Cante T’inza was written for Ken Freed, conductor of the Mankato Symphony and was written in honor of the Lakota people. Cante t’inza are a genre of songs called “brave heart” or “strong heart” songs from one of the original soldier societies of the Lakota. This work is based on a few of the melodic, rhythmic and spoken word motives from a traditional cante t’inza recorded by Ben Black Bear, Sr. and R.D. Theisz. A variety of twentieth string techniques are employed for their variety of timbre, emotion and dynamics, including: col legno batutto, riccochet, repeated harmonic glissandi, false harmonics, and sprecht stimme in the solo cello line.