John Longbow of Longbow Guitars Interview!
This is a happy start to LIMITLESS HAPPY STORIES from young men and women, boys and girls, whose heritage is traced through the countless nations that lived on this land well before Europeans. Here’s John Longbow’s HAPPY STORY!
United States’ ONLY Native American Guitar Maker!
Finding self, peace, & belonging through craftsmanship – John Longbow, of Longbow Guitars and The Indigenous Research Center.
Talk to John Longbow for a few minutes and you’ll discover a man walking on two roads. One is ‘Tradition’, the other ‘Lifestyle’. He is a very proud descendant of the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations who has taken talents entrusted with him by the Spirit to create instruments, music, and art that aches to be seen and heard. More importantly, John’s efforts are strongly geared toward young men and woman of indigenous descent who may be able to take the teachings of this universal elder and clarify their own journey.
John’s 1st HAPPY STORY recalls his upbringing. His family recognized the value of developing John’s cultural education. To fill this well within John with life’s water from which he would later draw knowledge for his subsequent work, John spent many days and weeks in the company of Native people in Philadelphia, MS – home to his native nation. There, a sometimes reluctant student learned the culture that would eventually guide his life.
John’s LAST HAPPY STORY is centered around the work he has done at ‘Planet Indigenous’, a festival held at the remarkable Harbourfront Centre in the heart of Toronto’s riverfront district on Lake Ontario. At ‘Planet Indigenous’ John has conducted numerous guitar building clinics to entice and encourage young men and women to pick up an instrument and find their own voice through construction. He has visited dozens of reservations in both the US and Canada to play and teach – again encouraging native children to pick up instruments and, utilizing their heritage as a foundation, pay homage to their people and express themselves in a positive fashion.
His NEXT HAPPY STORY is his current professional interest and it is something that must be seen to be fully appreciated. The old adage, “A picture is worth a thousand words” doesn’t do John’s craft justice. Perhaps 10,000 words. The process is photo manipulation and involves mirroring and layering of photos and then deciphering what the photo says to the viewer. “My job as an Image Manipulator is to seduce, amuse, entertain and question what we were led to believe . Showing what is really in a picture.” It is absolutely fascinating and beautiful art. Please visit http://www.cyber-renegades.net/gallery_modern_index.htm to view examples of John’s work.
John continues down his two roads today – intersecting often. He is a man who embraces change as he continues putting his gifts from the Spirit to work and teach the next generations as his ancestors have always done. @LongbowGuitars
Interviewed 12/26/12 by David-Michael Harding @DMichaelHarding, author of Cherokee Talisman.
ABOUT 1 Billion Happy Native Stories
The word “Native” includes people, plants and animals and is synonymous with the following: Indigenous, Aboriginal, original and innate.
Partners of the Heart is a web based and interactive company where people pay a minimum of $1 to share a positive story that will be digitally archived forever. The reason people pay for these stories is because our clients who are non profits receive a minimum of 25% of the $1 story and those funds are filtered directly back into the charitable organization. Charities have had a hard time reaching their audience digitally and this gives them an outlet and an additional way to finance or capitalize their charity.
Go to http://billionnatives.com/ to create your own Happy Native Story!
Related articles
- http://www.billionnatives.com/node/332! (billion natives.com)
