November is Native American Heritage Month, and Fort Lewis College is kicking off a series of events to celebrate.

The Center of Southwest Studies hosted musician Kino Benally on November 6 for a workshop on music and soundscape production. Benally, also known by the name of Dj Béeso, is a Diné artist from Shiprock, NM. He works as an independent musician and sound engineer. 

Benally started the session off by introducing his latest album, titled Nihimá Nahasdzáán, released on Feb. 21, 2024.

Benally presents from his album in the CSWS gallery.

This project was made after Benally moved back home to Shiprock from Albuquerque, NM, he said. 

During this time, he was immersed in culture and family and got back in touch with the place he grew up, Benally said. 

Benally sought to create an album that answers the question “What does the Southwest sound like?” he said. 

“There’s lots of answers to that, but few of those answers come from an Indigenous perspective,” Benally said.  

The album cover features a rug woven by Kevin Aspaas, a Diné textile and fiber artist, also from Shiprock, NM. 

The rug was woven specifically for the Nihimá Nahasdzáán album. Benally would send Aspaas unfinished songs and a description of the ideas that inspired them, he said. 

Aspaas wove in response to the music he heard, Benally said. 

“When I had questions about where to go with the album, I would go to that rug,” Benally said. “That’s how these ideas are woven together.”

After playing two tracks from his project to the audience, participants were encouraged to go outdoors and record audio of sounds that appealed to them. 

Attendees returned after about 15 minutes with 13 different recordings, including the sound of stepping on leaves, a beat made by tapping sticks together and the sound of a running a stick along a fence, one participant said. 

Benally described this sort of community collaboration as being a rush, due to time constraints and the different sounds that every group comes together with, he said.  

“It’s the environment directing the sound,” Benally said. 

The room was quiet as Benally incorporated participant’s recordings into a coherent and musical piece. 

Nate Williams, a music education major at FLC, participated in the workshop. Williams primarily plays viola, in addition to other instruments, they said. 

Williams was interested in how Benally brought his personal experiences, creativity and joy into his music. They found the focus on environmental themes uplifting, Williams said. 

“As a musician, I found inspiration in that,” they said. “To realize that you can just go outside and make music, makes it all the more powerful.”

Benally speaking on specifics of audio production.

Cristie Scott is the curator of the gallery at the Center of Southwest Studies. She first heard about Benally’s work from an interview he did on the KSUT tribal radio station, she said. 

Scott later heard that Benally hosted a similar soundscape workshop at Canyons of the Ancients National monument back in late August, and sought out to book him for an event at Fort Lewis, she said.  

Hosting Benally for a similar workshop felt like a natural opportunity, Scott said. 

Benally has worked with the college before as a mentor in the Tribal Water Media Fellowship.

The media fellowship is an annual cohort of students who work to produce multimedia projects on water issues, particularly those that affect Indigenous communities, Tribal Water Media Fellowship coordinator Colten Ashley said.