The Chieftones

Canadian First Nations rock band

"Canada's All Indian Band", founded in 1964 at St. Albert Residential School in Edmonton, Alberta. Later known as Billy Thunderkloud And The Chieftones. Lineup: Vincent Clifford (3), and his brother Barry Clifford, both from Kispiox/Kitwanga, British Columbia; Jack Cecil from Ayanish, British Columbia; and Richard Douse, from Kitmancool, British Columbia. Albert Canadien, from Zhahti Kue, Fort Providence, Northwest Territories, joined them a few months after forming. Albert Canadien departed in 1969. At some point after his departure, the remaining members adopted stage names and the group changed it's name to Billy Thunderkloud And The Chieftones. Relocating first to Toronto, then the tiny town of Boaz, Wisconsin, then Nashville, and eventually booking out of Boston, the band's recordings dated from 1966-75. According to Gary Myers' excellent '60s Wisconsin discography "Do You Hear That Beat," four members of this band were members of the Tsimshian Indian Nation of Northwest British Columbia, Canada. Two of the members discovered in an Edmonton Indian school that they were long-separated brothers; they formed the Chieftones and moved to southwest Wisconsin in the 1960s. The Chieftones had five entries on the country charts in 1975-76.