Irene Eastman | |
---|---|
![]() Irene Eastman, from a 1917 magazine | |
Born | February 24, 1894 St. Paul, Minnesota |
Died | October 23, 1918 Keene, New Hampshire |
Other names | Taluta |
Occupation | Singer |
Parent(s) | Charles Eastman, Elaine Goodale Eastman |
Irene Taluta Eastman (February 24, 1894 – October 23, 1918) was an American singer.
Irene Eastman was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, one of the six children of Charles Eastman and Elaine Goodale Eastman.[1][2] Her father was a noted physician and a Santee Sioux born in Minnesota;[3] her mother was a white writer and educator from Massachusetts.[4] Her parents met at Wounded Knee.[5]
Eastman, a soprano, sang, danced, and told stories in various venues,[6] including the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences[7] Hampton Institute,[8] historical societies, community groups, and opera houses.[9] She dressed in a leather beaded costume for her performances.[10][11][12]
The music Eastman performed was not from any one specific Native tradition, but a pastiche that evoked an idea of Native cultures for non-Native audiences. "The stories were put to classical notes, and especially harmoniously arranged with all admirable Indian atmosphere saved", explained a 1915 report.[10] Hamlin Garland wrote to Eastman's mother that her "charming presence and sweet and sympathetic voice gave even the dullest of her hearers a realizing sense of the wild beauty which had its place in a world that is almost gone."[1]
Eastman died in 1918 from influenza, during the worldwide flu pandemic, at the age of 24.[11] Her parents separated soon after her death.[13] There is an oil portrait of Eastman by Wallace Bryant, in the collection of the Hood Museum of Art at Dartmouth College.[14]