Shanewis (or The Robin Woman) (1918)[1][2] is an opera in one act and two scenes by American composer Charles Wakefield Cadman with an English-language libretto by Nelle Richmond Eberhart.[3] Cadman called the work an "American opera."[2]
They collaborated with Tsianina Redfeather Blackstone, a Cherokee/Creek singer, who contributed elements from her life for the contemporary plot related to Native American issues.[4] Blackstone sang the lead role in her opera debut when it was performed in Denver in 1924, and also performed in Los Angeles in 1926.
- ^ Music News. Music News Corporation. 1918. p. 20.
- ^ a b "CONTENTdm".
- ^ "'Shanewis,' Indian Opera, Captivates" (PDF). The New York Times. March 24, 1918. p. 19.
- ^ Pamela Karantonis, Dylan Robinson. Opera Indigene: Re/presenting First Nations and Indigenous Cultures, Routledge, 2016, p. 178