Shanewis

Shanewis (or The Robin Woman) (1918)[1][2] is an opera in one act and two scenes by American composer Charles Wakefield Cadman with an English-language libretto by Nelle Richmond Eberhart.

"[2] They collaborated with Tsianina Redfeather Blackstone, a Cherokee/Creek singer, who contributed elements from her life for the contemporary plot related to Native American issues.

Meanwhile Amy, Mrs. Everton's daughter, has returned following her graduation from Vassar College, and her mother decides to give a soiree in honor of them both.

At the dinner Shanewis sings "The Spring Song of the Robin Woman", attracting the approbation of many of the guests and the attention of architect Lionel Rhodes, Amy's fiancé.

She secures a promise from him that he will visit her home on the reservation and seek approval from her family; the interview is interrupted by Amy's entrance with another of the guests.

Harjo reveals himself to be a traditionalist fanatic who has come to blame whites for all the ills suffered by Indians, and to resent modernity in general.

She denounces whites and their treachery in their dealings with her tribe, and declares that she will go into the forest, far from civilization and close to God, to seek solace.