Jeneda Benally is the

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboard bass or a low bra ...

and co-

vocalist Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or witho ...

alongside her brothers in the

Navajo The Navajo (; British English: Navaho; nv, Diné or ') are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American people of the Southwestern United States. With more than 399,494 enrolled tribal members , the Navajo Nation is the largest fe ...

punk rock band Blackfire. She currently plays bass and sings with her brother Clayson Benally in the multi-award-winning duo Sihasin.

Musical career

In 2012, they formed Sihasin, the Navajo word for “hope”, releasing their Ed Stasium-produced debut album, ''Never Surrender'', in 2012 to critical acclaim and numerous awards on the American Indian Music scene, and received the honor of being called the "#1 Freedom Fighting Band to Get You Through the Trump Years" by ''

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...

'' in December 2016. They also collaborated on the song “Sister Moon and Brother Sun” for the 2017 Grammy-nominated album by roots children's duo The Okee Dokee Brothers. Their punk rock version of the Christmas classic, “Winter Wonderland” was featured in an ad campaign with

Tony Bennett Anthony Dominick Benedetto (born August 3, 1926), known professionally as Tony Bennett, is an American retired singer of traditional pop standards, big band, show tunes, and jazz. Bennett is also a painter, having created works under his bir ...

for Hyundai. Benally has been featured on NPR, as an actress in Nanobah Becker's film ''The Sixth World'', and has appeared in numerous TV specials and in national and international press. Benally has traveled the world sharing her Navajo culture and important critical issues. Besides her duties in the band, she is an activist for various causes. Not only has she been a Miss Flagstaff Indian Days

Powwow A powwow (also pow wow or pow-wow) is a gathering with dances held by many Native American and First Nations communities. Powwows today allow Indigenous people to socialize, dance, sing, and honor their cultures. Powwows may be private or p ...

Princess, she is also a national Native American Honor Roll Society member. In 2022, her dog Mr Happy Face was declared the world's most ugliest dog.

Activism

Having performed internationally with her family's dance troupe, The Jones Benally Family, Benally is also well known for her work for human rights, sacred sites, forced relocation, and environmental and animal rights. Benally was part of the Delos Convention for the U.N. in Greece and was a plaintiff in the federal court case against reclaimed wastewater in order to protect the Sacred San Francisco Peaks.

References

Living people 1980 births 21st-century American bass guitarists 21st-century American women musicians 21st-century Native Americans American people of Polish-Jewish descent American people of Russian-Jewish descent Jewish American musicians Navajo musicians Women bass guitarists 21st-century Native American women 21st-century American Jews 20th-century Native Americans 20th-century Native American women Jewish rock musicians Jews in punk rock Women punk rock singers {{US-musician-stub