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Born
in the nearby community of Mayo, Alfred
spent his first five years living a
traditional life and speaking the
Northern Tutchone language with his
mother and father. Despite many later
years spent in residential schools in
southern Yukon, Alfred managed to keep
his native language alive.
A
member of the Crow Clan, Alfred was
named a Song Keeper at birth, like his
father before him. It is a traditional
honor that his people hold in high
regard. A Song Keeper collects
songs and represents his or her clan at
potlatches and other important
ceremonial occasions. Alfred
believes his eldest daughter, Cenjeya
("cute one"), will also be a
Song Keeper. At two and a half,
she already drums, sings and dances.
One-year-old Saanuwa ("precious
one") will surely do the same in
time.
Alfred's
strong singing voice was noted by his
school teachers, who placed him in a
choir that performed in Yukon
communities. Alfred's parents bought him
his first guitar when he was seven, but
it wasn't until his teen years that he
took up the instrument seriously. A
self-taught guitarist, he preferred Bob
Dylan music at the time, and began
combining modern guitar techniques with
the traditional music of his people.
Music
took a back seat to other
preoccupation's during Alfred's late
twenties and thirties, when he devoted
his energies to the Selkirk people's
Land Claim negotiations with the
governments of Canada and the
Yukon.
Just
prior to his death, Alfred's father
expressed concern that his people's
songs would be lost, and he implored
Alfred to "keep the music
going." Alfred produced his
first recording in 1994 -Etsi Shon
"Grandfather Song" - and in
doing so, honored his father's request
to teach the language and keep the
spirit of his people alive.
Alfred
formed the Medicine Band with Bob
Hamilton, a British Columbia-born
electric guitarist and producer that he
met at the Yukon International
Storytelling Festival in 1991. The band
also includes keyboards and accordion
player Andrea McColeman, percussionist
Marc Paradis and background vocalist
Marie Gogo.
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