Eileen Twain was born on 28 August 1965 in Windsor, in the Ontario state (near Detroit), in Canada.
This Canadian singer grew up in Timmins, also in Ontario state (Canada). Timmins is a town about 500 milles north of Toronto (about 750 km).
She was the second oldest of the family.
Her stepfather and her mother had grown up in Timmins. Her stepfather was an Ojibway Indian.
The family were humble people. But they always had music at home. When she was a child she learned to play the guitar, and spent many hours with her guitar, writing and playing her songs. She got up at 1:00 AM and went to sing at local club. She had to do that because at 1:00 am alcohol was not served.
When she was 8 years old, she already went with some bands at TV stations, Radio stations and a community center near her town.
In 1987, when Shania was 21 years old, her parents were killed in an car crash. This changed her life. She had an 18 year old sister, a 14 year old brother and a 13 year old brother. She took care of her brothers. Her older sister was married and she had her own family.
After selling her parents estate in logging equipment, Shania went to work in Cabaret in Deerhurst, Ontario
It was at this time she took the name Shania (shu-Nye-uh). Shania is an Ojibway name that means "I'm on my way". This name was given to her by her stepfather when she was a child.