Violinist Arvel Bird to perform for Native American Heritage Month

Native American violinist Arvel Bird will perform free on Tuesday, November 27, as part of the College’s celebration of Native American Heritage Month. The community is invited to attend.

Three tribal elders telling stories, Native American cuisine, drummers, singers and dancers also will be part of the event, which is scheduled 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m. in the Goins Student Lounge.

“We’re excited to have Arvel Bird on campus,” said Gayle Wood, director of Access and Diversity, sponsor of the event.

“He was chosen 2007 Artist of the Year at the Ninth Annual Native American Music Awards. We’re thrilled to have someone of his renown participate in our Native American Heritage Month celebration.”

“I haven’t done any performing in Tennessee all year,” said Bird, “so I’m looking forward to coming to Knoxville.”

He says his stage performance has matured over time.

“I speak more about my heritage from the stage,” he said. “My songs are compositions about different animals and their ‘spirit totem’ meaning to Native Americans.

“An animal totem is a physical manifestation of a spirit guide or helper that comes to help us, to teach us, to give us advice, if we’re asking.”

Born to an interracial Mormon family in Idaho and raised in Utah and Arizona, Bird says he was aware of his Indian heritage from an early age, but out of fear of his mother’s reaction, he never asked about her origin.

In 2000, Bird launched Singing Wolf Records. This also marked the beginning of his personal journey to uncover the truth about his Native American heritage. In the summer of 2001, he received documentation from his mother confirming his bloodline to the Shivwit Paiute tribe in Southern Utah.

Bird—a classically trained violinist who performs a variety of genres and has toured with Loretta Lynn and other major musicians—has since made trips to the Shivwit Paiute reservation, where he has met some of his relatives. Now, all of his performances reflect and honor his Native American heritage through music and stories.

For more information, contact Gayle Wood at 539-7160.