Second musical artist helps share COVID-19 message on reservation
courtesy photo
Shadow Devereaux
Hey savvy news reader! Thanks for choosing local.
You are now reading
1 of 3 free articles.
News from CSKT
PABLO – Driven by concerns that young people may not be responding to COVID-19 prevention guidelines, a committee of tribal leaders formed to discuss strategies which might raise the awareness among teens that they have the power to protect their elders. What emerged was an innovative social media campaign aimed at the ages of 12 to 18.
For the second release of the campaign, the committee recruited Shadow Devereaux, aka Foreshadow, a tribal musician. The campaign will feature other local artists in the coming weeks.
“When I heard this new song, it was overwhelming, actually pulling emotion from me,” said CSKT Councilwoman Charmel Gillin. “The power of this message is exactly what the committee hoped to put into the ears and hearts of our youth in order to inspire a true connection with the heritage, culture and a chance to grasp the essence of honoring our elders by protecting their health.”
Foreshadow created a new song with the message, “Protect Your People” with regards to the current coronavirus. Inherent in the song lyrics is a deep understanding of tribal values and how actions to protect the CSKT community are important.
“Once I heard Shadow’s song, I told the rest of the committee, brace yourselves,” said Michelle Mitchell, CSKT Education Department Head. “It gave me goosebumps and I choked up, and I am really pleased to help another talented tribal musician get their music and talent heard and seen.”
Foreshadow’s song premiered on Friday with a full video. The TikTok dance challenge was launched on Saturday. Local youth who make and post their own challenge videos could win $100 gift card for helping pass along the message.
The purpose of the CSKT COVID Youth Community Care and Awareness Campaign is to create a culturally relevant COVID-19 awareness message for Flathead Reservation youth, which is built on themes such as #ProtectOurElders and #WalkTogetherWell in order to inspire youth to carry the themes to peers, involve family and positively impact health and safety in the tribal community.
The hashtags with the video are #ProtectOurElders, #fixyourmask, #csktcovidchallenge, #csktchallenge and #walktogetherwell. Youth challengers will be asked to follow the artist they respond to (@foreshadow) in their post and include the hashtags, as shown above, in order to keep message branding and momentum.
Once Foreshadow was asked to be part of the campaign, he said he was excited to be able to use the platform and the audience he has cultivated to speak directly to the youth.
“Touching on these themes for this track means a lot to me,” he said. “This song came natural and just felt right. I just wanted to speak to the youth who have supported me and my music over the years.”
Devereaux, also known by his stage name Foreshadow, is a Salish and Blackfeet hip-hop artist from the Flathead Indian Reservation. His sound is described as a blend of modern trap rap and boom bap that includes descriptive lyrics, which illustrate his own life experiences. Although he has his own style, the timbre, texture, and tonality of his compositions can be described as having influences from the likes of his idols Mac Miller and J. Cole.
As a child growing up on the reservation, he found his passion for music at the age of seven when his father gifted him a cassette tape recording of Tupac’s greatest hits. As he listened to this cassette religiously, he became more enamored with hip-hop.
His passion for music, his family, his supporters and representation for Native American youth continue to be the driving forces behind his unwavering devotion to creating music. His music can be found on Spotify at https://open.spotify.com/artist/5Kw50NOIuJfhc3MYvn83CS?si=ZZoe-LbKTWeH4YVqspm5rA. The YouTube link to his music is https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCneHcwO_L4lt0JRxQBv3BMA/featured. On Instagram, find him by searching @foreshadow406. On Facebook, search for @foreshadow.
