It's pow wow season once again—here's your guide to 2015 Pow Wows happening across Turtle Island.
It's almost summertime and you know what that means: it's time to hit the pow wow trail and enjoy visiting, dancing, drumming, and celebrating your way across Indian Country.
Our friends over at Windspeaker have put together a poster-sized calendar of upcoming pow wows for you to choose from. And, of course, PowWows.com continues to hold it down with their real-time, and recently updated calendar of events. RezX Magazine is also getting in on the action, with their own digital 2015 Pow Wow Guide.
The largest pow wow on Turtle Island, Gathering of Nations, may have already happened—but the rest of Indian Country is just getting warmed up.
No matter where you live, there's sure to be a pow wow nearby, so get that regalia ready, throw some gas in the truck, and we'll see you out there. Hoka!
Sacramento Knoxx and Sharif join forces and bring light to the intersections of our common struggles in their new video, "From Stolen Land to Stolen Land".
Resistance is everywhere. From Ferguson to Palestine to Ayotzinapa to Burnaby Mountain, and in many other struggles unseen, the theft of land and the dispossession and colonization of its peoples is coming to the forefront of people's consciousness.
Fighting back against these violent forces, artists are rising and recognizing each other—giving voice to the commonality of our shared struggles to get free.
Sacramento Knoxx and Sharif collab on this latest joint, echoing the need for actual decolonization and shouting out the BDS movement, while chanting: "Turtle Island to Palestine in self-determination / we'll replant every tree, rebuild every home / and until we see that day / our resistance lives on".
Here's their note on the track and the video:
The foundation of this land is built on the genocide of indigenous populations and the enslavement of African peoples. Today we are still living under the echoes of displacement through constant state repression. Police are becoming more militarized and are increasingly escalating violence against communities of color. The same type of repression tactics that are tested on Palestinian populations, then sold and trained to our local forces.
Let's connect different communities seeking social change by intersecting their struggles. We would like you to join San Francisco based MC and community organizer, Sharif, and Detroit based producer, musician and motion picture artist, Sacramento Knoxx in our premier of “From Stolen Land to Stolen Land”. It is also important to note the importance of our actions. We would also like to encourage all of our viewers to respect the wishes of the Brown family and not participate in Black Friday.
Watch it all the way to the end for a shout out to Fanon and Wretched of the Earth. Decolonize and rise.
Salute!
Watch "From Stolen Land to Stolen Land" by Sharif and Knockzarelli
MTV World's music documentary series Rebel Music kicks off its second season with the voices of Turtle Island's original peoples—the revolutionary sounds of "Native America".
What does it mean to be Indigenous in the 21st century? More importantly, what does it sound like?
These are questions we've been asking since RPM started and every day we see the evidence all around us. Native artists are everywhere—making incredible music, building community, raising each other up, raising awareness, and kicking ass.
And we're not the only ones who can see that Indigenous artists are the ones innovating, experimenting and leading the way forward. Like A Tribe Called Red's Bear Witness reminds us, "Our culture has always grown, our culture has always adapted. We're trying to get everybody else to catch up with where our culture is today."
Enter MTV World's Rebel Music—a Shepard Fairey-exec produced experiment in soundtracking the rebellious spirit and creative innovation of artists around the world who are driving political change by raising their voices in song:
The anthems of protest rise up in underground punk-rock shows in Yangon. Revolutionary hip-hop in the barrios of Caracas. Drumbeats in Istanbul street protests. The pulse of electronic dance music across Native American communities in North America. The soundtrack is global. And the noise is amplifying as youth connect with each other, onstage and online, and find their collective strength to ignite change for the future on a surge of sound and ideas.
After a globe-spinning circuit in its first season (now available on Netflix), Rebel Music returns with a whole new set of adventures in sonic revolution. But before looking out to resistances elsewhere, the show turned its focus to the lands on which America was founded, and the Indigenous nations and peoples of Turtle Island who continue their struggles to be seen and heard.
But, as we know, the conversation doesn't and shouldn't end there. The "Native America" episode comes fully loaded with additional digital content from across the NDN spectrum, including: interviews with A Tribe Called Red, clips of Supaman's now legendary "Prayer Loop Song", features on the 'Native Warhol' Steven Paul Judd, comedy crew the 1491s, photographer Matika Wilbur, and Lakota rock duo Scatter Their Own.
Which is as it should be.
For Indigenous Peoples, art, culture, activism, and resistance are inextricably linked. And our presence and music are here to stay.
Season 2 of Rebel Music premiered with "Native America" via Facebook and YouTube. Additional digital and educational content is also available at rebelmusic.com.
Did you miss us? It's been a revolutionary minute since we last hit you with a good dose of Indigenous Music Culture. But we're happy to let you know that RPM is back!
The crew has been busy since the winter working on music, touring, songwriting, media arts, land-based education, political organizing and a host of other arts, decolonizing and resurgence projects—all the while planning to get back online to bring you the best Indigenous music from across Turtle Island and around the world.
From the #RoundDanceRevolution to Idle No More to the Indigenous Nationhood Movement, we've been deeply inspired by everything happening in Indian Country, and we're happy to be back up and running with new music, reviews, interviews and artist features.
We've got lots more in the works but for now, enjoy the new music. Thanks for your patience and support of RPM—and please share the good news on all your channels.
‘Tis the season for looking back on the year that was: reflecting on the highs and lows, and seeing what music moments stand out in our memories. It's an interesting time for reflection, with all the hope and passion currently rising among our people, so let's take a moment to reflect on the incredible Indigenous music that found its way to us in 2012.
From new albums, EPs, and videos to standout performances and collaborations from all corners of Turtle Island and beyond, here are our Top 10 picks for the Best Indigenous Musical Moments of 2012—the songs we've been raving about and playing on repeat this past year and the sounds that stood out in our hearts, minds and ears.
10. Bear Fox x The 1491s, "Rich Girl"
It all starts with watching NAMMY award-winning musician Bear Fox, in collaboration with Bobby from Native comedy crew The 1491s, perform her song Rich Girl. The song touches on the issues of growing up in an Indigenous environment with very little in material wealth but having riches in culture and in the beauty of Indigenous life with family. Nothing like live and unplugged for some of the best musical moments:
9. NRG Rising, "From Darkness to Light"
"From darkness to light" is an apt description at this time of year as the hours of sunlight finally begin to get longer in the Northern hemisphere, and as our people rise up and unite. It's also the name of our next pick from NRG Rising, the New Zealand reggae band that features three powerful Maori women - a mother and two daughters - who create conscious, soulful work. We love this track.
Watch NRG Rising – From Darkness to Light:
8. The Medics, "Foundations"
The Medics' Foundations was the much anticipated debut LP from one of Australia's brightest new bands. And it rocked. Percussive, passionate, potent. Turn it up and let it ride.
Listen to the opening track Beggars:
7. Skookum Sound System, "Nawala"
As individuals, vocalist/song carrier Csetkwe, DJ/producers Deano (Dean Hunt) and Impossible Nothing (Darwin Frost), and video artist Amphibian14 (Bracken Hanuse Corlett), have been honing their skills for years. But just over a year ago, these four artists joined forces to form the dynamic audio/visual collective Skookum Sound System. And the result is killer. The collective itself is one of our favourite "moments" of the year, but here's one particularly bumping beat for you to get into:
6. Thelma Plum, "Untitled"
It's been a breakout year for this 17-year-old Indigenous singer-songwriter from Brisbane, Australia. Thelma Plum's voice and writing exceed her years with a timeless quality that can transport you to another time and place. With only a few tracks available online, we're all waiting for more, but it's easy to revel in what she's already shared with the world thus far. We love this live, unplugged performance of Untitled:
5. Nick Sherman, Drag Your Words Through
In the rip your heart out in a good way category, the debut album from Nick Sherman, Drag Your Words Through, is rooted in folk/rock and full of earnest yet thoughtful and well crafted songs. They stick to your bones and Sherman's rich, textured vocals is a fine sound indeed. We've been spinning it all year long. Listen to the track Winterdark here:
4. Samantha Crain, "It's Simple"
Miss Samantha Crainstarted the year off great with the release her 7" single A Simple Jungle and no one's forgotten the two catchy tunes it was comprised of. Her indie spun americana vibe shines in the tracks It's Simple and Cadwell Jungle. It's been enough to keep us going all year and we're ready for her new album to drop in a couple weeks!
Watch the video for It's Simple:
3. Cris Derksen, "Pow Wow Wow"
There was no shortage of killer music videos on our screens this year. Cris Derksen (who we also tagged as an Indigenous Musicians to watch in 2012) has one of our favourites. As part of APTN's First Tracks program and with acclaimed Indigenous director Lisa Jackson at the helm, Derksen released this intergalactic, fancy dance-filled three-and-a-half minutes of pure gold:
Loved as much across Indian Country as nightclub dancefloors, the increasingly popular purveyors of "pow wow step" navigated the diverse musical landscapes of hip-hop, dancehall, moombahton and electronic styles on their eponymous debut full-length album and, having posted the entire record as a free download on their site, it spread like wildfire. As a collective, it's been an outstanding year for ATCR - we weren't kidding when we also included them in Indigenous Musicians to watch in 2012. And it's safe to say we can expect more big things from DJ NDN, Bear Witness and DJ Shub in 2013. They're just getting started.
If you don't have it already, you can still grab their debut album here:
1. The Round Dance Revolution: Idle No More
Of course, in the so-obvious-do-we-really-need-to-even-mention-it category, we couldn't possibly round up the best moments in Indigenous music in 2012 without mentioning the #RoundDanceRevolution that is currently underway across the globe under the banner of #IdleNoMore. Unless you've been living in a different universe in the past month, by now you've likely heard our peoples' words, songs, drums and dances echoing out from highways, railway lines, government buildings, and your local shopping centre to virtually every corner the Internet. And on the evening before the winter solstice, before one of the largest Indigenous mobilizations in recent history, Ryan McMahon eloquently brought together much of what was already racing through the malls and minds of our people across Indian Country: the revolution was starting—and this was its soundtrack.
As the round dances, stick and bone games, and other gatherings and song circles spread across the globe over the holidays, it's no wonder that Naomi Klein said: "The #idlenomore round dances taking over shopping malls during xmas rush r the most subversion actions I've ever seen #rounddancerevolution." But the spirit of the movement is not just subversive, it is joyful and creative—so it makes sense that, as we head into the new adventures of 2013, we look back on something that offers us an important and inspiring foundation from which to step into new beginnings.
The summer solstice is welcomed in the highest Indigenous regards by Aztlan Underground in this video for the instrumental track Sacred Arrow Sun.
We just passed the summer solstice recently, which has always been a special event for Indigenous cultures all over Turtle Island since time immemorial.
Legendary Indigenous music collective Aztlan Underground helps us to welcome the solstice and honor its gift of energy and sustenance with this instrumental composition and powerful artistic video production for their song Sacred Arrow Sun.
The tribal instrumentation of Sacred Arrow Sun serves to welcome the summer solstice in the Native way. Aztlan Underground marks the sacred event with rattles, huehuetl drum, pow wow drum, raspers, wooden and clay flutes.
This also gives a sneak peek into their upcoming album project Unearthed which is due to be released upon the next winter solstice in 2012.
Revolutions Per Minute is a global new music platform, record label, and boutique agency for Indigenous music culture. RPM’s mission is to build a visionary community of Indigenous artists and to introduce Indigenous music to new audiences across Turtle Island and around the world. Our main site, RPM.fm, has featured the work of more than 500 Indigenous artists and shared their music across our social networks of more than 275,000 followers.
RPM Records is the first of its kind: a label for contemporary, cross-genre Indigenous music, run by Indigenous people. Selected by The FADER as one of “5 New Canadian Record Labels The Entire World Should Know”, RPM Records artists include Ziibiwan, Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, Exquisite Ghost, and Mob Bounce.
