Blackstone Singers

Blackstone singers received our name from the late Henderson Paskemin. Blackstone was the cree name of his late father Joseph Paskemin. We started singing in 1986, called Nakowachee (Sweetgrass reserve), the fall of '86 my dad asked if we were going to go to powwows next summer, and if we had a name, I told him yes, but wasn't sure about the name and that's when he told me it was alright to use our grandfather's cree name. Our first powwow as Blackstone was Jan '87 in Erminskin (Hobbema) Ab. We sang Red Nation songs, although we were singing the wrong words, Tim WhiteEyes of Pine Ridge S.D. was at the p/w and came over and introduced himself and that he sings with Red Nation, I thought he was coming to scold us (I'd heard stories of singers getting fined or having their drums taken away), anyway he offered words of encouragement, which really meant a lot. That summer I met for the first time, Bill Baker of the Mandaree Singers. I rode with Bill from Saddle Lake pow-wow to Sweetgrass, and he shared many stories about singing and the drum with me. since then I have been fortunate to have met many people and made friends through singing with the big drum. I'm very grateful, Hiy-Hiy!Nakoda Classic

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