Brooke Medicine Eagle

Rooted in the countryside of Montana, Brooke Edwards—also known professionally as Brooke Medicine Eagle—has long worked as a seasoned singer and songwriter focused on Native American music. Although her sets incorporate certain traditional Native American pieces, Medicine Eagle avoids a strictly purist stance; while some of her output stays rooted in convention, numerous original compositions fall into the realm of contemporary Native American folk-rock. Her releases have likewise incorporated global instruments absent from purely conventional Native American sessions, among them Chinese bamboo flutes. Across a prolific career she has assembled an extensive discography, issuing no fewer than nineteen albums by 2004, the majority appearing on the New Dimensions imprint or on her self-titled Brooke label. She has additionally released material through TribalLove Records. Of blended ancestry that encompasses both white and Native American lineages—specifically Lakota, Cherokee, Scottish, and Irish—Medicine Eagle draws inspiration from Joan Baez and Judy Collins as well as from traditional and contemporary Native American artists. Though not strictly categorized as new age, her spiritual outlook reflects influences from that movement alongside Native American traditions; the Montana-based performer, who handles drums and assorted Native American percussion, has accordingly garnered attention in new age outlets.

Beyond recording, Medicine Eagle has authored books on Native American spirituality, among them Buffalo Woman Comes Singing, released in 1991, and The Last Ghost Dance, published in 2000, both by the New York City firm Ballantine Books. She has contributed articles to an array of magazines and websites, many of them oriented toward new age readership.