As a Native American singer and songwriter, Joanne Shenandoah frequently writes about native culture, lore, history, philosophy and spirituality.

“Our gifts are part of our responsibility — we are supposed to use them for what we call a ‘good mind,’” says Shenandoah, who comes to the Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre on Sunday for an afternoon show sponsored by the University Musical Society. “The good mind brings us together and changes peoples’ perceptions of certain ideas.”

Many of Shenandoah’s albums over the years have featured her performances of traditional Iroquois chants — she is a Wolf Clan member of the Iroquois Confederacy, Oneida Nation, in New York state. But she also likes to bring these historic chants into the present by mixing in modern-day instrumentation. Listen to Joanne Shenandoah "Riding Free" (MP3).

One upcoming project that Shenandoah is excitedly involved in is the Project for Peace on Earth — a concert that will be held in Manger Square in Bethlehem on November 11 (11-11-11) to promote peace. Also participating are Sting, Bono, Sinead O’Connor, Robert Downey Jr and many others.

She also contributed a song to the upcoming CD, “Prayer Cycle — Path To Zero,” and has been writing songs for a new album that she says will be more of a “crossover” effort, in that the music and the themes will not be primarily Native American.

“They’re songs of love, and of pain, and peace,” says Shenandoah by phone from her home on Oneida, in central New York state. “I really do feel I have been put on earth to spread peace and hope and love, and I have to ask for the songs to flow through me. With me, I feel it is very directed. I often ask for divine intervention when I want to write these kinds of songs.”

Shenandoah, who has won one Grammy Award and 12 Native American Music Awards (or Nammies), says she actually has enough material written for three albums, one of which is a soundtrack for an independent film.

Her latest CD was a collaboration with another native American artist, Michael Bucher (from the Cherokee Nation). Titled “Bitter Tears — Sacred Ground,” it was released in 2009, and while most of the songs focused on Native American themes, they also had universal meaning and appeal.

Some of the native-themed songs on the disc were written by Peter LaFarge, an early-‘60s folk singer-songwriter who penned several songs about the history, traditions and plight of Native Americans.

Five of the songs on the album, including a couple of LaFarge’s compositions, were recorded by Johnny Cash for his own 1960s-era album, “Bitter Tears,” which focused largely on Native Americans and the traumas and mistreatment they endured at the hands of European settlers — whom many Natives have long regarded not as “settlers” but instead as invaders / conquering hordes.

Such was the racism against Native Americans in the U.S., even in the ‘60s, that Cash’s “Bitter Tears” album was blacklisted by commercial radio at the time — but is still popular among Native Americans.

“I had the great pleasure of meeting Johnny, and I was so taken by the fact that he created this album that focused on what happened to native people in this country,” says Shenandoah. “So we wanted to ‘revive’ some of those messages, and that album, in a way, by recording some of those songs.”

One song they interpreted was LaFarge’s “Ballad of Ira Hayes,” which was a hit for Cash, and is the story of a real-life Native American who became famous when he was one of the U.S. Marines who was photographed raising the American flag at the Battle of Iwo Jima in 1945 — but who then faced prejudice and discrimination when he returned to civilian life, became an alcoholic, and died at the age of 32.

On “Bitter Tears — Sacred Ground,” Shenandoah sang a version of “The Star Spangled Banner” that was muted and sorrowful. Given that it is a national anthem for a country that, in the eyes of many, was “stolen” from it native inhabitants — and sung by a Native American artist — one is tempted to hear it as a lament for the homeland that the natives “lost.”

“Many Native Americans do feel conflicted about the national anthem, but this is still our land, too — it’s a land that now belongs to all of us, both Natives and non-Natives,” explains Shenandoah. “So, the song, the way I do it on the record, really is a tribute, to honor to those Native American people who fought in our wars and gave their lives for our country. We buried our ancestors here, just like our (non-Native) neighbors did.”

One of Shenandoah’s songs that is nearest to her heart is “Eagle Cries,” the title track to her 2001 album. The song has great meaning to her, and one that she says represents her “main focus” as a singer-songwriter.

It’s a prophecy song about "the Iroquois symbol of peace, the great white pine tree,” relates Shenandoah. “On top stands an Eagle, who is our protector. It is said that people around the world will hear of this great message of peace, as there are four white roots which will spread to the four directions of the earth. Under this tree are buried our weapons of war. We are all to join hands together under this tree no matter what race, religion or age, and all find shelter under the branches."

Kevin Ransom is a free-lance writer who covers music for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at KevinRansom10@aol.com.

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