On this date in 1917, American composer Charles Wakefield Cadman, and opera singer Tsianina Redfeather performed in Grand Forks at the Methodist Church after appearing at Bismarck at the City Auditorium the night before. They were doing a small circuit in North Dakota, thanks to the efforts of Sara Cushing of Fargo, wife of Walter Cushing, a well-known North Dakotan newspaper man.
The performers were given rave reviews. The Bismarck Tribune reported that the two (quote) “were given a big ovation… Seldom have any artists been extended by Bismarckers the heartfelt commendation tendered.” The article continued: “Long after the notes of the mezzo soprano died away on her last number, the audience still waited, seeming loath to give her up. It was a great success […].”
Redfeather, a Native American born in 1882 to Creek and Cherokee parents, was trained to sing in Denver at the age of 14. She met Charles Wakefield Cadman there and began touring with him by the time she was 16. The partnership would continue for many years. Cadman produced the opera Shanewis, also called The Robin Woman, which was based loosely on Redfeather’s life. While the pair was in Fargo, Cadman received a signed contract from the Metropolitan Grand Opera Company that would allow the new opera to be performed there. They did so the next year, in 1918, where it received 22 curtain calls after its debut.
During her performance, as described in the Bismarck Tribune, Redfeather wore “chamois colored leather” with “ornaments of various colored beads.” She was described as “regally lovely.” When asked about her outfit, she told the Fargo Forum, “I promised my mother, now dead, that I would always wear them. I wouldn’t give them up under any circumstances whatever.”
Redfeather performed across the United States as well in other countries, including in France during World War I to support the troops. She was very popular in Chautauqua circuits, traveling educational lectures, concerts, and presentations for adults. She retired in the 1930s, but continued her work increasing knowledge about Native Americans and striving to improve their education.
Tsianina Redfeather Blackstone died in 1985 at the age of 102. She was a mezzo soprano of renown and should be remembered for her importance in history. But on this date, she was being remembered for her voice, “beautiful in itself.”
Dakota Datebook by Sarah Walker
Sources:
- https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/the-forgotten-history-of-tsianina-redfeather-the-beloved-american-indian-opera-singer-180981902/
- https://www.heardguild.org/princess-tsianina-red-feather/
- https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1985-01-13-8501030298-story.html
- http://opera.stanford.edu/Cadman/Shanewis/history.html
- Valley News, Tuesday, Oct 16, 1956, p9 https://www.newspapers.com/article/valley-news-tsianina-blackstone-as-found/1994894/
- https://www.americanpopularculture.com/journal/articles/fall_2008/lush.htm
- Muskogee Times-Democrat, Monday, May 26, 1919, p3 https://www.newspapers.com/article/muskogee-times-democrat-tsianina-redfeat/1990228/
- https://operawire.com/opera-profile-charles-wakerfield-cadmans-shanewis/
- The Bismarck Tribune, October 30, 1917, p2
- The Fargo Forum and Daily Republican, October 29, 1917, p6
- Grand Forks Herald, November 1, 1917, p12
- Grand Forks Herald, November 3, 1917, p2
- Bismarck Tribune, November 3, 1917, p3
