Mandan-Hidatsa musician receives scholarship to pursue dreams at Berklee College

Country and movie stars mark singers early career with invitations to sing at North Dakota voting rights events

Hobawea Nahish Demaray, a citizen of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation strummed her guitar and began singing her original songs, such as “Too Much,” on Orange Shirt Day – a day to recognize survivors of boarding schools – during a recent Walking for Our Relatives event. 

The 20-year-old musician, whose name translates to Holy Woman Stands, Hoba Wea Nahish, is leaving her home on the Fort Berthold Reservation in New Town, N.D., to continue her education at the Berklee College of Music in Boston this spring. 

One of the most prominent highlights of her career happened when she was 15. At the time, she was just starting to learn the guitar and only knew how to play one song on the instrument. Mark Ruffalo, an actor well-known for his roles playing the Hulk in The Avengers films and Matt in the rom-com 13 Going on 30, offered the then-teen an opportunity to advocate for Native voting rights.

“I got to open and I just knew one song, so I sang it,” said Demaray. “[I sang] some karaoke tracks, but I think Mark Ruffalo was impressed, so he asked me to come along with him to all the other reservations as well.”

Back in 2018, North Dakota’s voter ID law threatened to silence the state’s Indigenous communities on reservations. The legislation passed required residential street addresses — targeting American Indian voters on reservations, as many tribal citizens in North Dakota don’t have a street address. Ruffalo and other celebrities rallied across the state for Native voting rights to bring awareness to changing tribal citizens’ IDs so they could register to vote.

Demaray said she received the honor to open for Billy Ray Cyrus when he came to advocate for Native voting rights on the Turtle Mountain Reservation in 2018. She also opened the Indigenous People’s March concert in Washington, D.C. in 2019.

Berklee was the only school Demaray applied to. The college is known as a highly selective school, as only 55% of applicants are admitted each year. At the time, she had been taking a gap year after the events of the Covid-19 pandemic. Demaray said during her time away from school, she found her individuality and finally felt ready to go back. 

After Demaray auditioned she was accepted into the school and received a $27,000 scholarship, which covers about half of the tuition. “I kind of always had a feeling that I wanted to go to Berklee, even in high school when I was young,” Demaray said.

Since she was 3 years old, Demaray has been singing and performing. Her dad, Allan Demaray, was a cultural performer so would encourage her to perform with him onstage as a child. Singing isn’t the artist’s only talent ––  she taught herself how to play the guitar when she was 16. Demaray also plays a bit of piano, dabbles in bass and uses an audio workspace that acts as a digital instrument.

When she was a freshman in high school, she became interested in producing her music after being accepted to A Cappella Academy, a vocal-intensive summer camp in Los Angeles for 12 to 18-year-olds. “I continued to audition every year until I graduated high school,” said Demaray. “That establishment really helped. It helped push me as a musical artist and expanded my horizons.”

After her experience at A Cappella Academy, Demaray began asking her parents for equipment, including a computer and microphones, so she could figure out how to produce her music. But it wasn’t until the beginning of 2022 that she jumped headfirst into producing. Demaray recalled not knowing exactly what she was doing during those early stages.

While most of Demaray’s current work is demos and singles, she is currently working to produce her first album. Most of her work can be found on her Facebook and Instagram. The MHA citizen is passionate about music and uses it as a way to connect and relate to other Indigenous people. “Once I started writing music, I realized how cathartic music is for me, and that expression of these experiences that I’ve gone through as a Native American woman,” Demaray said.

One of her first songs, called “No More,” is a song about her childhood best friend, Faustine, who died by suicide when they were both 15. 

“That was a life-changing, pivotal moment in my life,” said Demaray. “ And to write about it after a few years of that grieving process, the song itself [was] kind of like a map of my own process of grief, losing someone that you love so much, and just loss in general. I think [that’s something] a lot of people can relate to.”

Her favorite musical influence is Jacob Collier, an English musician and producer based in London. Collier, a music prodigy, is described by Demaray as multifaceted, curious and full of life. Demaray said she likes how experimental he is with his music and resonates with one of his philosophies that artists only learn the rules of music to break the rules of music. 

“He’s pushing boundaries, and that’s something very inspiring to me,” said Demaray. “He also produces his own stuff as well, so he was a big influence on why I started to go into producing my own music.”

In addition, the young singer listens to a band called Hiatus Coyote, an Australian jazz/funk fusion band. Lately, Demaray has been listening to artists across different genres to learn from their instrumental and vocal aspects, including rock legends Queen and David Bowie. 

Demaray would describe her sound as a jazz fusion. She likes R&B and funky, rhythmic and harmonically complex jazz. Max Henkel, a friend and colleague Demaray met at A Cappella Academy during the summer of 2021, remembered being moved by her lyrics and the deep messages behind each song. “She has an incredibly distinct yet versatile musical voice that’s rooted in raw emotions that come from her own personal experiences,” Henkel said.

The young artist wants to pursue audio engineering, which she describes as producing and sound design. “I want to be able to create an atmosphere that people can take part in. And I want to take it back to the rez,” said Demaray. “I also have goals for writing music in my language, which is something that I’m learning right now. I’m learning Mandan and Hidatsa. And I want to put effort in using music as a tool for language revitalization… and to bring it back to my people.”

While Demaray knows incorporating language into her music is a part of her long-term plan, she said she is excited to spread her wings and connect with people and their music in Boston. 

Henkel is also eager to see how far Demaray will go in her career. “I want to live in a world where her music is played and shared globally,” said Henkel. “The world is a better place with her music in it, and I hope she’s able to reach audiences far and wide, because I think her story is something that will resonate and touch many souls.”

In the future, Demaray hopes to travel the world to perform and share her culture with others as she continues her musical journey. 

The singer encourages Native youth to take the risk and pursue their dreams. “I think this goes for a lot of Native Americans who leave the rez,” said Demaray. “We want to go out and experience the world to gather all this knowledge and gather all these resources to take it back to our people.”

To follow Demaray’s work, check out her Instagram; to donate for her fall 2024 tuition, see her GoFundMe.

Sourcing & Methodology Statement:

Berklee College of Music: Acceptance Rate, rankings & more. BestColleges.com. (2023, December 1). https://www.bestcolleges.com/schools/berklee-college-of-music/ 

Hadar, R. (2018, November 1). Mark Ruffalo, Billy Ray Cyrus among celebrities rallying for Native American voting rights in North Dakota. ABC News. https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/mark-ruffalo-billy-ray-cyrus-celebrities-rallying-native/story?id=58906357 

Hajanga Records. (n.d.). Home. Jacob Collier. https://www.jacobcollier.com/#/ 

Levine, C. (2022, January 28). Backlash over North Dakota Voter ID Law Could rally Native Americans. Center for Public Integrity. https://publicintegrity.org/politics/backlash-over-north-dakota-voter-id-law-could-rally-native-americans/

Dateline:

BISMARCK, N.D.