Mezzo Soprano: Memoirs of a Rez Girl

Tansi!! My name is Rhonda Head and I am from the Opaskwayak Cree Nation in Northern Manitoba located in the Treaty 5 Territory. I am the youngest of six siblings and my parents are the late John Alfred Head and Hagar Head. I am pleased to be able to share my journey of trials and tribulations throughout my life with you. I have been fortunate enough to be able to achieve one of my goals – to write a book about myself, my autobiography. This has given me the opportunity to continue to grow and share my experiences with you. I grew up on the Opaskwayak Cree Nation with my family. I remember playing outside in the wilderness and not having any supervision. I thought this was the most amazing time when I was growing up. The connection to the land and nature was a part of my childhood and is always a good memory for me. I remember all the other kids in the neighbourhood were right there with me playing in the woods. Little did I know that we were not being nurtured or properly supervised. And as I grew older, when I spoke about my childhood with other members of Opaskwayak from different areas, they grew up the exact same way. We were left alone on the weekends, there was partying and we pretty well looked after ourselves growing up, and we thought it was normal. It was certainly not my parents fault for the way we grew up, as they both were shipped off to residential school, and the traumas they faced haunted them for the rest of their lives. I always had this longing to leave the reserve and live in big cities. I just didn't see myself living on the reserve all my life. I had xii dreams of travelling, of meeting new people, and just wanting to leave. I made it a reality and left Opaskwayak when I was 16 years and moved to Winnipeg, MB. I completed my grade 12 from the University of Winnipeg Collegiate, and went onto College in Toronto, Ontario, fulfilling a childhood dream of attending Fashion School and living in Toronto. This is where I started my vocal lessons with an amazing vocal teacher who believed in me. When I graduated from college I moved back to Manitoba. I attended the University of Winnipeg and that's when things turned a different route. My hearing started going, I couldn't retain any information that I was reading and I started gaining weight. My body began to swell. Because of my sister's impatience with me when I couldn't hear what she was saying, I went to an Audiologist to get my hearing tested. From there I was referred to get an MRI. The results were devastating, I had a brain tumour and my world as I knew it would never be the same again. My world was turned upside down. It took me a over a year to recover. The illness taught me that life is precious and it gave me motivation to follow my heart and dreams. It also taught me that to give up is the easiest thing in the world to do. I've been a musician all my life; since I was eight years old I started playing piano, and when I was in Junior and Senior High I was in the school band playing the clarinet and alto-clarinet. I now sing with an amazing choir one hour from my community, and recorded three award-winning CDs and working on the forth one. This circle has allowed me to cross paths with some amazing people from all over the world. The music road has been good to me. I'm excited to share my journey, experiences, trials and tribulations. The path has been met with twists and turns, mountains and hills, and all kinds of weather. I hope to inspire, move and motivate. My journey continues and is not over yet. Kinanaskimotin – I am thankful.

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Mezzo Soprano: Memoirs of a Rez Girl

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