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Johnny Cash- As Long as the Grass Shall Grow

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Johnny Cash- As Long as the Grass Shall Grow

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I chose Johnny Cash’s “As Long as the Grass Shall Grow” which is off his 1964 studio album, Bitter Tears: Ballads of the American Indian. The album chronicles the unfair treatment of Native Americans. “As Long as the Grass Shall Grow” is particularly about the reversal of a treaty for the Seneca Nation in which the US built a dam destroying the Seneca Nation’s Pennsylvania reservation in 1960. The song goes on to tell the story of the betrayal by the US against the Seneca tribe of Native Ameircans. Johnny Cash was an outspoken advocate for Native American people, and this album was one what in which he brought publicity to current and past atrocities of Native American people.

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Johnny Cash - As Long As the Grass Shall Grow

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So I remember seeing this cartoon as a child and I eventually learned it has been banned due to its stereotypical depiction of Native Americans. Plenty of the cartoons contained music and this particular one has a subtle motif whenever the Native character is featured. Although typical in a Bugs Bunny cartoon, the Native American has a large nose and wears glasses as it is said they have bad eyesight. He is also portrayed as less than intelligent and speaks in broken english. Additionally, the character refers to himself and as the "Last Mohican" and Bugs calls condescendingly calls him "Geronimo". This portrayal of Native Americans was prevalent in many cartoons and Westerns.

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"White Woman's Instagram" from Bo Burnham's "Inside"

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"White Woman's Instagram" from Bo Burnham's "Inside"

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Burnham's latest "comedy" special on Netflix was less laugh-out-loud funny and more brutal satire on the current state of the world. In "White Woman's Instagram," he begins by poking fun at harmless social media posts - pictures of an open window, an avocado, and fuzzy comfy socks. By the third verse he mixes in references to commercialized cultural appropriation - "a dreamcatcher bought from Urban Outfitters" and later shows himself wearing a feathered headband.

While not directly referencing Native Americans, Burnham provides commentary on how parts of their culture are lumped in as part of a free-spirited influencer lifestyle that doesn't necessarily understand or respect its origins.

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White Woman's Instagram -- Bo Burnham (from "Inside" -- ALBUM OUT NOW)

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"Apache(Jump on It)" by The Sugarhill Gang

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"Apache(Jump on It)" by The Sugarhill Gang

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This song’s lyrics contain examples of known Native American fictional characters, like “Tonto” from the Lone Ranger and “Kemosabe, and then the lyrics reference “Custer” who was a general who fought Native Americans and lost to them at the Battle at Little Bighorn. The music video sets a scene of “campsite” of a Native American, complete with teepees and headdresses. To me, this doesn’t look like a historically accurate representation, and instead looks more like cultural appropriation that mirrors how Native have been depicted in America for decades through other avenues. The pairing of the scene with the offensive song lyrics is just the beginning. The drumming in the song seems like it’s supposed to mimic Native American tradition, and they also do a Native American call in the middle of the song. All of the members of the band had on a form of a Native American style clothes, but they are not accurate. Instead they are modernized. A few of the men wore headdresses and held tomahawks while dancing around on the set, which is a mockery of the sacred nature of the headdress in Native American tradition. Overall this video is a mockery of the beauty of Native American respected that should be scrutinized by those that view it.

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The Sugarhill Gang - Apache (Jump On It) (Official Video)

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I tried to find something obscure here, and this is it...

The TV show Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt features a character called Jacqueline that is a snob, trophy ex-wife, that late in the series admits that she actually comes from Native American lineage. She “escaped” the life of being a Native American to “enjoy America,” which is an interpretation by the show of part of the Native American experience for those born into those roots. In this short clip, the musical sequence accompanies a scene where the burning of jerseys in protest of a sports team name is taking place. As the intensity rises in this situation, the music gives the feel of a classic Western, cowboys vs Indians-esque, just with a modern-day electronic sound. This is matches the caricature of Jacqueline, as she is a Native American person that is around people fighting for their native culture and that culture’s perception, while being appropriated to appease the current-day American culture.

I would like to believe that was the intention in the messaging by the composer, but it very well could be that I’m manifesting more meaning than there actually is in this moment…either way, I found that to be an interesting representation of Native Americans in recent media.

(only watch the first scene..the rest of the video isn't really necessary)

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Clips from Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt S3 Ep10 About Burning Jerseys in Protest

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The words "controversy" or "cultural appropriation" are not new when it comes to the artist, Lana Del Ray. Her voice is unique and her music is haunting. Her lyrics are filled with many metaphors and rhetorical rhetoric. In 2012, she released a song and music video called "Ride". Lana partnered with the fashion retail company, Urban Outfitters on a new fashion line which incorporated a Navajo-inspired collection which included misfortunate items such as a headdress t-shirt, a flask and underwear. Some of these items were worn on Lana's music video. The company also used Lana's song for their commercials when promoting this particular line.

In the music video, Lana wears a traditional headdress for at least 2 minutes. She equivalates the concept or idea of being free or having freedom with motorcycles and the Native American culture.

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'#NativeTok' A look at Native American Culture on TikTok

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'#NativeTok' A look at Native American Culture on TikTok

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At first, I wanted to share an example of how Native Americans are mocked in the media, but then I was scrolling through TikTok and I came upon Native American videos also known as “Native Tok”. The person in the video was telling others to not mock their culture. I think it is fantastic that now Native Americans have a platform to quickly spread awareness about their culture and issues they have endured for years. It is interesting to see into their rituals and songs and how they truly feel about their living situations and past. I found this compilation of Native American TikTok videos to show you just a glimpse of great resources from Native Americans you can find on Tiktok. There are sounds of the people singing, performing burial rituals, dancing, and more. I find such an appreciation for different cultures and I hate that in years past and even today, people still mistreat and mock Native Americans.
-VanKempen

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Indigenous Pride Native TikTok Compilation

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https://soundcloud.com/f_waln_35/what-makes-the-red-man-red

Originally, I thought about doing Native American representations in the cartoons of my childhood, like Merry Melodies, Little LuLu, and Betty Boop, when I came across this video. Immediately I turned it off because I thought it was just a complication of cartoons together. When I started focusing on the words, I realized this was not the Peter Pan song at all. I followed the YouTube link to find the creator and his SoundCloud account. Frank Waln is a Sicangu Lakota Hip Hop artist and an activist for his people. Hailing from the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota, Waln has created a song to explain what makes the red man red. The line that caught me by surprise, making me listen to the actual lyrics were “Stained with the blood from the land you bled.” Waln is calling out all of the stereotypes, incorrect beliefs, and thoughts in history, and explaining that he, as a Native American, feels that America “made a mess of him” and his culture. Who are the real savages? According to Waln, Pale Face is the savage. Pale Face Savages caused many of the hardships that his people had to go through to get holidays like Columbus Day, now Indigenous Peoples Day, Thanksgiving, and Halloween costumes. Native Americans have not had it easy when it comes to the portrayal of them in the media.

I am glad I found Frank Waln and now I can share this award-winning activist with you all. Check out the rest of his SoundCloud and YouTube as well. He has other Native American pieces that are in the traditional style of what identify as Native American music, with a splash of today’s contemporary feel. Waln is a small piece of a great movement to give Native Americans their cultural representation and the respect they deserve. Unlike many of the representations of Native Americans, this piece that I found takes a poor representation and turns it into a wake-up call for justice. The fan-created video uses many of the cartoons I was discussing above to back up the incorrect history and poor representative choices of cartoonists in the past. Thank you Waln. -Jazmin Hunt

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Download the track for FREE and read the lyrics here

https://frankwaln47.bandcamp.com/track/what-makes-the-red-man-red

frankwaln.com
https://frankwaln47.bandcamp.com
facebook.com/fwaln
twitter @FrankWaln
IG @frankwaln

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"Hey Ya" (2003) by Outkast from the 2004 Grammy Awards

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"Hey Ya" (2003) by Outkast from the 2004 Grammy Awards

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Outkast's "Hey Ya" was performed live as the closing performance of the 2004 Grammy Awards followed by Outkast’s win for Album of the Year for their hit 2003 album Speakerbox/The Love Below.  The introduction of artist Andre 3000 takes place by the host as Native American drumming and singing takes place in the background.  The recording heard appears to be rather authentic as it is sung in unison and uses just a few notes. In the visual background, a rather futuristic teepee can be seen traveling down the screen and eventually lands on stage.  Here is where the negative, or at the very least questionable, stereotypes of Native Americans come into play.  From the teepee exits Andre 3000 and female background dancers wearing feathers as headdress and representations of Native American skirts and tops.  The dancers do not appear to be Native Americans.  The DJ in the back of the stage is continuing the “theme” with a rather large, feathered headdress of his own.  Also taking place is a combination of dancing that suggests Native American influence mixed with the dances that the original music video was known for showcasing.  Finally, members of a marching band enter wearing feather headdress and face paint.

I was reminded of this performance after finding an NBC News article online discussing the Oneida Indian Nation’s response to the performance and the stereotypical imagery suggesting a lack of respect for diversity by the music industry.  I remember being very fond of “Hey Ya” after its release in 2003.  There are no references to Native Americans within the lyrics and I recall the album being very original with funk, jazz, and pop themes.  It This would suggest that the Native American theme presented at the live performance was simply a “theme”.  While the theme concept might have been innocently planned and adopted for the performance, after viewing the video it is difficult to not see the elements of cultural appropriation in the overall product.  I believe the period of early 2000s suggests that artists tend to have a more knowledge and understanding of this today. - Joseph Martin

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Рихард Рутковски

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There is a thriving community of Native Americans on the Tik Tok app who are using the platform to teach people about different aspects of their culture, as well as educate on modern issues that Native Americans face. Shina Novalinga uses it to share videos of her and her mother performing Inuit throat singing. Shina learned throat singing from her mother. One of her goals is to preserve this form of singing that was previously shamed and almost entirely lost in her community. The portrayal of Native Americans in this media is profound and enlightening for those who engage with her on the platform. Shina answers questions about the music, but also other customs and traditions of her tribe. I've linked one specific clip from her TikTok but you can click through and see various examples that explore different types of songs the Inuit people would use.

I thought this example was particularly interesting because it is slightly different from the characteristics of Native American music that this week's reading described. We hear 2 voices imitating each other, interweaving. You can hardly tell sometimes which sound is coming from which person. There are no instruments. They imitate nature sounds, as well as tell stories through these songs.

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Want to learn more about throat singing? @kayuulanova #inuit #throatsinging #culture #nunavik

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@shinanova
Want to learn more about throat singing? @kayuulanova #inuit #throatsinging #culture #nunavik
♬ original sound - Shina Nova

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From about 1990 until present day, Tatanka has been a fixture in the World Wrestling Entertainment/Federation business. As a WWE character his ring name Tatanka is a Lakota word which "loosely translated means buffalo." (WWE.com). However, Chris Chavis (Tatanka) is a Lumbee Indian by lineage hailing from Pembroke, North Carolina.
During his time in the WWE his character was dressed in Indian head dresses, loin cloths, and moccasins. He also wore tribal face paint and did a "war dance" around the ring for his entrance. His entrance music began with a Native American war chant and then a psuedo-Native American track with electronic instruments that sounded more like a Rock and Roll instrumental than Native American music.
Tatanka however, was an extremely successful wrestler during his time in the WWE where he eventually would become the Intercontinental Champion before his active stint as a wrestler was over. However, looking back at this as an adult I can see how a depiction of this nature can be seen as politically and culturally incorrect. I am glad that many of the inaccurate depictions of Native Americans are being re-evaluated and replaced. Although, I do believe that we should find a way to honor the Native American culture and replace what we have erased from our history as well.

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Tatanka 2nd Titantron  (2006 Return Entrance Video)

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"I'm An Indian Too" from the film, Annie Get Your Gun (1950)

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"I'm An Indian Too" from the film, Annie Get Your Gun (1950)

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I chose the song “I’m An Indian Too” from the movie/musical, Annie Get Your Gun. This song portrays Annie Oakley “becoming” a Native American after Chief Sitting Bull adopts her into the Sioux tribe. The song was eventually cut from the 1999 Broadway Revival (and many future productions) due to its insensitive lyrics and inappropriate, outdated Native American stereotypes. The song features Betty Hutton, as Annie Oakley, dressed in Native American garb and face paint dancing around in a stereotypical Native American ceremony. The lyrics she sings are pretty offensive when you analyze them more closely. For example, in one of the verses, she sings, “Just like Rising Moon, Falling Pants, Running Nose. Like those Indians. I'm an Indian too”. There are a few other lyrics where Native Americans are made fun of throughout the song as well. Due to this song, Native Americans started protesting outside theaters who were putting on Annie Get Your Gun if they didn’t remove the outdated Native American themed songs. Luckily, the show was updated to reflect a more accurate view of the Native Americans in the 1999 version.

I also noticed in the movie that many of the dancers were not Native American. It looks like their skin has been tanned to look like a Native American. I thought that was very inappropriate, since there are plenty of Native American people out there who could have represented their population.

I actually was in a production of Annie Get Your Gun when I was in junior high. It was our summer community theater musical and I was cast as Nellie, one of Annie Oakley’s little sisters. I had an absolute blast in the show, but didn’t realize how culturally inappropriate the show actually was! Now that I’m older and I’ve gone back and listened to the lyrics and rewatched the dialogue, I realize how insensitive it was to the Native American culture. I love the music from the show otherwise though, so I’m happy the production team was able to come up with a compromise to keep audience members happy.

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Pocahontas - The Girl Who Lived in Two Worlds (1995)

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Pocahontas - The Girl Who Lived in Two Worlds (1995)

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"Pocahontas - The Girl Who Lived in Two Worlds" was released only four months ahead of the well-known Disney motion picture, Pocahontas, which allowed the smaller stop motion company to coincidentally benefit from Disney’s massive marketing campaign. This appears to be the only stop motion film by the company that is based on a historical figure. The majority of their films are based on fairy tales or other fantasy children’s stories. This suggests that perhaps the company hastily chose to produce the Pocahontas material in an effort to enjoy the attention provided by Disney’s release.
The film opens with the child “princess” Pocahontas standing on a cliff overlooking the ocean, singing a song to welcome the sunrise. As illustrated in the article “Stereotypes,” a mystical connection with nature is typically depicted by images of young Native American women singing or standing atop a cliff looking out over the wilderness or water. This image is depicted in many tourist postcards, pageants, and other media.The stop motion film, makes use of  this imagery for the song, “Oh Sun Beautiful.”
The theme for the film, “Oh Sun Beautiful” is intended to sound stylistically Native American, but was written only for this production. The setting and words suggest that she is one with nature. It also suggests that she has great wisdom and understanding of the natural world, which are stereotypical assumptions about Native Americans. Her song welcoming the sun suggests that she performs this ritual daily. However, her song is not accurate in terms of Native American music, according to the chapter “The Music of the Native American,”  written by Charles Hamm in Music in the New World (1983) . The melody she sings has little in common with the 3-6 note songs her tribe would have sung. Also, the instruments throughout the film are not authentic to Native American Culture. In this opening theme, a synthesized flute provides the accompaniment. The only onscreen depiction of an instrument is in a scene where John Smith attempts to avoid execution. Whenever Smith cracks a joke, the camera cuts to a Native American drummer following it up with a rimshot on a crude depiction of a modern drum set. The most bizarre part of this is that the cymbal has been substituted for a skull with a European helmet on it.
Although “Oh Sun, Beautiful” and a few other pieces in the film were written by its producer, John Clark Matthews (who was also the writer, director, production designer and performing musician for the film) most of the music in his stop motion short film is taken from public-domain classical music and operas. One notable instance of this is the song Pocahontas and John Smith sing about how much fun they have working all day. Their merry work song is set to the tune of “The Anvil Chorus” or  “Coro di Zingari”  from the Opera “Il Trovatore” by Verdi, written in 1853, well after the era depicted.

The members of Pocahontas’ tribe are depicted as guileless and simple, while Pocahontas is shown as noble in her support of the European settlers. However, the tribe’s closeness to the natural world gives them a moral superiority to the settlers. Although all the characters in the film are humorous and make laughable mistakes, the Native Americans are depicted as smarter and more serious than the European colonists. The character’s dialogue and musical lyrics are periodically sprinkled with nature and animal metaphors that seem overly flowery. It appears to be added just to make them look noble and in tune with nature.

Despite the lack of true educational value in the film, they did avoid the Disney movie’s most criticized part by accurately portraying Pocahontas as a child at the time of meeting John Smith, rather an adult in a romantic relationship with him. They also showed her marriage with John Rolfe (something Disney did not bother to depict until Pocahontas’ direct-to-video sequel.)

Works Cited:
Stereotypes. (2011). Retrieved August 31, 2020, from https://publications.newberry.org/digital/indians-midwest/stereotypes

Matthews, John Clark. “Pocahontas: The Girl Who Lived in Two Worlds.” IMDb, IMDb.com, 5 Feb. 1995, www.imdb.com/title/tt0887771/.

Hamm, C. (1983). Music in the new world. New York: Norton.

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Pocahontas: The Girl Who Lived in Two Worlds (1995)