NORTH AMERICAN INDIGENOUS MUSIC SEMINAR UNIT 4 - IDENTITY AND DECOLONIZATION: INDIGENOUS NOW

LANGUAGE RECLAMATION Language carries culture. DANCING ON OUR TURTLE’S BACK

“Indigenous languages carry rich meanings, theory and philosophies within their structures. Our languages house our teachings and bring the practice of those teachings to life in our daily existence. The process of speaking Nishnaabemowin, then, inherently communicates certain values and philosophies that are important to Nishnaabeg being. Breaking down words into the “little words” they are composed of often reveals a deeper conceptual—yet widely held—meaning. This part of the language and language learning holds a wealth of knowledge and inspiration in terms of Aanji Maajitaawin [to start over; the art of starting over; to regenerate]. That is because this ‘learning through the language’ provides those who are not fluent with a window through which to experience the complexities and depth of our culture.” (p. 49) DANCING ON OUR TURTLE’S BACK

➤ “Listening to the sound of our voice means that we need to listen with our full bodies—our hearts, our minds and our physicality. It requires a full presence of being. It requires an understanding of the culturally embedded concepts and teachings that bring meaning to our practices and illuminate our lifeways. In regenerating our languages, an enormous task in and of itself, we must also ask our Elders and fluent speakers to teach us through the language, using specific words as windows into a deeper, layered understanding. We must listen and take with us those sounds that hold the greatest meaning in our own lives and in our resurgence.”(p. 61) INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES IN NA

➤ Canada now: 60 languages in 12 language families ➤ 75% are “definitely,” “severely,” or “critically” endangered (UNESCO) ➤ Cree, Inuktitut, and Objibwa (Anishnaabemowin) ➤ USA now: 100+ languages ➤ endangered ➤ Navajo = 50% of Indigenous population ➤ Mexico now: 100,000+ speakers = 15 languages ➤ Mayan, Uto-Aztecan languages ➤ Nahuatl = 1 million+ speakers JEREMY DUTCHER

➤ Toronto-based composer, singer ➤ Wolastoq (Maliseet) ➤ Tobique First Nation (northern New Brunswick) WOLASTOQIYIK

➤ Maliseet: “broken talkers” (Mi’kmaq) ➤ Wolatoq = “Beautiful River” ➤ agriculture: corn, beans, squash ➤ hunting, fishing ➤ gathering ➤ Wabanaki (“People of the first light”) Confederacy ➤ 1606-1862; 1993- ➤ “part composition, part musical JEREMY DUTCHER ethnography, part linguistic reclamation” ➤ album: Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa ➤ field recordings: early 1900s ➤ William H. Mechling ➤ Wolastoqey = language ““...the younger generations are not able to sing the Indian Songs, so that in all probability the music of the malecite [Maliseet] will die out with this generation.”

-William H. Mechling (1913) Jeremy Dutcher JEREMY DUTCHER

➤ “Nipuwoltimk” ➤ “Pomok Naka Poktoinskwes” ➤ “Honor Song” ➤ George Paul : "This is a song that came to me while I was fasting for my people. The message in this song is for all people to work together and help each other the way our creator would want us to be as human beings here upon Mother Earth, and as children of our creator we must always have respect for each other. So join hands and honour the life you have with dignity because you are a part of the creators work. Show the world that love and forgiveness can bring about world peace.” GLOBALIZATION OF HIP HOP DECOLONIZATION

“…the repatriation of land and life” (Tuck and Yang 2012) “WORD: HIP-HOP, LANGUAGE, AND INDIGENEITY IN THE AMERICAS”- JENELL NAVARRO

➤ Process of decolonization: “1) disseminating a conscious pan-indigeneity through lyricism and alliance building, 2) retaining and teaching Indigenous languages in their songs, and 3) implementing a radical orality in their verses that revitalizes both Indigenous oral traditions/ storytelling and the early message rap of the 1970s and 1980s.” (p. 2)

“I am intentional about my argument that the use of ancestral languages in Indigenous hip-hop be considered an act of decolonization. Ultimately, in order to decolonize the Americas ‘land and life’ must be returned. Significantly, ancestral languages are such an integral part of Indigenous life that the revitalization of language produces material effects for Native peoples. In this way, I agree with Tuck and Yang, that the process of decolonization cannot remain relegated to the realm of discourse and metaphor. My understanding of decolonization, consequently, is that it is a process that involves both ideological work – for both the colonized and the colonizer – that Tuck and Yang seem to understand as the process of returning “life” to Indigenous people, and material self-determination or returning land and resources to those subject to settler colonialism. Thus, ancestral language acquisition for each generation defies linguistic genocide and maintains life in many ways such as communication with elders and ancestors.” (p. 4) NAVARRO ON THE URBAN CONTEXT

“Furthermore, these Indigenous artists like Tolteka lay claim to urban space in this music along with their Indigenous identities in order to disrupt past/present and rural/urban dichotomies. This is significant because post-racial discourse has ascribed Indigeneity to the past and the rural/reservation: meaning within the parameters of post-racial ideals, Indigenous people do not exist and, even if they are granted some level of existence, it is outside the bounds of modernity. Specifically, then, post-racial discourse has implied that not only are we beyond race, but we are particularly beyond any moment where racial pride and identity should matter. Thus, when Indigenous artists like Tolteka and Tall Paul overtly assert their presence, and do so in urban contexts, they suggest not only that race/ethnicity most certainly matters, but also that it cannot be relegated to a past and outside of the symbols of modernity and futurity: the urban center.” (p. 10) TALL PAUL (PAUL WENELL, JR)

➤ Anishnaabe, Oneida ➤ Leech Lake Indian Reservation in Minnesota ➤ lives in Minneapolis ➤ “It was an identity struggle for me. I really didn’t know what being native meant when I was growing up. It had been washed out of my family, partly through forced assimilation. I would go to pow-wows and went to some of the sweats when I was a kid, but I was not around other native people enough to identify with it or take much pride in it. I think there’s a generational transition, and people my age are starting to take pride in it more. I hope to become more accustomed to the traditions and pass them along to my kids one day.” Homelands of Anishinaabe and Anishinini, ca. 1800 “PRAYERS IN A SONG”

Gichi-manido wiidookawishin ji-mashkawiziyaan Mii-wenji nagamoyaan (Great Spirit help me to be strong) (That is why I am singing) Mii dash bami'idiziyaan Nimishomis wiidookawishinaam ji- aabajitooyaang anishinaabe izhitwaawin (So that I can help myself) (Grand father help us to use the Native ways) Miizhishinaam zaagi'iiwewin mii-ji-bi-gikendamaan keyaa anishinaabe (Show us all love) bimaadiziwin Ganoozh ishinaam, bizindaw ishinaam (so that we'll know how to live the Native (talk to us, hear us) way/the good life)

➤ Q. How do the lyrics reflect the relationship between language and identity? ➤ Q. What is the significance of having English and Anishnaabewomin lyrics? ➤ Q. What is the significance of having educational tools like hip hop lyrics in the video?

MEXICA

➤ language = Nahuatl ➤ territory = valley of Mexico ➤ Teotihuacan ➤ Toltec ➤ Aztec TOLTEKA

➤ LA-based Chicano (Mexica) rapper ➤ English, Spanish, Nahuatl ➤ What’s in a name? ➤ reject Spanish surname ➤ “tolteka” = artisan in Nahuatl

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Figure 2. CD jacket insert for Tolteka’s album “Reflexiones en Yangna, Califaztlan” (2008). defiance of the settler states (the U.S. and México) that commit violence against Indigenous peo- ples. This highlights the necessity to interrogate the ways in which cultural genocide is ongoing and continues to be enacted against Indigenous peoples throughout the Americas. Moreover, Tolteka dubbs the history of “manifest destiny” represented by this map more accu- rately with the title “manifest insanity” in his song and suggests that the discourses of progress, development, and expansion in the discourse of manifest destiny have all been practices of vio- lence against Indigenous peoples like Chicanos/as and the Hopi people alike. This is not to say that their histories are the same or that they could be conflated. Instead, by employing a transnational framework of conquest and colonization in the Americas, these artists highlight the multiple effects of colonization against distinct populations and the interrelated effects of post-racial discourses that reinscribe divisions between the Hopi as “Americans” who are a part of the dominant U.S. body politic insofar as they fit into white Americans’ nostalgic past and Chicanos/as who are cat- egorized as “illegal immigrants” and are imagined as threats who “illegally” cross borders. Tolteka also raps in Nahuatl to counter the linguistic genocidal effects of colonization much in the same way Tall Paul raps in Ojibwe. When I interviewed Tolteka in 2011, I asked him about the genealogy of conscious rap and how Indigenous rappers fit into that family. He responded by say- ing, “Indigenous communities have been producing rhythmic poetry for longer than my ancestral memory can currently remember, but probably, forever” (interview by author, Los Angeles, California). He was also very mindful about following up this statement with an acknowledgement of the driving force of conscious hip-hop that he identified as part of “the African poetic tradition … from signifyin’ and toastin’ back to the griots” (2011). His insistence on the Indigenous poetic tradition, therefore, is an important genealogy for his own personal Indigenous practice of hip-hop, rather than a disavowal of the centrality of blackness in hip-hop music and culture. This is signifi- cant because Tolteka is recognizing that the spirit of resistance in Indigenous hip-hop, as I note in the introduction, stems from the earlier tradition of speaking truth to power in predominantly African American and Puerto Rican hip-hop expression in the Bronx, New York, in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Moreover, in this same interview Tolteka asserted: “we gotta share Indigenous consciousness in the music” (2011) in order to challenge materialism and capitalist societies and that his primary

Downloaded from crs.sagepub.com at CALIFORNIA ST UNIV NORTHRIDGE on August 27, 2015 Navarro 9

Figure 2. LinerCD jacket notes insert for(2008): Tolteka’s album This “Reflexiones is the Map en Yangna, of Disturnell. Califaztlan” (2008). It was graciously given to us by the Hopi Nation. It is the official map which was used for the Treaty of Guadalupe defiance of the settler states (the U.S. and México) that commit violence against Indigenous peo- ples. ThisHidalgo, highlights the when necessity the to U.S. interrogate purchased the ways inover which half cultural of Méxicogenocide isfor ongoing $15,000,000 in 1848. and continuesHere, to be we enacted see thatagainst “Antigua Indigenous peoples Residencia throughout de the los Americas. Aztecas” [the ancient home of the Moreover, Tolteka dubbs the history of “manifest destiny” represented by this map more accu- rately withAztecs] the title “manifest is found insanity” in the in areahis song where and suggests Utah that is locatedthe discourses today, of progress, meaning, that according to development, and expansion in the discourse of manifest destiny have all been practices of vio- lence againstthis Indigenous official peoples document, like Chicanos/as this is and our the ancestralHopi people alike.homeland. This is not Noting to say that this is in no way about their historiesreturning are the same the or land that they to couldthe Mexicanbe conflated. government Instead, by employing or anything a transnational of that nature, [because] framework of conquest and colonization in the Americas, these artists highlight the multiple effects of colonizationthey againstare in distinct essence, populations just as and European the interrelated as effectsthe U.S. of post-racial government. discourses This is about that reinscribeacknowledging divisions between that the Hopiwe areas “Americans” native to who the are land a part currently of the dominant found U.S. within the man made body politic insofar as they fit into white Americans’ nostalgic past and Chicanos/as who are cat- egorized asborders “illegal immigrants” of this country. and are imagined We are as threats native who to “illegally” this continent, cross borders. and we are not illegal aliens. Tolteka also raps in Nahuatl to counter the linguistic genocidal effects of colonization much in the same way Tall Paul raps in Ojibwe. When I interviewed Tolteka in 2011, I asked him about the genealogy of conscious rap and how Indigenous rappers fit into that family. He responded by say- ing, “Indigenous communities have been producing rhythmic poetry for longer than my ancestral memory can currently remember, but probably, forever” (interview by author, Los Angeles, California). He was also very mindful about following up this statement with an acknowledgement of the driving force of conscious hip-hop that he identified as part of “the African poetic tradition … from signifyin’ and toastin’ back to the griots” (2011). His insistence on the Indigenous poetic tradition, therefore, is an important genealogy for his own personal Indigenous practice of hip-hop, rather than a disavowal of the centrality of blackness in hip-hop music and culture. This is signifi- cant because Tolteka is recognizing that the spirit of resistance in Indigenous hip-hop, as I note in the introduction, stems from the earlier tradition of speaking truth to power in predominantly African American and Puerto Rican hip-hop expression in the Bronx, New York, in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Moreover, in this same interview Tolteka asserted: “we gotta share Indigenous consciousness in the music” (2011) in order to challenge materialism and capitalist societies and that his primary

Downloaded from crs.sagepub.com at CALIFORNIA ST UNIV NORTHRIDGE on August 27, 2015 “DECIMAS”

➤ Si no sabian,/ La lengua es Nahuatl/ Una de las [sic] idiomas mas advanzadas/ Sagradas/ Que se habla de Aztlán/ Donde yo nací/ Hasta Nicaragua ➤ If you didn’t know/ the language is Nahuatl/ one of the most advanced languages/ sacred/ that is spoken from Aztlán/ where I was born/ all the way to Nicaragua NAVARRO ON TOLTEKA & LANGUAGE

➤ “Tolteka uses language to re-assert an Indigenous presence over the American southwest and his art to incite defiance of the settler states (the U.S. and México) that commit violence against Indigenous peoples. This highlights the necessity to interrogate the ways in which cultural genocide is ongoing and continues to be enacted against Indigenous peoples throughout the Americas.” (pp. 8-9) LOS NATIVOS

➤ based in St. Paul-Minneapolis

➤ Chilam Balam (Jermain Ybarra): emcee/producer ➤ Felipe Cuautli (Felipe Espinoza- Day); emcee/drummer ➤ Tecptal: dj

➤ names = Mexica/Aztec and Maya

➤ “Los Nativos transports an aboriginal musical alliance while staying genuine to the Hip Hop culture.”

(Rhymesayers page) LOS NATIVOS

➤ connection to West African culture: syncopated rhythms in different instruments ➤ African slave trade ➤ Cuauhtli = Black and Chicano ➤ traditional Mexican music and languages ➤ Nawat (Pipil) ➤ lyrics: ancestral past AND urban Chicanidad ➤ “Chilam Balam’s musical production fuses indigenous sounds and sensibilities with an urban hip-hop and Chicano understanding” (Pancho McFarland, “Mexica Hip Hop: Male Expressive Culture,” Performing the US Latina and Latino Borderlands, 415). ➤ pan-Indigeneity as political strategy ➤ “legacy of politically charged hip-hop told from a Xicano perspective.” (Bandcamp page) "ATLTLACHINOLLI"

➤ "The Water Between Water and Fire” = scorched water ➤ Mexica concept ➤ two opposing forces (*duality): water and fire = sacred war ➤ this image: glyph from the Códice de Huamantla (1592) LANGUAGE RECLAMATION

➤ lyrics ➤ names: musicians and songs ➤ recall: “Breaking down words into the ‘little words’ they are composed of often reveals a deeper conceptual—yet widely held—meaning. … this ‘learning through the language’ provides those who are not fluent with a window through which to experience the complexities and depth of our culture” (Leanne Simpson, Dancing On Our Turtle’s Back, 49). ➤ recall: Process of decolonization: “1) disseminating a conscious pan- indigeneity through lyricism and alliance building, 2) retaining and teaching Indigenous languages in their songs, and 3) implementing a radical orality in their verses that revitalizes both Indigenous oral traditions/ storytelling and the early message rap of the 1970s and 1980s.” (Jenell Navarro, “WORD: Hip-Hop, Language, and Indigeneity in the Americas,” 2)