Sihasin is a
Diné band consisting of brother and sister duo, Clayson and
Jeneda Benally. The band's name, "Sihasin", translates to "hope" in the Diné language.[1] The band is from
Flagstaff, Arizona,[2] and their music is based in Diné culture, activism and
punk rock.[3]
Background
Clayson and Jeneda Benally are children of Jones Benally, a hoop dancer and traditional healer, and Berta Benally, a folk singer and activist.[4] They grew up in Black Mesa during a
land dispute between the
Navajo Nation and
Hopi, and the Peabody coal mining company, which resulted in the forced relocation of thousands of people.[5][4] The activism they saw and participated in at the time became later inspiration for their music.
In the 1990s, the siblings, along with their brother Klee, created a punk rock band called
Blackfire when they were teenagers.[1] In 2011, the band broke up. According to the siblings, while Blackfire was based on their anger at injustice, they created Sihasin to empower and inspire others to create change.[4]
History
After their former band Blackfire went on hiatus, the group formed in 2012, with Janeda on bass and Clayson on drums.[6][7] They released their debut album, Never Surrender, in 2012 on Tacoho Records.[6][8] In 2013, Sihasin performed at the
Gathering of Nations for the first time.[7]
In 2015, Sihasin's rock
cover of "
Winter Wonderland" was included on the album Punk Rock Christmas, released by
Cleopatra Records.[9] The song was later used in
Hyundai's "Naughty or Nice" ad campaign in 2017.[10]
During
COVID-19, the band switched to performing online to replace in-person tours.[12] In 2020, Sihasin performed as part of the Homegrown Concert series from the
Library of Congress, which was
streamed online due to the pandemic.[13] In 2021, the band was selected by American Music Abroad, a cultural diplomacy program that shares American music internationally and is sponsored by the
U.S. Department of State; as part of the program, they performed through international virtual tours, and they produced a single titled "We the People", which premiered digitally on July 4 in each American embassy.[14]