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ALL ESSAYS/WRITINGS/PUBLICATIONS PRESENTED ARE COPYRIGHT/PROTECTED AND THE SOLE PROPERTY OF ALAN LECHUSZA coffee & eagle feathers productions NO UNAUTHORIZED REPRODUCTION OR DUPLICATION WITHOUT THE EXCLUSIVE PERMISSION OF THE AUTHOR FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
Native Hip Hop
published by the American Composers Forum (ACF) March/April 2004 All This and Frybread Too?!
Contemporary Native Music in Postmodern Society
By Alan Lechusza
From the first guitar screaming, powwow drum influenced sounds of XIT and Red Bone in the 1970s, Contemporary Native music reached audiences all across Indian Country. The 1980s brought new Native artists onto the concrete rez who were beatin a different drum. Funkdoobiest and Litefoot signified upon their Intertribal heritages and Hip Hop paving a new way for urban Natives. Don Pullen reached out, or rather back, in the 1990s across his own personal history to respect his own Native culture, illustrating that Jim Peppers spirit would remain and that there are other Native jazz artist making significant marks on the world stage. Cross cultural dialogues and appropriations serve to help re-present and express a contemporary Native artist within multiple genres of music. The added strength of contemporary Tribal influence, as well as Inter-tribal and Multi-tribal influence, is exemplified in the fluid dialectic which capitalizes upon contemporary forms of expression. Just as contemporary Native identity expresses itself along a continuum, so do the creative forms utilized by the different contemporary Native artists function to express a highly rhizomatic form of Native music. Traditional and urban sounds are incorporated to extend a Native identity which no longer is limited in its location of culture to a singular, homogenized or stereotyped Native (American).
The historical construction and controlled perspectives of Native music negates a contemporary position and place of the Native artist. Native music far exceeds the romanticized Native American Flute Music and reaches well beyond the powwow arena incorporating Rock, Blues, Jazz, Reggae, Hip Hop, Punk, Electronica, etc. which are collaboratively engaged and dynamically expressed. Native artists such as Indigenous, John Trudell and Graffiti Man, Bill Miller, Native Roots, Shadowyze, WithOut Rezervation, Black Fire, etc. actively utilize music as an agent to signify a complex contemporary Native identity. These and similar Native artists dynamically present in order to re-present Native signifiers (i.e., contemporary and traditional powwow dance/song structure/culture, Native cosmology/philosophy, Red Power Political ideology, urban/rez binary, etc.) within their works which challenge and question the Grand (Native) Narratives (i.e., poverty, stoic and ignorant persona, the drunk Indian, laziness, high adolescent birth rate, the absent father, socio-political segregation and racism, etc.) similarly as they dislocate the fractured and marginalized view of the helpless Indian. The essentialized Noble Savage within a musical arena is then deconstructed and re-influenced through popular musical forms which resound through the urban and rural Native centers. As the (post-)modern world operates within the dynamic of hybridization, cross cultural connections and appropriations contemporary Native artist reflect these perspectives shaping and defining a Contemporary Indian Country.
Different musics allow for different Native perspectives and identities to be constructed. A singular Native voice no longer screams through the romantic night; a lone drum beat is not the sole signifier. Whether it is Reggae or Punk; Hip Hop, or Freely Improvised Musics, Native artist absorb these genres through a dynamic cultural continuum which reflectively illustrates the complexity of Contemporary Native Music.
paper presented to the Western Humanities Alliance Conference, October 2003 Salt Lake City, Utah
Raps to Remember; Raps to Represent
The Construction of Contemporary Native Memory in Hip Hop
I havent taken any actual stories directly out of telling, but I borrowed metaphorically storytelling. And Ive done it in the city, which is immediate and present and its a new life, a new way to imagine ones consciousness as an act of survivance and we must begin to tell new stories
(Gerald Vizenor)
Those of us who are Indian understand that it is the telling of stories, our very breath, that brings forth tribal identity and defines our purpose. The elder woman of my family nourished themselves through the telling and retelling of stories The women overcame urban demands through the telling and retelling of stories [T]hey [are] a way of establishing a connectedness between the universe and ourselves. (Kathryn Lucci-Cooper Genocide of the Mind)
My presentation will focus on how Native Hip Hop functions as agency to re-present a form of contemporary Native identity. I will outline how contemporary urban Native identity is constructed and re-presented dynamically utilizing older traditions within post-modern formats to create new traditions. I will further illustrate how Native memory is constructed, negotiated and problematized through the fluid engagement of tribal, inter-tribal and multi-tribal Native identities and articulated within Native Hip Hop.
Motion for Native people is not uncommon. From the first forced diaspora of Native people within these United States, c. 1830s (Donald Fixico) to the inception of the Indian Relocation Act (IRA) of the 1930s, Native people have been moved from established reserved locations into urban centers such as Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Oklahoma, Seattle, San Francisco, etc.(Fixico, Ward Churchill, Joan Nagel, Vine Deloria Jr.) Native people continually are faced with assimilation campaigns designed to eradicate and eventually terminate Native people (Ward Churchill). Upon first arrival to the urban centers Native people were exposed to other forms of creative expressions from cultures both Native and non-Native. The urban centers presented the location for a dynamic exchange of Native cultures for the growing Native population (Fixico, Nagel) thereby leading to a resurgence and re-presentation of Native traditions and cultures (Nagel). Influenced by the largely stereotyped plains Native cultures a re-vival of the powwow tradition began which then lead to the ultimate creation of the inter-tribal powwow (Russell Means). These social gatherings served the urban Native as a point of articulation to re-present their tribal identities both real and imagined (Benedict Anderson). Further enhanced by the growing Red Power Movement of the 1970s, the inter-tribal powwow developed into a location where Native people could construct, de-construct and re-construct their own personal, and family, Native culture(s) within an empowered environment established to bread community awareness (Means, Nagel). Native people now had an arena where their cultural artifacts were in sovereign control. This critical investigation and ultimate re-presentation of identity for urban Natives begs the not so simple question; what is a contemporary Native? Through active appropriation of Native and non-Native artistic expressions the image of the contemporary Native was presented as one who has engaged both imagined older (traditional) signifiers and constructs newer (contemporary) cultural and identity signifiers (Nagel). Through the free-form, dynamic exchange and creation of dance styles, regalia, songs and drum styles, etc. newer (contemporary) Native identities began to become present. It is here, within this newly transformed powwow arena that the singular locations of culture for Native people yielded the development of inter-tribal and multi-tribal identities. These identities aid the contemporary Native as cultural points of articulation which are not static but are fluid and allow the individual to re-present their Native identity along the three part continuum of: Tribal, Inter-Tribal and Multi-tribal identities (Alan Lechusza). A Tribal identity refers to a specific location of Native identity constructed through family history, heritage/identity and often identified as ones tribal enrollment. An example would be a family who identify wholly as being Dineh. An Inter-tribal identity refers to the merging of two or more Native identities/cultures and histories within a singular person. This articulation became much more present following the before mentioned second forced diasporic motions of Natives into the urban centers where inter-tribal mixing became more prominent. An example would be a person who identifies themselves firmly as being two, or more, different tribal identities, i.e., Luiseno and Maidu. A Multi-tribal identity refers to the further juxtaposition of Native identities within a person articulated by different Native cultural appropriations capitalized upon to define a persons Native identity. An example would be a person who is Mescalero (Apache) and participates as a powwow grassdancer, a dance style neither traditional nor indigenous to Mescaleros. (Lechusza) These locations of culture are by no means simple but rather engage within a dynamically complex rhizome (Deleuze and Guattari) which is constructed, de-constructed and continually re-constructed for Native people on an individual basis.
The complexity of these identities appears within the free exchange of Native signifiers which urban Native identities incorporate. As urban Native people (a.k.a, city redz, city skinz, urban skinz, etc.) searched their collective and community memory for points of cultural definition the powwow arena became an increasingly important signifier. New dance styles and songs which contained contemporary narratives emerged as both Native and non-Native genres were learned, appropriated and influentially expressed. Joan Nagel describes these forms of cultural and community revival as supportive points for the construction of a new Native identity and ethnicity (Nagel). Within the urban centers the location of culture was no longer isolated but hybriditally influenced, encouraged and dynamically re-presented. This is noted by the concept of survivance discussed by Gerald Vizenor as well as the education of (and beyond?) the reservation presented by the music producer and activist Robbie Bee.
As urban Native people began to express their complexity of identity certain themes began to repeat themselves. Native people, both on and off the reservation system, desired to define themselves within and by their own voices. This lead to the development of what I refer to as the grand (Native) narratives which largely encompasses such themes as: Health Issues (diabetes, high blood pressure, etc.), Teen Pregnancy, Substance Abuse (alcoholism, drug addiction, etc.), Stereotyping/Racism, Poverty/Marginalization (low statistic figures, desperate income situations, etc.), Land/Mineral/Water Rights, Genocide/Colonialism/Activism, Education/Language Preservation/Traditional Views, and Womens Roles. These (Native) narratives function as the new signifiers for urban Natives in order to create and re-create an active sense of Native identity. As multiple forms of expression were engaged, Native people looked to popular non-Native forms of expression (i.e., music, dance, theatre, etc.) as agency, transforming these performing arts with their narratives to re-present the complex contemporary Native identity. This action became very important to the urban Native as the concept of being an Indian was no longer static, fractured, historically constructed nor stereotypically defined. Urban Natives, then, were in a position to remember and re-create their Native heritage(s) by their own standards and means. However, the histories and cultural traditions (i.e., the old ways) which many urban Natives embraced were often fractured and connected by a marginal sensibility of traditional culture (Nagel, Churchill). Urban Natives were left with the realistic and metaphorical concept that they were WithOut a Rezervation.
A sympathetic ear was found within the urban centers for Native people in the Chicano and African American communities. These Indigenous, marginalized, stereotyped and diasporically constructed communities offered the forced relocated Native a place of cooperation, cultural exchange, political encouragement, etc. (Churchill, Means, Fixico). Cultural artifacts were not only exchanged but also repeated. Urban Natives capitalized upon these forms as cultural agency re-presenting them with their own Native voices/narratives. The Black Power Movement of the 1960s becomes a workable model for the Red Power Movement of the 1970s (Nagel). Rock and Roll as well as R & B of the 1950s/1960s becomes the model for Native Rock and Roll in the 1970s. Hip Hop of the late 1980s becomes the model for Native Hip Hop in the 1990s. As discussed by Hip Hop scholars, the three major components of Hip Hop culture; DJ-ing, Breakdancing, and Grafitti (Tricia Rose, William Eric Perkins, et al) established by the African American diasporic communities were then acculturated by the urban Native. These active points were influenced by the urban Native experience (Susan Lobo and Kurt Peters) and re-presented to Native youth. Young urban Natives then deftly applied their own signifiers to this popularly growing culture where; breakdancing finds its location within the powwow arena; MC-ing becomes the active agent for the grand (Native) narratives; graffiti appears within contemporary Native visual arts (Lechusza).
Incorporating Hip Hops theoretical concepts of Cut & Mix (Rose), Sermonization (Jon Michael Spencer) and Repetition (Rose), urban Natives applied their complicated presentations of identity within this fluid form and culture in order to re-present the urban Native by Cutting and Mixing tribal identities together (i.e., tribal/inter-/multi-), Sermonizing within raps and Repeating their voices and newly constructed stories. Robbie Bees education of the reservation finds a new school within such artists as: Funkdoobiest, WithOut Rezervation, New Breed, Shadowyze, Litefoot, etc. who utilize and capitalize upon the energy, social consciousness and visibility of this genre in order to create a dialogue for an Indian audience. Urban Natives engage Hip Hop as a means to construct, de-construct and re-construct not only their historical and contemporary Native memory but also to challenge the location(s) of their culture(s)
As mentioned earlier, urban Natives dynamically engage a cultural continuum which is in constant flux. Therefore, no one presentation of Native identity is applicable for a Native person. Hip Hop offers urban Natives an opportunity to re-present their imagined sense of culture and heritage in an artistic forum. Native people were offered an opportunity to question their Native heritage(s) by cutting and mixing as well as repeating different Native signifiers. The pan-Indian movement of the 1970s maintained this concept yielding what some recent Native activists describe as the continued demise of the Indian (Means). The concepts of cut and mix, sermonizing and repetition offered urban Natives the liberty to no longer essentialize an Indian identity but rather to critically question their Native heritage(s), culture(s) and how these identities are remembered within the urban centers. With the art of sampling Native Hip Hop artist are able to cut across the lines of history in order to re-present a complex view of where and how they remember their culture(s). [play Funkdoobiest Tomahawk Bang track and discuss]. Scratching as well as the function of the beat presents an interesting point of cultural memory. The Hip Hop group WithOut Rezervation utilizes scratching in order to disguise and negate the use of profanity within their work. [play WOR track To All The Sell-outs and illustrate]. This example illustrates a respectful motion from a younger urban Native generation toward an older Native generation. Further, in the example Born @ 18 by the same group, the drumbeat is incorporated as the literal heartbeat of the people (Tara Browner, Means, Churchill, et al) and creatively utilized in a repetitive, syncopated manner referencing a breakbeat as well as one of a literal heartbeat [play WOR track Born @ 18 and illustrate].
As previously mentioned, there is a close connection to the origins of Native Hip Hop with that of the Chicano Hip Hop communities (Perkins). Noting this, it is not uncommon for Native Hip Hop artists to offer a shout, tribal shout or shout-out to different Chicano/Mexican organizations or use Chicano Hip Hop artists within their work to signify an origin or relation. WithOut Rezervation presents a shout-out to the Aztlan Nation in the closing of their song Born at 18 [play example Born @ 18 and illustrate]. Litefoot goes a little further by adding the old school O.G. and originator of Chicano Hip Hop, (Kid) Frost, on some of his selections [play Litefoot example On A Mission and illustrate]. To challenge the stereotyped image of the Indian woman the New Breed presents the silent, docile, harmless and exotic Native woman (Devon Mihesuah) with the distinguished position of being the voice which speaks words some may not be ready to hear coming from a Native woman and doing so without first being spoken to. Misty Lady Poet Potts details her position in Hip Hop as one closely related to the signifyin monkey as noted in African (American) lore. Lady Poet presents insights, both subtle and direct, to the situation which the narration and new stories are expressing. Further, she is the only female Native rapper who includes profanity consistently within her raps regardless of the text [play example from New Breed Can I Get A Witness?]. A political choice on the part of the group?; the poet?; or is this Hip Hop group living up to their surname as truly being a New Breed.
I have outlined here the origins of the Native forced diasporic motion which lead to the construction of a contemporary Native identity. The complexity of these fluidly dynamic identities (tribal/inter-/multi-) allow urban Native to continually re-present, construct, de-construct and re-construct their Native identities without foregoing the larger articulative point of being a Native person. Within the expressive and performing arts Native artists have been able to imagine and re-imagine their histories, narratives and ideologies as Native people. Through the constant repetitive activities of storytelling and creation of new works embraced with older remembered works, urban Native people are able to negotiate their dynamic identities. Influencing and borrowing Hip Hop culture and its techniques has enabled the younger generations of urban Natives to further question and re-present new stories and histories within a context that challenges both their creative abilities as well as their understanding and knowledge of the grand (Native) narratives. With the critical tools of cutting and mixing, sermonizing and repetition, these younger urban Native artists can re-investigate their own realized knowledge and contemporary location(s) both physically and metaphorically. The ability to embrace the education of the reservation as well as functioning WithOut Rezervation leads to the manifestation of a New Breed which is carried along by more than one Litefoot. So it is then that these younger urban Native Hip Hop artists take note of what the grandfather of Native Hip Hop, Tyrone Pechanco of the group Funkdoobiest says when he expresses; when you hear my tomahawk go bang do your thang whatever it is .whatever it is .
Reference Notes
Text examples from: Tricia Rose (turntabling, repetition, cut & mix principles, etc.) William Eric Perkins (cultural connections in hip hop) Ward Churchill (forced diaspora of natives in the u.s.) Jon Michael Spencer (sacredness of rhythm, literary constructions, retainment of culture within music) Russell Means (personal interview august 2, 2003:
Tara Browner (drum as heartbeat, powwow culture, etc.) Joane Nagel (construction of community, culture and identity within the urban/rez centers, subtribal/tribal/supratribal identities and articulators, construction of contemporary identity) Alan Lechusza Aquallo (unpublished writings on contemporary native hip hop and the construction of native identity) Gerald Vizenor Quote from Genocide of the Mind Kathryn Lucci-Cooper Quote from Genocide of the Mind
Allen, Paula Gunn. Off the Reservation, Reflections on Boundary-Busting, Boarder-Crossings, Loose Canons.
Alvarez, Michelle. WithOut Rezervation. News From Native
Anderson, Benedict. Immagined Communities, Reflections on the Origin and Spred of Nationalism.
Appiah, Anthony Kwame and Gates, Henry Louis, Jr. (eds). Race into Culture: A Critical Geneology of Cultural Identity. Identities. Chicago/London:
Ards, Angela. Rhyme and Resist: Organizing the Hip-Hop Generation. The Nation (July 26/August 2, 1999): 11+
Arlyk, Kevin. By All Means Necessary Rapping and Resistence in Urban Black
Baker, Houston A., Jr. Black Studies, Rap and the Academy. Chicago/London:
Bartlett, Andrew. Airshafts, Loudspeakers, and the Hip Hop Sample: Contexts and African American Musical Aesthetics. African American Review 28.4 (1994): 639 651.
Basu, Dipannita and Pnia Werbner. Boostrap Capitalism and the Culture Industries: A Critique of the Invidious Comparisons in the Study of Ethnic Entrepreneurship. Ethnic and Racial Studies 24.2 (March 2001): 236 262.
Bhabha, Homi K. The Location of Culture.
Browner, Tara. Heartbeat of the People Music and Dance of the Northern Pow-wow.
Browner, Tara. Making and Singing Pow-wow songs: Ethnomusicology v.44, n.2 (Spring/Summer, 2000):214.
Born,
Churchill, Ward. Acts of Rebillion: The Ward Churchill Reader. New York/London: Routledge, 2003.
Churchill, Ward. Indians Are Us? Cultural Genocide in Native
Churchill, Ward. Fantasies of the Master Race, Literature, Cinema and the Colonization of American Indians.
Churchill, Ward and Vander, Jim Wall. Agents of Repression The FBIs Secret War Against the Black Panther Party and the American Indian Movement.
Connell, John and Gibson, Chris. soundtracks; popular music, identity and place. New York/London: Routledge, 2003.
Costello, Mark and Wallace, David Foster. Signifying Rappers: rap and race in the urban present.
Debo, Angie. A History Of The Indians Of The
Deleuze, Gilles and Guattari, Felix. A Thousand Plateaus; Capitalism and Schizophrenia. Minneapolis/London:
Deloria, Vine, Jr. We Talk, You Listen: New Tribes, New Turf.
Deloria, Vine, Jr. Custer Died For Your Sins An Indian Manifesto.
Dyson, Michael Eric. Performance, Protest, and Prophecy in the Culture of Hip-Hop. The Emergency Of Black And The Emergency Of Rap. Jon Michael Spencer (ed.) spec. ed., Black Sacred Music: A Journal of Theomusicology, 5.1 (Spring 1991), Duke University Press: 12 24.
Evelyn, Jamilah. The Miseducation of Hip-Hop: Are Todays Faculty and Administrators Simply Out of Touch? Or Has Todays Popular Music Truly Conquered the Minds of A Whole Generation?. Black Issues in Higher Education 17.21 (
Fixico, Donald L. Termination And Relocation: Federal Indian Policy, 1945 1960.
Fixico, Donald L. The Urban Indian Experience in
Forman, Murray. Represent: Race, Space and Place in Rap Music. Popular Music 19.1 (2000): 65 89.
George, Nelson. Hip Hop
Gracyk, Theodore. Rhythm And Noise: An Aesthetic Of Rock. Durham/London: Duke University Press, 1996.
Hertzberg, Hazel W. The Search For An American Indian Identity: Modern Pan-Indian Movements.
hooks, bell. Gangsta Culture Sexism, Misogyny: Who Will Take the Rap. Outlaw Culture: Resisting Representations.
Igliori, Paola. Stickman John Trudell poems, lyrics, talks, a conversation.
Iverson, Peter. We Are Still Here American Indians in the Twentieth Century.
Jones, Blackwolf and Jones, Gina. Listen To The Drum: Blackwolf Shares His Medicine.
Kroeber, Karl (ed.). American Indian Persistence and Resurgence.
Lavine, Smadar and Swedengurg, Ted (eds). Living With Miracles: The Politics And Poetics Of Writing American Indian Resistance And Identity. Displacement, Diaspora, And Geographies Of Identity. USA/London: Duke University Press, 1996: 26 40.
Lechusza, Alan. The Good, The Bad, The Born at 18 A Deconstructive View of Native American Identity Through the Song Born at 18. (unpub.), 2002.
Levine, Lindsay Victoria. Women in Native American Indian Music. Ethnomusicology 38.1 (Winter 1994):175.
Lippard, Lucy, R. Mixed Blessings: New Art in a Multicultural
Lobo, Susan and Peters, Kurt (ed). American Indians And The Urban Experience. London/Oxford:
Lobo, Susan and Talbot, Steve (ed.). Native American Voices A Reader. USA/England/Canada/Mexico/Australia/Spain/Denmark: Addison Wesley Longman, Inc., 1998.
McLeod, Kembrew. Authenticity Within Hip-Hop and Other Cultures Threatened with Assimilation. Journal of Communication 49.4 (Autum 1999): 134 149.
Mihesuah,
Mihesuah,
Mihesuah, Devon A.(ed). Repatriation Reader: Who Owns American Indian Remains?.
Moore, MariJo (ed.). Genocide of the Mind; New Native American Writing.
Nagel, Joane. American Indian Ethnic Renewal Red Power And The Resurgence Of Identity And Culture. New York/Oxford:
Ogg, Alex and Upshal, David. The Hip Hop Years A History of Rap.
Perkins, William Eric (ed). Droppin Science: Critical Essays On Rap Music And Hip Hop Culture.
Snead, James A. Repetition as a Figure of Black Culture, from Robert G. O.Meally (ed). The jazz cadence of American culture.
Spencer, Jon Michael (ed). The Emergency Of Black And The Emergency Of Rap. Jon Michael Spencer (ed.) spec. ed., Black Sacred Music: A Journal of Theomusicology, 5.1 (Spring 1991), Duke University Press. 12 24.
Storey, John. Inventing Popular Culture; From Folklore to Globalization. USA/UK: Blackwell Publishing, 2003.
Rhea, Joseph Tilden. American Indian. Race Pride and the American Identity.
Rose, Tricia. Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary American.
Sarris, Greg (ed.). The Sound of Rattles and Clappers A Collection of New
Sounds Of American Records (S.O.A.R.). Product Catalogue.
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1997. 63 77.
Vander, Judith. Song-Prints: The Musical Experience Of Five Shoshone Women. Urbana/Chicago:
Vaughn, Alden T. Roots of American Racism, Essays on the Colonial Experience. New York/Oxford:
Vickers, Scott B. Native American Identities; From Stereotpye to Archetype in Art and Literature.
Vizenor, Gerald. Manifest Manners Narratives on Postindian Survivance.
ARTICLES and INTERVIEWS
Lisa Heller, Breakin down (stereotypes) with tribalistic funk, Arizona Daily Wildcat,
Russell Means, Personal Interview by Alan Lechusza.
Errol Nazareth, Theyre on the Worpath, Toronto Sun,
Mick Skidmore, Plundering the Vaults, Relix Magazine Jan/Feb. 1999:26.
Niel Strauss, THE POP LIFE; Native Genre Takes Pride Of Place at The Grammys, New York Times, 21 Feb. 2001, late ed.:E1+.
Susan Walker, Pow-wow drum true heartbeat of first nations, The Toronto Star,
DISCOGRAPHY
The included discography here reflects on the artists which are discussed directly within this essay. This is by no means to be understood as the only Native hip hop recordings commercially/independently available. Two major source sites which contain most of the commercially available Native hip hop recordings by various artists are Canyon Records and SOAR. For other artists and the availability of their recordings please check these record label websites.
Funkdoobiest, Which doobie U B?, Atlantic, 1993.
Litefoot. Good Day To Die, Red Vinyl Records, 1994.
New Breed. The New Breed, Soaring Eagle Records, 1996.
WithOut Rezervation, Are You Ready For War?, Canyon Records, 1994.
syllabus used for Contemporary Native Music class at the University of California, San Diego (Summer Session 2002):
The Music of Native
Syllabus/Course Outline
Instructor: Alan Lechusza Aquallo
Email: alzoe@hotmail.com
Music 80, Sect.ID 442072, Summer Session #1; July 1 August 3, 2002 Monday Thursday;
This course will examine how the different Indigenous people of the North American continent (Native People) use music from different genres to create and complicate a sense of identity. We will be dealing specifically with the construction of a contemporary Native identity as it has been complicated within the post-War era, c. 1940s present. In viewing the music of Native People we will be examining cultures which are in constant flux and motion. An in-depth investigation of the powwow and its surrounding culture will serve as a tool aiding to the deconstruction and re-construction of a pan-Indian identity. A critical look at representation/re-presentation in film and video, of, by and about Native People, will help us to better understand the multiplicity intrinsically located within tribal, inter-tribal and multi-tribal identities. Further, this genre will also serve by assisting and directing a critical inquiry toward issues such as: stereotyping, racism, segregation, hate-related issues, authenticity and how these are understood, developed and maintained by the dominant society and various Native communities alike. There will be a close reading of works by various authors, both Native and non-Native, who present and complicate the issue of Native identity. To better understand how history, from a Native perspective, is developed through a complex strata structured by a multi-generational consciousness, there will be various guest speakers, from different tribal backgrounds and histories, who will present both a historilogical as well as contemporary view of Native identity.
As the materials covered for this course extend from a number of different sources, there is no single text which is required for the course. However, there will be daily/weekly readings which will be required for each discussion. These readings can be found in a bound copy located at the Reserves Desk in Giesel Library (first floor). The materials are to be gathered and incorporated not only for the specific class section and/or issue(s) which they directly address, but also are to be utilized within the weekly journal writings. Further, in dealing with the multitude and complicated information which will be covered within this class, it is critically important that all the work disseminated, regardless of form, be maintained as well as comprehended in as clearly a manner as possible. Attendance is of equal importance not only for class discussions, but also for individual educational enhancement. Any absences which can be avoided are strongly encouraged. Those absences which are unforeseen will be addressed on an individual basis. Any material missed by students is the sole responsibility of the student to obtain. Office hours for this session are:
Tuesdays;
All other times by appointment only
There will be daily/weekly readings, listening assignments and journal writings on various subjects and/or questions, to be announced weekly in class. These journal writings are to be collected on the final meeting day of the week (Wednesday July 3, Thursday July 11, 18, 25,
Attendance 25%
Journal Writings 25%
Weekly Readings/Critiques 25%
Listening Quizzes (total of 5) 25%
MIDTERM
FINAL EXAM Saturday August 3; 2002.
Though exam times are listed here, the actual process of examination will be discussed in detail during the first class meeting.
Course Outline:
Week 1 (
This week will be devoted to an overview of the history and relationship, as it has been developed through history, between the
Terminology Governmental Policy and the Native Communities a quick overview Location and Relocation Policies Discussion of Music Genres/Styles (film music, rock n roll, punk, jazz, hip hop, reggae, new age and traditional music) Stereotypes, Identity, Representation/Mis-Representation and Genocide The Powwow Culture Film(s): Incident at Oglala (The Leonard Peltier Story), Into the Circle, Dance Me Outside, Black Robes, Opening Ceremony 2002 Winter Olympics, Harold of
Question: What is the importance of the powwow culture? How do Native people construct a sense of identity within a highly pluralistic society? Is there one singular notion of Native identity? Is there a pan-Indianness in contemporary Native society? How has the politics of the 1960s/70s played into the development and construction of a contemporary Native identity? Use the readings, films, guest speakers and musical examples to defend your position.
Week 2 (
This week will focus on how music from the rock, jazz and blues paradigms have been utilized and recontextualized by different Native artists from a historical perspective to contemporary times.
Rock and Roll Blues Jazz Punk The Political Activism of the 1960s/70s Film(s): Powwow Highway, Smoke Signals, Jim Pepper video, Thunderheart, XIT video
Guest Speaker/Performer: Victor Peralta and Roy Robinson Question: How do Native people use these different forms to shape a contemporary sense of identity? Has this always been the case? What factors in history have lead to such current developments? Is there a singular view, a pan-Indian view, shared by Native people with regards to these musical genres? Use the readings, videos, guest speakers and musical examples to defend your position.
Week 3 (
This week will focus on the Native hip hop culture and how this genre is rapidly growing among Native people.
Hip Hop Reggae and Dub Turntableism Identity Issues Film(s):
Guest Speaker/Performer: Trio-logic
Question: Why would Native people be interested in Hip Hop? Is there a correlation between the usage of Hip Hop by Native people and the African-American communities? What characteristics are visible within the different Native Hip Hop artists? Does this genre present a singular or pluralistic view of Native identity? Use the readings, videos, guest speakers and musical examples to defend your position.
Week 4 (
This week will deal with the developments of the New-Age Shame-man and the romaticization of the Native and how this is exemplified through music.
Playing Indian
New Age Music non-Native AND Native works The Native American Flute; Sexual politics and gender issues The Romanticization of the Native The Repatriation of Native Music Film: Songs from the Painted Cave (Robert Mirabal), Dances with Wolves Guest Speaker/Performer: Native Flute Ensemble
Question: What is meant by Playing Indian? Would you say that this is an imagined/constructed sense of identity or a real sense of identity? Is this form only utilized by non-Native people? How would Native people been seen as being a shame-man? How does New Age romanticization play into each of these areas? How is identity then complicated by the New Age romaticization? Use the readings, videos, guest speakers and musical examples to defend your position.
Week 5 (July 29 August1, 2002): Conclusion Who Ya Talkin To? This week will be devoted to critical inquiry into the different genres and multiple Native identities which have been presented. It is here that we try to locate a central notion of a contemporary Native person and how this image is either understood, imagined or re-imagined.
Film music/ scoring the Indian
Tribal Sounds? Identity Issues The oral/written traditions The Powwow Culture revisited Film: Smoke Signals, Navajo Blues, Into the Circle, Harold of
Guest Speaker/Performer: Sau-ii
Question: What is meant by scoring the Indian? How has the concept of identity for Native people changed? Is there one singular point and focus of identity for the Native person? What are the needs and usage of the urban and reservation identities and how are these locations used to construct a sense of identity for the Native person? (Within each of these sub-questions here you should also include the discussions which were presented in the question for week 1). Use the readings, videos, guest speakers and musical examples to defend your position.
published paper: coffee & eagle feathers productions 2001/02
The Good, The Bad, The Born at 18
A deconstructive view of Native American identity through the song Born at 18
By
Alan Lechusza
I. Introduction
This paper discusses, analyzes and deconstructs the song Born at 18 as recorded by the hip-hop group WithOut Reservation (WOR) and demonstrates how the music and text together work to develop a sense of identity both for urban and reservation native[i] people alike. With an unfolding discussion of the contemporary powwow culture, it will be clear how this tradition has helped shape a cultural (native/non-native, urban/reservation) understanding and identity of native people (urban and reservation). Though the discussion of the powwow tradition is not a comprehensive one (as this is not the intent of this paper) it is important to see how powwow culture as a particular cultural artifact/tradition has lent itself to the ever changing cosmology of the contemporary (urban/reservation) native person. I also consider the impact of the second major relocation (Relocation Acts c. 1948-1952)[ii] of male indigenous/native people. How did this forced removal of men from the reservation system to the urban centers help shape a contemporary view of native people (insider) and how this view may be misrepresented/misunderstood by the dominant society[iii] (outsider) to continue a means/act of colonialism and (contemporary) genocide upon native people? A brief discussion of the urban indian centers and how these centers historically have contended with the extended issue of native identity to include, in recent and contemporary times, three distinct forms which I refer to as: tribal, inter-tribal and multi-tribal. These three components come together to work within a system which I refer to as the binary cultural understanding. This binary is the development of native people from the reservation system into the urban/metropolitan centers and how they create an extended sense of identity. It is with the song BORN AT 18 by the native american rap group WithOut Rezervation (WOR) that I illustrate this binary cultural understanding through a multi-layered analysis of the text, music and identity issues presented within the work.
II. Whose Identity?
I identify two distinct forms of identity from which native people use to help shape their own personal (self) identity, those being: an urban (indian) identity and a reservation (indian) identity. A reservation (indian) identity is directly constructed and maintained through, and by, history and tribal traditions. Together, these elements work as the oldest understanding and forms of identity for native people. Recalling that the history of native people is an aural history, it stands to reason that the only visual and connected sense of identity which native people (in contemporary times, c. 1850s-present) would have, would be one of, and from, the reservation system within the
An urban (indian) identity is directly constructed by: 1.the association which native people have through their contacts with the dominant society, 2. the forced relocation of native people to the urban centers (c. 1948-52) which, consequently, yields the development of an inter-tribal identity, and 3. a continued need/desire for contact/relationship with ones own native belief systems and ideology.[v] Given this, it is quite possible for a native person to live and exist within the urban/metropolitan centers and maintain a life which may be seen as non-indigenous. This same person can then, during powwow season, attend a powwow, or other native gatherings, and re-connect, associate, and relate with their native ways, thereby identifying themselves as being a complete native person[vi]. This is a common occurrence in our modern times. There then becomes yet another component to be addressed on the continuum of tribal identity; the urban indian. This is the native person, quite similar the one just described, who identifies with being a native person holistically, but who co-exists within the urban/metropolitan centers and maintains an active lifestyle within the dominant society[vii]. Regardless of where a native person originates, (i.e.,relocated to the urban center, born in the urban center, etc.) they still identify themselves with the reservation system. This is such an important part of the cultural understanding for the contemporary native person that, even if a native person were to have no prior contact with the reservation system (i.e., born within the urban center), they will still identify with the reservation as a location where an authentic native/indian identity is created[viii]. This internal need for, and general understanding of the reservation indian as the marker and creator of an authentic indian identity, by native people themselves, is so powerful that this is one major reason why so many urban indians will create a relationship with the reservation system (fictitious or real) through extended means, within and outside the urban centers, and will foster these connections so as to maintain a self-appropriated sense of native identity and reality.[ix] Still, there is room for negotiation as to what kind of an urban indian identity we are discussing.
The urban/metropolitan areas are for some, and most, native people seen as being the concrete reservations. With the second major relocation acts (c. 1948-52)[x] the United States Government relocated native men to the urban centers in the hopes that they would assimilate into the mainstream (i.e.,dominant society) and that the indian problem would be solved. Once the governmental help discontinued, native people were forced to find recluse within the ghettos and to develop their own ghettos where they would be able to find some companionship (i.e.,related identity). As the economic factors worsened for the native people and more people were brought to the urban centers, the indian problem did not cease, but rather developed into a complex one to which the urban/metropolitan centers now had to contend. This led to the advent of the concrete reservation (i.e.,urban indian ghettos) where native people began to see the same problems and conditions which they had back-at-home on the reservation. This mentality of death, demise and despair (already in the native memory from the reservation system now being further developed in the urban centers) developed into militant attitudes brought on, and championed by, AIM (American Indian Movement) and the Red Power Movement (c. 1968-70s).[xi] People active within AIM and the Red Power Movement were concerned with the constant dismal care which native people were experiencing and living with in the urban centers, and reservations systems, as well as the perpetual stereotyping and racism which the dominant society continued to foster.[xii]
This then would bring up the question, what is the true meaning behind the statement born at 18?[xiii] This reference encapsulates all forms of identity for native people, regardless of where they originate. We were born at 18, and what that means, a child screams, with a life of no hopes and no dreams
[xiv]. The statement, simply put, refers to the poverty stricken conditions which native people will have to contend with as they are born into this world within the urban (concrete) and rural reservation systems[xv]. It refers to the high teen pregnancy rate which native people have (i.e., a girl who just turned 18 years old delivers a child).[xvi] It brings up the basic understanding that the older generations of native people would want to see the younger generations survive, albeit in urban or rural reservation systems, while (silently?) acknowledging that there will be great difficulty in whatever survival the younger generation will have (
cuz we fight and fight to make it through a single day, but you know thats life on the rez
[concrete reservation and reservation system][xvii]) in life.[xviii] This statement brings into light subtly, yet still clearly known and recognized, that native people today continue to be subjected to forms of stereotyping, racism, segregation, etc. by the dominant society (
.cuz their people wont let my people be, another form of a racist society
)[xix] This given text is used, as a tool to construct identity, by all native people, regardless of location, to develop an early pan-indian and multi-tribal sense of being which native people will then carry with them throughout their days (
so peace and shouts out to the red nations, to, those with and, without rezervations, aztlan nation, and all our, relations,
)[xx]. This statement can then be seen as a basic form of identity which native people have and is one that functions in a very complex binary sense (local/global, urban/reservation, young/old, male/female).
III. Text
The text (lyrics) of the song develop a complex strata of understanding which can be seen in three distinct categories I label as: 1. Militant views (a, subtle, ideological context, relating to the militant views, toward the U.S. government and dominant society, and how these two factors helped to create these militant views post 1960s), 2. Despair, Death and Demise (showing a general sense of negativity toward, and from, the stereotypical/racial views of native people by the dominant society) and 3. Optimism (created by, and from within, a contemporary/pan-indianess sense of identity).[xxi] Given these three generalized categories we can look at the first verse of the song and see how the text clearly unfolds these ideas.Born at 18, not a dream, an evil scheme (1)
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