Born: 1956 to 2016
Gender or Pronouns:
Tribe(s): Arrow Lake Tribe, Colville Indian Reservation, Washington
Instrument(s): Guitar, vocals
Role(s): Musician, singer, songwriter, Colville Tribal Chairman
Years active: Not available
Credited with: 14 albums and two films: The Business of Fancydancing, Smoke Signals; five-time Native American Music Awards winner, including Lifetime Achievement Award (2014)
Honors & Awards: Not available
Associated with: XIT, Greywolf, Winterhawk, Jim Boyd Band, Sherman Alexie, Tom Bee
Discography: (Albums): Reservation Bound (1989); Unity (1993); First Come, Last Served (1997); AlterNATIVES (2001); Live at the Met (2002); Kyo-t, LIVE (2003); Going to the Stick Games (2004); Live at Two Rivers (2006); Blues to Bluegrass (2007); Voices From The Lakes (2010); Harley High (2011); Unity (Remastered and re-released (2013); Bridge Creek Road (2015)
Genre(s): Rock, folk, blues, traditional, bluegrass
Biography
“Jim Boyd, a noted singer-songwriter and chairman of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, died Tuesday of natural causes, his family said. He was 60.
“Boyd began playing guitar as a child in a military family, graduating to cover and rock bands. He began writing his own music when he was in his 30s and contributed songs to the soundtrack of the 1998 film “Smoke Signals.” In 2014, he received a lifetime-achievement award from the Native American Music Awards.
“Closer to home, he has been tribal chairman since 2014.
“Poet and novelist Sherman Alexie met Boyd in 1992, and the men soon began writing music together, Alexie said Wednesday.
“Boyd was a member of the Arrow Lakes Band, one of the 12 tribes that make up the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation. In a 2014 interview, Boyd said his work for the tribe had curbed his artistic output somewhat, though he continued to write and perform when he could.
“’I haven’t really played as a musician the way I used to for probably five years, but I still record and write and produce,’ he said. ‘I write about the same things, but I don’t put everything out.’” (Source: Seattle Times)
Performances
Jim Boyd with host Kimberlie Acosta for Indian Country TV
Format: Interview, Date: 2015, Duration: 15:59
Live @ Native American Music Awards 2 – A Million Miles Away
Format: Live, Date: 2002, Duration: 6:59
Jim Boyd Band – Stick Game Blues
Format: Audio, Date: 2006, Duration: 3:29
Jim Boyd @NAMA15 Lifetime Achievement Performance
Format: Live, Date: 2015, Duration: 9:02
Jim Boyd Band – Inchelium
Format: Official, Date: 2010, Duration: 4:35
Jim Boyd – This is My Song
Format: Live, Date: 2016, Duration: 4:42
Jim Boyd Band – Legend of Stick Indians
Format: Official, Date: 2010, Duration: 4:20
Jim Boyd Smoke Signals Soundtrack – Treaties
Format: Video, Date: 2014, Duration: 2:57
Jim Boyd – Filtered Ways
Format: Video, Duration: 4:06
Jim Boyd – Them Old Guitars
Format: Audio, Date: 2012, Duration: 3:02
Jim Boyd – Shocktown
Format: Official, Date: 2010, Duration: 2:39
Jim Boyd (posthumous recognition) – A Simple Tribute
Format: Official, Date: 2016, Duration: 1:59
Jim Boyd and Sherman Alexie – Reservation Blues
Format: Audio, Date: 2012, Duration: 3:02
Tribal Information
The Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation
“The Twelve Bands compose the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation: Chelan, Chief Joseph Band of Nez Perce, Colville, Entiat, Lakes, Methow, Moses-Columbia, Nespelem, Okanogan, Palus, San Poil, Wenatchi.” Total Size: 1.4 Million Acres (2,100 Square Miles), Tribal Enrollment Total: 9,290
Geography/map of Colville Territory
Article 6 of the U.S. Constitution (the Supremacy Clause)
“This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.”