ARTIST BIO

Jerry Schenandoah and his wife Cheryl are award winning artists who have been crafting deerskin clothing over the past 30 years. Their quality, authentic, and creative designs has lead them to be leaders in clothing the models and actors for various museum exhibits and films.

Jerry is the son of the Oneida Wolf Clan mother Maisie Shenandoah, who taught her children the traditions and crafts of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) way. Jerry has been making a variety of crafts through his entire life. It wasn’t until his children were little that he saw there was a real need for quality leather outfits. He began making their clothing for dancing at pow wows, and begin to receive requests from other American Indians for their outfits. The effort blossomed into a full blown business when non-Indian people started putting in orders for themselves.

Jerry and Cheryl have been one of the main designers for Grammy-nominated singer Joanne Shenandoah, who is Jerry's sister. Jerry and Cheryl created the leather sensations that Joanne and her family wore at the Grammy's in 2001, and which were highlighted on television.

In 1998, the Mashantucket Pequot Indians approached Jerry and Cheryl about fashioning the entire clothing collection for the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center. In total, they attired 118 American Indian mannequins, the results of which have been lauded by both media and international curators alike. Shortly thereafter, in 1999, the Cherokees also requested that Jerry and Cheryl cloth the models in their exhibits, which they did. Most recently, the Discovery Channel hired this amazing team to cloth all the actors - men, women and children - in the film "the Great Peace." Again, Jerry and Cheryl did not disappoint, creating an astounding 65 outfits that the Haudenosaunee people likely wore 2,000 years ago.

Jerry and Cheryl create clothing in nearly every style and for a variety of venues. Some of their more popular clothing include Indian wedding dresses/grooms clothing, eastern traditional wear, evening wear, plain leather jackets, beaded leather jackets, fur collar jackets, skirts and tops, children’s clothing, and moccasins. They also create any number of leathered products such as arrow quivers, couch and bed throws, and one-of-a kind purses. They also make other crafts, the most recent being traditionally-scented candles.

Notable Exhibitions:

Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center museum exhibit 1998 Ledyard, Connecticut Made deer and caribou clothing for all 118 American Indian mannequins

Cherokee Indian Museum, museum exhibit 1999 Cherokee, North Carolina Made deer clothing for American Indian mannequins. Commissioned through Studio Eis

Films: The Great Peace 2007 the Discover Channel, shot in the Adirondack Mountain, upstate New York Made 65 leather clothing for men and women, children

Website:

www.schenandoah.com