Irene Taluta Eastman (February 24, 1894 – October 23, 1918) was an American singer.

Early life and education

Irene Eastman was born in

Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (often abbreviated St. Paul) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County, Minnesota, Ramsey County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, ...

, one of the six children of

Charles Eastman Charles Alexander Eastman (February 19, 1858 – January 8, 1939, born Hakadah and later named Ohíye S'a, sometimes written Ohiyesa) was an American physician, writer, and social reformer. He was among the first Native Americans to be certifie ...

and Elaine Goodale Eastman. Her father was a noted physician and a Santee Sioux born in Minnesota; her mother was a white writer and educator from Massachusetts. Her parents met at Wounded Knee.

Career

Eastman, a soprano, sang, danced, and told stories in various venues, including the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences

Hampton Institute Hampton University is a private, historically black, research university in Hampton, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1868 as Hampton Agricultural and Industrial School, it was established by Black and White leaders of the American Missiona ...

, historical societies, community groups, and opera houses. She dressed in a leather beaded costume for her performances. The music Eastman performed was not from any one specific Native tradition, but a

pastiche A pastiche () is a work of visual art, literature, theatre, music, or architecture that imitates the style or character of the work of one or more other artists. Unlike parody, pastiche pays homage to the work it imitates, rather than mocking ...

that evoked an idea of Native cultures for non-Native audiences. "The stories were put to classical notes, and especially harmoniously arranged with all admirable Indian atmosphere saved", explained a 1915 report.

Hamlin Garland Hannibal Hamlin Garland (September 14, 1860 – March 4, 1940) was an American novelist, poet, essayist, short story writer, Georgist, and psychical researcher. He is best known for his fiction involving hard-working Midwestern farmers. Biogr ...

wrote to Eastman's mother that her "charming presence and sweet and sympathetic voice gave even the dullest of her hearers a realizing sense of the wild beauty which had its place in a world that is almost gone."

Personal life

Eastman died in 1918 from influenza, during the worldwide flu pandemic, at the age of 24. Her parents separated soon after her death. There is an oil portrait of Eastman by Wallace Bryant, in the collection of the

Hood Museum of Art The Hood Museum of Art is an art museum owned and operated by Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. The first reference to the development of an art collection at Dartmouth was in 1772, making the collection among the oldest and largest, a ...

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eastman, Irene 1894 births 1918 deaths Musicians from Saint Paul, Minnesota Native American singers Santee Dakota people 20th-century American women singers 20th-century American singers Deaths from the Spanish flu pandemic in New Hampshire 20th-century Native American women Eastman family