Pura Fé facts for kids

Pura Fé (whose full name is Pura Fé Antonia "Toni" Crescioni) is a talented singer, songwriter, and musician. She is also a storyteller, teacher, and artist. Pura Fé is a founding member of the a cappella group Ulali, which sings without instruments. She is from the Tuscarora and Taíno Native American communities.

Pura Fé's Life Story

Pura Fé grew up in New York City with her mother's family. Her family has a long history of women singers, going back nine generations! This tradition comes from the Blackwell family in Sampson County, North Carolina. These women kept their family line strong as North Carolina Tuscarora Deer Clan people. Their family also has African and Scotch-Irish heritage.

Her mother, Nanice Monk Lund, was a trained opera singer. She even toured with Duke Ellington and his Sacred Concert Series. Pura Fé's father, Juan Antonio Crescioni-Collazo, was born in Maunabo, Puerto Rico. His mother was Jibaro-Taíno and Spanish/Berber. His father's family came from Corsica and moved to Puerto Rico in the 1800s.

In New York City, Pura Fé was part of the American Indian Community House (AICH). She and her family are active in the Native American community in New York City. This includes working with Indigenous groups at the United Nations.

In 1997, Pura Fé moved to North Carolina after her grandmother passed away. There, she worked with Native communities. She taught young people and helped create song and dance groups. She also worked with a Native women's society that connected different Tribal communities in Eastern Carolina and Virginia.

Pura Fé brought her students from the "Seventh Generation Youth Group" to perform with Ulali. She also helped the Prospect Tuscarora Long House perform at big events like the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. She won several awards for her work in sharing her culture.

In 2015, Pura Fé moved to Northern Saskatchewan, Canada, after getting married. She and her husband are raising five grand-nieces and nephews there. She works with Native theater and dance groups. She also creates music for movie soundtracks and music videos for Canadian TV. In 2020, she started doing many online concerts and workshops. In 2021, the original Ulali group sang together again after 15 years. They performed at "Indian Market" in New Mexico to support a painting fundraiser and raise awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW).

Pura Fé's Training

When Pura Fé was a teenager, she studied and performed with the American Ballet Theatre. She also trained briefly at the Martha Graham school. She performed in Broadway musicals like The Me Nobody Knows and Via Galactica.

At 22, Pura Fé sang with the Mercer Ellington Orchestra. She opened for the Duke Ellington School in Washington, D.C. Famous people like Lena Horne and Danny Glover praised her performance.

She went to a special school for the Arts called Lincoln Square Academy in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Pura Fé also worked as a waitress at a club called Max's Kansas City in New York during the Punk music era. Soon after, she began singing in bands and as a studio singer. She recorded songs for commercials and sang backup vocals. She also sang lead vocals on original songs like "Good Enough," written by James McBride for Anita Baker.

Pura Fé's Music Career

In 1994, Pura Fé was nominated for a Juno Award (a big music award in Canada). She was nominated for "Best Global Recording" for the album Condor Meets the Eagle with Kanatan Aski. She also released the CD Mahk Jchi with Ulali. She appeared with Ulali on Robbie Robertson's album Music for the Native Americans.

In 1995, she released her first solo album, Caution to the Wind. This album had an R&B music style. She also appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno with Ulali and Robbie Robertson. They performed the Ulali song "Mahk Jchi (Heartbeat Drum Song)," which became very popular in Italy.

In 1996, she toured and appeared on The Indigo Girls' album Shaming of the Sun with Ulali.

Pura Fé has contributed to many recordings and movie soundtracks. These include the TV series The Native Americans and The L-Word. She also worked on films like Smoke Signals, Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World, Falls Around Her, and Bones of Crows.

After hearing guitarist Kelly Joe Phelps play, Pura Fé started playing the acoustic lap slide guitar. She recorded her second solo album, Follow Your Heart's Desire, on the Music Maker label.

A year later, she opened for Neil Young in California. She sang "Rise Up Tuscarora Nation" and "Find the Cost of Freedom". As a solo artist, she has also opened for famous musicians like Herbie Hancock, Taj Mahal, and Al Jarreau.

Pura Fé won a NAMMY (Native American Music Award) for best female artist in 2006. She also won a French Grammy/Oscar, the L'Académie Charles Cros Award, for best world album.

Her third album, Hold The Rain, was released in 2007 with guitarist Danny Godinez. In 2009, she released Full Moon Rising and toured a lot in Europe. Her fifth solo album, a live double CD, was released in 2011. It was called A Blues Night in North Carolina.

In 2014, Pura Fé released "Sacred Seed" and toured with her new Quartet. She performs internationally and works in Canada. She writes music for Native Theater and Native Dance Troops, as well as for films. She also teaches many vocal workshops.

In 2014, Pura Fé was invited by the French music duo Antiquarks for a special project. She performed on their album KÔ. Pura Fe also appeared in the 2017 documentary film RUMBLE- The Indians that Rocked the World. This film won an award at the Sundance Film Festival.

She is planning to record her next albums, "Blanket Dance" and "Canoe Journey."

Pura Fé's Activism

Pura Fé uses her voice to support many environmental and Indigenous rights groups. In 2013, she participated in the Two Row Wampum Renewal Campaign. This was a canoe journey to honor an old treaty. In 2014, she joined the Honor the Earth Love Water Not Oil Tour with Winona LaDuke. This tour was against new oil pipelines. She marched with the Ulali Project at the People's Climate March. There, she sang "Idle No More," a song she co-wrote for the Idle No More movement.

Pura Fé and her cousin Jenn from Ulali went to Standing Rock. They put on a concert to raise money for the Water Protectors. These protectors were trying to stop a pipeline.

When Pura Fé moved to North Carolina in the 1990s, she volunteered to teach young people in Native communities. She won the Community Spirit Award from the First Peoples Fund. She later won a fellowship award for her volunteer work. She also received an award from Gonandagan in New York for her contributions.

Pura Fé's Music Albums

Solo Albums

• Sacred Seed (Nueva Onda Records, 2015)
• Pura Fé Trio Live!: A Blues Night in North Carolina (Dixiefrog Records; Music Maker, 2011)
• Full Moon Rising (Dixiefrog Records, 2009)
• Hold The Rain (Dixiefrog Records, Music Maker 2007)
• Tuscarora Nation Blues (Dixiefrog Records, 2006)
• Follow Your Heart's Desire (Music Maker, 2004)
• Caution to the Wind (Shanachie Records, 1995)

Albums with Ulali

• Mahk Jchi with Ulali (Corn, Beans & Squash Records, 1997)

Other Projects and Collaborations

• Kô, Antiquarks (2015), she sang on "Western Dark Side"
• The Rough Guide to Native America (World Music Network, 2012), a compilation
• The Voices – Women's Voices for Attawapiskat (Toronto, Canada, 2011), she contributed to this album
• Diverse As This Land Volume II (Banff Centre, 2011), a compilation
• Music Maker Revue – Live in Europe (Dixiefrog, 2011), a compilation
• Deers R Us, Deer Clan Singers (Music Maker, 2011)
• Native American Calling – Music from Indian Country (Trikont, 2010), a compilation
• Indian Rezervation Blues (Dixiefrog, 2009), a compilation
• Dans La Tête D'Un Homme, Alexandre Kinn (Universal, 2008), she collaborated
• Sisters of the South (Dixiefrog, 2008), she contributed to this compilation
• Drink House to Church House, Volume 2, DVD/CD set (Music Maker, 2007), she contributed
• Blues Sweet Blues (Music Maker, 2007), she contributed to this compilation
• Only Breath, Jami Sieber (Out Front Music, 2007), she contributed
• The Last & Lost Blues Survivors (Dixiefrog, 2005), she contributed to this compilation
• Speaking the Mamma Tongue, John McDowell (Raven, 2004), she sang lead on two songs
• 1 Giant Leap (Palm Pictures, 2002), she contributed
• Without Reservations, XIT (Warrior, 2002), she was a guest
• The Ghosts of St. Augustine, Tonemah (Red Sky, 2001), she collaborated
• Always Be, Jeffrey Gaines (Artemis, 2001), she sang background vocals
• World Festival of Sacred Music, the Americas, Los Angeles (Bindu Records, 2000), she contributed
• Songs for Chiapas (Ra Records, 1999), a compilation
• Smoke Signals soundtrack (Tvt, 1998), she contributed
• Weaving The Strands: Music By Contemporary Native American Women (Red Feather, 1998)
• Haida: The Haida Way (Red Vinyl, 1998), she sang background vocals
• ''Shaming of the Sun, Indigo Girls (Sony, 1997)
• Mirabal, Robert Mirabal (Warner Bros., 1997)
• Lessons from the Animal People (Yellow Moon Press, 1997)
• Tribal Fires: Contemporary Native American Voices (Rhino, 1996), she contributed
• Honor: A Benefit for the Honor the Earth Campaign (Daemon, 1996), she contributed
• Tribal Voices: Songs from Native Americans (Earthbeat, 1996), she contributed
• Legends Project: I am an Eagle (Curb Records, 1995)
• Heartbeat: Voices of First Nations Women (Smithsonian/Folkways, 1995), she contributed
• The Fire This Time: Dancing on John Wayne's Head (Extreme, 1995), a compilation
• Music for the Native Americans, Robbie Robertson (Capitol Records, 1994)
• Condor Meets the Eagle with Kanatan Aski (Black Jaguar Productions, 1994)
• Maggie's Dream (Capitol Records, 1990), she sang on "Between Fear & Desire"