizona and their father. As brother and sister they grew up protesting the environmental degradation and inhumane acts of cultural genocide against their traditional way of life.  

The family tour throughout the world playing music, facilitating youth empowerment workshops and striving to build bridges of respect between communities, cultures, and our relationship with the environment.  They have released two albums, both produced by Ed Stasium (The Ramones, Talking Heads, Living Colour, Joan Jett, Mick Jagger). Both album releases, “Never Surrender” and “Fight like a Woman” won Native American Awards, Global Music Awards, and Indian summer Music Awards.  In 2016, they collaborated with The Okee Dokee Brothers on a song called “Sister Moon and Brother Sun” on the album “A Western Adventure Album” which received a Grammy Nomination. In 2017-2018’s Winter season, Sihasin’s rendition of  “Winter Wonderland” (Cleopatra Records, “Punk Rock Christmas”) was used in Hyundai’s car commercial “Naughty or Nice”alongside legendary singer Tony Bennett. The trio has been ambassadors for American Music Abroad through the State Department, touring communities in Peru and playing for the American Embassy’s Fourth of July event at the Ambassador’s Estate. They collaborated with Peruvian band, Uchpa, to create a song on behalf of the event titled, “Freedom”.  Their song “Shine” spent 18 weeks on Sirius XM’S Aboriginal Countdown reaching the #1 spot and they were highlighted in the Huffington Post as the #1 Freedom Fighting band to get you through the Trump Years. 

In their three decades of playing music and touring, they have performed on many stages including The Kennedy Center Millennium Stage, Telluride Bluegrass Festival, Tanz n Folk Fest, L’Oympia Theatre, Worldfest, The Woody Guthrie Center, The Amerind Museum, for the US Embassy in Peru, and on many Indigenous Reservations throughout The United States.

Videos

PROGRAMMING IDEAS, POLICY GOALS, AND TARGET AUDIENCES

-Answers provided by the band-

How does your band uniquely represent American Culture:

We represent the First Americans of the United States and the fusion of traditional and contemporary cultures not as ancient and modern but as a confluence of Indigenous identity. We sing in English, Navajo (which is the language of the Codetalkers), and sing Intertribal Pow Wow songs. As practitioners of Navajo traditional life ways, we are a direct thread to endangered knowledge, and share in a unique connection to other global Indigenous cultures who are also working to preserve language, heritage and cultural practices.

In our international and cross-cultural collaborations, we maintain the integrity of our culture as we integrate with the peoples with whom we creatively participate with. Oftentimes, it is forgotten that American culture is a beautiful intertwinement of cultures that are defined by the landscape where our ancestors are buried. As Native Americans, there are currently 574 federally recognized tribes. Each Indigenous Nation has a unique sovereign relationship and are working to heal past traumas, and work towards a better future. For us, music is a part of that healing process.

If you were to lead a workshop abroad, what would you want to focus on:

We would like to focus on youth empowerment, cultural preservation, breaking down stereotypes. We can do this through workshop curriculum that we have already created or we can work within the unique resources and challenges that each community has. It is important to have a basic understanding of what a community’s needs are when we are invited so, we can be as effective for them as possible. Our workshops are cross cultural and always include participation. Some of the workshops that we already have structures for are: Positive Change Through Creative Expression; Problem Solving with Creative Tools; Culture, Creativity & Action: Youth Empowerment Through Self Expression; and Introduction into the Dine’ Culture. In Nogales Mexico, working with AMA and the Mexican Consulate, we facilitated workshops about traditional food and gardening at a Culinary Arts University, and we led a creative marketing workshop for Business Students. We always look forward to tailoring our workshops for audiences with specific interests.

Our workshops are not limited to age or personal experience. Our goal is to always empower our workshop participants to utilize their own creativity and cultural resources.

What audiences would fit best for a workshop with your band?

• Youth (elementary, middle, or high school aged)
• Young, aspiring artists

What issues are your band passionate about, and why?

• Advancing democratic principles
• Promoting mutual understanding
• Promoting diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility
• Mitigating climate change
• Countering disinformation
• Youth Empowerment

We are passionate about these issues because we have lived them and continue to optimistically advocate despite the challenges that we have faced. Our personal experiences are what aid us to be solution finders and bridge builders. We come from one the largest tribes in America, and are invisible, being a minority of minorities within America. Our Community struggles with some of the highest statistics: poverty, suicide, lack of resources, to name a few. Our music has been a tool lift up our community. We were born into a political land dispute. In 1974, Congress enacted the Navajo-Hopi Relocation Act. It’s a complicated history with exploitation of land, people, and resources, the forced removal of 14,000 people, coal and resource extraction, and the depletion of our water. We have been ground zero for Climate Change. We learned to use our voices as youth to amplify our elder’s voices. We knew from our elder’s that we also needed to become a voice for our Mother Earth as a means of hope to educate and combat disinformation that still impacts our Nation.

Empowering youth voices are essential to the future of humanity. We believe that youth are a powerful force who can help to uplift community voices and find new solutions. As performing artists, we know that you have to be the change that you wish to see. Our traditional Dine’ (Navajo) wisdom tells us that we are all brothers and sisters on our Mother Earth. 

Throughout this world, we are more interconnected than we often realize. After all, we share this one beautiful planet.

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