Fellow gringos! On this Indigenous People’s Day, I thought I might share a little technique that I’ve been honing over the past few years. I’m assuming you’ve already researched which tribal lands you currently reside on, and have taken your first steps on a #LandBack journey and/or made donations of time and $ to indigenous organizations that you feel most need it.
One of the things that has helped remind me that Native Americans are still very much present in North America and are more than just their political and social struggles is to actively seek out music by Indigenous artists. For the past 15-20 years I’ve made myself a summer mixtape and a winter mixtape of my favorite songs from that particular stretch of time. For the last decade or so, I’ve made a commitment (just to myself) to have at least one song in each mix by an Indigenous musician or band.
It’s been awesome. I knew of Buffy Saint-Marie but had never actually explored her deep catalog. I have now. That was one of the ways I discovered A Tribe Called Red too, they did a wildass remix of one of her songs. I’d heard Jesse Ed Davis playing with Taj Mahal, but didn’t know he’d done tons of session work, had two solo albums, and a collab with John Trudell. I love jazz, so I was familiar with Jim Pepper, but recently I’ve discovered Afro Algonquin and Mali Obomsawin (who also plays and sings in folk trio Lula Wiles) and the R. Carlos Nakai Quartet. I even discovered that our current National Poet Laureate Joy Harjo plays sax and recites her poetry with a jazz combo. I love punk and my favorite indigenous band from awhile ago was Subsistencia from L.A. but I recently found out about this band called Dead Pioneers who are feckin brilliant and killer. I listen to metal too, and while most current metalheads should be familiar with the Crepusculo Negro/Black Twilight Circle crew, I recently found this band from my neck of the woods called Nechochwen who are really incredible. The primary mover in that band even gave an academic lecture on the history of Native Americans in Appalachian heavy metal that you can watch on YouTube. It’ll blow yr mind.
Whatever genres you like, you can find Native artists making music. Country and western, folk, electronic, blues, experimental, reggae and dub, bedroom pop, traditional musics, rock. There’s tons of Native hip hop. It will take some active searching on your part, but you can handle it. Support active artists with your money!
If you’re passionate about other kinds of art besides music, seek out indigenous artists working in those mediums. Fiction, poetry, fan fiction, textile/fiber arts, theater, video, comedy, whatever! Do a little research, take a chance, drop some $ if you can, discover new art and perspectives, and do it regularly , make it a habit. You will not regret it.
