The Oshkii Giizhik Singers

Cloquet resident follows dream and finds a Native music award

When Anishinaabe/Finnish-American and Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa member Lyz Jaakola had a dream years ago about singing and playing a hand drum, she knew it was the beginning of a journey.

By: Lisa BaumannWhen Anishinaabe/Finnish-American and Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa member Lyz Jaakola had a dream years ago about singing and playing a hand drum, she knew it was the beginning of a journey. She did not, however, foresee how far the journey would take her and the women’s Native American music group she founded, the Oshkii Giizhik Singers (OGS).

In fact, the group was stunned as 11 of them in early October sat at the Native American Music Awards in Niagara Falls, N.Y., for the first time and learned they had been chosen the winner of an award (known as a “Nammy,” similar to a Grammy) for best traditional recording for their CD, “It’s a New Day.”Comment:  For more on the subject, see The 2009 NAMMY Winners.