Joseph Firecrow Jr.

Originally from the Northern Cheyenne reservation in Montana, Joseph Firecrow, Jr. (1959-2017) lived in Connecticut for many years with his wife JoAnn. Joseph’s traditional music and cultural learning came from family members as well as the community within his reservation. He believed that “This art form is a living, breathing thing, surrounded by ritual, song. and prayer. The way of the wooden flute is a lifetime endeavor.” He learned to make flutes from John Rainer, a Kiowa/San Juan Pueblo flute maker while living as a young man in Utah, then from his uncle Douglas Glenmore in Lame Deer, Montana, who also taught the songs and stories associated with the flute. Joseph became a respected flute maker and player in his community, also traveling nationally and internationally to perform and record traditional and contemporary music. An important source and mentor was Joseph’s grandfather, John Stands in Timber, a revered and knowledgeable elder whose stories have been documented in two books. Despite time away from home, Joseph kept Northern Cheyenne values and traditions close to his heart, exemplifying his heritage in his music practice and repertoire. He took part in many powwows, gatherings, and activities with the tribes indigenous to Connecticut and New England. Joseph won a Grammy Award, a Native American Music Award seven times, and a NAMA Lifetime Achievement Award. He created many recordings both as a solo artist and with other musicians.

Joseph was selected for the performing arts rosters of the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism and the New England Foundation for the Arts. He served as a teaching artist in the Southern New England Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program three times, with very different apprentices. First he taught a young MicMac flute player to make the instrument. Next, Joseph worked with a young man of native heritage who had a learning disability, but with patience and a careful teaching plan, this student successfully made and played his first flute. Joseph next taught a Nipmuc artist flute making techniques. In each case, Joseph passed on the values associated with the craft such as patience, respect for the flute tradition and the materials used, and community service through performance. Joseph’s dedication and kindness came directly from the difficulties experienced as he tried to find his way in the flute tradition. Throughout his life he gained an extensive repertoire of traditional songs, and crafted exquisitely-made flutes from a variety of woods and with different structures appropriate to the type of music that each flute would play.