HOUSTON – Aryn Ward (Mvskoke/Yuchi) wears many hats for the Good Medicine Indigenous Festival as an organizer, composer, and performer. This year marked the festival’s second year. It ran from Friday, Oct. 2 through Saturday, Oct. 3 at Faith Lutheran Bellaire Church. Featuring live concerts, vendors, and masterclasses, the event celebrated Indigenous composers, musicians, and culture.
This year’s festival lineup included violinist Anjelica Lindsey (Cherokee), pianist Connor Chee (Diné), composer Michael Begay (Diné), metal guitarist Sage Bond (Diné), and operatic Soprano Lara Lignitz (Cherokee). It also featured the Cougar Symphony Orchestra, the Fiammetta Quartet, and Danza Azteca, a traditional ceremonial dance group. Ward performed on a classical flute with a unique head joint made out of cedar. The festival featured chamber, traditional, contemporary, and experimental music.
Good Medicine was a family affair. Ward’s children, Jaycie, Jaxton, Joshua, and Journey performed at the festival. Jaycie currently attends Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. Jackson plays the French horn at Meyerland Performing and Visual Arts Middle School. Joshua and Journey both attend Parker Elementary School. Joshua plays the alto saxophone; Journey, the trombone. Ward said her children were excited to participate and share their musical talents at the festival.
“It was great having all my kids perform with me,” Ward said. “They wanted to, and they were excited to go up there and share their musical talents as well as singing in the languages of Mvskoke and Yuchi. They enjoy sharing their language and their culture.”
Jaycie designed this year’s festival poster, a good medicine turtle. The design features Indigenous symbols like eagle feathers, corn, and Indian paintbrushes.
Ward premiered her graphic score “yUdjEha zinE wAthl@nE”, or “Yuchi Galaxy.” A graphic score, or graphic notation, is a physical object that uses images and symbols that instruct the performer how to play a composition. “Yuchi Galaxy” was performed by Ward, her brother-in-law Jesse Ward, Jaycie, and Joshua. The graphic score was a hand-beaded deer-hide with Yuchi symbols and 26 constellations.
Ward shared that she founded the festival to celebrate Indigenous composers and to provide them with the opportunity to express themselves through their culture. She wanted to create a space where her children could share their culture and speak the Mvskoke and Yuchi languages. One of those ways was by singing Mvskoke and Yuchi hymns.
Off the Rez
Now an eight-year resident of Houston, Ward said it can be hard to connect with other Indigenous musicians in the area. Her goal for the festival was to bring together
“My goal was to get as many Tribes, languages, and people together from different backgrounds and put them all in one spot,” Ward said. “You get these classical people that are meeting experimental musicians.”
Although the Mvskoke Reservation is a seven-hour drive from Ward, she returns to make performance appearances. She performed at the zOyaha Fest in Glenpool and the Creek Council Oak 50 Years of Recognition event, which celebrated Council Oak Park’s 50th anniversary on the National Register of Historic Places. This marked Ward’s first time visiting Council Oak, an experience she described as “meaningful.”
“My whole reason for creating the Good Medicine Festival was to show the whole span of what Indigenous music is, was, and can be” – Aryn Ward
Ward said she is in the planning stages of bringing the Good Medicine Indigenous Festival to Oklahoma in a smaller format. Like the festival in Houston, she said she would like it to include Indigenous music, as well as other music genres like bluegrass, sage, and metal.
To stay up to date on Ward’s music, follow her Facebook page, Mvskoke Music – Aryn Ward. Selections from Ward’s “Muscogee Month Suite” will be performed by the Oregon East Symphony at the Interwoven: Where Cultures Meet festival on Thursday, Oct. 15.
