A Tribe Called Red
Ottawa Native American DJ group set out to carve a place for First Nations culture in today's dance scene and cultural landscape.
We humans have an inherent desire to know; we are curious beings and never more so than when we are presented with or set down in a different culture. We feed on the idea exchange, but the cultural divides challenge us. Some adapt, some adopt; some accept, some expel. Whatever we do, we eventually coalesce; cultures fuse. Youth that are born as first-generation are brought up building their families’ past, their traditions into their own present.
Communities form as the best of both worlds: Chinatown, Little Italy, Little India, bastions of amazing culture nestled throughout the Western World. Thought along with product and different experiences are exchanged. We become both importers and exporters of everything, and while some still resist, holding on to whatever bygone era they hold dear, it’s hard to deny the fruits of our labor: We live in a multicultural mosaic, the closest thing to “Can’t we all just get along” around.
And yet, for all our efforts, our empathy and understanding, there are some that are still forgotten. No, not forgotten; just ignored.
As a first generation Canadian who grew up in a Calgary neighbourhood with First Nations people, it’s odd to both experience firsthand the aforementioned fusion of cultures while simultaneously witnessing the discarding or disregard for another. Why are all these other cultures allowed to thrive, to share their traditions as part of the common experience and this one, the one that was here before all others, pushed to the side? Segregated? Marginalized?
That’s the thinking behind what you are about to read, an interview too good to cut down with a group known simply as A Tribe Called Red. Made up of a three DJs – Shub, Bear Witness and NDN – the Ottawa-based performers of Native American descent are intent on carving out a place of their own, a permanent spot for their culture on equal footing with all others, ensuring that an up-and-coming generation of First Nations kids know not only where they came from but where they can go:
“Everything that‘s happening right now is still new,” says DJ NDN, touching on still leery, but newfound interest in Native American culture. “We weren’t allowed to congregate together, to dance or sing or have pow-wow’s like 50 years ago. It wasn’t until the 1960s that we were allowed to hang out together. It was illegal for us to congregate, which is crazy.”
“The Internet helps a lot. A lot of people seem think we are something from the past. A lot of people have this idea that we are not around today, and we were conquered in this war, and the colonist won, which is completely false. There was never any war; there were treaties. We were just pushed aside, and every reserve is out of walking distance from the cities for a purpose. We weren’t allowed to leave the reserve without consent from the government or an agent that lived there… So if you wanted to grow some food, you weren’t allowed to leave to sell it. The government was fully running our economy. Immigrants would come in and would be given plots of land to thrive and to farm and be able to sell it to market and make money; we weren’t. We weren’t allowed to thrive, or anything like that.”
That sense of control extended well beyond limiting organization and instituting inhibiting economic policy; it extended to exporting (and even instilling in their youth) culture, the food, music and fashion that function as transmitters of divergent traditions.
Bear Witness: “There are only like two First Nations’ restaurants [in Toronto] and they’re like, high class. They’re really expensive and really nice which is weird cause it’s not like that. I guess the best way you could experience the food would be to go to a pow-wow… Where I’m from, corn soup — that’s the thing, that’s the best thing you could get when you go back home. There are lots of things traditional about it; it’s the white hominy corn. It’s done a certain way, it’s laid out with lye, then you boil it with ash, and all these kinds of things that go back. [But] one of the main ingredients in a good corn soup is salt pork, and that comes from the government rations. So [even the dishes] we think of as our traditional foods are actually super colonized versions of what our food was.”
But that’s the past; this is where they bridge the gap. ATCR has been touring in Canada, the US, the UK, Germany, and all over Europe, sharing their sound, exposing their fusion of electronic music with aboriginal sounds (known as “pow-wow step”) to an international crowd. It’s that fusion that’s integral, that coming together of past and present that eases the inception of culture and makes A Tribe Called Red the flag bearers for a up-and-coming generation of First Nations — and educators for everyone else.
But even through their slow success, there are still issues of political incorrectness. Case in point: non-aboriginal fans showing up in Native American headdress or wearing war-paint.
DJ NDN: “At a festival we just played in Michigan, there were people in headdresses and stuff… [It’s] not cool, not at all, especially when you wear it to our shows. If you were going to see A Tribe Called Quest would you go in blackface? Why do you think you have to dress like the racist version of an Indian to come see our show? It just doesn’t make sense. It’s pretty ridiculous and backwards.”
Although there is a cultural dis-appropriation, some festivals have taken control of the situation: “The festival we just came from banned them. [They] had a no-headdress policy; they were confiscating them at the door, which is so dope. This festival just wants people to feel comfortable and they don’t want anyone singled out.”
That is really what everyone wants when sharing their culture: to share their music, their food, enjoy it, and have it be enjoyed. We can’t force people to come with an open mind and leave with a better understanding, but we can relay what we know, our traditions, and relate to what we experience and our surroundings. It’s that fusion, along with a little acceptance seems to be the message behind A Tribe Called Red.
We humans have an inherent desire to know; we are curious beings and never more so than when we are presented with or set down in a different culture. We feed on the idea exchange, but the cultural divides challenge us. Some adapt, some adopt; some accept, some expel. Whatever we do, we eventually coalesce; cultures fuse. Youth that are born as first-generation are brought up building their families’ past, their traditions into their own present.
Communities form as the best of both worlds: Chinatown, Little Italy, Little India, bastions of amazing culture nestled throughout the Western World. Thought along with product and different experiences are exchanged. We become both importers and exporters of everything, and while some still resist, holding on to whatever bygone era they hold dear, it’s hard to deny the fruits of our labor: We live in a multicultural mosaic, the closest thing to “Can’t we all just get along” around.
And yet, for all our efforts, our empathy and understanding, there are some that are still forgotten. No, not forgotten; just ignored.
As a first generation Canadian who grew up in a Calgary neighbourhood with First Nations people, it’s odd to both experience firsthand the aforementioned fusion of cultures while simultaneously witnessing the discarding or disregard for another. Why are all these other cultures allowed to thrive, to share their traditions as part of the common experience and this one, the one that was here before all others, pushed to the side? Segregated? Marginalized?
Why do you think you have to dress like the racist version of an Indian to come see our show?
That’s the thinking behind what you are about to read, an interview too good to cut down with a group known simply as A Tribe Called Red. Made up of a three DJs – Shub, Bear Witness and NDN – the Ottawa-based performers of Native American descent are intent on carving out a place of their own, a permanent spot for their culture on equal footing with all others, ensuring that an up-and-coming generation of First Nations kids know not only where they came from but where they can go:
“Everything that‘s happening right now is still new,” says DJ NDN, touching on still leery, but newfound interest in Native American culture. “We weren’t allowed to congregate together, to dance or sing or have pow-wow’s like 50 years ago. It wasn’t until the 1960s that we were allowed to hang out together. It was illegal for us to congregate, which is crazy.”
“The Internet helps a lot. A lot of people seem think we are something from the past. A lot of people have this idea that we are not around today, and we were conquered in this war, and the colonist won, which is completely false. There was never any war; there were treaties. We were just pushed aside, and every reserve is out of walking distance from the cities for a purpose. We weren't allowed to leave the reserve without consent from the government or an agent that lived there... So if you wanted to grow some food, you weren't allowed to leave to sell it. The government was fully running our economy. Immigrants would come in and would be given plots of land to thrive and to farm and be able to sell it to market and make money; we weren’t. We weren't allowed to thrive, or anything like that."
That sense of control extended well beyond limiting organization and instituting inhibiting economic policy; it extended to exporting (and even instilling in their youth) culture, the food, music and fashion that function as transmitters of divergent traditions.
A lot of people seem think we are something from the past. A lot of people have this idea that we are not around today, and we were conquered in this war, and the colonist won, which is completely false.Bear Witness: “There are only like two First Nations’ restaurants [in Toronto] and they’re like, high class. They’re really expensive and really nice which is weird cause it’s not like that. I guess the best way you could experience the food would be to go to a pow-wow... Where I’m from, corn soup -- that’s the thing, that’s the best thing you could get when you go back home. There are lots of things traditional about it; it’s the white hominy corn. It’s done a certain way, it’s laid out with lye, then you boil it with ash, and all these kinds of things that go back. [But] one of the main ingredients in a good corn soup is salt pork, and that comes from the government rations. So [even the dishes] we think of as our traditional foods are actually super colonized versions of what our food was.”
But that’s the past; this is where they bridge the gap. ATCR has been touring in Canada, the US, the UK, Germany, and all over Europe, sharing their sound, exposing their fusion of electronic music with aboriginal sounds (known as “pow-wow step”) to an international crowd. It’s that fusion that’s integral, that coming together of past and present that eases the inception of culture and makes A Tribe Called Red the flag bearers for a up-and-coming generation of First Nations -- and educators for everyone else.
But even through their slow success, there are still issues of political incorrectness. Case in point: non-aboriginal fans showing up in Native American headdress or wearing war-paint.
DJ NDN: “At a festival we just played in Michigan, there were people in headdresses and stuff... [It’s] not cool, not at all, especially when you wear it to our shows. If you were going to see A Tribe Called Quest would you go in blackface? Why do you think you have to dress like the racist version of an Indian to come see our show? It just doesn’t make sense. It’s pretty ridiculous and backwards.”
Although there is a cultural dis-appropriation, some festivals have taken control of the situation: “The festival we just came from banned them. [They] had a no-headdress policy; they were confiscating them at the door, which is so dope. This festival just wants people to feel comfortable and they don’t want anyone singled out.”
That is really what everyone wants when sharing their culture: to share their music, their food, enjoy it, and have it be enjoyed. We can’t force people to come with an open mind and leave with a better understanding, but we can relay what we know, our traditions, and relate to what we experience and our surroundings. It’s that fusion, along with a little acceptance seems to be the message behind A Tribe Called Red.